A Novel Approach for Globalizing Corporate Sanctioned Standards

摘要

The development, implementation and administration of corporate sanctioned standards throughout a multinational service company pose many challenges. Difficulties arise when corporate standards intended for global use do not account for the many influencing factors (such as differences in local governing regulations, geographical locations, climatic conditions and contractual obligations) which will affect the validity and ultimate acceptance of a corporate sanctioned standard. To complicate matters further, in many cases the multinational personnel responsible for complying with the standards may or may not have the language skills required to read or comprehend a given standard unless it is translated into their indigenous language(s). Provided all these challenges can be overcome, the timely and effective distribution of documents to all corners of the globe presents another major challenge in addition to large costs incurred. Due to the dynamic nature of the industry and the desire to continuously improve, standards require periodic revisions, so a means to track and effectively distribute updates around the world is needed. This process requires personnel resources and discipline, and if not done properly, it can lead to a state of confusion among the intended users. The following paper describes a novel approach for globalizing corporate sanctioned standards in a multinational service company, including standards for: field operations, quality, health and safety, environmental, maintenance, engineering, laboratory, and training. This novel approach, which employs a customized database application, is presented. Most unique to the application is its user interface which allows users to view the standards specifically applicable to their particular business unit, geographic region, and country, and in their native language. The approval process required to ensure all standards are reviewed and authorized at the appropriate level of the organization is addressed. In addition the methodology used for translating documents written in English into four additional languages will be covered. Furthermore, functional aspects of the database which allow multi-language viewing, user feedback, "best practices" photo gallery and additional features will be presented.