2011年，IBM计划庆祝其诞生100周年之际，我忽然想到，该公司在过去一个世纪的改变与同期全球经济的变化极为相似。两者都受益于经济增长，以及人类历史上前所未见的生活水平的大幅提高。而这一进步主要得益于全球社会融合以及信息技术的普及。
如今，全球经济一体化为企业和社会的未来带来巨大机遇。对企业而言，在全球市场上买卖商品和服务，可节约成本、增加收入，同时还能将全球的人才及其见解收为己用。社会也将受益匪浅：人们将得以提高自身生活水平；政府将找到新的合作途径。虽然很多人指出一体化存在风险，但更迫切、更务实的问题是：我们如何面对未来？我们是欣然迎接未来？还是执着于过去？
上述问题对于美国乃至全球的企业都相当重要。我们正处在人类历史上首个真正的全球化时代，在全球流转的信息、人员、产品、服务以及理念，其数量之大、速度之快都前所未有。在这个时代，企业面临着新的挑战。优质服务将通过云式平台交付，而股东回报是必须的。这个新时代需要新的商业模式、新的企业结构、新的投资者参与以及新思维。
全球整合企业（globally integrated enterprise, GIE）在这个全球化时代必不可少，同时，此类企业特别适合从全球化时代中受益。我所说的全球整合企业，是指其管理和经营实现真正全球化（而不仅仅是“跨国”）的企业。在该模式中，工作的组织方式完全不同。这要求减少层级，同时需要技能和行为多元化，增加合作和透明度，财务管理更加严格，且更加注重文化差异的多样性。
举例来说，决定在何处进行经营，将取决于如何使客户、员工以及生意伙伴实现价值最大化。人不再跟着工作走，相反，工作将跟人走。因此，不同的市场不会有独立的供应链，而是只有一条全球化的供应链，不仅对产品是如此，对服务、资本、创意和知识产权而言都是如此。
同样，考虑人力资本时，不再囿于国家、地区和业务部门的限制，而是考虑如何将其作为全球性资产来管理和部署。我在IBM担任首席执行官时发现，IBM的未来将专注于创新，这意味着我们未来不是资本密集型企业，而会是人力资本密集型企业，提供软件和服务。因此，雇佣和留住最优秀的人才，比以往任何时候都更重要。但是，与从前不同的是，这些人才身在何处、来自何方并不重要，我们只希望他们在IBM工作出色，而且我们希望尽我们所能，帮助他们脱颖而出。
就我们的全球员工而言，我们认识到有必要建立共同的文化，以确保整个公司有统一的价值观，无论我们的员工在何处工作（这正是全球整合企业中“整合”一词的含义）。为此，我们在全公司进行调查（即我们所说的“ValuesJam”），使IBM所有员工都有机会畅所欲言，探讨公司应该主张什么，以及公司员工应当如何运作。调查最终产生出一套不断更新的价值观，成为联系全球IBM员工的纽带。
一家公司要成为全球整合企业，其领导者必须怀有一种特定的心态，我在IBM担任首席执行官时，致力于向我的同事们灌输这种心态。这种心态关注的重点是，企业如何作为单独的有机整体实现无缝运营：通过横向并在全球范围内整合内部操作，与外部合作伙伴协作，在全球最佳地点经营，以便从全球视角最大限度地创造价值。
采取了全球整合企业关键原则和做法的，远不止IBM一家公司。来自不同国家、不同行业的许多企业都实施了与IBM所采取的做法类似的措施。这些企业包括水泥及其它建材龙头企业墨西哥水泥集团（Cemex）、全球最具活力手机供应商之一印度巴帝电信（Bharti Airtel）、以及正凭借创新性产品和管理在全球汽车行业风生水起的中国吉利汽车（Geely）。这些企业所采取的措施，都是自身经验的副产品，它们由此得出了与IBM同样的结论：公司要保持竞争力，必须全球化，但在全球化的同时，必须紧跟客户，同时强调促进灵活、创新以及生产力的价值观和原则。
全球整合企业以及企业面对的新全球化时代，是我目前工作的重心。我在今年早些时候发表了名为《重新思考：未来之路》（Re-Think: A Path to the Future）的书作。这些领域代表了全球企业中心（Center forGlobal Enterprise）工作的基础。全球企业中心是我在去年创建的一家研究机构，致力于解读我们生活的这个时代，同时记录新的管理科学如何兴起，领导者如何运用该科学，以及所有利益相关方应如何努力使其效益最大化。（中国进出口网）
In 2011, as IBM was planning to commemorate its 100th anniversary, it struck me that therewere dramatic parallels between the company’s transformation over 10 decades and the wayin which the global economy had been transformed over the same period. Both had benefitedfrom an expansion of economic growth, and an increase in living standards, that was withoutprecedent in human history. This progress had been greatly enabled by the integration ofglobal society, and through the power and prevalence of information technology.
