There was a version of the global enterprise that defined the last era: the supply chain stretched across the world, the markets open, the politics stable and the logistics cheap. The enterprise was global by design, and the design was the era’s economy.
That design is being rewired. Three forces — the rewiring of the technology, the relocating of the production and the re-regulating of the trade — are redrawing the structure of the global enterprise. The enterprise that emerges will be global in a different way.
The rewiring of the technology
The technology is rewiring the enterprise, and the rewiring is the connection.
The digital layer that runs the global enterprise — the software, the data, the communication and the automation — is being upgraded and concentrated. The rewiring is the connection: the enterprise that is digitally wired can operate globally with the coordination that the physical never had. The technology is also the dependency: the rewired enterprise depends on the digital, and the digital is the new critical infrastructure.
This is why the rewiring matters: it is the connection, and the connection is the operation.
The relocating of the production
The production is relocating, and the relocating is the geography’s redrawing.
The supply chains that were stretched for the lowest cost are being redrawn for the resilience — the production brought nearer, the dependencies diversified, the critical capacity secured. The relocating is the geography’s redrawing: the factories moving, the sourcing shifting and the map of the production changing. The relocation is the response to the fragility, and the response is the reshaping.
This is why the relocating matters: it is the redrawing, and the redrawing is the resilience.
The re-regulating of the trade
The trade is being re-regulated, and the re-regulating is the rules’ changing.
The tariffs, the export controls, the local-content requirements and the subsidy programs are re-writing the rules of the global enterprise. The re-regulating is the rules’ changing: the enterprise that assumed the open market must now navigate the managed one. The re-regulation is the politics in the economics, and the politics is the enterprise’s new condition.
This is why the re-regulating matters: it is the rules’ changing, and the changing is the condition.
The enterprise as the network
The global enterprise is becoming the network, and the network is the structure.
The enterprise that was the chain — the linear sequence of the supply — is becoming the network — the web of the partners, the suppliers and the markets, connected by the digital and coordinated in real time. The network is the structure, and the structure is the resilience: the network can reroute when the link fails, and the rerouting is the survival. The enterprise as the network is the new shape.
This is why the network matters: it is the structure, and the structure is the resilience.
The talent in the new enterprise
The rewired enterprise runs on the talent, and the talent is the binding.
The digital, the resilience and the rules all require the people — the engineers, the analysts, the negotiators and the managers who can run the new structure. The talent is the binding, and the binding is the enterprise’s capability. The enterprise that finds the talent is the enterprise that can execute the rewiring; the enterprise that cannot is the enterprise that is left behind. The talent is the new enterprise’s currency.
This is why the talent matters: it is the binding, and the binding is the capability.
The risk in the rewiring
The rewiring carries the risk, and the risk is the honest account.
The concentration of the digital is the single point of the failure; the relocating is the cost and the disruption; the re-regulating is the uncertainty and the friction. The risks are the honest account of the rewiring, and the account is the management. The enterprise that rewires without the risk management is the enterprise that is exposing itself; the enterprise that manages the risk is the enterprise that survives the rewiring.
This is why the risk matters: it is the honest account, and the account is the management.
The honest conclusion
The global enterprise is being rewired by the three forces, and the rewiring is the new structure.
The rewiring of the technology, the relocating of the production, the re-regulating of the trade, the enterprise as the network, the talent and the risk — the global enterprise of the past is being transformed, and the transformation is the new global enterprise.
The enterprise that emerges will be global in a different way — digitally wired, geographically diversified, politically navigated and networked in the structure. The global enterprise is being rewired by the forces that the last era did not face, and the rewiring is the future’s shape. The enterprises that adapt to the rewiring — that build the network, find the talent and manage the risk — are the ones that will be global in the new era. The enterprise is being rewired, and the rewiring is the becoming.