Chapter 3 - The Global Paradox
An anecdote: the author was taken aback by the term "glocalization" - and suggests that any time someone has to invent a word for what they are talking about, then it's very likely they are struggling with a paradox. This is very common in the IT profession.
Consider that technology is a key facilitator to doing business across borders, and that global infrastructures can be complicated. A good example is Western Union, which moved $76 billion in funds among 470,000 locations in more than two hundred countries - it's a sizable task.
The CIO of that organization suggests "there is a distinction between being an international company and a truly global company: international companies sell a few products or services into foreign markets." This is very simple compared to being truly global, which has a number of paradoxes to be explored.
1: Central Control of Dispersed Innovation
Consider the mainframe model of computing: a powerful central computer pushing data and applications to many dumb terminals. Global operations can be run that way, but shouldn't: the people in the remote offices see the direct impact and recognize opportunities, and need a way to communicate them upstream.
As a first step, keep your arrogance under control. Particularly for American firms, there is a sense of superiority at the home office and a lack of respect for the field, and the expectation that the remote locations will adopt the home office's practices and culture ... and more, that they have nothing to contribute.
Particularly when remote locations interface with customers or other firms in their market, the differences In culture will be significant - and more importantly, the local office will need to interact, appropriately, within its own culture in order to succeed.
It's also important to consider remote locations in career development: there is much talent in the remote locations, but "out of sight is out of mind" so these individuals are not developed or promoted into leadership - and those who are promoted into leadership have very little experience in the remote locations.
2: Solutions are Standardized but Customers Can Be Radically Different
The author mentions her thorough sense of frustration when ordering shoes online and the system took thirty seconds to process her payment - it seemed entirely too long. But consider that people in markets like India or the Philippines spend 45 minutes in line to do the same. In markets like Brazil and France, customers will leave a shop if they have to wait more than twenty seconds.
This is one example of different expectations in differ in various locations - which is difficult to address because IT values efficiency and standardization, and generally seeks to impose practices on users rather than accommodating their ways of working. You might be able to impose an uncomfortable solution for a short time, but for long-term adoption and use, the capabilities have to be relevant to the user.
It is impossible for a global CIO to understand the subtle cultural distinctions in the behavior of employees and customers around the world, so it is particularly important to solicit input from the field. It is often true that not only is the technology a poor fit, but so are the business processes, and the people in those markets know exactly what is not working.
3: As Your Need to Communicate Increases, Your Ability to Communicate Decreases
Said another way, a distant and dispersed workforce has a greater need to share information than those who work in the same office, but it's difficult to reach them.
Ironically, when technology provides the ability to share information easily, companies counterattack. One CEO reports that "I tried to do a written blog but everyone wanted to edit it." Not only did this slow down the process of communicating, but he also lost control over his own message, as it was reduced to "corporate speak."
Especially for global communications, it's necessary to "create a steady drum beat" - both in the sense that the flow of information is regular and predictable, as well as in the sense of being repetitive. On the global level, "you cannot say something a few times and expect everyone across your global team to understand it."
4: You Need to Be In-Person with Your Global Team, but You Don't Have the Time
The anecdote the author shares questions whether it's necessary to be on-site in many foreign locations - given travel time and the number of locations, it's simply not possible,
One CIO noted that it was not the physical presence that mattered to his people, but having unstructured, interactive, and genuine communication. "Don't preach or present to them, just let them ask you questions. That's what they really want to do."
5: Local Ties Can Be Stronger than Global Allegiances
Consider that the fascination with "bigness" is a cultural trait that is not shared in all cultures. In many, people value relationships are not impressed by (and likely distrustful of) large foreign companies.
This is especially true when globalizing the IT department: the local IT workers are allied with their office, and less responsive to "outsiders" even within their own firm. If fact, too close an alliance with headquarters will strain their relationships with colleagues in their local office.
6: You Need to Act Fast, but Creating a Global Structure Takes Time
Building a global organization can take years, and many CIOs have short tenures - and will have even shorter ones if they fail to produce immediate results. Selling a long-term vision is a difficult prospect, and it is even more difficult for a professional to be willing to put the effort into a strategy that will not pay rewards until long after he has left.
Even those organizations that embrace the idea of becoming global seem to underestimate the amount of time and effort it will take. They want it to happen overnight, and for everything to go smoothly, so many CIOs take a more defensive than proactive stance.