BlessedTopWriter

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A hands-off policy can eventually bring chaos

Managing intemational

information systems

Faced with a confusion of approaches, hardware, and applications in their international opera- tions, .some U.S. muhinationals have chosen to "let sleep- ing dogs He" where information processing is concerned. But increasing costs, greater interdependence of affiliates, and a more hostile regulatory environment are among the factors that may cause managers to question this benign neglect. Mr Buss discusses the mistakes senior managers often make in trying to remedy their problems in manag- ing international information systems and shows how they can refocus and coordinate their efforts.

Mr. Buss is a senior consultant with Arthur D. Little. Inc. He has worked internationally on a broad range of organizational, strategic, and planning issues of concern to top management and has particular experience in information processing. This is his third article for HBR.

Martin DJ. Buss

For the international division of a $ 1.7 billion U.S.-based consumer products company, man- agement reporting was often a heetie process. The monthly comparisons of operating results and product margins were always late, despite a steady stream of telexes between the intemational head office in New Jersey and the six regional offices scattered around the globe. Occasionally, the delays in putting the numbers together had serious implications, particularly for the management of the division's foreign currency positions.

After repeatedly observing missed dead- lines, the head of the international division finally intervened. After some digging, he discovered that his staff's inability to deliver was the fault of the compa- ny's international information processing capabilities, which woefully lagged behind its needs. Although the division's financial requirements were uniform throughout the world, nearly every regional office approached information processing differently. There were no corporate standards for intemational data processing. Computers, programming languages, oper- ating systems software, and telecommunications equipment varied greatly among the affiliates.

As a result, the application systems used to produce the financial information for each country functioned quite differently. Some were batch systems; others were more modern, making extensive use of terminals. Yet a third group had purchased

accounting packages from different outside vendors and had modified them to suit corporate needs. With such diversity it was hardly surprising that the divi- sion's management information system had finally failed.

This situation is hy no means unique; similar examples abound in other industries. Often for good reasons, affiliates use different computers and dif- ferent application systems. The regional offices may be at different stages of maturity in their information sys- tems (IS) operations when they are acquired. Diverse products and markets in each country may create a need for different types of systems. The computers available in some countries may not be available in others, or sophisticated and expensive DP systems used in one region may not be economically justifiable in others.

This diversity in hardware and applica- tions is also apparent in the organization of data pro- cessing on an intemational scale. Depending on the people involved, accidents of history, and the impor- tanee of data processing to the corporation, the role of U.S. IS management in intemational information pro- cessing can range from "not involved at all" to "totally responsible," with all shades in between.

For example, the U.S. technical staff in the parent headquarters of a $5 billion manufacturing company exercises total control over data processing in Europe. However, in a similar sized chemical com-

154 Harvard Business Review September-October 1982

pany, where the European DP activities are run by a forceful vice president, data processing staff people from the United States are not allowed anywhere near the European affiliates. As the senior executive for information systems said, "The only way those guys can help me is by staying where they belong-back in the U.S.A." In yet a third company, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, the U.S.-hased staff intervenes in some European countries but not in others.

This diversity of approaches is confus- ing, and there are few models to follow. Further cloud- ing the issue is the fact that many regional and country managers have hackgiounds such as marketing and have had little exposure to information processing management issues. The executive vice president of a $ 1 billion international subsidiary recently com- mented, "It is hard for us marketing people to get a handle on such an esoteric subject."

In the face of these problems, some U.S. multinationals have adopted a "let sleeping dogs lie" policy toward their information processing. Others, out of operational necessity and like the consumer products company mentioned initially, are rethinking their approaches. During the next five years, increasing costs and a changing business environment, both dis- cussed later, will force more and more corporations to do hkewise. The aim of this article is to help U.S.- based multinational managers face the upcoming changes more confidently.

Issues accelerating change

Higher costs and a changing business environment will speed up changes in the organi- zation and management of international information processing. Of these two factors, rising costs may be more readily apparent today, particularly to top management.

