Irving Wladawsky-Berger

Some Thoughts on Global Companies in the 21st Century

Given my long association with IBM, the close relationships I have enjoyed with a number of our clients, and my recent involvement with Citigroup, it is not surprising that I am very interested in exploring what it takes for an organization to thrive in our increasingly global and highly diverse world.  Perhaps my personal multi-cultural background is also part of the reason I am so attracted to the subject.

Managing a large, global organization is indeed very difficult, especially in our unpredictable, emergent, fast changing and intensely competitive market environment.  While some might thus conclude that the answer is for a company to resist doing business around the world, the reality is that managing a business, any business, is a very tough job fraught with perils, as evidenced by the high mortality rates of companies from start-ups to those in the Fortune 500.

Are there any basic principles that might serve as guidelines in the management of globally integrated companies?  Based on my personal experiences, I think there are a few, that if carefully applied might prove useful.  Let me share my thoughts on the subject.

Nurturing a Healthy Innovation Environment

I strongly believe that top talent is the most important asset for any business that aspires to a leadership position in the knowledge economy.  Talent enables a company to better cope with, adjust to and thrive in our fast changing, unpredictable world.

But while the presence of top talent is a necessary condition for leadership, it is not sufficient.  You need to put that talent to work, not only contributing to the operational excellence of the business, but focusing on innovation, so the company can survive the onslaught of new competitors and retain its leadership position into the future, as well as be able to evolve and become a leader in important new areas

Fostering a spirit of innovation among talented people is very difficult.  Why is that?  Lots of excellent management books have been written on the subject, but I would like to offer a more personal explanation.

Adam Smith 2.0

The other day, I came across an interesting story about Adam Smith in The Economist.  It appears that Adam Smith - the 18th century philosopher and economist, who is generally considered the father of free-market, free-trade capitalism - has been treated with remarkable indifference in his native Scotland.  The 17th-century house where he spent the last years of his life has only a small, tarnished bronze plaque mentioning his name.  His grave was overgrown until recently, and is still not easy for visitors to find.

The Economist story attributes this indifference to one of Scotland's best known sons to modern politics and historical ignorance.  "Smith's most famous work, The Wealth of Nations," the article says, "which describes wealth creation in a competitive commercial economy dominated by the market's invisible hand, has long been appropriated by right-wingers and anathema in left-leaning Scotland."

Driven by their narrow political ideology, some people seem to think of open markets as reflecting a kind of survival of the fittest competition in which anything goes.  But such people, I believe, have totally misrepresented not just Adam Smith and open markets, but the principles governing evolution and natural selection, especially as it applies to social animals like us humans.

Web 3.0: Materializing the Conceptual Worlds of the Mind

Last week I was in London, where I participated in a very unique lecture sponsored by Design London.  Design London is an initiative announced last year to combine the creativity and expertise in design from the Royal College of Art, engineering from Imperial College's Faculty of Engineering, and the business of innovation from Imperial College's Tanaka Business School.  It was established to stir together the scientific, engineering, business and creative design communities to enhance business and public sector innovation.
 
The lecture - Web 3.0: Materializing the conceptual worlds of the mind - is part of Design London's STIR lecture series.  The STIR - Simulator, Teach, Incubate, Research - lectures aim to address a wide range of subjects from widely different personal experiences and points of view.  Many times throughout my career have I participate in joint lectures and panels, but never before have I done so with a film director – John Maybury, -  and an architect and designer – Nigel Coates.  That was a most gratifying and stimulating first for me.