Assignment task: Starting December 2021, the Covid pandemic virtually saw multinational pharmaceutical majors facing a very difficult situation with countries scrambling and fighting unapologetically for their 'share' of vaccine (because they paid for it) from countries that had the 'factories' and a possibly different set of resources. Some countries resorted to legal action as well. Multinational corporations such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Serum Institute have had this pressure on them. The even more startling information is the fact that millions of doses of the vaccine were trashed by developing countries as they were past the 'use by' date even as millions in Africa were still not vaccinated.
We also know that newer variants and strains are emerging from different parts of the world. While they may not be severe, one can hardly ignore it. China has only recently relaxed isolation/lockdown procedures.
We also know that a country becoming an export hub for a pharma major may lead you to believe that the 'hub' decision is driven merely by exports rather than domestic consumption. Large global corporations face huge pressure in being both locally responsive and be globally integrated as well.
Question: If a corporation wants to leverage scale of economies to the maximum possible level, what would be the characteristics of such a strategy? Specifically, in the pharma industry, how can one manage local pressure? Is local consumption a key part of the strategy or is it incidental?