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1 - Global realities and management challenges

Richard M. Steers ,
Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde  and
Luciara Nardon
Richard M. Steers
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
Carlos J. Sanchez-Runde
Affiliation:
IESE Business School, Barcelona
Luciara Nardon
Affiliation:
Carleton University, Ottawa
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Summary

A global manager is set apart by more than a worn suitcase and a dog-eared passport.

Thomas A. Stewart Editor, Harvard Business Review, USA

Global managers are made, not born. This is not a natural process. We are herd animals; we like people who are like us.

Percy Barnevik Former CEO, ABB Group, Switzerland CEO, Hand-in-Hand International, UK

Twenty-five years ago, two highly respected management consultants published a comprehensive study of Fortune 500 companies that sought to identify the key management characteristics of the most successful firms in the US. National Public Radio called the book “one of the top three business books of the century.” Based on their research, the authors identified what they considered to be the top forty “excellent” companies. These firms shared several common features that clustered around the three themes of people, customers, and action. More specifically, the researchers concluded that success was associated with eight common company characteristics: a bias for action; close customer relations; an entrepreneurial spirit; productivity through people; a hands-on, value-driven management philosophy that guided everyday practice; a focus on core business areas; a flat organization design, including a small headquarters staff; and a combination of shared company values and high degrees of shop floor autonomy.

Five years after this landmark study was published, a Business Week investigation found that of the original forty “excellent” firms, a full one-third had experienced either significant financial loss or bankruptcy.

Type
Chapter
Information
Management across Cultures
Challenges and Strategies
 , pp. 1 - 23
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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References

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