Management Development:

All of the managers interviewed indicated that management development was one of the primary motivations for using international assignments within MedCo. At the same time, however, while managers did benefit from being assigned to the UK headquarters, only one of the four mangers indicated that this was among the primary motivations for their current assignment. When asked about the value of assignments for management development within MedCo, managers identified three key reasons, which included the development of a global perspective, the development of leadership skills, and increased visibility/career opportunities. Each of these will now be further outlined.

5.5.2.1. Developing a Global Perspective

Interviewees stated that, as leaders and ambassadors of MedCo, it was important that managers developed an appreciation for other cultures and understood that there were different approaches to work and organisation apart from that used in their home offices. Hence, another key reason for the use of international management assignments in this MNC was to provide the opportunity for current and or future leaders to gain a more global perspective of management by becoming immersed in a less familiar cultural context. MedCo had a wide range of international assignments that it used for this purpose, and hence, as stated by H1, individuals could be sent on assignment from day one within the company. With regard to international management assignments, however, these were often reserved for those who had been with the company for five years or more. Indeed,

141| P a g e H1 explained that individuals were typically sent on management assignments in their thirties and forties as by this time they had reached managerial status within the company. Of the AE managers interviewed within HealthCo, three of these were at a senior level (H2, H3, H5) while the fourth (H4) was at middle-management level. Those at senior management level, H3, for example, stated that with regard to why they were sent to the UK-based subsidiary, management development was not outlined as a priority. About this H3 commented:

“Because I would say that I am later in my career but the benefit is the experience that I bring to this role verses someone who is maybe five years out of school. So it’s not really in the development area of say, ‘how can they experience the global environment”

- H3, HR (HealthCo)

While other interviewees agreed with this sentiment, all stated that they still benefitted personally and professionally from their current assignment, stating that it helped to expand their world view. Some explained that the completion of an international assignment was an essential part of developing a more open-minded view of the organisation, which was necessary skill for a future global leader. Comments by H2 helped to shed light on the benefits of working outside a home country setting. This manager stated:

“I think it makes you a more marketable employee outside of MedCo and maybe a little bit within MedCo too, because they say oh she has done an international assignment and you toughed it out, you did it, you can pull your own with the different culture. And I think that’s really important to be able to show that an American can work outside of the protected world of an American company”

- H2, Marketing (HealthCo) This was a key professional benefit of having completed an international assignment, as expressed by the majority of interviewees. H2 went on to provide a more specific example of how her thinking was impacted by working within EngCo:

“There is a definite difference in the communication styles. Americans tend to be more brash and to the point…My English counterparts tend to be more precise in the language

142| P a g e and more eloquent…So I had to teach myself to be more patient, so I think I’m taking that back right to the US, to say you know what, you can breathe, you can have business conversation and really hear what they have to say, and the other thing that it taught me is that I might have been missing something before because I wasn’t patient about the transaction”

- H2, Marketing (HealthCo) This manager also stated that the demonstration of such skills resulted in increased confidence and trust from their home office. Other managers shared similar sentiments and gave examples of how being AE manager helped to expand their global perspective. H4, who was based in Life Sciences, gave insight into the benefits of working within a global headquarters, as opposed to the Belgium office from which he was assigned. He stated:

“Being in an international hub, it feels like there is a wider view to the world I feel it’s dynamic, I feel there is a broader base of people and viewpoints. A bigger international variety and diversity which adds to the richness I think, to the work environment. Whereas even though you are working in an international context from Belgium the mix or the diversity is much less than we have here.”

- H4, Life Sciences (HealthCo) It was agreed that the diverse experiences and interactions of AE managers within the local subsidiary and its environment helped to expand their thinking around specific employee actions within the organisation. Managers emphasized that in the same way that they brought the global perspective to the UK-based HealthCo, interacting with local employees and stakeholders helped them to appreciate the rationale and reasons behind certain actions taken or approaches used by these individuals and how they might benefit the firm if applied within other offices around the globe. Such new approaches and thinking facilitated the development of new organisational and managerial capabilities, and increased cultural understanding across the organisation as a whole. This ‘global mindset’ was seen as a key part of managers’ development as organisational leaders, which will be further discussed below.

