Managing a global information system is a major challenge. This inherently complex task involving new technology can seem virtually unmanageable when the international dimension is added (the social, technical, ecological, political, and economic differences among countries). For this reason most MNCs choose, in the words of Martin D. J. Buss, to "let sleeping dogs lie where information processing is concerned" 1 an understandable but unwise attitude.
Determining which of the various data-processing operations should be carried out by the individual subsidiaries and which by the headquarters would be no easy matter even if cost and efficiency were the only considerations. But the issue is further complicated by the many constraints that must be taken into consideration. The next few pages highlight some of these constraints. Industry-, firm-, and technology-specific constraints are treated in detail in the fast increasing literature. 2
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