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The Global Delivery Dilemma: Moving Information Internationally

It's 5 p.m. An email request for information has just arrived in your box from your corporate affiliate in Japan. They need the information by the end of their business day...today.

You check your schedule. You can't skip tonight's banquet. So, you'll have to come back and run the search between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. in order to fulfill the request.

If you work in a multinational company, this scenario is familiar—one, in fact, that happened recently to Leslie Burke, Supervisor, Corporate Support Services for Amway Corporation, one of the world's largest direct selling organizations. With affiliates in 42 countries and 35 territories, Amway's information services department regularly responds to requests of this type, although not always in such a tight timeframe. "Our role is to be responsive to our affiliates' needs," says Burke, "around the clock, if necessary."

Different time zones are just one of the challenges facing multinational and multi-site companies. What about language barriers, cultural differences and compatibility of technology issues? All of these challenges influence how the job is done. Read on to find out how five companies—Amway; Glaxo Wellcome; Merck, Sharpe & Dohme; SmithKline Beecham; and Steelcase—confront these challenges each business day.

Time Zones
Time zones may be the most visible challenge facing companies with offices around the world. Can an information services department in London really serve staff halfway around the world in a timely fashion? Yes, they can—through email, voicemail, faxing, and occasionally videoconferencing.

"My colleagues in the States can always ring me and leave me a message late in the afternoon," says Peter Bysouth, International Contracts Manager of Information Products & Services for Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development. "I pick it up on my voicemail the following morning. Obviously it's frustrating at times that you can't actually have a one-to-one conversation with somebody directly, but heavy use of email, fax machines, when necessary, and increasing use of voicemail systems and videoconferencing gives us a fair degree of communication globally." Glaxo Wellcome R&D has found this method effective for communications with its six offices outside the U.K., in the U.S., Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Japan.

Bonnie Washburn, Information Specialist for Steelcase—the world's largest office furniture manufacturer—also relies on email in supporting the 75 subsidiaries and sales offices outside the company's Grand Rapids, Michigan, headquarters. "We're pretty heavily email based because it's the fastest and most inexpensive delivery method. The time difference really isn't a problem, other than sometimes someone will say, 'I need it by 6:00 p.m.,' and we know their 6:00 p.m. is our 12 noon, so we have to scurry to get it to them."

"I'm not sure email is the best way to send information requests," says Sharon Leighton, Ph.D., Medical Information Services Manager for Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Limited, based in the U.K. Her department services three other sites within the U.K., an office in Ireland, and occasional contacts with subsidiaries throughout the world. "If they email it to me, and I'm not here, the request won't be picked up until I next check my email. So I tend to say to them, 'Can you copy my secretary so she can check as well?' In addition, Sharon and her staff encourage people to put requests through a different route. "We have a Lotus Notes application with a discussion database. You can post a question and anyone can come up with the answer. You can tap into the full power of the company and not just one person," she explains.

Still others, like SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, rely heavily on phone contact. "Fortunately, when working with Europe, we have the overlap of the business day," says Penny Young, Assistant Director, Literature and Patent Search Services—U.S., R&D Information Management. "We reserve the mornings in the U.S. and the afternoons in the U.K. for the business that involves both. WE have the two clocks in our library as a constant reminder of the time difference." The information services department also works with Japan, France, Spain, and Italy.

"You can easily forget about time zones, or misread your clock, or miscalculate the time difference," acknowledges Bysouth. "It's surprising how many office cleaners I've spoken to when ringing suppliers in the States."

Language Barriers
If time zones aren't difficult enough to navigate, there is the added pressure of communicating with staff in different countries who speak another language.

"The biggest problem I've encountered is with the Japanese language," says Washburn of Steelcase. "Sometimes the requests aren't clear. While I speak English very well, sometimes things get a little turned around—especially if they're trying to spell something phonetically. And when you're doing research, you really need to know how things are spelled or you don't get an answer," she says.

"I'm fortunate to be working for an American company, because most people speak excellent English," says Leighton of Merck, Sharpe & Dohme. "We just have to remember to phrase correspondence in a neutral way—without idioms or slang. However, some of the differences still come out. My Spanish colleague writes beautiful flowery paragraphs of prose, because he's trying to put the flavor of the Spanish language into English."

"Language barriers are not really a problem for us," says Burke of Amway. "We have a translation department that publishes in Spanish, French and German, and we have staff who speak a variety of languages, including Japanese, Cantonese and a lot of the European languages. The real challenge is getting the request either second- or third-hand from another department. Things can get lost in the translation. Also, if our contact can't relay the purpose of the search, we are hampered somewhat. We're working to get requests directly from the source to eliminate some of the filtering," she says.

"Because we're within a scientific community, English is the usual working language," says Bysouth of Glaxo Wellcome. "Most of the people within the information services departments with whom I deal speak reasonably good English, especially on the European side. It's a little more tenuous with our Japanese colleagues. There's always a danger that acronyms and colloquialisms will mystify your overseas colleagues," says Bysouth, "but if you talk slowly and speak reasonably plain English, it's not too bad."