143| P a g e 5.5.2.2. Enhancing Leadership Skills and Global Networks

Within MedCo, there was a range of approaches taken to developing managers for global leadership. The development of managers’ leadership qualities occured both formally and informally while on assignment. Although management development was not the main focus for the majority of interviewees, some stated that leadership development was taken very seriously within MedCo, and as a result there were several mechanisms were used in order to enhance such skills. In her interview, H2 stated:

“MedCo has a very intense culture of leadership development. So there is a course called [course name] which all executives need to go through at some point in their career…You have formal training about how to manage people from different cultures, how to manage within a culture where you’re the minority, I mean they do lots of those role play activities and kinds of things”

H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

This leadership training typically occurred in the firm’s global headquarters, and consisted of organised workshops and training courses on specified topics. This AE manager stated that such training, in addition to the assignment, was essential in order to ensure that future leaders within the organisation had an appreciation for living and managing within varying global contexts. Besides gaining more cultural awareness, these programmes resulted in other benefits as well. H4 in life sciences also commented on this leadership programme and the advantages that it extended to managers assigned within HealthCo:

“There is a corporate leadership development programme at MedCo which enables you to go to courses. And there you get to know peers from other businesses at similar levels or different levels, or similar functions or different functions. You always tend to grow your network in those kind of areas.”

-H4, Life Sciences (HealthCo)

From these comments, it became evident that in addition to leadership training, this programme was also a key way for future global leaders to extend their global network across different

144| P a g e organisational units. Such networks were capable of identifying and facilitating several business and professional-related opportunities for AE managers. In addition to this leadership programme, this manager also stated that coaching within various internal affinity networks was also another more informal way of further extending his global network and making contact with individuals whose path he would not normally cross. These various programmes in MedCo were available for assigned managers to take advantage of, and typically supplemented their daily experiences within HealthCo. The assignment itself, however, acted as the main form of leadership development, which was enhanced as they engaged in the daily routines and rituals of leading their local teams, and delivering upon pre-set organisational goals within their assigned unit.

The completion of an international assignment also bolstered managers’ career opportunities. Some managers stated that it was expected that they might return to a more senior position within their previous office or another of MedCo’s global offices, although this was not always guaranteed. There was an expectation that through undertaking and successfully completing such assignments, managers became better equipped to assume further leadership responsibilities or roles. H1, speaking about the position undertaken post assignment, stated:

“It would tend to be a promotion…So generally an international assignment, the assignees there, their international assignment is seen as career development so typically we would expect them to go back to a promotion. The only ones who wouldn’t would be [those] who just do six-month rotation as part of their programme for their development”

- H1, GMM (HealthCo)

These comments were confirmed by other managers who agreed that they would typically expect to be promoted having returned from an expatriate assignment. In agreeing, however, managers agreed that this was often dependent on available opportunities and other circumstances within the organisation. H5, who was based in finance stated:

“Naturally you expect it will accelerate your career. After five years of expatriation I expect to be promoted but it is not an equation, but typically when you go on an expatriate assignment you would expect to be promoted after.” - H5, Finance, HealthCo

145| P a g e upwards within the company, then it was essential that you completed an international management assignment. Many of the interviewees acknowledged that international management assignments were a key way of developing employees’ ability to adapt and adjust to different global environments. H3, who was based in the HR department, had some experience with the organisation of international assignments back in her home office, helped to elucidate how such assignments contributed to the development of such skills. She stated:

“So someone who has only ever lived in Europe and they have the opportunity to go to Asia or the US, it helps with that rounding out. So it’s a little bit on what the person’s development needs, but also again the mind-set and the style of being open and being global.” - H3, HRM (HealthCo)

These remarks helped to highlight how such assignments help to contribute to managers’ career progression, as such global insight made them more attractive for various organisational opportunities. One of the key ways in which international management assignments aided in assignees’ career progression was by increasing their global visibility across the organisation. These exposed managers to opportunities that they would not have otherwise been privy to. One of the AE managers interviewed, H4, explained further about why he applied for the role within HealthCo:

“My area of expertise is more on the commercial front, so I did have some value to bring to the role when I started my expat assignment. But it was a case of being closer to the global headquarters, getting more visibility, more opportunities during my international assignment” - H4, Sales (HealthCo)

This manager went on to explain that by being based in an international headquarters, he was constantly exposed to key stakeholders, who sat in nearby offices. It was stated that in addition to better communication with those leading key processes, a more detailed and holistic picture of arising matters could be gained, as compared with speaking to individuals via electronic means. With regards to long-distance meetings, H4 stated:

“[With telecom] you get always the official side of the conversation whereas here you get the whole big conversation, the post and pre meeting comments…A stupid example is when

146| P a g e you go to telecom, quite often a CEO will put a phone on mute and have a side conversation and then continue, you wouldn’t even notice on the other end of the line. But if you are in the room you are much more aware of what the real complexity and where a discussion is potentially going, body language, that makes a difference.”

