From his London office, Richard J. Callahan, the U.S. West International chief,. . . begins a turbocharged conference call with seven division presidents in five countries. They hash over cellular-phone sales in the Czech Republic, forecast long-distance hookups in Russia, and give a thumbs-up to opening an office in Japan.
Of all the developments propelling global business today, the one that is transforming the international managers agenda more than any other is the rapid advances in information technology (IT). The speed and accuracy of information transmission are changing the nature of the global managers job by making geographic barriers less relevant. Indeed, the necessity of being able to access IT is being recognized by managers and families around the world, who are giving priority to being plugged in over other lifestyle accoutrements.
Information can no longer be centrally or secretly controlled by governments; political, economic, market, and competitive information is available almost instantaneously to anyone around the world, permitting informed and accurate decision making. Even cultural barriers are being gradually lowered by the role of information in educating societies about one another. Indeed, as consumers around the world become more aware, through various media, about how people in other countries live, their tastes and preferences begin to converge: Global brands of colas, blue jeans, athletic shoes and designer ties and handbags are as much on the mind of the taxi driver in Shanghai as they are in the home of the schoolteacher in Stockholm.22
The explosive growth of information technology is both a cause and an effect of globalism. The information revolution is boosting productivity around the world.
In addition, the use of the Internet is propelling electronic commerce around the world, as discussed later in this chapter. Companies around the world are linked electronically to their employees, customers, distributors, suppliers, and alliance partners in many countries. Technology, in all its forms, gets dispersed around the world by multinational corporations (MNCs) and their alliance partners in many countries. However, some of the information intended for electronic transmission is currently subject to export controls by an EU directive intended to protect private information about its citizens. So, perhaps IT is not yet borderless after all, but rather as subject to the same norms, preferences, and regulations as human cross-border interactions.
Information Technology : Economic article from Global Management Catagory Information Technology
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