Payroll costs and fringe benefits are already higher outside the United States for a com- parable level of experience, and the gap may be widening. A programmer with three years of experi- ence in West Germany makes about twice as much as his or her U.S. counterpart. Four weeks' vacation is common in Europe, compared with two weeks in the United States, and this may now increase to five or even six weeks in some countries. (Incidentally, these wide differences in payroll costs and benefits are also true for some Latin American countries, for example, Venezuela.)

Hardware costs can be 60% more than those in the United States for a comparable computer.

This variance arises from currency differences, the costs of importation, the higher cost of the manufac- turer's selling effort overseas, and, in some cases, the higher costs of local manufacture.

Data communications costs are many times greater than in the United States, particularly if the lines cross countries. One international manager in Spain noted that his two lines to Germany-1,000 miles long-cost six times more than a comparable network in the United States.

In some cases, however, costs may be a secondary motive for change. New developments in the international business environment itself are start- ing to affect the management of information resources in many multinational companies. Four trends are par- ticularly important: (1) the growing interdependence of overseas affiliates, (2) the increasingly hostile legal and regulatory environment for business, (3) the unioniza- tion of data processing departments, and (4) recent developments in computer and communications technologies.

Increasing interdependence

In Westem Europe in particular, with the Common Market growing (albeit slowly), affiliates that have historically operated autonomously are hecoming interlocked. However, while management may now view international business operations as an integrated whole, it has not necessarily ensured that the underlying information systems follow suit. A regional vice president for Europe, Africa, and the Mid- dle East of a $ 1.2 billion division of a consumer prod- ucts company noted:

"Until three years ago my six European affiliates were very much self-contained operations. Today, however, I see these companies as an integrated set of manufacturing resources that supply different markets with products made wherever my cost advan- tage is greatest. Specialization and automation are key to lowering my manufacturing costs in each country. Some countries now have to concentrate on a limited number of components and/or products. Rarely can one country, or even one plant, manufacture a com- plete product. The plants in one country now must supply others located elsewhere "

This executive acknowledged, however, that the division's management information system was designed for an earlier era in which each regional office acted autonomously. The system was not inte- grated across country lines. There was no central coor- dination of data for the manufacturing operations, and the transfer of production information between plants was a slow, mostly manual, process. It was, therefore, difficult for country managers to find out what was

International information systems 155

going on elsewhere. In fact, the executive was facing an issue on an intemational scale similar to the problem that has often confronted managers running domestic operations spread throughout the United States-an obsolete information system.

Hostile environments

New legislative and legal developments regarding corporate record keeping and the flow of information across national boundaries are also shap- ing the direction of information processing.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act includes requirements for effective record keeping and internal controls. Furthermore, according to the Secu- rities and Exchange Commission, these restraints apply both to the parent company and to foreign sub- sidiaries. Since most record keeping in large multina- tional corporations is computerized, companies are scrutinizing their affiliate information systems more closely than before.

One large multinational, at the request of the audit committee of its board, reviewed its inter- national data processing. The report presented to the audit committee revealed a diversity of approaches for processing accounting data in each regional office. Overall, the controls were considered inadequate: the audit committee asked for remedial action, and a plan to tackle the issue is now being implemented. New standard application systems for accounting are a part of this program.

Transborder data flows. In less than a decade, more than a dozen countries, including the United States, either have passed legislation or have begun considering bills to regulate the collection, stor- age, transmission, and disclosure of data. There is, however, a fundamental problem. Although the legisla- tion has a common purpose-to define the rights of people regarding the information collected about them - the European approach to data protection dif- fers considerably from that in the United States. This is a typical "conflict of laws" issue.'

