Polycentric: The Contemporary Approach for a Global Strategy
The legal services business is inevitably entwined with and closely correlated to our clients' evolution. Multinational corporations are competing globally and are being pressured to leverage economies of scale to maximize profits, but at the same time, they still have to adapt to local customer needs and regulations which cannot be disregarded.
This is precisely what a global law firm should do: adapt and swiftly respond to the requirements of mid-sized enterprises and big, multinational corporations, accurately understand their business models and mirror their modes of functioning by being both responsive locally and present worldwide.Business management strategies have been evolving significantly over the last two decades. Globalization has made the frontier between domestic and international markets extremely diffuse. We cannot talk about a single way of doing things when everything is interconnected and integrated. A lawyer's primary goal is to understand and respond to clients' needs. If a law firm wants to serve globally active, multinational corporations, it also needs a global presence. On the other hand, just being global and having a geocentric philosophy with a “one size fits all” approach also does not work. If a law firm wants to serve modern global corporations, the process of how to render legal advice cannot be defined solely out of a London or New York headquarters.
Back when corporations from western countries made their first steps into foreign markets, they appreciated a lawyer from their home jurisdiction at their side who served as a legal interpreter, arranged for local legal advice, and made great efforts to structure a transaction in the same way the client was used to at home. Over the years, many of these corporations have evolved into decentralized business organizations. Legal departments have built sophisticated teams with specialist in-house lawyers for different regions, and both business and in-house lawyers have become more confident in looking for legal advice from local lawyers—and at local rates.
They have also become more open to business standards and transaction structures customary in other parts of the world. Law firms today must take into account their clients' regional constraints and opportunities, thus also adopting a multi-domestic view. In short, global law firms must develop strategies that reflect their complex environment.Polycentrism is an emerging business practice that consists of networking international talent, capital, and ideas to meet global and local demands for new products and services. It may sound obvious for our modern way of doing business, but the implications are far reaching. Indeed, being in and of the community implies openness and understanding of intercultural differences, opinions and ways of life from a multi-dimensional perspective as well as accepting differences in values, customs, languages and currencies. Essentially this relates to seeing the whole picture from different perspectives without losing track of a common global strategy. A polycentric law firm is able to pay close attention to regional drivers of differentiation, and give prime importance to local approaches. Polycentrism unlocks regional opportunities and integrates them into an innovative network to drive successful synergies on a worldwide scale.
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