The Hindu Business Line : Global executive

A PREDICTABLE corollary of globalisation is the growing need to attune managerial personnel of all categories to the multifaceted and cross-cultural complexities of its challenges and demands.

In a real sense, following the rapid integration of the economy of each country with that of the rest of the world, every executive has to groom himself to become an actor with all the world his stage.

Conversely, an executive who neglects to develop the needed knowledge and awareness of the problems and prospects specific to the different regions and countries will cease to be useful or productive in furthering the mission and goals of whatever enterprise he is connected with, whether as an employee or an entrepreneur, however high his credentials in the field of his expertise.

There are several dimensions to this process of grooming. At the very basic level, it calls for intense efforts to expand one's mental horizon.

Even while preparing the ground for launching a new enterprise or making a global player of an existing one, all those involved in it should build into the infrastructural, financial and operational arrangements the capabilities enabling it to acquire a range and reach far beyond the confines of its current territorial limits.

Among the more crucial of such capabilities is the ready access to specialised databases on the political, economic and legal profiles of at least the countries and regions of immediate relevance to the nature and scope of the planned activities.

There is nothing like a homogenised global environment: There can be no uniform approach to development of manufacturing and service strategies, design of wholesale or retail networks, capacity planning, quality criteria, supply chain management, plant location; entry and exit routes, transfer of technology, or management practices.

To boot, decision-making in an organisation aspiring to be or go global has necessarily to take account of bewildering disparities in customs, manners, culture, market behaviour and other tangible and intangible aspects.

At the same time, a global executive should be able to nurture a holistic vision, and work in harmonious and synergistic relationship with persons of diverse temperaments, separated by time and space.

Add to all this a splash of linguistic skills, and you have a global executive who is well-nigh unbeatable!

B. S. Raghavan