MANAGING MULTIDOMESTIC RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT AT ABB

OVERVIEW: R&D heads of global corporations face challenges alien to colleagues in companies that operate predominantly in a single domestic market. Not only must they work effectively with operating business units, but they must ensure that individuals and teams from several nationalities and cultures meld smoothly to achieve the company's goals. The experience of Craig Tedmon, who heads research at Asea Brown Boveri, provides a good example of the problems-and of how to solve them. The company's R&D is highly decentralized: More than 90 percent takes place within the business operations, while corporate R&D takes place in six laboratories in different countries. ABB has had to learn how to channel this diversity into effective products, and to cope with the cultural differences inherent in teams of several nationalities.