Being Global. Gregory Unruh
section id="u71618281-46c9-5b6f-82ce-9c9cf0e54ed0">
BEING GLOBAL
How to Think, Act, and Lead in a Transformed World
Ángel Cabrera and Gregory Unruh
Harvard Business Review Press
Boston, Massachusetts
Copyright 2012 Thunderbird School of Global Management
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected], or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.
Cabrera, Angel, 1967-
Being global: how to think, act, and lead in a transformed world/Angel Cabrera and Gregory Unruh.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4221-8322-9 (alk. paper)
1. Leadership—Cross-cultural studies. 2. Management—Cross-cultural studies. 3. International business enterprises—Management. 4. International trade. 5. International economic relations. I. Unruh, Gregory. II. Title.
HD57.7.C32 2012
658.4'092—dc23
2011046407
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Being Global Is Not an Option. It's an Imperative
Chapter 1
Global Leaders Can Be Made: Learning to Connect, Create, and Contribute
Chapter 2
Global Mindset: Connecting Across Cultures
Chapter 3
Global Entrepreneurship: Creating New Value Through Divergence, Convergence, and Networks
Chapter 4
Global Citizenship: Contributing to Prosperity and Value for All
Conclusion
Being Global: A Beginning
Appendix
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
INTRODUCTION
Being Global Is Not an Option. It's an Imperative
The headlines today, October 11, 2011, tell a global story. U.S. textile makers are fighting the passage of a free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea because the American manufacturers say Korean technology will put them out of business. Russia has announced its intention to limit grain exports, causing world wheat prices to surge. In Australia, a cap-and-trade bill aimed at putting a price on carbon emissions has just jumped a major hurdle in that country's parliament, sending reverberations throughout the developed world. And Greece, of course, remains a persistent headline winner, as Europe's nations again try to work out a plan so that Greece keeps paying and the euro will remain solvent.
The global connections these news stories highlight are not, in and of themselves, new. Global trade has been around, after all, since the sixteenth century (and broad cross-border trade for thousands of years before that). Yet, look to the details and it is clear how much more connected, interdependent, and multidirectional our global world is today than at any time in the past.
Twenty years ago, discussion of a free trade agreement between the United States and a middle-income partner was dominated by debate over which U.S. technologies or industries would most benefit. Today, U.S. manufacturers fear the risk that South Korean technology will pose to the U.S. equivalent. Twenty years ago, it would have taken months or longer for the policy of an agricultural exporter to affect prices at the supermarket. Today, there is a direct line between Russia's announcement and the price of a baguette in Toulouse or, more poignantly, the price the UN World Food Programme pays for supplies to feed drought-affected Somalis. Twenty years ago, the global discussion about energy pretty much started and finished with supply and price. Today, a national energy policy decision by a remote country without significant petroleum reserves affects discussions taking place tens of thousands of miles away. Twenty years ago, the insolvency of a relatively small European country would have made little difference beyond that country's borders and those of its immediate neighbors. Today, it is putting a major world currency, and with it the entire world economy, at risk.
The world economy of today barely resembles that of twenty years ago. A handful of wealthy countries mostly trading with each other or importing raw commodities from poorer ones no longer dominate global trade. Global growth is not solely determined by the innovations or industriousness of developed nations, just like global health cannot be affected solely by the actions of a few. The world today is truly global: inclusive, multidirectional, interlinked, and hugely complex.
In a New Global World, Leaders Need to Be Global
The abstract way in which the global actors in the news stories mentioned above are grouped together as “the textile industry,” “Russia,” and “Australia's parliament” clouds the fact that there are individual people behind those actions and decisions. Those people—people like you, whether you are at the beginning of your career or have witnessed firsthand the impact of rapid globalization, or whether you are bringing your skills to bear in business, in government, or in the social sector—are mostly struggling to tackle the new global environment in all its complexity.
To make matters worse, most undergraduate institutions, employers, business schools, and executive education programs are not yet offering much to help you prepare. It's not that they aren't trying, but despite all the “flat world” rhetoric for most institutions, especially those based in wealthy Western countries, global issues are an afterthought, a set of considerations tacked on at the end of a planning session, not a integral part of what they do and how they do it. Most organizations don't yet realize that global engagement today is not a one-way, hegemonic practice in which all major decisions, innovations, and inputs come from a Western home office. The multidirectional, multifaceted value that can come by tapping into resources, ideas, and innovations from multiple locations is lost on many businesses and individuals preparing for overseas engagements. Just as Western political figures believe that a personal background in business equips them to negotiate multilateral trade deals, so do most businesses believe that they only need to tap a rising star from the home office to capitalize on an overseas opportunity. Give managers some language training and a course in local etiquette and call them prepared.
These old global practices are not just insufficient for today's world, they are actively causing harm. Increasingly, they are leading businesses down the wrong path. Walmart's early effort to bring the big-box model to Brazil, where mom-and-pop convenience stores dominate, offers a case in point for how old global practices fail in a new global context. Walmart has deep enough pockets to learn from an expensive failure and try again, but not every