*{Best Practices in Going Global [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Best%20Practices%20in%20Going%20Global?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            01.02.1999

            Annual Meeting 1999}

            *partie=titre Best practice: promoting efficiency and understanding *partie=nil

            Is global capitalism delivering the goods? Most political leaders stress the need to share the social burden, but the corporate world has been in the forefront of meeting people's needs and reaping the benefits for years, noted moderator Jacques Manardo, Chairman, Europe, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, France. In spite of this leading edge, many large corporations fail to define globalization. As a result, he added, there is no real understanding as to what global business really is and the values it needs to uphold.

            According to Lewis E. Platt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard Company, USA, his firm spends a great deal of time and effort teaching such values. Hewlett-Packard conducts periodic surveys among employees about values in order to develop a fairly dynamic model for reinforcing strategies, he explained. This includes both teamwork and flexibility. For without such approaches, it is a matter of either change or die. Hewlett-Packard, for example, has developed an Internet webpage enabling its 125,000 employees to shop around for jobs within the company. This also allows people to develop new qualifications in order to respond to constantly changing needs.

            For Göran Lindahl, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABB Asea Brown Bovari, Switzerland, one needs to empower people through leadership and organizational framework. Leadership, he said, must come from the top and respond to global requirements, including support for mission values and policies. As for the organizational framework, it must always reflect reality. Lindahl said that his company developed a new version of its book on mission values by asking twelve employees representing different cultures and religions to help make the text more acceptable. "We learned a lot about leadership and how it is perceived," he noted. Lindahl pointed out that the use of broken English often means that messages, particularly by electronic mail, can be interpreted differently. His firm is now trying to create a culture whereby negative issues are not discussed by e-mail. "You must first talk to people to determine whether what you have perceived is correct," he said. Positive responses, on the other hand, should go by e-mail and be copied to as many people as possible to give praise where it is deserved.

            Taizo Nishimuro, President and Chief Executive of Toshiba Corporation, stressed the need for globalization through localization with partnerships. Corporate alliances will become increasingly important, he said, particularly if one is to react quickly and easily. Charles O. Holliday Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont, USA, said that his corporation has learned most from small companies. As a science-based firm, it is crucial to rely on a rich research process. Our approach is to "think local, resource global." Holliday said his company had gone back 60 years to determine the main reasons for its success. It emerged that those research projects which were focused, such as the development of nylon to replace silk, were the most successful. Yet today, he said, only 5% of nylon is used for what it was originally intended. One has to think laterally. DuPont also brings in outside people to determine whether the right questions are being asked. As a result, he said, some projects changed direction while one was even scrapped.

            William H. Gates III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation, USA, said he does not think global companies will be very different in the future. "Even if you are not global, you'll be competing with companies that are," he added. The very nature of making companies global will be changed by the Internet. It will no longer be necessary to build big structures, such as major overseas offices. This will reduce overheads. Some companies may wish to retain consistency when operating overseas, but that could prevent groups from breaking out to do something new. The key to operating globally will be to function on a digital basis. At the same time, one needs to be careful about relying too heavily on e-mail. One needs to find a mix of electronic communications, face-to-face meetings and videoconferences, he said. "There is a lot to be learned from best practices, because both good and bad news will travel fast with these new systems.                 

                  *{Contributors:       Gates William H.
                  Holliday Charles O.
                  Lindahl Göran
                  Manardo Jacques
                  Nishimuro Taizo
                  Platt Lewis E.}