In Europe, laws cover both public and private sectors. In the United States, the laws apply only to federal agencies. Then again, in Europe the laws make no distinction as to the citizenship of those enti-

1 For a Lompacative analysis ol the U.S. and European legislative app loaches, sec Adnan Norman,

"The Regulation ot Transnational Data Flow," Arthur D. Little Decision Resouices, March 1981,rei,no.RS103fll; and see also Royal Parket,

"Handling Transhorder Data Flow- a Global Concern," Financial Executive. December 1979, p. 41.

2 Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights, U.S. House of Representatives, Ma[ehl3, l9S0,p. 141

tied to protection, whereas in the United States protec- tion is extended primarily to U.S. citizens and to aliens with permanent residence status.

European countries with data protec- tion legislation do not allow name-linked data to he transmitted outside national boundaries unless they are satisfied that the laws of the receiving country are in harmony with their own. This applies to data going not only from Europe to the United States but also between different European countries, where legisla- tion also often differs.

The vice president of information systems for the Eaton Corporation said before a congressional subcommittee tbat national data protection legislation was impeding his whole data processing strategy:

"We have been moving gradually from an organizational structure, which required stand-alone computing facilities in each of our plants, to a network- ing structure that ties together England, Cermany, Italy, France, and Monaco into a European system. If the 25 countries in which we operate insist on their own sepa- rate measures by legislating tbe flow of data, it is con- ceivable that we would be forced to revert to processing our data within each country of operation at a 30% greater cost per year."̂

Similar concerns also were expressed at the hearings by executives from other large multi- nationals, including American Express, Control Data, and IBM.

Are such concerns really justified? Is transborder data regulation an issue with which top international managers ought to be concerned, or is the whole subject an intellectual "ho hum"? My view is that data regulation will indeed affect data processing in the following types of MNCs:

1 Those whose data processing for Euro- pean affiliates is centralized in the United States.

2 Those who transmit name-linked data sucb as personnel records, credit card information, and customer details from Europe to the United States.

3 Those whose European data processing is centralized in one European country or whose European affiliates inter- change electronically name-linked data among themselves.

Many MNCs will fall into one or more of these threatened groups. However, given the efforts being made in Europe to harmonize the data protection laws, the impact on this third group is likely to be less severe than on the first two.

156 Harvard Business Review September-October 1982

A possible avenue of escape for MNCs in the first two groups-accord between the U.S. legis- lative approaches and those in Europe-seems highly improbable in the foreseeable future. It is, therefore, dangerous for them to adopt "business as usual" atti- tudes. Data protection laws could one day be invoked against them, seriously disrupting one or more of their computer applications. It may, for example, prove impossible to run a payroll in Chicago for a German affiliate or to update the central personnel records and career planning system in New York with information about a company's French employees. Management must work out altemative systems approaches if only on a contingency basis.

Unionization of DP departments

Traditional assumptions about DP strategies may not hold up in the face of unionization. In the United States, data processing installations have so far been free from the influence of powerful labor unions. In tbe United Kingdom, Germany, and France, however, many DP employees, particularly lower-level data entry and computer operators, belong to militant trade unions that occasionally strike. When they do, the impact is dramatic. The vice president for data processing in Europe of a $2 billion corporation with computer installations in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany said:

"Data processing unions have a great hold over our operation. I'm planning to build new computer centers in Switzerland where the strike risks are, today at least, negligible and to transfer the work there. I know my ongoing costs will be higher. But my board believes the risk of a strike paralyzing our entire European operation warrants tbe expense."

Tfechnological developments

Information technology can creep up on a multinational company and render a carefully pre- pared data processing strategy obsolete. Hardware costs have changed dramatically, making it less costly to put a small computer in a regional office that had previously used a large, centralized resource. At the same time, advances in data communications make it more feasible to link isolated affiliates. For the future, we ean expeet more of the same cost reduction. As a result, long-range information strategies will have to be more flexible to account for changing economics.

