Vantaggi
Opportunity to work with talented people around the world on projects with global scope. From Asia, through Europe to South America, there were dedicated resources who made any project interesting and enriching. Very often the projects were leading edge as business lines saw and strove to be first tap new markets with new products, technology and solutions. Resources and technology were also always available as tools in order to conceive or deliver the next generation of products. There was also a strong focus on training and development. Even when budgets were tight, it was possible for budget to attend world class educational sessions.
Svantaggi
Cultural and ideological clashes with management outside of the US. When you have good people who want to work hard and do the right thing, the hardest thing is to step back and let them do it. In this organization, there too often tends to be only one, global, central right way of doing things, even if that's not an ideal fit in certain localities, or even if certain local resources may question direction based on their own not-insignificant expertise. The home office, branch mentality is very common in many organizations, but there is value in overcoming it and opening lines of communication.