Building a Company Without Borders
HBR.ORG
Bart Becht is the CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, headquartered in Slough, England.
Building a Company Without Borders
AN ITALIAN IS RUNNING THE UK BUSINESS A DUTCHMAN IS RUNNING THE U.S. BUSINESS AN AMERICAN IS RUNNING THE GERMAN BUSINESS
by Bart Becht
A FRENCHMAN IS RUNNING THE RUSSIAN BUSINESS
AN INDIAN IS RUNNING THE CHINESE BUSINESS
A BELGIAN IS RUNNING THE BRAZILIAN BUSINESS
T
THE IDEA
You may never have heard of Reckitt Benckiser, but in the past few years the company has outperformed its rivals P&G, Unilever, and Colgate in growth—even during the downturn. Here’s how.
hey say you can’t go home again. If you work for Reckitt Benckiser, you can go home—but you may not want to, and you certainly won’t have to. Many companies, when they describe themselves as global, mean they have operations around the world, they work virtually and in all time zones, and their key people are developed through stints in other markets. Our version is more comprehensive. Most of our top managers haven’t held jobs in their countries of origin for years and view themselves as global citizens rather than as citizens of any given nation. We have operations in more than 60 countries. Our top 400 managers represent 53 di erent nationalities. We’ve spent the past 10 years building this culture of global
April 2010 Harvard Business Review 103
This article is provided compliments of Reckitt Benckiser Group.
HOW I DID IT
mobility because we think it’s one of the best ways to generate new ideas and create global entrepreneurs. And it has paid o . Products launched in the past three years—all the result of global cross-fertilization—account for 35% to 40% of our net revenue. For example, Finish, an all-in-one dishwasher tablet you drop into your machine, is now the leader in its market category. Recently we successfully introduced QuantuMatic—an automatic dispenser of dishwasher detergent that doesn’t need to be re lled for up to a month. With constant
Bart Becht is the CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, headquartered in Slough, England.
Building a Company Without Borders
AN ITALIAN IS RUNNING THE UK BUSINESS A DUTCHMAN IS RUNNING THE U.S. BUSINESS AN AMERICAN IS RUNNING THE GERMAN BUSINESS
by Bart Becht
A FRENCHMAN IS RUNNING THE RUSSIAN BUSINESS
AN INDIAN IS RUNNING THE CHINESE BUSINESS
A BELGIAN IS RUNNING THE BRAZILIAN BUSINESS
T
THE IDEA
You may never have heard of Reckitt Benckiser, but in the past few years the company has outperformed its rivals P&G, Unilever, and Colgate in growth—even during the downturn. Here’s how.
hey say you can’t go home again. If you work for Reckitt Benckiser, you can go home—but you may not want to, and you certainly won’t have to. Many companies, when they describe themselves as global, mean they have operations around the world, they work virtually and in all time zones, and their key people are developed through stints in other markets. Our version is more comprehensive. Most of our top managers haven’t held jobs in their countries of origin for years and view themselves as global citizens rather than as citizens of any given nation. We have operations in more than 60 countries. Our top 400 managers represent 53 di erent nationalities. We’ve spent the past 10 years building this culture of global
April 2010 Harvard Business Review 103
This article is provided compliments of Reckitt Benckiser Group.
HOW I DID IT
mobility because we think it’s one of the best ways to generate new ideas and create global entrepreneurs. And it has paid o . Products launched in the past three years—all the result of global cross-fertilization—account for 35% to 40% of our net revenue. For example, Finish, an all-in-one dishwasher tablet you drop into your machine, is now the leader in its market category. Recently we successfully introduced QuantuMatic—an automatic dispenser of dishwasher detergent that doesn’t need to be re lled for up to a month. With constant