A $2.5 billion chemical manufacturer's current sitiiation well illustrates this problem. In 1975 the new executive in charge of information systems

reviewed the data processing strategies for his affiliates in Western Europe. He decided, first, to reduce the number of computer centers from eight to two and, second, to use terminals to link each location to one of them. That decision was justified at the time by the fact that the two large computers were much cheaper than eight smaller ones.

Now, five years later, he finds that implementation is difficult because he lacks the full support of the regional managers. They believe that each affiliate should have its own computer Further- more, they argue that the lower costs of computers drastically alter the original, mainly economic, justifi- cation for the two-center approach.

This corporation is not alone; many multinationals faee similar problems as their technical and planning staffs wrestle with the issues posed by information processing's rapidly changing technology. The office of the future, satellite processing, and new data transmission networks further complicate infor- mation planning for the next five years.'

Where companies go wrong

There is a common thread in the efforts of multinationals to ehange their data processing oper- ations. Many are stepping up efforts to implement the same applications software-generally called common systems - in all their affiliates, a move that has met with only limited success so far The executive vice president for international operations in a $ 1.5 billion electronics company noted that during the past three years his European affiliates have made good progress in laying the groundwork for common systems.

In this first phase, the company appointed regional data processing coordinators to develop corporate standards for procedural issues such as budgeting and monitoring information systems activities of the affiliates in each country. But he also reported little success in getting systems up and running in several locations. Some affiliates, par- ticularly the larger ones, still preferred to develop their own computer programs.

Why will one regional office not readily accept an application programmed in another? The answer seems to be that management is making the following three mistakes:

.i See Louis H. Mertes, "DoinR Your Office Over-Elei;tronitally," HBR MarLh-April 1981, p. 127.

Intemational information systems 157

Defining objectives poorly. Tbe busi- ness objectives and tbe data processing plans at the global, regional, and country levels are rarely inte- grated. In some corporations, managers make no clear statement of the business objectives, and data process- ing professionals have to guess what they are. Not sur- prisingly, they are sometimes mistaken in their assumptions.

A country manager in Spain of a $2 bil- lion pharmaceutical company could not understand why the corporate DP staff was spending so much time installing a general ledger system for him. His business problem, which he shared witb many other regional offices, was to retain market share in a very competi- tive and highly fragmented market. To help his sales force do this, he urgently needed a modern information system to track sales calls made on doctors. The new general ledger did not relate in any way to this objec- tive. Further discussions with top management of intemational later showed that it did not fulfill the business needs of the intemational division as a whole either.

With objectives poorly defined, it is hardly surprising that country managers give low pri- ority to implementing information systems that don't seem to relate to their immediate needs. They may be unaware, for example, that a common order-entry sys- tem is required by the company's marketing program and competitive corporate goals and therefore tran- scends national interests.

Failing to define responsibilities. Imple- mentation of common systems implies new, coordi- nated roles for several powerful groups of people, many of whom are accustomed to acting autonomously For example, country or regional managers generally have done things their own way; data processing profession- als have taken their instructions from local rather than corporate management; and planners have characteris- tically ignored the information systems function in the long-range plan.

All these groups and others now will have interrelated roles to play. There is little chance of success unless the roles are defined, understood by all, and generally accepted. The common approach, appointing information systems coordinators, does not go far enough.

Misunderstanding DP capabilities. Many companies assume that installing the same application programs in several affiliates across national boundaries is a task for the technical staff. This is, however, only partly true. Some important operational problems require the commitment and intervention of top managers who need to "persuade" affiliates to follow a new corporate policy, especially when the policy requires changes in the ground rules

concerning their administrative autonomy Sometimes new corporate policy will mean closing down all the DP operations in a particular locale. Such a broad issue is beyond the experience, authority, and leadership of managers to implement by themselves. Support from senior management is essential.

In addition, senior international manag- ers need to take a more active interest in information processing. The complexity of intemational data pro- cessing, often compounded hy differences in language and culture, demands more attention from them than that characteristically given to DP by managers in the domestic business.

