Pros
Wherever I have worked with WP (Kazakhstan, Philippines and Indonesia) the business units run on identical OE procedures that have been cascaded and implemented in all WP officer around the world. From an engineering standpoint the same applies: blue print procedures and definitive guidelines in design execution from conceptual to comm / handover. I enjoy the way each office adopts this structure and at the same time embrace the country of operations culture style and allows local employees to feel fully included and comfortable in a multi-national company. we would often engage in old style engineering tactics like roller board reviews with PIDs etc, to allow the emerging enters to understand how process have begun. . Client focus was always our driver and motivation to deliver our work in a flawless and timely fashion. the client relationships were nurtured locally but senior management really spent time forging these relationships, personal touch the office, wherever the office coulee been 30 people or 600, but it always felt like a single organism. this was of large importance for john, now andrew and stewart and graham , denis, tony and the other seniors i had the pleasure in working with. Salaries and packages were typically a 10% notch above the competitors. We also enjoyed being ranked with the Fluors and Bechtels of the world in terms of safety, quality and the non-elitist (an over used word but really implemented into the minds of the employees) way the office run and felt allowed that san francisco feel of free spirited yet hard working and creative way of working. Safety with projects, in our design and with people at work and at home was always number 1. it wasn't a lip service. You have all these parameters in place and working - you have an unstoppable machine. When we set up in office in Kazakhstan. It was a hard process as it was the unknown in a very harsh environment. but the clients were engaged in the manner i spoke of. we looked after their tailored needs. local design institutes and authorities were professionally engaged and this taxing setup was rewarded in an extremely successful offices, then offices. the competition were kept at arms leith for nearly a decade. Best company I have worked for had wonderful mentors
Cons
All of the Pos I have written of are made up of the 3 offices I worked in and numerous others I visited, and the procedures, ideas and attitudes are only as good as the leaders and top management who implement and embed them throughout the entire company. Selection of said senior management, business unit leaders should be carefully screened and, in my opinion should be a entity that has been personally known to the hiring manager. secondary, this should be vetted by a panel, not a single or even 2 decision makers. This potential leader will either make or break an office.