Any global company derives tremendous advantages from a dispersed organization that combines its diverse capabilities and perspectives as well as geographical reach.

However, global leaders know that there are limits to how well they can achieve this combination. They live with a dynamic interplay between the benefits of a unified workforce and the struggle of people to work together across internal boundaries.

The difficulty of working together can have a significant negative impact on performance as measured by the degree of vision achievement or the cost of missed opportunities.

Why are there barriers to working across boundaries? People in organizations find that they perform best within their own functional or cultural groups. Within a group, people can communicate well and achieve trust and respect based on shared values and goals.

However, boundaries between groups can become performance barriers for the company, especially as "we-they" attitudes develop that reduce motivation to integrate or align.

The impact is familiar: blockage of shared decision-making or of information flows. Barriers also inhibit the development of leadership by preventing uniformity of direction. This creates a "spiral" effect by restricting the main force for overcoming or preventing barriers, which is consistent, vision-based leadership.

Improving performance across boundaries requires:

• Leadership for a global focus and vision alignment
• Tools and systems for collaboration
• Communication systems development
• Intercultural training for attitudes, skills, and awareness

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