Guidelines for international managers

As a first step, senior intemational managers should assess their organization's status in information processing. They need to find out in very general terms whether things are on track or whether their intervention is necessary.

To get a quick perspective on the situa- tion, I suggest they answer with a yes or no tbe 15 questions in Exhibit I.

A score of 12 or more yeses indicates that information processing operations are sound and well coordinated. A score of 6 to 11 yeses suggests that management intervention in some areas is needed. Few- er than 6 yeses indicates serious problems; senior inter- national managers should almost certainly take action in the following three ways:

1 Orchestrate the process by which the organization plans its approach to inter- national data processing.

2 Create the right organizational frame- work for the international information system activity.

3 Define the roles of the key players.

Orchestrate the planning process

Managers should first determine what should be done to make international data processing more responsive to the needs of the business. This is a one-time effort to prepare a blueprint for the future. A

158 Harvard Business Review September-October 1982

Exhibit

10

11

12

13

14

Rating the international DP operation

Can I compare operating results across affiliates in a way that helps me form conclusions on relative product costs, margins, and sales volumes?

Have I been briefed in the past 12 months on the implications of new information processing technology for my business?

Do I know how international data processing responsibilities are organized?

Do I have the authority and respon- sibility to get the information pro- cessing I want?

Do I have a source that keeps me informed as to how well data pro- cessing is working?

Do I know how nnuch I am spending on data processing in my key regions?

Do I know whether these regions are spending enough, too much, or too little?

Do I know on which functions data processing emphasis is being placed for the current levels of expenditure?

Do I think this emphasis is in the right place?

Yes

D

n

•

n

n

n

a

n

2

3

4

S

6

7

Do 1 know whether my subordinates are satisfied with their information resources?

Do 1 know whether my competitors ^ ^ H have better information systems ^ ^ K than 1 do?

Have 1 approved a long-range infor- mation systems plan?

Do 1 know whether the data pro- cessing plan supports my business plans for the key regions?

Has data processing been on the agenda of high-level operations reviews in the past 6 months?

In the past 12 months have 1 been involved in any major decisions on an information processing issue?

a

n

•1 D

D

n

•

•

• n

n

•

D

n

D

n

n

•

D D

systematic approach is essential, and three steps will help managers:

Create a task force to make recom- mendations on the approach to be followed. A mixed team is essential for thinking creatively ahout new approaches to information processing. The task force should have representatives from the key region, one or more countries, corporate planning, corporate and/ or international data processing, and, in larger corpora- tions, representatives from tbe legal department. Such a team would not only hring the depth of experience that the subject requires but also have high credihility throughout international operations.

Focus efforts. A good part of the task force's work will he technical and will require little guidance from senior management. Nevertheless, a manager must ensure tbat the task force also considers broader issues, including the following:

The nature of the business in each country (whether products are similar, for example), its maturity, and the role of information processing in realizing husiness objectives.

Corporate structure and style and the degree of power vested in corporate domestic and inter- national staffs.

Personalities and cultural characteris- tics of key international executives and of their data processing professionals.

History of affiliates (particularly the larger ones) and the roles they have played in data processing.

The information policy of host govem- ments on such issues as privacy.

Sophistication of technology and its availahility in the various countries.

Examine the proposal. First, although recommendations for centralizing data processing in one region or country may be theoretically valid, they may also be difficult to implement. They may lack support from country managers because users will not want to give up their autonomy Also, legal restrictions on transborder data flows may make a centralized approach unworkable.

Second, a global solution that covers all countries may also he hard to implement. The interna- tional manager will almost certainly bave to handle tbe large affiliates with long experience in data pro- cessing differently from those that are medium-sized and relatively inexperienced in data processing. Also, it will generally be easier to start by working with one geographical region or a few countries. Third, managers should focus effort on the two or three applications that are key to the business (e.g., inventory control), as opposed to purely administrative support systems such as general accounting.

