IBM前CEO彭明盛：一家真正的全球化企业是如何练就的

    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 for Global 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。

    彭明盛曾担任IBM董事长、总裁以及首席执行官，目前为全球企业中心董事长。（财富中文网）

    译者：Hunter

    审校：Lina

    In connection with our global workforce, we recognized the need to create a common culture that would ensure consistent values throughout the company, regardless of where our employees were working (that’s the “integrated” part of GIE). To that end, we conducted a company-wide survey – what we called a “ValuesJam” – that gave anyone working for IBM the opportunity to weigh in on what the company should stand for and how our employees should operate. That exercise culminated with an updated set of values that became the connective tissue for IBMers throughout the world.

    For a company to become a GIE, its leaders must embrace a particular frame of mind – one that I worked to imbue in my colleagues while I was CEO of IBM. This frame of mind is focused on how to operate seamlessly as a single organic entity – by integrating internal operations horizontally and globally, collaborating with external partners, and operating at the best location 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 number of companies, operating across a diverse set of countries and industries, have implemented measures that resemble those we adopted at IBM. They include CemexCX -0.16% of Mexico, a leading producer of cement and other building materials; Bharti Airtel of India, one of the world’s most dynamic cellular telephone providers; and Geely of China, which is making major inroads in the global car industry thanks to innovative products and management. The measures they’ve implemented are a byproduct of their own experiences, which led them to reach the same conclusions we did at IBM: that companies need to be global in order to stay competitive, but need to do so in ways that keep them close to their customers while also emphasizing 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 the foundation of work being undertaken by the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), which is a research organization I launched last year. Its work is being devoted to explaining the age in which we are living, while also documenting how a new management science is emerging, how leaders can apply it, and how all stakeholders should strive to maximize its benefits.

    Sam Palmisano is the former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of IBM and currently serves as chairman of the Center for Global Enterprise.