As businesses around the world are scurrying to keep up with fast-changing times, business leaders and managers are bracing for inevitable “bumps” and “cracks” along the road that would lead them to become a globally competitive company. Often referred to as “the process of integration across societies and economies”, globalisation can be deemed as an inevitable phenomenon because it is a favourable flow of information, services, products, labour and many other things to move across state borders (Wong-MingJi, 2006). Through globalisation, Wong-MingJi (2006) added that the belief that “greater good would be served by leveraging comparative advantages for production and trade” permeates because businesses are often hampered with many political and legislative barriers between entities that conduct international transactions. For companies that operate in a highly complex, diverse, and rapidly changing environment, the organizational design becomes a challenge because any business venture should not only configure a structure that works well in diverse locations, but it also needs to bring them together in a coordinated fashion with the capability for rapid redeployment (Shenkar & Luo, 2004). Being the largest retailer in the UK, Tesco PLC is bravely facing all these challenges in international expansion. Tesco’s retail dominance in the UK “cannot be denied” because it is said that “£1 in every £8 spent on retail in the UK is spent at Tesco” (Phillips, January 2007). Tesco’s first international venture was when they decided to enter “Ireland in 1978 by purchasing 51 per cent of Albert Gubay’s Three Guys operation for £4 million” (Palmer 2004). However, Tesco’s initial international foray was judged by Palmer (2004) as “too hasty given the structural capacity for expansion and the relative strength of the company within their domestic market at the time”. It was in the 1990s when Tesco went all-out in its quest for international expansion. In response to a growing Eastern European market, Tesco opened stores in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. During the same period, Tesco also ventured into Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. In 2001, Tesco announced 2001 that it formed a strategic relationship with American supermarket Safeway, to take the tesco.com home shopping model to the US. In the same year, Tesco entered the Malaysian market. Also during this time, Tesco launched the “Customer Champions” in their stores and implemented “a new labour scheduler” for the purpose of improving service for customers (History – Tesco Website, 29 March 2008). With regards to global integration, Tesco’s CEO Terry Leahy believed that “despite globalisation, local differences still hold sway over mass retailing” ( The Economist , 16 April 2005). In the retailing market, Tesco is set to go head-to-head with retail giants like United States’ Wal-Mart and France’s Carrefour. The Economist (16 April 2005) revealed that Tesco is battling out “strong competition from discount chains in some central European markets”. Despite this challenge, “ Tesco’s total international sales grew by 13% to £7.6 billion in 2004. Some 60% of its overseas investments are in Thailand, South Korea, Ireland and Hungary, generati