TM - August 2008 - (Page 12)

[leading edge] by Dr. Jac Fitz-enz I I Is Globalization for Everyone? f you work for a multinational corporation, you most certainly are aware of the global market. But if you are in a medical center, local bank or business, or grocery chain, do you feel that it affects you? During the past nine months, I have spent more time than I ever expected to spend outside the United States. Things happening there have made me drop my provincialism and embrace the world village. I’m not new to international business. In the 1990s at Saratoga Institute, I regularly made short trips to Europe, South Africa, Australia and Southeast Asia. But that was a different marketplace than today. China, Russia and India had not awakened. Europe was lagging North America and didn’t care, and except for Singapore, other areas were not very vibrant. Wake-Up Call Third, what were once Third World markets now are some of the hottest spots on the globe. The best example is the Arabian Peninsula. Have you ever heard of Oman? Could you ﬁnd it on a map before I brought up Arabia? Are UAE more than initials to you? Well, friend, you should see what is happening there. There is a tremendous amount of infrastructure going up. The emirates’ stunning new architecture makes the standard skyscraper look like an outhouse. The energy going into roads, transit systems, communications and other infrastructure But I’m in HR You are serving an organization that is competing with, using services from and sharing work with people outside our border. What your internal customers, managers and employees are dealing with, you must respond to and support. In March, I was in Pakistan — yes, the place The Economist called the most dangerous country in the world. They were not concerned with how to design a blended learning environment. They’re already doing that. Besides, I wasn’t working exclusively with HR. The chairman, CEO, COO and all division heads were there working through my predictive human capital management system. I’ve followed that In HR, what your internal customers, managers and employees are dealing with, you must respond to and support. is indescribable. They are building a base that already is making business much easier. As a result, multinationals are ﬂooding in — they don’t want to be left behind. Collectively, this is raising the bar worldwide. How does that affect a U.S.bound enterprise? Go to any store in America and look at labels on goods. I don’t care if it is hand tools, toys, clothes, cell phones or automobiles, it is foreign made. OK, but what about services? Surely something like health care is local. Again, look at the equipment, but don’t stop there. Now diagnostics are being shared worldwide. People in India and Russia are providing software tools and outsourcing records for hospitals here. The examples are endless, and they are growing — not shrinking. About the Author Dr. Jac Fitz-enz is founder and CEO of the Human Capital Source and Workforce Intelligence Institute. He can be reached at editor@ talentmgt.com. Today, it is a different story. Whether you’re talking Russia, Croatia, the Arabian Peninsula or India/ Southeast Asia, the joint is jumping. Consider the pace. Things are moving more quickly than 10 years ago. This may be due partly to the Internet, whereby global communication is almost instant. Now we can make alliances, schedule and reschedule work, share data and exchange viewpoints easily. This speeds up business and raises expectations of quick response. Secondly, the adoption of technology has moved to the forefront. In some cases, I’ve witnessed HR departments using more advanced analytic tools than I see in our practice here. This means they can make better decisions faster and implement change while we are still trying to round up data. Everyone isn’t doing this, but there seems to be more openness to adopting these tools and methods abroad than in many places here. Here, we are too busy to change. with similar efforts throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Do you think I could get the top 40 executives in an American ﬁrm to such an event? Deming Revisited In 1980, NBC broadcast, “If Japan Can… Why Can’t We?” It was about the quality movement W. Edwards Deming launched there in 1950, when American executives couldn’t be bothered. We all know what happened in those 30 years and what is continuing today because we fell behind the global curve. Do we have to go through that again, or can we wake up? As Peter Drucker said, don’t try to change the game; redesign the future. They already are designing our future. C’mon HR: Lead, follow or get out of the way. 12 August 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - August 2008

TM - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Global Background Screening Does Global Assessment Work? Global Total Renumeration: Creat One Organization Border Insecurity: Immigration Reform and Talent Management The Global Workforce: Communication Across Cultures Around the World in How Many Days? Insight: Exelon: Performance Under Pressure Special Report: Perspectives on Managing People Application: Reinventing Sales Rewards at Motorola Dashboard: Mideast Meets West Dashboard: Mergers and Acquisitions 2008 - Don’t Leave Employees Behind Editorial Resources Advertisers' Index Full Potential

TM - August 2008

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