-H4, Life Sciences (HealthCo)

By being privy to the full depth of conversations with key internal stakeholders, this manager was exposed to more career-enhancing opportunities, and gained a more holistic look into projects that he had been involved in. When learning more about this assignee’s history within HealthCo, the career-enhancing benefits became obvious. Within the last three years, since being assigned within HealthCo, he had progressed on to two other roles within this facility. He explained that this would not have been possible if he had stayed in Belgium:

“There is not a lot of operations being based out of Belgium, there is a very limited amount of opportunities available at my level. So if I had to go back for me it’s a step back”

- H4, Sales, HealthCo

Unlike other AE managers interviewed, this particular manager explained that upon completing his international assignment, he would initiate the process of becoming localised within this global headquarters.

Not all assignments led to an immediate promotion upon completion, however it was a still expected that future global leaders demonstrated that they could cope both personally and professionally outside the company’s home country setting. H3 provided insight based on her expertise and experience as an HR executive, rather than in the capacity of an AE manager. She explained that having helped to organise such assignments before, this was typically the rationale of the company when considering how future leaders should be developed. With regard to her international assignment, however, H3 stated that as she was in a more senior position within MedCo, her assignment was more based around consolidating processes at a local level, which will be explained further under coordination and control. With regard to the extention of career and development opportunities, H3 explained that assignments for management development typically occurred at an earlier point in individual’s career, when individuals were typically able

147| P a g e to be globally mobile. She explained:

“Since I am in human resources what we generally see, people are more interested to do global assignments early in their career before they have families etc. Because once you have kids and kids are in school sometimes that’s a more complicated thing, to move away from that support structure of family is more complicated.”

-H3, HR (HealthCo)

Although this was said to be generally the case within MedCo, two of AE managers interviewed (H2, H4) were currently on their first assignment. These managers indicated that this was due to other organisational circumstances that prevented previous attempts to initiate the global assignment earlier in their careers. Next, how international management assignments help to achieve coordination and control will be discussed.

5.5.3. Coordination and Control

International management assignments in MedCo were also aimed at increasing the coordination and control over the firm’s global activities. This was one of the main reasons highlighted for the use of AE managers within HealthCo. With regards to how this was achieved, interviewees stated that their objectives primarily included the consolidation and standardisation of organisational processes, and the socialisation of local managers. What managers stated about these will now be outlined.

5.5.3.1. Consolidation/Standardisation of Processes

Two of the four managers interviewed stated that they were sent to HealthCo primarily to standardise specific processes and provide strategic support in key functional areas. As a result of its relatively young age and its strategic importance, there was a need to bring organisational processes used at a local level in line of MedCo’s global practices. It appeared that there were more assigned managers, who were not interviewed, assigned within this subsidiary because of its strategic importance. About this, H1 (GMM) declared:

148| P a g e another country and because of the fact that they’re sitting here there will be other people coming from other countries to sit in the head office to be close to their senior manager.”

- H1, GMM, (HealthCo) Indeed, this was among the reasons that H2 was assigned to this UK office as stated previously. Where some AE managers operated within a global role, then it was necessary to ensure close alignment between HealthCo and its MedCo headquarters in the US. Upon being asked about why she was chosen for this role, she stated:

“The reason that we felt that this needed to be a position that was an expat role is that it needs to align very directly,…which is for practical purposes is the chief operating officer of the marketing department, needs to be closely aligned with the chief marketing officer, the CMO, he is my boss and he is right there in London”

-H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

It was made clear by H2 that centralisation of the global marketing function was the key objective of her UK role. She explained that she was responsible for people, processes and platforms for all the marketing strategy in HealthCo globally. As such, it was her role to identify and eliminate duplication and inefficiencies within and across these various platforms. She explained that at the time of interviewing, there were over one hundred plus systems that were being used across the global units, and it was the company’s aim to narrow these down to five. The high numbers of systems being used was due to various employees doing what she referred to as ‘too much of their own organic work’. As a result, this assignee was sent to pull various processes together and simplify the number of systems in use. She explained why it was important for this role to be an expatriate role:

“Well the role itself is not a new one… There is definitely a reason to, when you have got that many marketeers spread across the globe the way we do it’s good to have someone looking after things like systems. You don’t want to have 17 different vendor contracts to do one type of functions. So that’s what the role is bringing to the table”

149| P a g e Given her particular mandate, this manager worked very closely not only with her boss, an expatriate who was also based in HealthCo’s UK headquarters, but also with HealthCo’s corporate office in the US to ensure that this UK branch had the best tools at the right time. This assignment role was closely affiliated with AE managers’ knowledge dissemination role objectives.

The standardisation of organisational processes was also why H3 was assigned to this particular