Over the last decade, many large organizations have faced the challenge of intensifying international competition – within, their own domestic markets, across continents, and even worldwide. As their competition has become global, so too has their manufacturing, as they have tried to reap the twin benefits of scale and low–cost regional production. For most such organizations, there has been only one way to "go global" fast enough: by acquiring local businesses as rapidly as possible to gain direct access to local markets. The rapid growth of ABB over the past decade exemplifies the formidable leveraging power of such a strategy.