What it takes to be a global business in the 21st century

Too often, companies define their global reach by the number of offices they have in countries around the world, or how many products they sell internationally.

Yet, a true measure of a global company is in its workforce. Not in the sheer numbers of people working for the company around the world, but how they look at things in a worldwide context: how much they connect and collaborate with fellow employees in other countries. How they apply a global perspective when thinking about developing products and services, answering customers’ needs and contributing to society.

Organizations can’t afford to continue thinking about themselves in the old way. Today’s biggest challenges and opportunities are taking place on a global scale. The systems, political, societal, natural and economic, which underpin how the world works are inextricably linked. Societal and economic progress both depend on how governments and institutions work together to optimize these systems.

Every enterprise, in order to define its mission and purpose, has to ask itself some age-old questions, including how it creates value and what role it plays in society at large. For leaders, a major task during the early part of the 21st century will be putting those questions into a radically global perspective. That can seem daunting. But starting with one insight—that it’s not the operations, but the workforce that defines how worldly an enterprise is—can make it easier to manage.

During the past 100 years, IBM has gained insight into how companies develop successful leaders and employees around the world.

Here are some approaches for creating a workforce that thinks, acts and works in a global fashion:

Create a global community

Organizations regularly invest in hiring and developing employees and teaching them institutional skills and values. Yet, most companies don’t reach out enough to a wide swathe of employees for new ideas and insights. They don’t enable employees to share their expertise with each other.

Sharing is a cornerstone of a thriving global workforce. An institution’s workforce knows more collectively than any single management team can. Employees, working in diverse, far-flung teams, should be able to reach across borders and tap into the insight of colleagues and share ideas when they’re working on projects.

There are many ways institutions can unleash sharing and create a global community.

For instance, they can hold online collaboration events aimed at solving specific problems. Or they can create internal online forums where employees list their skills.

Develop global leaders

Equipping this new generation of leaders with the right experience and skills to think and act globally is crucial.

For IBM, one of the most powerful training grounds for up and coming leaders is the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. The program sends small groups of employees to developing countries to work on programs that tackle development issues. These programs range from providing mosquito nets to building not-for-profit banks to helping small businesses.

The experience is unmatched for the 500 people who have taken part so far. It provides them with the foundations of a global perspective and insights into working with other cultures and markets. It’s a perspective that they bring back and embed in their work and community.

The Philippines has been a host country for the CSC program since 2008. Ten teams have already rendered assistance and shared their knowledge to support a broad range of SMEs, nongovernment organizations, academic institutions and government organizations in different growth locations around the country including Davao, Bohol, Iloilo, Bacolod and Olongapo. Two more CSC teams will share their expertise and skills to Cebu and Davao this year. Four IBM employees from the Philippines have so far been selected to participate in this program and served in missions in Tanzania, Brazil and Ghana.

The CSC portfolio has broadened over the years. In 2010, IBM created a variant of the program, called the Executive Service Corps (ESC), to deploy more senior executives on more advanced engagements. This year, an ESC team will engage with high-level city officials in Cebu to work on critical economic development roadmaps, which aim to transform metropolitan areas of the province into world-class smarter cities.

Deploy talent

National borders no longer define markets. Customers are just as likely to do business across time zones and currencies. Yet, many businesses are set up as multinationals, with specific operations in specific countries targeted at specific clients.

Leaders need to think globally, locating their own management and workers where they perform tasks the best—teams that work across borders together on projects; managers who lead from points all around the world. These are the hallmarks of global companies.

Consider HSBC. Founded 145 years ago in Hong Kong, the financial services giant is now headquartered in London and has offices in 87 countries. But the geography of the management team underscores its global philosophy. Two of the top managers, including the CEO who moved there in 2010, are based in Hong Kong, while three others are in London.

Organizations all share the same fundamental resource: employees. Getting them to work together globally will be one of this century’s biggest challenges. And the biggest guarantee of success.

(The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines. The author is a member of the MAP Board of Governors and President and General Manager of IBM Philippines, Inc. Feedback at [email protected]. For previous articles, visit .)