When siemens announced a £600m investment in e-business, the scale of its ambitions ensured headlines in the financial pages around the world. The size of the investment was matched by the annual savings the German group expects to enjoy once its plans are in place. Siemens wants to connect all its 440,000 employees in 190 countries to the internet within a year, and to be conducting the majority of its procurement electronically within three years — and that means more than half of an annual spend of about £21bn. All big numbers from a big company. But like an increasing number of the global giants, Siemens has realised that in the internet age, big is not always beautiful.
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