The Complexity of the International Enterprise

What this means for the Intranet

(Aug 2004, original version Sept 2003)

Being an international enterprise does not mean:

Working primarily domestically with an international division that exports to foreign countries
Working in different countries, through business entities that have little interaction
Aiming for a worldwide “mono corporate culture" where all countries and units are expected to adapt
Aiming for a tolerant approach where every business unit and country does as they please.

A truly international enterprise is one that:

Operates in different countries, serving different markets and customers
Integrates diversity - in people, cultures and ideas - into the corporation and into shared ways of working
Maintains a unifying vision and identity
Defines management roles that cross borders and provides staff with compatible tools to work and communicate worldwide

Internationalization brings complexity

A manager in an international enterprise lives a day-to-day reality which is more complex than in a national company. There are more filters to go through to reach understandings, more dimensions to integrate into every aspect of corporate life.

Skills and tools that are important in other companies become business critical in the international company:

Horizontal networking (formal and informal) across functions, borders, business units
Operating in virtual teams working across time zones and business cultures
Knowing how to advance business goals while having accountability without authority
Meeting market and customer expectations that may be contradictory

Your Decisions Have Impact

The success of the intranet/portal will depend in large part on decisions you make and how you implement them.

Specific issues include:

Roles, scopes and the decision-making processes
Content strategy, especially for common areas such as the home page
User architecture and navigation, which influence perceptions of what is important
Equal access to relevant and pertinent information, in particular who decides what is relevant for different populations
Tools for virtual teams working across different time zones and business cultures

Articles in this collection and others on this web site deal with these issues. A number of the NetStrategyJmc breakfasts are based on related themes.

(Aug 2004, original version Sept 2003)

The Complexity of the International Enterprise

What this means for the Intranet

Breakfasts

Survey

Globally Local

Carnet intranet