Global business
全球商業
In praise of the stateless multinational
表彰無國界的跨國公司

Not without its flaws, but infinitely preferable to the state-bound version
盡管并不完美，但這個超越國境的模型還是令人無限向往

IF YOU hanker after the idealistic spirit of international co-operation, talk to the boss of an emerging-market multinational. Not the boss of Gazprom, perhaps, which has behaved like an arm of the Russian state. But try Chairman Yang Yuanqing of Lenovo, who has moved his family to North Carolina to deepen his appreciation of American culture, so as to help him integrate his Chinese and American workers. Or Lakshmi Mittal, the London-based Indian boss of Arcelor Mittal, who says his multinational team of executives get on so well that he forgets there are different nationalities in the room, and who believes his firm has no nationality, instead being “truly global”.

如果你渴望跨國合作的理想主義精神，那么你和跨國新興市場的老板就有的聊了。當然也許不是Gazprom的老板，因為該公司就像俄羅斯政府的臂膀；而應該是聯想集團的楊元慶董事長，他為了加深對美國文化的理解而舉家遷往北卡，此舉也幫助他整合了中美員工；還有總部在倫敦的阿賽樂-米塔爾鋼鐵公司的印度裔老板頭拉克希米•塔爾，宣稱自己的跨國管理團隊相處的是如此之好，以至于他都忘記了不同國籍的存在，他堅信自己的公司沒有國界限制，而是”真正意義的國際化”。

Lenovo and Arcelor Mittal are at the leading edge of a new phase in the evolution of the multinational corporation, as our special report this week argues. At first companies set up overseas sales offices, to watch over the export of goods made at home. Then they built small foreign replicas of the mother ship, to cater to local demand. Today the goal is to create what Sam Palmisano, the boss of IBM, calls the “globally integrated enterprise”-a single firm in which work is sourced wherever it is most efficient.

正如我刊本周特別報告中指出的那樣，聯想和阿賽樂-米塔爾處于跨國公司全新進化階段的前沿位置。首先公司設立海外銷售辦公室來關注從母國出口到境外的產品；然后仿照母公司的模式在境外建立小型機構，用以迎合本地需求。目前跨國公司的目標是建立IBM老板彭明盛所宣稱的”整合全球的企業”–一個可以在全球任何地方利用最高效資源工作的公司。

For business leaders, building a firm that is seamlessly integrated across time zones and cultures presents daunting obstacles. Rather than huddling together in a headquarters building in Armonk or Millbank, senior managers will increasingly be spread around the world, which will require them to learn some new tricks.

作為當今企業領袖，想建立一個整合所有時區和文化的無縫公司會遇到讓人生畏的阻礙。因為高管人員不能再呆在位于Armonk或者Millbank的總部大樓里，而是要分散到世界各地；而這需要他們學習一些新的技巧。

How do you get virtual teams of workers to bond, for instance? The answer seems to be a lot of time spent talking-as well as the odd junket. MySQL, an online database firm, holds virtual Christmas parties, at which teams around the world play games and exchange virtual gifts. And what about overcoming all those awkward cultural differences? Lenovo, for example, has had to encourage normally reticent Chinese workers to speak candidly in meetings with American colleagues.

再舉例來說，你怎么才能讓這樣一隊虛擬員工團結在一起呢？答案似乎應該是大量的交流探討和古怪的公費旅游。MySOL是一家在線數據庫公司，每年它都會舉辦虛擬圣誕派對，全球各地的團隊在線游戲并交換虛擬禮物。那么該怎么克服那些尷尬的文化差異呢？以聯想為例，它通常會鼓勵很含蓄的中國員工，鼓勵他們在與美國同事的會議上可以暢所欲言。

Some people assume that stateless multinationals inevitably compete away standards in a race to the bottom. It is true that multinationals tend to shop around for taxes, but in other ways they are usually sticklers for good behaviour. Encouragingly, firms from emerging markets are finding that a globally integrated company needs a single culture, and that the best way to foster this is to make the highest ethics anywhere in the firm the norm for everyone, wherever they are working. Anything less tends to corrode the culture.

有些人預測無國界的跨國公司必將在淘汰賽中堅持到底：跨國公司確實有在全球范圍內尋找避稅寶地的趨勢，但是在其他方面，它還是良好行為的堅決擁護者。可喜的是新興市場公司認識到在全球范圍內實現整合的公司需要單一的文化，而促進這一文化的最佳方式就是將全公司范圍內的最高道德作為工作在世界各地的每一個人的規范，同時盡量避免可能損傷該文化事件的發生。

A globally integrated firm cannot allow corrupt practices by employees in some countries and not others, so it must outlaw them everywhere. On the other hand, it cannot enforce religious practices and holidays, or different ways of life, so it must preach tolerance. One investment bank, for example, is extending its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender network to its Indian operations over the opposition of its local boss.

全球整合公司不允許一些國家的員工出現腐敗行為，而在另一些國家卻沒有，因此它必須開除他們；在另一方面，它也不能強制宗教信仰、法定假日或者生活習慣，所以它必須鼓勵寬容。以一家投行為例，盡管印度分部的老板持反對意見，但還是將業務范圍擴展到了同性戀、雙性戀和變性人的服務上。

Flag-wavering
搖旗吶喊

In fact, the real threat comes from overly chummy links between a state and its multinationals. Although politicians may have been more comfortable in a world where what was good for General Motors was good for America, that tended to lead to protectionism and antiquated working practices. Firms in which loyalty to the state goes beyond the economic value it offers usually expect something in return-soft contracts and subsidies, perhaps, or standards conveniently set in their interest. In fact the sorry story of GM itself highlights the dangers of being a national champion. Rather than fear the stateless corporation, people would be wise to do all they can to make them feel at home in their country.

實際上，真正的威脅來自于跨國公司同某一個國家過分親密的聯系。政客們習慣生活在一個這樣的一個世界中：那些對通用汽車和美國有利的東西總會導致貿易保護主義和陳舊的工作習慣。那些忠誠于美國的公司付出了超過經濟價值以外的貢獻，它們期望美國的禮尚往來：寬松的合同，還可能是津貼或者是為了它們的便利而設立的條件。實際上通用汽車的悲慘故事本身就已經突出了作為領軍人物的危險性。人們不應該對跨國公司感到恐懼，而是應該明智的盡力讓那些公司習慣在本地運作。