The shift towards a global office
During the last three months we have been shockingly surprised to discover that most of us can work from home. Not only is it feasible, it is also efficient. One could even go further and say that distance doesn’t matter. If the team produces the same quality of work miles from each other instead of mere metres from each other, whilst keeping clients happy, then there’s no going back to the way we were.
Even though we all doubt that there will be a permanent shift towards working from home, it does shed light onto the opportunity of a geographically diverse workforce. This could mean a surge in hiring employees or obtaining clients from different countries, without physically ever seeing them. After all, no one ever saw us working from home; is internationalising a business really that far-fetched?
There are many strategic advantages to internationalising firms that can benefit both the company and the current workforce. Here are a few:
1. Increases the prospective of new clients
The best way of making a company robust is by not relying solely on one client. When whole economies shatter, there are many more business opportunities when the company isn’t restricted to regional or national clients. Furthermore, national problems may not affect international clients. If you are truly the best at what you do, then international clients won’t hesitate to knock on your door.
2. Location economies
You know how production companies search for the optimum setting to produce their goods, giving them an advantage in cost of production over their competitors? This is known as location economies, which can also be applied to the service industry. By identifying the best individuals that will add value to your company, you acquire priceless assets. It may be that the employee you’re looking for performs more efficiently and effectively because they are in a different location around the world.
If, for example, your client asks you to expand their brand to Germany, would you assume to know their culture well enough to go in blind? A lot can be gained by consulting specialists abroad.
3. Valuable skills
Leverage the valuable skills that are developed in foreign operations and transfer them within the firm’s global network. Get employees talking to each other on a one-on-one basis about how they tackle their jobs, it’s never been easier in a world where almost half of it is, in fact, bilingual.
4. Experience effects
We all benefit from working with different people. The experience we gain by seeing how things are done in other countries could lead to new ideas and diverse ways of creating content.
5. Communication services have low government involvement
Unlike the import/export of goods, communication services don’t incur physical barriers.
Internationalisation requires good, flexible and adaptable strategies that are executed well. Treating countries differently and tailoring services will allow firms to serve different markets accurately.
New business trends will arise due to the change in working behaviour this year. Working from home has clearly made it harder to establish boundaries between work and life, with many people starting their working day earlier and finishing later. Since a global workforce functions in different time zones, then a shift towards a 24 hour service, where efficiency is gained, may be a new norm without increasing individual working hours. Ultimately, internationalisation has never been so appealing.
