At Unilever, we operate as a global hub with standardized processes while also needing to adapt to local market realities. Can you describe a situation where you had to balance a local requirement against a global template or standard?

Situation

While working as a coordinator for a multinational shared-services team, our global finance team rolled out a new expense reporting system that did not accept the specific receipt format required by our Philippine tax authority (BIR).

Task

I had to ensure the local team could comply with BIR rules without delaying the global system rollout or breaking the standard process.

Action

I gathered three sample receipts and the BIR regulation document, then joined a call with the global process owner. I explained the local requirement as a compliance risk, not a preference. I proposed adding a simple dropdown field for 'receipt type' that would accept an alternate format and keep data aligned. I also offered to test the update locally first.

Result

The global team approved the dropdown modification within two weeks. The Philippine team adopted the system on schedule, and later two other Asia hubs used the same fix for similar local tax rules.