Who said Globalization was Easy?

The most successful global organizations are those that operate profitably and effectively at the local level but which also continually identify, package and deliver the kinds of products and services that are needed by the global economy in a timely, cost-effective manner. Global organizations thrive when people and companies at the local level identify with them and welcome them into their lives and businesses. The old Vaudeville comedians had a well-known line that always brought laughs because people knew what was meant: “That’s no lady, that’s my wife!” The loyal customers/members/stakeholders of global organizations might offer a similar line—“That’s no global organization, that’s my (substitute here what you want--such as favorite place of business, professional organization, place that I most relate to….).” People relate to organizations on a micro or local basis but for these operations to enjoy long term sustainability they must be relevant to the trends and market needs that manifest themselves at the macro or global level; because although people like the near and the familiar, they also recognize that in the long term they need to follow the paths that ensure survival and growth.

For a global organization to have a great idea but be unable to apply it locally is not very useful—in fact, it may as well have no idea at all. But focusing uniquely at the local level without connecting the dots, without trying to derive solutions to universal problems and needs at a global level is also an organizational dead-end. Scales need weights on both ends in order to be in balance.

The organizational challenge here then is to be able to function fluently and effectively at both levels—to be able to make global solutions relevant at the local level where people live as well as to be able to derive lessons from what is learned locally in order to apply these concepts globally. Moreover getting it right once doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Global tides and local currents are constantly changing—leading to the never-ending need for global organizations to be in a constant mode of seeking out areas where they can improve their effectiveness, efficiency and relevancy on both the global and local levels. How is that for a challenge? Who said globalization was easy?

From The Association Guide to Going Global, (published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., July 2010)