Bysouth—who is based in London—acknowledges his surprise at how difficult communications can sometimes be with his American colleagues. "Was it Bernard Shaw who said that we're two foreign countries with a common language? The phraseology between English English and American English is sometimes quite tricky. I've found when sending emails or talking to people, you can sometimes confuse or create the wrong message. So you still have to be on your toes."

Cultural Differences
While language differences may be blatant, the more subtle cultural differences can sometimes have a greater impact on office communications. For example, did you know that the British use a plural verb for a plural noun? If you didn't, you would think the writer of "[Dialog] are..." has poor grammar and might dismiss him or her as uneducated.

"When dealing with another culture, you have to give people the benefit of the doubt," says Young of SmithKline Beecham. "You don't know what assumptions they're making or even what assumptions you're making. You have to remind yourself to ask a few more questions about what's going on." Young, a U.S. native, spent two years in London to get to know the culture in a way that she couldn't otherwise. "In the U.K., we have the British Library for document delivery. In the U.S., we don't have any organization that's comparable to that, but we have different ways of accomplishing the same thing, primarily with fee-for-service vendors like [Dialog]. You have to make the necessary adaptations for the local circumstances, but try to start from a common default. That way it is possible for people to discuss what they're doing in a common way," says Young.

"Try not to be a xenophobe," says Leighton of Merck, Sharpe & Dohme. "When I meet with people with different backgrounds, I try to find things in common with them. Locate that common ground and you'll bond despite cultural differences." She tells the story of a colleague from Finland with whom she's built such a relationship. "He often includes comments in his correspondence meant to be funny, but because he's writing in English in a very stilted Finnish way, it's even funnier," she acknowledges. "Humor forms a bond between people."

"Cross-cultural exchanges, where possible, are extremely valuable," says Bysouth of Glaxo Wellcome. "We have an annual international gathering where the senior managers of various information functions get together. We update each other, exchange views and opinions, and establish objectives for the next year. We also have some short-term assignments, where information specialists spend three months in another country. People pick up a lot, not only in terms of how we operate, but culturally as well."

"We haven't notices any difficulties with different cultures," says Burke of Amway. "Part of the reason may be because many of the requests are channeled to us from headquarters colleagues. Some of those cultural difference may be filtered out; We do see cultural differences when email communication—normally quite casual—becomes very formal. And of course, out library is the primary resource here for information about culture and customs in the overseas market. We provide staff with books and information on culture, guides on doing business in various countries, and even language tapes and dictionaries to help them function effectively."

Compatibility of Technology
Typically, different cultures in different countries rely on different technologies. Do companies need the same systems to in order to function effectively on a global scale? According to these companies, the answer is yes. "I think we're quire lucky because Merck has standards for technology across the whole company," says Leighton. "Everything that is planned or put in place has to be compatible. We don't have a problem within the company, but when dealing with outside suppliers and resources it can be an issue."

"On our end, compatibility of technology is not a problem," agrees Washburn of Steelcase. "When sending to people outside the system, email may not look as nice on their end. At this point, they have to wade through it, but it hasn't become a point of concern."

"A lot of effort has gone into standardizing our desktop," explains Bysouth. "Glaxo Wellcome R&D has a standardized international communications network with computer centers in the various countries linked by dedicated lines. That means when I visit North Carolina, I can sit down at a PC there and access my email. We're also trying to simplify the provision of published information across the R&D sites."

"When Glaxo acquired Wellcome a couple of years ago," he explains, "across the two U.K. research centers and the two research centers in North Carolina, we had six different ways scientists could access the MEDLINE® database. We are now just beginning to roll out a single platform for MEDLINE across the U.K. and the U.S. that will be accessible by the other European research centers as well. SO all of our scientists will have access to the same search engine for the MEDLINE database."

Like Glaxo Wellcome, all staff at Amway use the same network. "We have not had any technology compatibility problems," says Burke. "All of our affiliates—even those in remote sites—are connected electronically to the corporation in some way. They have access to email, to LAN applications, to phones, faxes, and videoconferencing capabilities, if not at their affiliate, then nearby. Plus, many of them have their own heavily-used networks between the sites to relay information and cut down on some of the travel. Our corporate information systems staff—regularly go to the affiliates to set up systems that are compatible with the corporation."

Challenges: Positive or Negative?
Time zones, language barriers, cultural differences, technology...is tackling these difficulties worth the effort?

"It's essential in our particular industry," says Young. "I think the real disadvantage would be not toe transnational. It's almost a requirement in our business—the pharmaceutical industry—to be effectively transnational. If you stay small, you're going to get swallowed up."

"The challenges are definitely not a disadvantage," says Washburn. "I think it's good for everyone to be exposed to the other cultures. If gives you more of an awareness of what the issues are, and how you can work with them more effectively."

"I think it has enriched our corporate culture," says Burke. "Each new culture we deal with increases our skill base and our understanding. This makes moving into new markets easier, because people have already developed the skills to look for similarities and differences in a culture and adjust accordingly. I think it makes our international business stronger."

"If you make it work—and it takes a certain amount of effort to make it work—there are great advantages to it," says Bysouth. "Our research benefits from a mix of different national cultures. We draw on the different cultures' way of thinking, different approaches to research—working with the same basic pool of information. I'd say it's an investment well worth putting in."