I have read the explanation, but I am still stuck. When you say R&D, are you referring to the number of trademarks and patents, or the number of dollars used in R&D? If some companies have different revenue based (like yen for example), do I have to convert the yen value to dollar value before I do the strategic map? I have to create a visual map?

Should I map these by geographical breadth? Should I use sales volumes for each manufacturer by geographical breadth? Should I map anything by the number of employees, # of plants, or # of products?

I am so confused.