The phrase “Think globally, act locally” makes sense in many circumstances…
Except for very specific products (the technology and junk food sectors spring to mind), believing that you can apply the same formulas throughout the world, or even in one part of the world without changing a comma, is a tall order, not to say irresponsible entrepreneurship.
It is often necessary to apply “local” versions to match economic realities and consumer needs as closely as possible. Of course, e-commerce is disrupting certain practices by reducing the world to the level of a “global village”, but it is also introducing a form of impoverishment through “one-track thinking”.
In many companies of a certain size, there is often total confusion between the spatialisation of activities and actions carried out locally in the same sector. In the interests of “compliance” and “risk management”, work is divided up and sectorised to ensure that no one member of staff can act alone throughout the process. It’s a form of ‘lobotomization’ of the employee’s actions, implemented voluntarily and consciously.
This approach is ‘interesting’ because these same companies spend fortunes on training courses and courses that encourage their staff to ‘think globally’ and take a holistic view of operations: who are we kidding?
The combination of ‘specific’ and ‘global’ is certainly a complex one to resolve, and each company needs to find its own way. What are some possible approaches?
• Establish a global strategy that is broad enough to be implemented in all the regions concerned.
• Focus on the “non-negotiable” points that guarantee a common vision and image for the company, while limiting the risks.
• Leave room for manoeuvre wherever necessary to be “operationally competitive”.
• Empower the “locals” so that they come up with solutions: the “head office” is not always right!
• At group level, limit control points to essential processes or elements.
These few points may seem obvious, but decades of experience and close observation of certain ‘global’ companies unfortunately show the opposite…
Everyone must be trained in a specific sector and be able to act quickly in a safe and specific environment, but employees must be able to understand the global issues and put their activities and their positions in relation to the company into perspective: this is a difficult but salutary exercise.
The younger generation seems to be evolving with certain paradoxes: planting carrots and tomatoes on your balcony to consume ‘regionally’ before jumping on a plane to go partying for a weekend in Barcelona or Ibiza… By the way, do we still consider Barcelona or Ibiza to be ‘local’ destinations when we live in France, Germany or Italy? For some young people, it’s perfectly compatible, which calls into question the formula ‘think global, act local’ if everything is mixed up.
Happy reading and see you soon