An international company denotes an organization with operations and market interests

outside its home country. And such an organization attracts strong international
competition and relies on, at its most basic, a plan that encapsulates all the activities to
move the business forward. Strategy preparation is not an empty slogan, it is a good
business decision because a business not creating value will fail.

Go Global Or Stay Local

Managing international operations has been a constant business challenge. The universe
of these operations is large and varied. And not all international businesses lend
themselves to global competition, many operate under a collection of national markets -
those in household products, foods and fast turnaround services are some examples. In
my experience in the energy and natural resources sector, the industry is global in nature.
A global competitor manages its business in various countries as one system, not a series
of independent elements. Positions country-by-country adopted are interdependent of a
worldwide portfolio to be increased or decreased as economics and effectiveness dictate.

In classic portfolio planning, resource allocation dictates that a company defends strong
positions and weak ones to be turned around or jettisoned. In practice, this distinction is
not as clear-cut because for strategic reasons meant green-light certain projects with low
returns for their competitive payoff. Is the company willing to risk the investment to gain a
market edge over competitors? In turn, to confidently recognize this advantage, the
company must fundamentally understand its own purpose - its identity and distinctiveness.
Businesses have to compete for capital and investors ultimately invest to make profit. A
clear purpose defines why the company exists and communicates its value, and value is
what attracts and keeps customers.

Knowledge Sharing Culture To Unlock Value

The world never stands still, businesses are increasingly networked and digitized - inside
and out. Ideas and solutions are being diffused throughout the world at a rate that would
have been unimaginable even 10 years ago. Continuing advances in technology and
communications create opportunities and new forms of international collaboration for
everyone. These exchanges are a valuable asset because building and leveraging
knowledge improve performance thus a company’s competitiveness. I have witnessed
from previous energy clients that learning remain at the heart of a company’s ability to
adapt to a changing business environment. Investments in processes and information
systems - knowledge management – are made to systemically capture the required
information so that employees throughout an organization could take advantage of both
explicit (data) and implicit (experience) knowledge to avoid reinventing the wheel again
and again.

And this learning process extends beyond the internal organizational boundaries. The
world is moving too fast and too complex for any company to have all the solutions inside;
external influences - partners, suppliers and customers - are all great leverage points to
learn and perform tasks more efficiently. To maximize this value, strong and stable
business relationships are therefore important. Without goodwill and trust, it can’t be
expected that others will share their knowledge and resources fully.