What were the costs and benefits of using complementary resources of external actors to fill resource gaps? Case 1.1 Honda’s ‘answers’ to the seven basic questions in international strategy formation For the Japanese car manufacturer Honda, the domestic and international environments in the early 1970s brought tremendous challenges to its export strategy, previously based on mass production in Japan. Honda wanted to develop extensive international production capabilities in overseas markets, especially the US market. However, Honda doubted its foreign facilities could attain the quality level characteristic of its Japanese-built cars. Furthermore, Honda also wondered whether its foreign manufacturing facilities could achieve Japanese cost levels