Internationalizing managers: Speeding up the process

Most multinational companies agree that their managers need international expertise; but a recent survey surprisingly revealed that more than half of the large European corporations participating in the study lacked a strategy -- either in writing or as a commonly articulated value -- for internationalizing their managers (Price Waterhouse/Cranfield, 1991, p. 14). Not only must cutting-edge companies implement this process, but they have to find ways to speed it up to stay competitive. Brooklyn Derr and Gary Oddou report a 1991 survey conducted with 105 European multinationals employing an average of 30,000 workers each. The respondents, usually directors of human resource management and management development, identified the current strategies most frequently used to internationalize their firms, the importance assigned these strategies (not necessarily the same thing), and short-range trends. The article also explores the different challenges presented by attempting to internationalize senior managers as compared to junior managers. Expatriation/repatriation has been the traditional means of internationalizing managers, but companies are not doing a uniformly able job in preparing their managers for expatriation nor in taking advantage of their expertise after they return. In addition to making recommendations about expatriation/repatriation, the authors suggest newer, faster practices for internationalizing managers.