Today, global economic integration presents enormous opportunity for the future ofbusiness and society. For business, buying and selling goods and services in a global marketcan lead to cost savings and increased revenue, but also the ability to draw on the talents andinsights of a global workforce. Society can also benefit in a myriad of ways, from individualsrealizing higher living standards to governments realizing new avenues for cooperation. Andwhile many point to the risks of integration, the more pressing and more pragmaticquestions are the following: How do we deal with the future? Do we embrace it? Or do we clingto the past?
These questions are particularly important for companies in the United States and throughoutthe world. They face new challenges as they navigate what is the first truly global era inhuman history – an era in which the volume and speed of information, people, products,services and ideas being circulated around the world is greater than ever before. wher qualityservices will be delivered via cloud-like platforms and consistency of shareholder returns will bemandatory. This new era calls for new business models, new corporate structures, newinvestor engagement and new thinking.
Fundamental to the global era, and uniquely suited to benefit from it, is what I call the globallyintegrated enterprise (GIE), which refers to companies that are truly global (as opposed to“multinational”) in their management and their operations. In this model, work is organized infundamentally different ways. It calls for different skills and behaviors, more collaboration andtransparency, more disciplined financial management, greater focus on a multiplicity ofcultural differences, and less hierarchy.
As an example, decisions about wher to locate operations are based on how to maximizevalue for customers, employees, and business partners. Instead of taking people to wher thework is, you take work to wher the people are. Thus, rather than maintaining separate supplychains in different markets, there is one supply chain, and it’s global — not just for products,but also services, capital, ideas, and intellectual property.
Similarly, human capital is thought of not in terms of countries and regions and business units,but rather how to manage and deploy it as one global asset. While CEO, I saw that IBM’s IBM-0.02% future was going to be focused on innovation, which meant that rather than beingcapital-intensive, we were going to be human capital-intensive – delivering software andservices. So it was even more important than in the past that we hired and retained the bestpeople. But unlike earlier eras, it didn’t really matter wher these people were or wher theycame from – we simply wanted them to excel in their work at IBM and we wanted to do whatwe could to help them excel.
In connection with our global workforce, we recognized the need to create a common culturethat would ensure consistent values throughout the company, regardless of wher ouremployees were working (that’s the “integrated” part of GIE). To that end, we conducted acompany-wide survey – what we called a “ValuesJam” – that gave anyone working for IBM theopportunity to weigh in on what the company should stand for and how our employees shouldoperate. That exercise culminated with an updated set of values that became the connectivetissue for IBMers throughout the world.
For a company to become a GIE, its leaders must embrace a particular frame of mind – onethat I worked to imbue in my colleagues while I was CEO of IBM. This frame of mind is focusedon how to operate seamlessly as a single organic entity – by integrating internal operationshorizontally and globally, collaborating with external partners, and operating at the bestlocation in the world, to maximize value creation from a global point of view.
IBM is far from the only company that has adopted key GIE principles and practices. A numberof companies, operating across a diverse set of countries and industries, have implementedmeasures that resemble those we adopted at IBM. They include CemexCX -0.16% of Mexico, aleading producer of cement and other building materials; Bharti Airtel of India, one of theworld’s most dynamic cellular telephone providers; and Geely of China, which is making majorinroads in the global car industry thanks to innovative products and management. Themeasures they’ve implemented are a byproduct of their own experiences, which led them toreach the same conclusions we did at IBM: that companies need to be global in order to staycompetitive, but need to do so in ways that keep them close to their customers while alsoemphasizing values and principles that foster agility, innovation, and productivity.
The GIE, and the new global era for business, are at the center of my current work. My book,Re-Think: A Path to the Future, was published earlier this year. These areas represent thefoundation of work being undertaken by the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), which is aresearch organization I launched last year. Its work is being devoted to explaining the age inwhich we are living, while also documenting how a new management science is emerging, howleaders can apply it, and how all stakeholders should strive to maximize its benefits.
