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In the collection Global Intranets Fighting Poverty in the Global Intranet The Myth of Global and Local Content Culture influences information architecture Building Trust in International Intranets Make-or-break Decisions in International Intranets The Complexity of the International Enterprise: What this means for the Intranet

Building Trust in International Intranets

(Aug 2004, original version Sept 2003)

Priorities are different depending on where you are.

Local inertia (as perceived by headquarters) occurs for many reasons, including sometimes headquarter behavior of imposing without consulting.

Headquarter inertia (as perceived by the local units) can be explained sometimes by the lengthy time it takes to define global solutions that require considerable input and analysis in the initial stages.

The challenge is to overcome the “not built here” syndrome so that people are more flexible in their demands, understanding that solutions must meet not only their needs, but others too.

Building a global team and involving them in the decision-making takes much longer than making decisions from headquarters. However, you will save and even gain time because those decisions will last.

Build trust with users

User trust in an intranet/portal is primarily a question of the user experience. If the users have initial and lasting positive experiences (content up-to-date, easy to find, easy to contribute, etc.), they will trust the intranet/portal. This requires:

• A stable framework, visibility and understanding of where they fit in
• The means to get what they need to do their jobs
• The means to participate, give feedback and contribute regardless of where they are located in the enterprise

Build trust with management

Managers in international companies often communicate and collaborate in complex situations of mixed business cultures. They need three basic things that you find in what I call the tri-dimensional intranet:

• Top-down: the means to communicate in a real-time, personalized and reliable way to all employees, groups or communities across the enterprise, wherever they are located
• Bottom-up: the means to solicit, receive and consolidate input in the form of ideas and information from people in the field, those nearest the products and customers
• Horizontal: the means to collaborate with counterparts around the world

(Aug 2004, original version Sept 2003)

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