????2011年，IBM計劃慶祝其誕生100周年之際，我忽然想到，該公司在過去一個世紀的改變與同期全球經濟的變化極為相似。兩者都受益于經濟增長，以及人類歷史上前所未見的生活水平的大幅提高。而這一進步主要得益于全球社會融合以及信息技術的普及。

????如今，全球經濟一體化為企業和社會的未來帶來巨大機遇。對企業而言，在全球市場上買賣商品和服務，可節約成本、增加收入，同時還能將全球的人才及其見解收為己用。社會也將受益匪淺：人們將得以提高自身生活水平；政府將找到新的合作途徑。雖然很多人指出一體化存在風險，但更迫切、更務實的問題是：我們如何面對未來？我們是欣然迎接未來？還是執著于過去？

????上述問題對于美國乃至全球的企業都相當重要。我們正處在人類歷史上首個真正的全球化時代，在全球流轉的信息、人員、產品、服務以及理念，其數量之大、速度之快都前所未有。在這個時代，企業面臨著新的挑戰。優質服務將通過云式平臺交付，而股東回報是必須的。這個新時代需要新的商業模式、新的企業結構、新的投資者參與以及新思維。

????全球整合企業（globally integrated enterprise, GIE）在這個全球化時代必不可少，同時，此類企業特別適合從全球化時代中受益。我所說的全球整合企業，是指其管理和經營實現真正全球化（而不僅僅是“跨國”）的企業。在該模式中，工作的組織方式完全不同。這要求減少層級，同時需要技能和行為多元化，增加合作和透明度，財務管理更加嚴格，且更加注重文化差異的多樣性。

????舉例來說，決定在何處進行經營，將取決于如何使客戶、員工以及生意伙伴實現價值最大化。人不再跟著工作走，相反，工作將跟人走。因此，不同的市場不會有獨立的供應鏈，而是只有一條全球化的供應鏈，不僅對產品是如此，對服務、資本、創意和知識產權而言都是如此。

????同樣，考慮人力資本時，不再囿于國家、地區和業務部門的限制，而是考慮如何將其作為全球性資產來管理和部署。我在IBM擔任首席執行官時發現，IBM的未來將專注于創新，這意味著我們未來不是資本密集型企業，而會是人力資本密集型企業，提供軟件和服務。因此，雇傭和留住最優秀的人才，比以往任何時候都更重要。但是，與從前不同的是，這些人才身在何處、來自何方并不重要，我們只希望他們在IBM工作出色，而且我們希望盡我們所能，幫助他們脫穎而出。

????In 2011, as IBM was planning to commemorate its 100th anniversary, it struck me that there were dramatic parallels between the company’s transformation over 10 decades and the way in which the global economy had been transformed over the same period. Both had benefited from an expansion of economic growth, and an increase in living standards, that was without precedent in human history. This progress had been greatly enabled by the integration of global society, and through the power and prevalence of information technology.

????Today, global economic integration presents enormous opportunity for the future of business and society. For business, buying and selling goods and services in a global market can lead to cost savings and increased revenue, but also the ability to draw on the talents and insights of a global workforce. Society can also benefit in a myriad of ways, from individuals realizing higher living standards to governments realizing new avenues for cooperation. And while many point to the risks of integration, the more pressing and more pragmatic questions are the following: How do we deal with the future? Do we embrace it? Or do we cling to the past?

????These questions are particularly important for companies in the United States and throughout the world. They face new challenges as they navigate what is the first truly global era in human history – an era in which the volume and speed of information, people, products, services and ideas being circulated around the world is greater than ever before. Where quality services will be delivered via cloud-like platforms and consistency of shareholder returns will be mandatory. This new era calls for new business models, new corporate structures, new investor engagement and new thinking.

????Fundamental to the global era, and uniquely suited to benefit from it, is what I call the globally integrated enterprise (GIE), which refers to companies that are truly global (as opposed to “multinational”) in their management and their operations. In this model, work is organized in fundamentally different ways. It calls for different skills and behaviors, more collaboration and transparency, more disciplined financial management, greater focus on a multiplicity of cultural differences, and less hierarchy.

????As an example, decisions about where to locate operations are based on how to maximize value for customers, employees, and business partners. Instead of taking people to where the work is, you take work to where the people are. Thus, rather than maintaining separate supply chains in different markets, there is one supply chain, and it’s global — not just for products, but also services, capital, ideas, and intellectual property.

????Similarly, human capital is thought of not in terms of countries and regions and business units, but rather how to manage and deploy it as one global asset. While CEO, I saw that IBM’s IBM -0.02% future was going to be focused on innovation, which meant that rather than being capital-intensive, we were going to be human capital-intensive – delivering software and services. So it was even more important than in the past that we hired and retained the best people. But unlike earlier eras, it didn’t really matter where these people were or where they came from – we simply wanted them to excel in their work at IBM and we wanted to do what we could to help them excel.