More and more companies today want to include the scope of their global enterprise into what they’re doing. Successfully accomplishing this when it comes to the talent supply chain in emerging markets asks that you think beyond the norm — going to the edge, studying the other side, and then stepping across.

Knowing the terrain and the laws. Any examination of this subject requires an appreciation of the radically different labor laws that exist in different geographies and are impacted by market maturity.

It’s important to consider what you’re doing within the market, the role of your internal team, and the role of external service providers. While it is common to think about insourcing or outsourcing, in many emerging markets, the real answer involves “co-sourcing” — recognizing the interdependencies of internal and external subject matter experts.

Cultural norms, the operational and competitive realities, and the structure and maturity of the third-party labor market are all factors that need to be deeply considered when bringing emerging markets into the scope of a global program.

It helps that roughly 70 countries around the world have federations specifically focused on private employment agencies, and that these local federations roll up as members of Ciett (www.ciett.org) at the global level. Ciett, and the local federations, provide guidelines and a code of conduct that all members adopt to ensure fair labor practices.

The value of external collaboration. As Karl Popper once said, “If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want, we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories.”

Our industry is at a turning point, with data-based decisions coming to the forefront, but we must be aware of the biases that we all hold. This is natural, and bias can be good or bad. But often, outside perspective brings dramatic value to an organization. A recent collaboration between KellyOCG and Michigan State University and SP Jain allowed 60 MBA students to interpret broad data sets to help develop algorithms and predictive analytics. Having an unbiased third party from outside our industry gives us input on key areas, and causes us to look at information differently. In fact, KellyOCG constantly engages outside parties to help us look at the ways we design solutions, interpret information and assess markets to ensure that we don’t allow our biases — even the ones that bring value — to keep us from seeing new perspectives that might be right in front of us. This, in my opinion, is a true best practice.

Redefining for the long term and beyond. “Fit for purpose” means asking, “Is our solution truly meeting the current and predictable business objectives of our organization?”

I tend to see two areas of concern in the market. First, many mature programs haven’t updated their business cases internally. When rogue spend or other non-compliant behavior is seen in a program, the first question to ask is whether or not the program is genuinely designed to meet the strategic objectives of the organization — both at the macro level and with the local stakeholders.

Second, contract models haven’t evolved to meet the need for dynamic business model shifts, especially globally. Many are structured to support a steady state environment, and often have contractual disincentives to address periods of either rapid growth or rapid contraction. In today’s world economy, these three scenarios happen simultaneously in most large organizations.

So, what do emerging markets, bias, external collaboration and the next generation of your business case all have in common? They’re all areas that can be successfully navigated with the help of a smart, experienced workforce solutions provider. The global business environment doesn’t operate on a one-dimensional, straight path.