Global vs. Local: Finding Your Career Fit

There’s often a misconception that local companies aren’t as professional as global companies. I’ve worked in large, established local companies in Malaysia including 7-Eleven and Berjaya, both of which had great processes in place and were committed to investing in technology.

Global companies aren’t inherently better than local companies. Similarly, there’s this idea that once you get a job at a global company, you have job security until you choose to leave. That isn’t always true.

In Asia, a lot of potential employees tend to seek out jobs at multinational companies, thinking that they’re inherently better than a local company. Instead of making general assumptions, I would suggest looking at the company itself, as well as your role. If you’re choosing between working at a global or a local company, look closely before you write a local company off. Large local companies can provide you with a wealth of experience and skills that can add great value to your personal development as well as to your career. Let’s look at some pros and cons of working for global and local companies.

Global Companies

One of the big draws when it comes to global companies is that there is a great deal of structure in the business. Structure may be very layered in terms of levels of management, but these distinctions are quite clear. In order to work within a particular structure, you do need to have a level of discipline, because structure goes hand in hand with discipline. This is particularly relevant in the finance and marketing departments, and you’ll find that especially in these aspects of the business, global companies put a great deal of intention into establishing a process for the way things are done.

Financial processes in global companies are a lot more robust, and lower level management are able to gain exposure to these systems. In terms of access to resources as well, a global company is usually superior to local companies. There’s a lot more training that’s conducted in global companies.

Now let’s say you’re facing a setback or a challenge that you simply cannot seem to crack. The great thing about global companies is that you can tap into a global network of expertise. Across the company’s various offices in the world, there’s surely going to be someone who has some experience with the kind of problem you’re trying to solve and can guide you in the right direction.

Global companies also tend to have the willingness and ability to invest more heavily into processes and technology. Essentially, these two elements are required to hold the global business together. And with the expansive reach of global companies, you obviously end up getting exposed to other markets, cultures, and businesses within a global company.

Consider a large multinational company like Sara Lee. When you’re given the opportunity to interact across countries and cultures, you build up the confidence to articulate yourself with different people. You’ll learn how to ask meaningful questions and strengthen your communication skills.

Such global companies also tend to be more established, and therefore have a longer term outlook on the business. You’ll find that there are 5 year plans in place, and that there’s a sense of patience in achieving these goals. These plans and strategies are also implemented in an agreed upon manner.

In global companies, processes tend to be quite rigid: while this is necessary to standardise the business across various offices, it can possibly stifle creativity and innovation. As a marketing plan will have to look more or less the same in Thailand and in Australia, an employee might feel constrained by the way things need to be done. IT processes are also usually standardised, and I see this standardisation as both an advantage and a disadvantage.