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immediately diving in to establish the Indian operation, Ahuja decided to spend his first six months at
Target’s US headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He knew his success in India would depend on fully
understanding the organization’s unique corporate culture. This meant gaining an appreciation of the
Midwest American culture in which Target was founded before he applied this to the Indian context. He
also knew his global reach needed to be expanded through building his network and influence
internationally across Target Corporation. And Ahuja didn’t stop there. Recognizing the importance of
developing global perspective in his managers, he established an international exchange program—a key
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initiative in developing people to succeed in this increasingly global enterprise.

Tips to develop Global perspective

1. Narrow expertise? Learn broader aspects of your organization and industry. Be a sponge for
knowledge about your business, customers, and competitors around the globe. Study your
company’s various financial reports and dive into your intranet to learn about your offerings, alliances,
and structure. Have someone explain the strategic plan—how is the organization addressing market
forces like globalization, changing demographics, world financial uncertainties? Does your firm
differentiate through customer intimacy, innovation, operational excellence? How is technology
driving change? Is your company leading or lagging in emerging markets? Be sure you grasp the
mission-critical functions and capabilities the organization needs to be on the leading edge. What
resources is it investing in around innovation, infrastructure, talent? Talk with counterparts in other
regions and functions of the organization and tell each other what you do. If you don’t know much
about customers, listen in on customer calls or shadow someone in sales. If you don’t know what
engineering does, go find out. Seek the broadest possible exposure inside the organization and then
put your expanded outlook to work.

2. Limited exposure? Read and watch broadly. Read publications with global coverage like
Commentary, the Economist, Monocle, or the International New York Times. Learn to connect what’s
out there to your own situation. Check out “we present all sides” journals like the Atlantic to get the
broadest possible view. Keep a log of ideas you get from each. Delve into the backgrounds of leaders
such as Brazilian-Lebanese-French businessman Carlos Ghosn. Why him? He runs successful auto
firms on two continents and is well regarded for his cross-cultural management style. Learn about
other cultures through films or compilations such as Latino Boom: An Anthology of US Latino
Literature or The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Pick a country and study it.
Explore world events through the perspectives of other cultures. What’s the Russian view of the
Middle East? What drives the Japanese economy? Study history, learning from inventors and
trailblazers from the past. You’re likely to find common underlying principles that you can apply to
what you’re doing today and tomorrow.

3. Don’t know what’s coming next? Be a global trend watcher. Organizations don’t want you to just
manage in the moment—they expect you to anticipate and lead into the future. Tap into future-
focused resources such as the World Future Society, Institute for the Future, or Faith Popcorn’s
TrendBank. Join the Future Trends group in LinkedIn or go to events sponsored by the Institute for
International Research. These groups and others like them raise questions such as what will be the
global impact of projected talent shortages? How will personalized medicine change the way health
care is provided? How might shifting demographics or economic patterns affect buying decisions?
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