What does it mean for an association to be "Global"?
For an Association to be "Global", it means that;
1. The organization has a meaningful presence in each major region of the world, i.e. on each continent (except Antarctica) and the major sub regions such as the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent.
2. The organization appears to its customers to be a national champion or local entity more than a foreign entity, and that it is not immediately obvious where "Headquarters" is. It is most important that the organization has strong local or regional relevance to the member/customer. (The food company Nestle is a great example. Most of its brands are assumed to be local companies but are part of this Swiss food giant's portfolio).
3. The organization maintains universal core values and an agreed Body of Knowledge or an Intellectual Property core that is intelligently and appropriately modified as necessary and relevant for regional or national requirements.
For example when credentialing, the credential should maintain global equivalence (based on a core Body of Knowledge) but still have real meaning nationally i.e. comply with local law and practice. (Includes things like language, law, currency, time, metric v. imperial measures etc.)
4. The organization does not derive more than 50% of its gross revenues from any one single country or market.
5. The Governance structure reflects the global footprint of the organization.
6. The leadership thinks constantly in terms of how decisions will affect the entire membership regardless of where they are located and anticipates the need to respect the complexity of being a global organization.
7. Communication systems and practices are put in place to support global collaboration including telephone formats ("+" and then the Country Code followed by the number ex. +1 202 555 1234), date formats (a format that leaves no guesswork: 25 DEC 2008), the use of military or 24 hour time (23:00 is 11pm). Organizations must be careful to use shorter, less complicated sentences and remove jargon, political or sport references, etc. Many non-English native speakers can more easily understand and express themselves in written form than orally but the communication must be clear and un-complicated.
8. The staff and leadership must travel. Globalization is not a spectator sport. There is no substitute for putting oneself in the scene where you do not understand the local language, do not recognize what people are eating, cannot find an English newspaper, attend dinners where you do not understand the jokes, etc. Then it is clear how important being sensitive to local issues is to really succeed internationally.
These are the clear characteristics of a "Global" organization.