A few weeks ago I wrote about TIE’s panel discussion on captives vs. outsourcing. One of the things mentioned by a couple presenters is the importance of having a human link between distant operations. Successful captives – or remote operations of any structure – are often started and led by someone who has ties with both the corporate parent and the specific location. A common pattern is for an Indian IT manager who has been working in corporate IT, typically back in the U.S., to return to his/her home city in India and start up the new operation. As China IT operations emerge, it looks like a similar pattern of Chinese IT managers returning to their home city, or at least country, is also emerging.

There are huge advantages in this approach. The individual chosen for this role has strong personal incentives to make the new operation successful. He (usually he, though not always) usually has personal relationships with many key internal customers, who are more willing to work through the early stage glitches than strangers. He also knows the cultural and social mores of the employees he now manages, and is more likely to gain their respect and trust than a foreign manager. He probably has also some knowledge of employment laws and practices, and general business processes in the country. He is also likely to have an easier time resettling in the country than an expat manager, though this is not always the case. (I’ve known a few mid-career Indian managers who returned to India after a decade or so abroad and found the transition very challenging, perhaps partly because they had not anticipated the extent of the culture shock they or their family would experience, when returning after such a long absence.)

Even when there is no individual employee who is moving from corporate headquarters to a new location, there is usually another strong personal relationship that helps to build the bridge between the countries. One of the earliest businesses to start a technology operation in China was State Street, back in 2001. A CIO article from 2003 noted that it “started with a reference.” One of State Street’s senior managers was familiar with the university in Zhejiang, and a group of professors were invited to the company’s Boston headquarters – for six months! These professors started a research and development lab with a larger group of students, and the program grew from there. If one digs back to the beginning of almost any successful cross-border expansion, you will usually find a similar story.

What do you do if you are planning a new initiative – a new facility or a new team -  in another location, and you don’t already have personal relationships to help bridge the distance? I think it’s worth it to invest in building those relationships.  Try to find someone in your existing organization who has contacts or interest in the new location, to at least participate in the initiative.  Work backwards from your target location to identify people who have ties to your organization currently or in the past.  Sift through LinkedIn or other networking sites.  Leverage the network to identify individuals who have the right skills, both technical and cultural, and then invest in building a relationship between the new location’s key team members and your existing team.  Pay for travel (best if it’s done in both directions), and let people get to know each other in person, to begin to understand different personal styles and working environments.  And do it early on, when it will have the biggest impact and help to quickly build effective working modes, and team spirit.