Global Account Management

If you buy a new BMW you may be surprised as much by the owner's manual as by the car itself. Thin, personalized, and containing information only on the features you have selected in the language you speak, it is the result of a year's collaboration with Xerox that has radically improved the product and decimated costs. It is just one example of the new organizational structures and processes being developed at leading companies to serve the global marketplace. As firms realize that dealing with global customers is not simply an extension of key account management, their most common response is to launch a formal global account management initiative. Done well this is pow…