Going global: these days it's truer than ever that you can run, but you can't hide.

You don't need me to tell you that everything is becoming global--or do you? The reality is that we are already there. Even if your corporation seems to have a clearly defined national or local interest, you are in the global arena--whether you realize it or not, whether you like it or not, and even whether you care or not. And believe me, there's not a lot you can do about it.

If your company has a web site, you are global. If yours is a public company, all your statutory reporting is available globally. If there has ever been a mention of you in the media, you are in the global arena. Whatever is reported about you or your company in your local newspaper, whether it has a circulation of 100 or 100,000, is more than likely to become immediately available around the world. (I have seen comments I made to the Tallahassee [Florida] Democrat picked up by Les Echos in Paris the same day, and rumors reported in an Australian paper carried by the German press. And that's just a couple of examples.)

It's a small world 

Is this good, bad or simply irrelevant? To a great extent it depends on how you embrace the inevitable and how well you communicate in terms that can be grasped and comprehended by an international audience. What is certain is that you cannot ignore the global nature of business communication or pretend that it's not happening to you, whatever or wherever your business happens to be. These days it's truer than ever that you can run, but you can't hide.

I have written in previous issues of Communication World about the pitfalls of communicating at the international level, and how easy it is to be offensive in one country with the same materials or language that would be totally inoffensive elsewhere, or how easy it is to be misunderstood by the use of idiomatic language or, worst of all, humor.

As George Bernard Shaw so succinctly put it: "The problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished." How can you be sure that your messages have been truly communicated and understood? It is difficult enough in your own culture, but on an international scale, misunderstanding can be the rule rather than the exception. Giving your messages clarity and relevance to both global and local audiences is still one of the hardest things to do. If you need to reach a specific international audience and are not sure of the approach, then get help. That is, after all, a significant part of what IABC is all about.

Now more than ever, communicators need to be aware that whatever we say or do has the potential to reach a global audience. We also must be absolutely sure of our messages, keeping them as simple as possible and making sure they are very visible and consistent in all of our marketing materials, annual reports, advertising and press releases, and particularly on our web sites. Because if we don't clearly define who we are to audiences with which we don't normally interact, then we allow them to define us in their own terms. The two are rarely, if ever, compatible.

Moreover, don't assume that the rest of the world understands English, however comforting that might be to you. Think about how your words might be translated. If you want to be properly understood, then you have to make the effort yourself. Leave it to the receiving end, and the chances of mistranslation and misunderstanding increase dramatically.

Common courtesy

The golden rule is never to assume that because it works here it should work somewhere else. Having spent many years handling communication in Europe for U.S.-headquartered organizations, I can assure you that I have lost count of the number of times that particular assumption was made by the headquarters staff. And I'm not simply talking about communications in different languages--even American English to British English has many a pitfall just waiting to mangle your messages.

Then there's good old-fashioned courtesy. For example, countless web sites of U.S.-based organizations provide the contact numbers for their overseas offices preceded by the country code, while at the same time listing U.S. offices starting with the area code. So what is the potential buyer of your products or services to make of that if he is based in Sri Lanka or Timbuktu? No offense is intended, but plenty is assumed from the seeming arrogance of assuming that these potential buyers should know.

So, to answer our earlier question, the global nature of communication could never be described as irrelevant. If you ignore it, it has the potential to be bad for your organization. But if you are aware of it and embrace it, it could be very beneficial.

If you're still not convinced that you are operating in a global environment, do a quick search on the Internet for your company. You'll probably be surprised how much there is about you out there in the ether. And it's available to anyone around the world who wants to know, whether you want them to or not.

John A. Ford is vice president of global corporate communications for The Blackstone Group in New York City.