Blackmoor Vituperative

IBM’s global procurement headquarters is moving from Somers, NY, north of New York City, to Shenzhen, China. This will be the first time the headquarters of an IBM corporate-wide organization has been located outside the U.S.

According to the company, the move illustrates a shift underway at IBM from a multinational corporation to a new model — a globally integrated enterprise. “In a multinational model, many functions of a corporation were replicated around the world — but each addressing only its local market,” said Chief Procurement Officer John Paterson, who is relocating to China. “In a globally integrated enterprise, for the first time, a company’s worldwide capability can be located wherever in the world it makes the most sense, based on the imperatives of economics, expertise and open environments.

(from IBM News, IBM moves procurement HQ to China)

The world isn’t cyberpunk yet, but it’s getting there.