Fiefdom Syndrome: Reconciling Global Initiatives with Local Circumstances

by Van Goodwin

IT managers face logistical problems in balancing global standards with local needs in increasingly globalized organizations. While many people in business and government repeat the mantra "think globally, act locally," applying this ideal entails a host of challenges ranging from coordinating communication across disparate time zones to determining technical standards implemented on top of wildly differing infrastructures. From the perspective of a central office, these issues manifest themselves in the apparent rise of "fiefdoms." These local offices are part of the global organization but often appear to centralized managers as if they're operating under their own rules without respect to the investment in decisions made by the organization as a whole. The fiefdoms, however, view global standards as irrelevant to their business or simply feel that their local practices are irrelevant to the organization as a whole.