Think Global... Act Local... what it means for consumers, companies, and their employees

This phrase was originated by Rene Dubos as an advisor to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. In 1979, Dubos suggested that ecological consciousness should begin at home. He believed that there needed to be a creation of a World Order in which "natural and social units maintain or recapture their identity, yet interplay with each other through a rich system of communications". In the 1980's, Dubos held to his thoughts on acting locally, and felt that issues involving the environment must be dealt with in their "unique physical, climatic, and cultural contexts."

So coming out of the context of its usage at that time I think we are using or to that matter of fact over-using or misusing this principal in other disciplines.

Every time we watch TV and see an ad for soap or shampoo or electronics what we notice is not the product but the lifestyle of the people using them. So gone are the days where you design once and sell it everywhere. Customers in different parts of the world don’t want generic products, but rather, products that meet their specific needs. Even though I am a die hard fan of Apple I think Apple's philosophy of one product across the world will not work... One of the reasons Samsung is gaining market share. They have a product for everyone and everywhere.  

Gone are the days car companies dumping old models and designs in developing countries. We now have these companies designing cars for local markets and taking them global. What caused the reversal in their thinking? The market potential of these fast developing countries, growing middle class and availability of information across borders can all be attributed for this reversal. Consumers in these fast developing countries are now aware of the pricing structure, model offering and technology availability from various vendors across the globe.

Global companies who have operations across multiple continents, countries, cultures and time zones need to understand that their value chain is highly tied with information availability and more importantly it is tied with those very people responsible for that part of the value chain. And working together in coherence holds the key for their success.

Various companies have their R&D and other offices spread across the world. How many of these companies have HR policies tailored for each Geographic location?  Not just vacation calendar.  If a team has a reporting structure that spans Geo's are there any rules of engagement or do we have cookie cutter kind of operations plan?  I think this is one of the areas that separates successful global companies from those that are either struggling or failed. Humans react to various cultural, economic and emotional situations differently across the world.  Having a tailor made local HR department that reacts and acts to these situations is very important. Another important aspect companies often forget is to preserve the company/corporate culture irrespective of the region you operate in.  No matter how successfully you operate your local division if it deviates from the core vision and culture of the company then the global customers you are serving will not get the same quality of service.