EDS, the wayward outsourcing giant, is stumbling to compete in the global economy.

Cost-cutting was the theme of Wednesday’s announcement to shareholders that the company is beefing up its workforce in low-labor-cost regions while offering “packages” to 12,000 U.S. employees. A company spokesman said, “In order to remain competitive, we must constantly rebalance our workforce on a global basis.”

Frankly, I don’t think they get it. EDS needs to do more than cut costs. It needs radical surgery to reboot its Ross Perot-spawned culture. Until the company adopts a truly global, multi-cultural, multi-national approach to services – starting with its leadership in Plano, Texas – this is a company that is destined to keep downsizing.

One visit to EDS’ headquarters – a monolith on the plains – says way too much about this top-down organization. Those who contend that America is unable to compete on a global playing field will use EDS as an exclamation point.