7945_22-25_270809.qxd:22-25 20/08/2009 15:41 Page 24
CLOSE-UP
DenisO'Brien,chairmanof PatrickGibbons,Jefferson ThomasLawton,professorof LiamO’Mahony,chairmanof
DigicelGroup Smurfitprofessorofcorporate strategicmanagementatCranfield SmurfitKappa,formerCEO
planningatUCDSchoolof UniversitySchoolofManagement ofCRH
Business
International representation whichweestablishcompetitiveenterprisesthatareinternationally-
The latter two may not be open to all, but the former is vital, orientedearlyonwillbeabsolutelyvitalforourfuture.
accordingtoallourinterviewees.Gibbonsisadamantthatwemust “Weneedtoinvestinthethingsthatwillmakeuscompetitive
retain our international representation in order to support those – education, leadership and management development, our
enterprisesherewiththeireyeoninternationaltrade. digitalinfrastructureandappropriatesupportsforinternationally
“Iknowinthecurrentclimatetheremaybeeffortstocurtailour competitiveenterprises.”
diplomaticrepresentationinternationally,”hesays.“ButIthinkwe
getamazingbangforthebuckforourinvestmentinourdiplomats, Internationalisation strategy
ourembassies,EnterpriseIrelandofficesabroad.Anycurtailment So for those Irish companies that are looking to expand into for-
ofthatwouldbeverymuchafalseeconomy.” eign markets for the first time what are the strategy challenges?
Denis O’Brien knows all about internationalising a business. “Oftenmanagersthinkthattheyneedtohaveaverydifferentstrat-
TodayheischairmanofDigicelGroup,oneofthefastest-growing egy and one which is fundamentally different from what they do
cellularcompaniesintheworld,andthelargestintheCaribbean. domestically.Idon’tthinkthatisthecase,”saysLawton.“Theprin-
Digicel Central America recently launched businesses in ciplesandpracticesusedshouldbelargelythesame.
HondurasandPanama. “What I think has to change, where the differences arise, are
O’BrienechoesGibbonsconcerns.“WhenIreadintheBordSnip what I call the ‘three Cs’: context, culture and complexity. That’s
reportthattheywanttocloseembassies,Ithought‘ohno,thoseare really where they have to change their strategic awareness, as
probably the markets where we have the best chance of actually opposedtotheirfundamentalstrategy.
generatingbusinessandsalesofIrishproductsandservices’.They “Soclearlytherewillbeissuestoaddresssuchaschoosingcoun-
areprobablymoreimportantthan,say,theembassyinBerlin.” trylocations,decidingontheforeignmarketentrymode–doyou
He says under the auspices of Dermot Gallagher, former secre- setupacompanyfromscratchonagreenfieldsite,orareyougoing
tary general in the Department of Foreign Affairs, many of these todoitthroughstrategicallianceorthroughjointventure?Areyou
embassieshavetransformedfromwhathecallsthe“ginandtonic” goingtogoinverybiginitially,orareyougoingtodipyourtoein
style to true “business development agencies”. He also has high thewater?Thisistosomeextenttheso-calledstagesapproachin
praise for the Enterprise Ireland offices he has dealt with in far- internationalbusinesstheory.
flunglands.It’sadevelopmentO’Brienbelievesthatmustbecon- “Other strategic issues to address include a balancing of the
tinued,ratherthancurtailed. global local needs to your international market strategy. So, for
On the contrary, agrees Gibbons, we should be expanding, for instance, part of the reason for internationalising might be to
example,ourEnterpriseIrelandnetworkinternationally.Heeven reduce your costs and to achieve somewhat of an integration of
questionswhetherthetimeisoverfortwoseparateorganisations back office activities, but at the same time, clearly you have to be
inEnterpriseIrelandandtheIDA. awareoflocalneedsandtastesaswellasregulatoryrequirements.
“Perhapsoneofthethingsweshouldconsideristhecombination “Another challenge would be cross-cultural management, how
of Enterprise Ireland and the IDA,” he says. “What we should be doyouasanIrishmanagerwithaseniorteamfromCoClareman-
interested in is the success and expansion of firms and organisa- age to do business in the Ukraine or in China? How do you deal
tionsthatarelocatedinIreland–perhapsirrespectiveoftheirown- withpeoplethere?”
ership.Wereallyneedtorethinkthatbifurcationbetweenforeign This is an area where Irish companies have been traditionally
ownedanddomesticallyowned,andfocusonensuringthatallenti- competitive,saysLawton.“Thenumberofmanagerswhoare,not
tiesthatarelocatedhereinIrelandareinternationallycompetitive. onlyculturallyaware,butculturallysensitivecertainlyisquitefew.
“It’s very easy to pull back everything at the moment because Ithinkthat'sanimportantdistinction.Ifyoulookatthemostsuc-
we’reundersuchpressure,buttheonlythingthat’sgoingtogetus cessful internationalised companies, they often come from small
out of the situation that we’re in is internationally competitive opencountries,liketheNetherlands,forexample.
enterprises located in Ireland,” continues Gibbons. “The way in “To me, the key is not necessarily that you as an Irish manager
24UCDBUSINESS CONNECTIONS
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