IBM and globalisation | Hungry tiger, dancing elephant

via Economist.com: "The third model, argues Mr Palmisano, the IBM he is now building, is the “globally integrated enterprise”. Rather than have a parent with lots of Mini-Mes around the world, such a firm shapes its strategy, management and operations as a single global entity. It puts people and jobs anywhere in the world “based on the right cost, the right skills and the right business environment. And it integrates those operations horizontally and globally.” In this approach, “work flows to the places where it will be done best”, that is, most efficiently and to the highest quality. The forces behind this “are irresistible”, he says. “The genie's out of the bottle and there's no stopping it.”"

IBM is doing cutting-edge research and development in India and writing valuable software, as well as running low-cost call centres.

As the Indian tigers improve, the pressure on IBM to innovate is bound to grow. That may get harder, which is why there is speculation that it will buy one of those Indian tigers. So far, adding jobs in India has not meant shedding many jobs in costlier places, such as America. And innovating may be harder when the corporate headquarters is in cosy New York rather than in the heat of the action in India.