Thinking local, acting global

For decades, multinational companies have followed a simple mantra, best described as: ‘think global, act local’. Critical to their success has been their ability to roll out trusted brands, innovations and ideas across the world, whilst leveraging economies of scale and standardised ways of working.

Yet more recently, this model has come under pressure, as a growing number of disruptive local competitors have entered the marketplace and challenged the status quo enjoyed by global companies for so long.

The reasons are clear to see. In a world where consumer preferences are changing rapidly, small and ‘local’ enterprises often enjoy competitive advantage because of their proximity and speed. They have shown that they can identify and act upon new trends a little bit faster than the rest.

So winning in this new environment requires global companies to significantly refresh their approach. In my opinion, the days of ‘think global, act local’ are gone. Instead, it’s time to ‘think local, act global.’ 

Don’t be mistaken, this is not just a play of words. It’s a fundamental change in doing business. At its heart is an obsessive focus on understanding local consumer needs; truly understanding their preferences, their motivations, their desires. This is the ‘think local’ part.

The ‘act global’ part speaks to the eternal truth that solutions can come from anywhere in the world. Having worked in a number of global roles for Unilever, I’ve experienced myself that tapping into expertise and knowledge across our global organisation often brings the answer to the challenges we are facing.

Purchasing power and a more effective go-to-market organisation are well-recognised benefits of scale that big, global companies have access to. Another key differentiator for successful multinationals of the future will be their access to a global pool of resource, expertise and talent, whether it’s in research and development, supply chain or marketing – something that smaller local players generally lack.

Of course, this shift is easier said than done. It requires significant cultural change in organisations; one which requires ‘global’ leaders to think and behave differently, where they act as ‘connectors’ rather than serving the business through the more traditional means of command and control. It requires true delegation and empowering the front line to act with the speed and agility required in today’s world.

At Unilever we have been making really good progress on this journey through our Connected 4 Growth programme. The results have been hugely encouraging as we transform our organisation to be even closer to the consumer - and operate with more speed and agility. We do this using our strong portfolio of purpose-led global and local brands, and benefit from having a more G-Local organisation than some of our peers.

What’s more, we are finding that this approach is hugely empowering for our people and unleashing real energy across our organisation, both globally and locally!