A discussion is provided of the progress or lack thereof of SAP AG's plan to globalize, which has run into cultural roadblocks. SAP is one of the few companies that tried to globalize from top to bottom, but SAP not only hired thousands of programmers in the U.S. and India, it also adopted English for corporate meetings, even in SAP headquarters. Hundreds of non-German managers were recruited, and half the company's top ranks were non-German by last year, up from one third in 2000. However, the measures created tensions reflected by fears of employees that the company was changing too extensively and quickly. SAP CEO Henning Kagermann says the shift of power has to be attacked, a task that cannot be avoided. The company tried to quell the fears of both groups. The reasons that SAP had to take such a path are described, along with many instances of the results, which included purchase of an Israeli-based company headed by Shai Agassi who had founded four companies by age 24. Mr. Agassi was tested with difficult management assignments, but Hasso Plattner, co-CEO at the time, liked Mr. Agassi, who had responded vociferously to the contrary when Mr. Plattner criticized his software during their first meeting. Mr. Agassi eventually left SAP because his passion-to-cost equation at SAP was no longer high enough to convince him that he should stay on. Mr. Plattner and SAP CEO Henning Kagermann continue to work apace to convince SAP developers in California that the company will not return to its Walldorf, Germany,-centric days.