Airport Reflections

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Did I say China? The truth is, there is little here to distinguish Capital International from any other big modern airport. It's a very nice facility: bright, spacious, and always spotless. But the retail outlets, featuring almost exclusively Western brands, are pretty much the same as what you would find at a large mall. The only Chinese characteristic, other than the remaining Olympic souvenir shops, are the Chinese characters on the signs, along with English.

Capital Airport reflects 21st century China's focus on modernization and economic progress, which will serve it well in the era of globality, but China has yet to develop a style of its own.

New Delhi Smoke

On to India: First-time visitors arriving at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, which opened Asia's longest runway in September 2008, are usually surprised when the flight attendant announces that you shouldn't be concerned about the smell that enters the aircraft as the plane is slowing down on the runway. It's caused by what Delhi weather forecasters euphemistically call "smoke." You smell it before they open the door of the airplane.

When you enter the terminal, you sense the crush of India's population almost immediately. It seems like all 1.1 billion people are trying to get through Customs with you. Heathrow has its queues; Gandhi has countless human bodies pressing ahead relentlessly. Be prepared to wait an hour or two before you enter the country.

The airport is an eclectic mix of Third World decay, where just about everything is falling apart and little works, and recently renovated areas that are sterile but functioning. A new terminal is being built, but like everything in India, it will take what seems like forever to complete the job.

When you leave the building, you encounter another sea of people. It's a wonder that you can locate the driver who's holding a sign with your name on it. The airport and the trip to the hotel reflect India's key barrier to greater success: India has not yet developed the infrastructure needed to unleash its potential.

Rendezvous in Paris: Charles de Gaulle International Airport, as you would suspect, is beautiful. Its Terminal 2 is an architectural marvel, with high ceilings and lots of light. Stunning though it may be, it's hard to get around. Try finding your way from a gate in section 2A to a gate in section 2F. It's all in the same terminal but it feels like you are running a maze, especially when Paris is not your final destination.

Charles de Gaulle reflects French style—form trumps function. It looks great, but like French high fashion it's not very functional. Ah, the predictable French: C'est si bon.

Sweet Home Chicago

Chicago is known as the Second City, and O'Hare International Airport is America's second-busiest. What I like about O'Hare is that it's predictable. You can get from here to there in a reasonable amount of time. Almost all the gates are in the same security zone. If you're in good shape and in a hurry, you can run between the two farthest gates in the security zone gate C32 to gate K19 in 7 to 10 minutes. (I once made it in less than five minutes to avoid a potential four-hour wait for a later flight.)

Because of the volume of traffic and Chicago's notoriously bad weather—wind, snow, thunderstorms, depending on the time of year—you can reliably expect delays. There's always a newsstand nearby, however, if you want to pick up a newspaper and another place nearby to get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee. No pretentious shopping malls. No grand architectural statements. O'Hare is an airport. You go there to go someplace else. It delivers what it promises without distraction.

O'Hare reflects Chicago—the city that works. In spite of all its problems, O'Hare gets the job done with a high frequency of flights and two major carriers competing for my travel.

Function Over Form

There are several lessons here for business. One important lesson is that form in many cases is far less important than function. If something looks good but doesn't work properly, it'll hold you back.

A second lesson is that everything we make—even airports—should be user-friendly. It shouldn't take an Eagle Scout to navigate from one gate or terminal to another.

A third lesson is that every business, and business unit, needs to remember what it is, what it does, and why it exists—especially in an era of mounting competition. Many airport authorities seem to have forgotten this. A seasoned traveler will invariably choose the airport that knows it's an airport, not the Mall of America, and makes it easy to get from point A to point B. Who wants to shop if an airport wastes your time in long unnecessary lines and makes it difficult to navigate the terminals and make connections?

All businesses must be clear about their mission. The era of globality will provide most companies' customers with an increasing array of choices. To stand out and win this competition, companies need to know who they are and what they can do best, and then do it well.

Airports, in the era of globality, also send a strong signal to executives about the pluses and minuses of possible relocation and outsourcing decisions. A major hub airport that isn't "all business" should tell you something.

The greatest lesson of all, perhaps, is that it's always nice to get home. After clearing Customs and getting into a cab at O'Hare, it's just 30 minutes to my house. When I arrive, the best part of my trip is awaiting me: a welcome-home kiss from my wife. It reminds me what's really important in life and makes me wonder why I ever leave home.

Harold L. Sirkin is a Chicago-based senior partner of The Boston Consulting Group and author, with James W. Hemerling and Arindam K. Bhattacharya, of GLOBALITY: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything (Business Plus, June, 2008).