What Makes a Company Global??

Just looking through official Global Citizenship Reports, produced by big companies, such as HP, Mattel and IKEA, what is really clear to see is that all these companies span their operations across multiple borders. For them, it is almost an obligation and a necessity to formally recognise global citizenship, in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of their workforce and operations.These are companies have strong stakeholder engagement, and strong public scrutiny, all over the world.

Which brings forth the point that, does not having an international focus in a company's strategic direction make them a poor global citizen, or not one at all? Were we as employees less of a global citizen in the past, due to the historic inaccessibility of other nations. I think we as individuals too readily accept and associate global citizenship with an an overseas presence and knowledge. In this regard, we belive that the more you travel, the more facts you know about a country, the better global citizen you are.

Obviously this is very important, but to me global citizenship is not that. It is about recognising that you operate in your national context, but as well as part of a greater global community, and as such have relevant accountability. I believe you can live in the same small farm town for your whole life, and still be a global citizen, if you have the right mindset. It's not the physical actions that make it count :)