Operational Strategy and Business Management Alignment: Managing Performance Across Global Business Units

In an increasingly globalized business environment, organizations operate through multiple business units dispersed across regions, each facing distinct market conditions, institutional constraints, and performance pressures. While operational strategy is critical for achieving efficiency and consistency, business management practices are essential for translating strategic intent into performance outcomes at the unit level. Persistent misalignment between operational strategy and business management remains a major source of performance variability and coordination failure in global ?rms. This article conceptualizes alignment between operational strategy and business management as a dynamic managerial capability rather than a static design choice. Focusing on global business units, the study examines how strategic leadership, organizational structures, coordination mechanisms, and performance management systems jointly shape alignment and influence operational and ?nancial performance. Rather than treating global operations as a collection of independent units, the article emphasizes the importance of integrative management practices that balance global efficiency with local responsiveness. By integrating insights from operations strategy, international business, and management control literature, the article develops a comprehensive framework for understanding alignment in global ?rms. The analysis highlights common sources of misalignment across business units and identi?es managerial approaches that enable sustained performance under complexity. The study contributes to both theory and practice by reframing operational alignment as an ongoing leadership and management challenge in global organizations.