THE NEW EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADER 273identity (e.g. French, Estonian, or Swedish). A European company could
be seen as a kind of developmental learning center, teaching the
European how to survive, as well as to maintain his or her sense of
self, in a global world.
So how can we help this optimally distinctive European develop?
It means fi nding a way to combine the characteristics of the common
European identity with those of the national, regional, individualized,
organizational, or personal identity. Finding this road is infi nitely prefer-
able to the bubble or chameleon approaches adopted by too many Euro-
pean leaders.
The bubble is blown up to protect an organization and its systems,
opportunities, core competencies, and identity from any form of conta-
gion from the outside world. In bubble organizations, leaders obstinately
stick to what they know, ignoring the context in which they are
operating.
Chameleon leaders, by contrast, opt for total immersion in the
national fl avor - of - the - month, and are too ready to give up the organi-
zation ’ s basic cultural identity — to let go of the characteristics that made
for its original success — to follow the latest trend.
I suggest a middle way, a ‘ glocal ’ route to Europeanization, which
will help combine elements of the core (an organization ’ s unique
competencies and opportunities) with the capacity to adapt to other
cultures.
To be effective, European companies or global organizations operat-
ing in Europe have to ask themselves: what kinds of functions need to
be centralized at the European level, or even globally? What has to
remain at the national level? In Diageo, for example, decisions about
information technology, corporate communication, and accounting can
be made at a centralized level. However, human resources, industrial
relations, and specifi c sales - management decisions are frequently made
at local level.
Dealing with change
The unlearning of habitual patterns that is necessary in becoming
European can provoke a great deal of anxiety. Under stress, people are
inclined to regress to habitual patterns of behavior, illogical as these may
appear to others, and they cannot seem to change their perspective on
the world without expending a great deal of effort. The challenge for
European leaders, then, is to fi nd ways to trigger a willingness to experi-
ment and try out new things. And this is true whether we are talking