Globalization Must Be Embraced: IBM’s Elix

By adopting global integration strategies immediately and together, multinational corporations could ensure that globalization continues unimpeded. And that would force governments to collaborate and respond to globalization, according to Doug Elix, head of IBM’s sales and distribution arm. He suggests that globalization of business is inevitable, and he emphasized that point with a visit to Bangalore, India, before 10,000 cheering IBM employees and a giant clock counting down. Elix’s arrival in Bangalore came on the heels of a company announcement that IBM would spend US$6 billion in 2007 to expand operations in India. The proliferation of highly qualified candidates abroad, stresses Elix, means that corporations will naturally globalize operations. Multinationals are no longer the instruments of national agendas – and countries such as the US, Australia, the UK and Germany must find innovative ways to keep their workers on the cutting edge. In other words, it’s every company, every country, for itself. – YaleGlobal