Dell’s Global Acquisition Sales Director Speaks at
BHP Symposium
By Andrea Ferdinand
It’s not the booming population growth or the constant influx of tourists that make it so difficult to implement technology in New York. It’s the elevator size.
Knowing that you can only fit a small number of boxes in an elevator in New York or that your company’s 18-wheeler will not fit through Paris’ narrow streets is only the beginning of Dell’s global success strategy.
“The world is so complex,” said Dell’s Director for Global Acquisition Sales John Hanby at the McCombs Business Honors Program Symposium on globalization Feb. 2.
“There are a lot of obstacles depending on where you work in the world, and it is your job to understand them,” he said.
Information Technology Key to Global Success
Knowing the various obstacles each market faces is only one part of the equation. Understanding what the markets have in common is another.
Hanby, who has dealt with state and local governments, large retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson and Merck, says all companies share a common need for information technology.
“Information technology is the blood that runs through a company,” he said. “If you don’t have a good IT strategy you will fail, especially in the global market.”
While the competitors in today’s global market—namely China with 1.3 billion people and India with 1.1 billion—significantly outrank the Unites States in size, Hanby notes that United States businesses’ emphasis on information technology combined with the country’s intellectual capital is what allows the United States to maintain economic power in the global market.
One Step Further: CRM
But information technology alone cannot sustain a country’s global economic position. That’s why Dell focuses on building relationships with other businesses and fostering trust between the company and its customers.
“Our fundamental success is based on customer experience,” Hanby explained. Dell’s customer experience plan is composed on a 200-point measurement of what its customers want out of their experience with Dell. Once Dell measures the customer experience they reexamine it to see if there is a global fluctuation.
For example, the tax base in South America is significantly different than in the United States. Some notebook computers are taxed at 45 percent in certain South American countries, which means customers who purchase Dell computers in those countries will have vastly different standards to measure their experience with Dell than Americans would.
While the synergy created by focusing on customer experience, information technology and intellectual capital helps Dell retain its global position, Hanby avers that technology is the glue that holds the company together.
“When I look back on what I know and where technology is going, I realize that technology is a fact of life—it is the DNA of information—and if you don’t embrace it you will fail in the global market.”For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
