Manoel Coelho, Director of Global Business Development at GlobalMed in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, was looking ahead to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the opportunities the Games would offer for raising international awareness of the role and value of telemedicine. He worked closely with Dr. Antonio Carlos Marttos of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, who was the chief spokesman for the telemedicine initiative. Coelho's challenge was to assist Marttos in pitching the general idea of telemedicine to key decision makers, while also keeping his company in the line of sight as the preferred vendor. As Marttos envisioned it, mobile, suitcase-sized telemedicine units would be positioned at key venue sites throughout Rio to serve the needs of athletes and spectators. Telemedicine would allow for on-site diagnosis and connections to physicians at Rio hospitals, as well as to physicians in the home countries of athletes or spectators. GlobalMed embarked on the Rio Olympics project as a key initiative in its strategic mission to expand globally. The company, founded in 2002, had moved carefully and deliberately to establish its credibility in smaller projects at the Pan American Games in 2011 and at the London Olympics in 2012. Exposure via the Olympic Games would not only benefit GlobalMed, but the entire telemedicine industry. If the project moved forward, Coelho would need a comprehensive but adaptable project plan, including a thorough assessment of potential risks and challenges.
Many companies in mature markets assume that the only reason to enter emerging markets is to pursue new customers. They haven't yet realized the potential for innovation in developing countries-though a few visionary multinationals are tapping that potential for much-needed ideas in products and services. General Electric, with its portable ultrasound technology, and Intel, with its inexpensive Classmate PC, are two examples. Other companies see the potential but find it hugely difficult to develop ideas in unfamiliar settings, much less turn them into global businesses: C-level executives may resist disruptive concepts, or their organizations may lack the processes necessary for absorbing outside innovation. The authors' research shows that a new kind of manager-a "global bridger"-can help these companies take advantage of the innovative energy that permeates emerging markets. Global bridgers tend to be good at developing and maintaining relationships of trust; they understand emerging markets; they have long tenure with their companies; and they are skilled at selling their ideas internally. They have learned to intentionally observe customers, suppliers, and competitors. They cultivate "translators"-people with insights into the local environment. And they test their ideas before taking them back to headquarters, where they rely on advocates to help promote their ideas.