Taking Care of the Planet Makes for a Flourishing International Business

A chat with Robin Harden, export-import manager, Yellow Springs Instruments (YSI) Inc.

Can you tell us a little about YSI?
Gladly. YSI Incorporated (www.ysi.com) provides a full range of measurement solutions in biosensor technology. We have three product lines. YSI Environmental manufactures instrumentation for measuring and monitoring water quality, YSI Temperature makes highly accurate temperature sensing devices, and YSI Life Sciences offers bioanalytical instruments for a broad range of applications.

How is YSI involved in international business?
We've been involved internationally for a long time. Right now we sell in about 80 countries and have over 60 distribution partners. When I say partners, that means everything from dealers to joint ventures. Each of our product lines has its own distribution channel. Although we manufacture the majority of our products in the U.S., we do have some foreign production and are ready to increase that if necessary. We always ask ourselves how we can support our core values-which include ecological sustainability, community, and innovation-through our business practices.

How does your role as export-import manager fit into all of this?
I think of my job as the internal coordinator for all international communications. I field foreign inquiries from everyone, ranging from customers to potential dealers, with everyone in between. My role is to make sure that information is in the hands of the appropriate person, whether that's someone inside the company or a strategic partner overseas. This may sound straightforward, but doing business internationally means taking a lot of things into consideration. Every foreign country where we do business has its own unique location and culture-specific issues. Then there are the specific import and export laws you face in each country, plus the particular organizations and people you're dealing with. Not only that, all of these things have to be considered relative to which YSI product line we're talking about. Switch product lines and many of the overseas variables change, such as the import laws and the folks you're interacting with. It's challenging!

Speaking of which, what are some key challenges facing YSI in the international arena?
Well, change is constant, particularly in international business. So you have to be ready and willing to deal with issues at all levels. That includes local organizational concerns as well as national or even global issues. One of the big challenges for us as an organization is to manage the relationships with each of our strategic partners overseas. Technology is great for sharing information, but you still need to interact with people face-to-face at some point. The key is to develop and maintain excellent relationships with the foreign individuals with whom you work. We simply must all be on the same page and understanding each other, or we won't keep moving in the same direction. That takes a lot of effort. We invest a lot of time trying to take care of the business relationships with each of our foreign partners. I think sustaining that is a major challenge.

On the other end of the spectrum, companies need to understand the broader context in which they operate. YSI doesn't operate in a vacuum. We need the support of other service sectors such as banking and transportation so we can arrange financing and ship products to foreign customers. In the past decade, there has been a lot of economic integration around the world, much of it through the formation of regional trading blocks such as the EU, NAFTA, and ASEAN. The emergence of these regional trading blocks has some benefits, but it also complicates our lives in other ways. So companies have to develop international skills internally, as well as work to develop those skills locally and nationally.

How does YSI develop the skills needed for success in international business?
Part of it is just realizing that to be successful worldwide, forming strong partnerships abroad is essential. Within the organization, we have consciously made a commitment to our international business and recognize that we need to continue to work at it. Every year for the past three years, YSI has held a global summit at its Yellow Springs, Ohio headquarters. Representatives from each YSI outpost around the world gather for a week of large- and small-group discussions, planning, and presentations-with some recreation thrown in. These interactions help us build the relationships we need to succeed abroad.

At the community level, we get involved with local organizations in order to enhance our own know-how as well as help other local institutions be more active global citizens. For example, we're very involved with the Miami Valley International Trade Association (our local international trade organization) and have served in various leadership positions. We also partner with local institutions of higher education. These relationships not only provide opportunities for us to enhance our skills, but also allow us to help raise the level of understanding about international business in our local environment. In the long run, that helps us and other local firms to be better international competitors.

Sometimes, we even get involved at the national level. Recently, I went to a meeting at the White House to discuss issues surrounding economic integration and the role that governments can play in promoting international trade. You may have heard about the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA; http://www.tpa.gov/). It basically has to do with how much authority Congress gives the executive branch to negotiate international trade agreements. Anyway, women from all over the country, including other African-Americans who are involved in international trade, met with President Bush and other government officials to hear their positions on the issue. We shared our perspectives about how TPA can directly impact American firms that do business abroad.

Any final thoughts?
Just that international companies have to be ready and willing to operate in a complex and changing global business environment. At YSI, we believe that having a global perspective and broadening horizons in our own backyard helps us become a better company.