Glocalisation in facilities management

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The start of the global/local balancing act

Obvious as it may seem, there's no point changing the REFM organisation if the business, its organisation and infrastructure won't support it. Some things are too important to a company's ability to trade, and/or its image and reputation to allow any flex at local level.

There are other things which don't translate across regions and boundaries. Local legislation and culture often dictate that Human Resources (HR) decisions are best made country by country. One leading technology business, for example, recently "de-globalised" HR processes in Asia on realising its global KPIs could never match local expectations around career movement and progression.

A helpful analogy to visualise glocal enablers: The abacus

There is no one-size-fits-all glocalisation standard. A helpful analogy to visualise enablers on the global/local spectrum is the abacus. Companies and their REFM providers must allow people to operate between the extremes of globalisation and local organisation. Key enablers such as process and technology should match and support their movement with an appropriate degree of flex.

Process must have a strong, global element

There must be a strong, global element to all processes for quality assurance, and to ensure consistency of service delivery and data generation. Having said that, any new process needs significant local sponsorship to be adopted. The degree of process localisation will vary according to type.

Technology will help the global strategist and the local tactician

At first thought, technology is simply universal. The Internet of Things connects everything. However, there are very clear inputs, outputs, aims and objectives associated with technology that oscillate between global and local. An easy analogy says technology enables strategy at global level; and tactics - or operational excellence through effective deployment of resources, work order management and asset inventory - at a more local level.

People are the essence of success

Physical presence can only ever be local, so mind sets must be global: the key to any business success is to create organisations that embrace and enact shared visions and values. It's sometimes impossible for the right hand to know what the left is doing, especially in multinational organisations where people can't always, or rarely meet in person. Strong culture, communication and leadership are essential to ensure that when people act independently, they're in pursuit of the same goal.

REFM organisations, much like the companies they serve, have little choice but to embrace globalisation. The key to their success lies in identifying where to allow local variation, as well as include the local organisation in the design, implementation and development of global tools and models. Or, as we call it, the ability to glocalise.