LinkedIn 2012 Annual Report Download - page 29

culture are exacerbated by our international expansion, and because of our growth, we have significantly
expanded our operating lease commitments, which has increased our expenses. Additionally, we may not
be able to hire new employees quickly enough to meet our needs. If we fail to effectively manage our
hiring needs and successfully integrate our new hires, our efficiency and ability to meet our forecasts and
our employee morale, productivity and retention could suffer, and our business and operating results
could be adversely affected.
Additionally, if we do not effectively manage the growth of our business and operations, the quality
of our solutions could suffer, which could negatively affect our brand, operating results and overall
business. Further, we have made changes in the past, and will in the future make changes, to our features,
products and services that our members or customers may not like, find useful or agree with. We may also
decide to discontinue certain features, products or services, or charge for certain features, products or
services that are currently free or increase fees for any of our features, products or services. If members
or customers are unhappy with these changes, they may decrease their engagement on our site, or stop
using features, products or services or the site generally. They may, in addition, choose to take other types
of action against us such as organizing petitions or boycotts focused on our company, our website or any
of our services, filing claims with the government or other regulatory bodies, or filing lawsuits against us.
Any of these actions could negatively impact our member growth and engagement and our brand, which
would harm our business. To effectively manage this growth, we will need to continue to improve our
operational, financial and management controls, and our reporting systems and procedures by, among
other things:
• improving our information technology infrastructure to maintain the effectiveness of our solutions;
• enhancing information and communication systems to ensure that our employees and offices
around the world are well-coordinated and can effectively communicate with each other and our
growing base of members, enterprises and professional organizations;
• enhancing our internal controls to ensure timely and accurate reporting of all of our operations;
and
• appropriately documenting our information technology systems and our business processes.
These systems enhancements and improvements will require significant capital expenditures and
allocation of valuable management and employee resources. If we fail to implement these improvements
effectively, our ability to manage our expected growth and comply with the rules and regulations that are
applicable to publicly reporting companies will be impaired.
Our international operations are subject to increased challenges and risks.
We have offices around the world and our websites and mobile applications are available in
numerous other languages. We expect to continue to expand our international operations in the future by
opening offices in new jurisdictions and expanding our offerings in new languages. However, we have
limited operating history as a company outside the United States, and our ability to manage our business
and conduct our operations internationally requires considerable management attention and resources and
is subject to the particular challenges of supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of
multiple languages, cultures, customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems, regulatory systems and
commercial infrastructures. International expansion has required and will continue to require us to invest
significant funds and other resources. Operating internationally subjects us to new risks and may increase
risks that we currently face, including risks associated with:
• recruiting and retaining talented and capable employees in foreign countries and maintaining our
company culture across all of our offices;
• providing solutions across a significant distance, in different languages and among different
cultures, including potentially modifying our solutions and features to ensure that they are
culturally relevant in different countries, which may include modifying content in certain
jurisdictions if it may be considered objectionable;
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