Building relationships and assets abroad are foundations of international expansion.  But it's only a start.  In meeting the challenges of globalization, the most important key for organizations is in the ability to work effectively locally.

The importance of the local

Effectiveness in local environments cannot be taken for granted.  Global leadership usually spearheads efforts at international expansion, but integration afterwards can easily falter as organizations become used to promoting a top-down view.  Successful organizations go against this tendency.

Recent streams of research, which we continuously monitor and study, validate what we have experienced from working with globally-distributed organizations.  The chart on the right summarizes some key findings from such research.

Success factors for local effectiveness

Organizations that are effective in local markets/environments display:

• Awareness:  Continual awareness of political, cultural, and economic stakeholders, uncertainties, and opportunities in the regions.
• Adaptability:  Ability to plan in advance for alternative local scenarios and execute on appropriate plans as situations unfold.
• Innovation:  Integration of local leadership to contribute meaningfully to global strategy, such that innovative local insights are promoted.
• Alignment:  Established and well-understood processes to communicate local intelligence and strategies vertically and horizontally.

Internal capability

The qualities outlined above cannot be imported; they need to be cultivated.  The work we do is focused on helping organizations develop their internal capability to develop these qualities so that they can work well locally as they expand/operate globally. 

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