Another perspective on International Human Resources Management.

1. GlobalThink
101
A Primer for
International Human Resources Management

2. Teamwork
Systems Organization
Thinking Development
Fusion
Intellectual
Development Global
Acculturation
Knowledge
Management
Elements of GlobalThink

3. The New
Occupy Wall Street
Global Social Media
(Dis)Order Post Digital Revolution
Global Knowledge Economy
Arab Spring
Age of Networked Intelligence
Global Economic Dominos

4. Digital
Rules
“Ask most people which is the dominant language on
planet Earth, and they will reply that it’s either English
or Chinese. A good guess, but they would be wrong.
Binary is now dominant, with computers and machines
having more conversations every working day than a
sum total of mankind going back to the birth of Eve.”
Source: Peter Conchrane
Binary
Dominant language
planet earth =

5. Technology = Key
enabler of
globalization
Globalization and technology are
mutually reinforcing drivers of
change.

6. Multinational enterprises
are transforming into
global learning
organizations.

7. Learning
Learning is
about work, Convergence
work is
about
learning.
Work

8. Learning is integral to work - a
by-product of work rather
than something done in
isolation
- say like most
training

9. Characteristics of the
Global L.O.
• Global free flow of knowledge
• Systems thinking
• Thinking “outside the cubicle”
• Learning = key strategic global asset
• Self-directed lifelong learning

10. Global Free Flow of Knowledge
Ability to rapidly develop and access
information globally –
The key enabler of global performance

11. Often knowledge is locked
away inside remote
departments, BUs and
communities of practice
and fiercely protected
from both competitors, and
cohorts.

12. People must willingly
contribute knowledge.
“You can have the perfect e-mail
system. The perfect groupware. Be
wired up the gazoo. But it doesn’t
mean that the organization will
rapidly - and exhaustively and in a
timely fashion-share information.”
Source: Tom Peters

13. I get it!
Knowledge is not neat or simple.
It is a complex mixture of various
elements; it is fluid and formally
structured and comes in at least two
flavors.
Knowledge = Information in Context + Understanding

14. Knowledge Data
“It is all to easy to confuse data with with knowledge
and information with information technology.”
Source: Peter Drucker

15. Knowledge originates
and resides in people’s
minds.
In the post digital revolution,
global organizations are more
dependent on people than ever.
Knowledge = transient asset

16. Knowledge Management
(Kind of) Defined
“KM is a lofty concept - debated by academics and even doubted by some
analysts - and one that few businesses have mastered.”
Source: InformationWeek
KM = A term used to describe the evolving
practice of accelerating learning and
performance by connecting and coordinating
organizational intellectual resources and
information technology.

17. Learning Knowledge
A process that
generates knowledge
Explicit Tacit
Hard skills, Skills,
facts that can judgment,
be codified intuition,
operational
know-how

18. KM Problem:
Formal systems
can’t easily store “most workplace learning
or transfer tacit goes on unbudgeted,
knowledge. unplanned, and uncaptured
by the organization…Up to
Knowledge treated 70% of workplace learning
as a tangible. is informal.”
KM frequently Source: Center for Workforce
Development study
isolated in IT
department.
Overvalue explicit - Undervalue tacit

19. Reality
Learning Knowledge
A process that
generates knowledge
Explicit Tacit
Most KM practice Hard skills, Skills,
focuses on collecting, facts that can judgment,
distributing, re-using, be codified intuition,
and measuring existing operational
codified knowledge and know-how
information.

20. OK, Let’s convert tacit to explicit!
“A logic goal is to identify critical knowledge
assets codify them.”
Source: Annie Brooking
Looks Good on Paper, But….

21. The KM Fix
The crux of the KM issue is not
information, information technology, or
knowledge.
It’s really about how you get busy people
to support KM.
The answer has much more to do with
motivation and leadership than bits and
bytes.

22. The Hard Part
Emotional Engagement
Knowing Doing
Knowledge &
information are
vitally important, Motivation
but ultimately it’s
performance that Acknowledge emotion
counts.

23. “Organizations learn only through individuals
who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee
organizational learning. But without it no
organizational learning occurs.”
Source: Pete Senge
It’s Personal

24. The absence of the human moment - on
an organizational scale - will wreak
havoc.
Human Interactions = Real substance of
global teamwork.
“Links between human beings,
not between machines, is the
real challenge of
globalization”
Source: Devereaux & Johansen

25. Systems Thinking
“How can a team of committed
managers with individual IQs above
120 have a collective IQ of 63?”
Source: Peter Senge

26. Workforce =
principle asset

27. Global organizations have a need for
not only scientists, computer
wizards, and engineers, but for a
highly-skilled workforce as a whole.
This means
everyone!

28. GlobalThink: The Skills Sets
• Technical competency
• Flexible, self-directed team player
• Ability to cope with ambiguity
• Strong communications skills
• Ability to stay current - maintain work skills
• Ability to deal with change
• Sense of responsibility
• Ability to appreciate a diverse multicultural
workplace

29. Changing Nature of Work
Pre Digital Revolution
• Low skilled
• Meaningless
repetitive tasks
• Individual work
• Single skilled
• Coordination from
above

30. Changing Nature of Work
Post Digital Revolution
• Knowledge work
• Innovative tasks
• Teamwork
• Multiskilled
• Peer coordination

31. Multicultural Intelligence
Globalization demands that
individuals develop cultural literacy --
a sense of comfort that enables them
to be effective anywhere, anytime,
with anyone.

32. “There are no
foreigners in a
global world.”
Source: Ted Turner
We are all Global Citizens

33. “Globalization is not a fashion, or a temporary
development. It is here to stay, and most companies or
managers have yet to make their accommodation to it.”
Source: Jeannet
Competitive Advantage = Workforce
fluent in the ways of the world
Multicultural Perspective
Single Culture Dominance

34. Born in the USA
Ethnocentricity?
Organizations tend to develop
policies and strategies that
concentrate on nationals of the
headquarters country.

35. European Managers
Views on American
Business
Source: WSJ, 8/15/00
American technology,
entrepreneurial spirit,
productivity and
Provincial attitudes, everything to do with
ignorant of world Digital revolution.
affairs, excessively
materialistic.

36. Get a Global
Mindset
Your First Steps
Declare global citizenship.
Accept equality of all cultures represented by
stakeholders.
Recognize that our own cultural provincialities
are invisible to you (and maybe us).

37. “Most multinational
companies now do a
good job of
globalizing the
supply chains for all
their essential raw
materials -- except
human resources”
Source: Quelch & Bloom

38. While operations, sales, and marketing have
generally made significant progress to go
global……… HR is lagging behind
Missing in action:
Global human resources

39. Global HR
Essentials
Develop, nurture, and reward global diversity.
Globally connect all HR activities.
Build global awareness at all levels - in all HR groups and
locations. No exceptions.
Create an Global HR mission statement.

40. The only real core competency
is growing talent globally
The right talent in the right
places at the right times.