Intemationai infonnation systems 159

Exhibit II Separate international division without responsibility for data processing

Exhibit III Separate international division with data processing reporting to corporate finance

160 Harvard Business Review September-October 1982

Create the framework

After establishing a blueprint for the future, the international manager should take a look at the organization. In most corporations, the organiza- tional framework does little to encourage an integrated approach to international information processing activities. Many corporations run the international division separately from the U.S.-based or domestic businesses. The international division has staff depart- ments such as planning, finance, and marketing assigned to coordinate worldwide activities in their respective areas (see Exhibit II].

By contrast, it is rare to find an interna- tional division (particularly one headquartered in the United States) with its own data processing depart- ment. Instead, U.S. companies usually assign the func- tion to the U.S.-based corporate data processing department within finance (see Exhibit III).

But the corporate department probably has its hands full with the more immediate needs of domestic data processing. Meanwhile, international managers assume that the corporate department is managing all information activities. The result is that no group really focuses on the needs of international data processing, and, in tum, the affiliates take up the slack. Thus the country-hy-country approach emerges.

A common focus-a corporate pattern of control-is becoming increasingly important if cor- porations are to respond effectively to higher costs and other pressures for change that I have discussed. To achieve this, three changes in framework will help.

First, where responsibility for interna- tional data processing rests with the corporate organi- zation and modifying the structure is just too difficult an undertaking, the head of international should appoint a systems coordinator. In a large international corporation, more than one may be needed (e.g., one for each region). These coordinators would have responsi- bility for ensuring the effective use of data processing among affiliates and for resolving international infor- mation processing issues. Ideally, the coordinator should report to the head of the international division or to the planning staff, giving international greater control over IS activities (see Exhibit IV).

Appointing the proper person is criti- cally important since the coordinator must be per- ceived as competent in the countries in which he or she will work. Coordinators should have excellent business skills, a broad enough understanding of data processing to be able to identify where it can be used effectively, and high interpersonal skills to help cement relationships across national boundaries. A sensitivity to corporate politics and a facility for for-

eign languages are also pluses. Sometimes interna- tional coordinators are "rejects" from the corporate department, and, lacking credibility, they are ineffective.

Second, an international division with sales of more than $500 million should have its own data processing function. This function should have a dotted-line relationship to corporate data processing (see Exhibit V) and might well pull the nucleus of its staff from there. This new international department would play a role in international data processing similar to that typically played by the corporate data processing function in the domestic business. The department's role would include the following particu- larly important aspects:

D It would have overall responsihility for establishing international DP policies and standards relating to hardware (e.g., which vendors and what computers), to software, and to systems development. Of growing importance in the case of standards, for example, is the need to move toward a central coordi- nation of data to permit greater flexibility in the inter- change of information hetween countries. For example, where one country defines product cost as one thing and another uses the term differently, management information will he wrong-not an uncommon situa- tion today.

D It would determine from country man- agers and/or the head of international whether affili- ates should use systems already in use elsewhere, and if so, what systems and which affiliates. This role is important in the case of small affiliates that have a need to install many systems quickly. The interna- tional DP department, literally wired into the interna- tional division, can be an effective mechanism for corporations to avoid costly reinventions of the wheel.

n It would provide technical support for the small affiliates that lack in-house resources. Although this is not as serious a problem in Western Europe as it is in Latin America, for example, some of the smaller European countries (e.g., Spain) do have problems because of a lack of technically qualified per- sonnel. For these countries, an intemational data pro- cessing function can help with the development of local systems and can also act as the clearing house for information about systems that already exist else- where or for the purchase of packaged software.

An intemational DP department should not necessarily have its own data center, nor should it have a large staff of analysts and programmers located in the corporate intemational offices in the United States and charged with developing systems for the affiliates. Where possible, it is preferable to leave sys- tems development to the affiliates, which have greater

Intemational information systems

Exhibit IV Separate international division with an EDP coordinator responsible to planning and a dotted-tine relationship to corporate data processing

/ i.

Exhibit V Separate international division with its own data processing and dotted-line relationship to domestic data processing in finance

162 Harvard Business Review September-October 1982

understanding of their own needs. The role of the inter- national data processing department is to collaborate with the affiliates to try to ensure future portability to other countries.

Third, management should create an intemationai computer council to oversee the conduct of information processing internationally. Many companies accept the idea of a domestic computer steering committee, and I helieve that it can be use- fully extended to the international scene. It should have representatives from the key regions, from inter- national data processing, from corporate data process- ing, and from corporate planning.

The council would consider issues related to information processing that have potentially hroad impact internationally. These might include how intemationai data processing plans fit with corpo- rate objectives to ensure their compatihility, the corpo- rate stand on transhorder data-flow issues, funding for major new applications, implementation of important common systems where stumbling blocks have occurred in particular regions or countries, and alloca- tion of technical resources where opinions differ among country managers. Also, a council could use- fully monitor progress on major intemationai data processing projects.

The IS professionals (whether corporate or intemationai) would be responsible for the staff work for the council meetings, and the intemationai coordinators just mentioned would provide most of the information about the situation in each country. To keep costs down, meetings should coincide with peri- odic regional and country managers' meetings.

Define the roles

The effectiveness of information pro- cessing internationally revolves around four tasks; every organization has to decide who carries them out. In fact, intemationai managers should view a defini- tion of these roles as a chief product of the original task force's study and one that will ultimately influence the approach a company finally selects. A discussion of the most important tasks follows:

Stating objectives. The chief intema- tionai executive must issue the statement of objectives in a direct manner like this: "During the next three years, as recommended by the intemationai computer council, we will standardize our spare parts inventory system in the European region and improve our aver- age availability by 5%." Moreover, top management of the intemationai division must show support for these objectives by including information processing topics on the agendas of operating committee meetings. Such forums can also be useful for hriefing managers on new

technology and its impact and for monitoring perfor- mance on the corporate objectives.

Implementing policy. Country manag- ers generally control the local IS resources and have the ultimate responsibility for implementing corporate policy for intemationai data processing. Their consid- erable power and autonomy also allow strong manag- ers to resist certain policies. For this reason, the intemationai chief executive should spell out the objectives clearly in advance, and the intemationai computer council should make its wishes known.

Identifying problems & opportunities. Intemationai IS coordinators should be the catalysts for change and the eyes and ears of the intemationai computer council. They have to communicate for- mally and informally with a spectrum of intemationai executives and data processing professionals and look for possible synergies in the use of information pro- cessing across national boundaries.

They need to find ways to overcome the "not invented here" syndrome and convince country managers that it makes business sense to use applica- tion programs developed elsewhere. And once these opportunities are found, coordinators need to keep abreast of implementation. Rarely can they be respon- sible for implementation, since the control of the tech- nical resources normally rests with DP management.

Executing technical work. Data process- ing managers are responsible for designing, developing, and installing application systems. But in many organi- zations, data processing professionals are scattered among corporate offices in several countries. When a coordinated effort is required, it therefore hecomes most important to stipulate exactly who is responsihle for each part of the applications development process. The intemationai computer council is the appropriate fomm for discussing such issues when the DP manag- ers in each location have worked out the details.

A number of business and economic issues, and the increasing interdependence among intemationai husinesses, complicate the challenge of managing worldwide data processing operations, and data processing poses its own inherent complexities.

IS professionals alone cannot cope with the way the international data processing function is evolving. Success depends on more active involvement of senior international management. To ensure that the full potential of information processing is realized in foreign operations, most companies with global interests should examine their structures and proce- dures for managing data processing and determine whether a new approach is needed. Management must he willing to question established organizational rela- tionships, focus energies on a few key areas, and inter- vene when necessary if the competitive advantages associated with well-managed information processing operations are to be realized. ^

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