AE Managers’ Knowledge-related Roles

The GMM at HealthCo (H1) made it clear that international assignments were used in order to achieve a number of knowledge transfer objectives including the transfer of company expertise to key manufacturing areas, the training up of potential leaders in the subsidiary environment, the short term upskilling of employees on specific product line, and the dissemination of the company’s global perspective. This involved the establishment of organisational metrics (e.g. marketing and HRM software, profit and loss budgets), and other key head office processes at a local level. The various knowledge-related roles identified by interviewees will now be discussed further.

5.5.1.1. Knowledge Dissemination

131| P a g e knowledge diffused to MedCo’s UK subsidiary, HealthCo, was both explicit and tacit in nature. Such knowledge consisted particular expertise regarding specific work processes and key business systems developed within the US headquarters. In addition to the implementation of these more tangible processes, AE managers were also expected to disseminate tacit expertise including knowledge of how established processes were to be utilised. In addition to this, AE managers also transfered knowledge of ‘MedCo’ perspective and core values, and the way in which it conducted business with various stakeholders.

Specific Skills/Expertise:

All five of the managers interviewed agreed that AE managers were typically sent to HealthCo because of the specific skills or expertise that they possessed in their relevant disciplines. More specifically, because of their acute, accumulated knowledge of particular organisational processes and systems, these AE managers were sent to establish key global systems in this UK location. The skills and processes required were usually within the business support functions including finance, HR, and marketing, and it was normal for managers to be assigned to establish, for example, specific profit and loss budgets, and other key business systems, processes and platforms. H3 was among those managers who were sent to set up such systems and explained this was linked to the young age of the UK-based global HQ. Prior to her UK assignment, this manager had been based in one of MedCo’s US-based subsidiaries in the North, where she provided HR client support. Within the UK, she was also providing HR client support but at a more senior level. Like other interviewees, she stated that her presence in HealthCo was because of relatively recent business acquisitions and the need to integrate these into the MedCo structure. While this function is listed under knowledge transfer, it closely mirrored the consolidation role of AE managers’ control function, as managers transferred their unique knowledge to the location in an effort to reduce duplication and ensure that the unit was aligned with the global headquarters. About this, she stated:

“So they asked myself and a few other people would you be interested in this role on an expat assignment based in the UK. And given my experience and background with setting up product P&Ls in the business and integrations, and again this business is going and doing some acquisitions, that experience crossed over nicely with what they were looking

132| P a g e to do in this particular business.”

- H3, HRM (HealthCo)

H3 comments were supported by the other AE managers interviewed, who stated that they had been sent for their unique knowledge of specific MedCo processes. It was also made clear by H1 that these assignees were not simply individuals who were good at their role, but they were typically specialists in their field, some of whom had a medical background because of the nature of the business and the need to understand the machinery being sold. Within HeathCo, these managers were also expected to instruct local employees on how these processes functioned. This was also a key reason why a significant number of expatriate managers were often assigned in the finance department. H1 stated that this was in order to establish key financial processes and systems within the UK that were also being used across all global subsidiaries, and provide expertise on how these were to be utilised. This interviewee explained observed:

“Quite a high proportion in finance and that tends to be because the finance department in MedCo has its own specific processes and tools and finance accounting systems so quite often they prefer to have somebody from within MedCo rather than recruit a complete outsider in the country who doesn’t know MedCo’s systems and processes”

- H1, GMM

(HealthCo)

This rationale was confirmed by the AE managers who were interviewed including H5, who was based within the finance division of HealthCo. This manager explained that the reasons for him being selected for the role were based on his experience working within MedCo’s French and Turkish headquarters. Within his roles in these offices, he had also built up a high level of technical expertise in the creation of financial tools and profitability awareness. He explained that selecting expatriate managers for such roles were a matter of trust, and that as a finance manager, he was charged with overseeing the profitability of HealthCo. When asked more about what this role required of him at a local level, he explained that he was sent to build up local teams within the finance department, and raise profitability awareness among employees. With regard to the type of skills needed for this particular expatriate assignment, he commented:

133| P a g e “It's about certain expertise developed in different countries and environments, they wanted to replicate my expertise in Istanbul. Growing the team locally. Here they wanted someone to come and build the teams. Here it's more my technical knowledge as opposed to my business knowledge”

- H5, Finance (HealthCo)

This manager was also the financial director for the MedCo’s EMEA region and the technical knowledge mentioned referred to specific financial processes related to analytics, business planning, and money management. He explained that the dissemination of such knowledge was achieved through the organisation of several meetings and workshop sessions, as well as daily interpersonal interaction with local employees, and significant tele-conferencing and phone interaction with a group of thirty employees across the EMEA region. The possession of different types of functional and organisational knowledge helped to explain why international management assignments were still used when local technical skills were present within the subsidiary environment. H4 in Life Sciences also pointed out that where local talent was available and the company opted still to use an expatriate, it was because they preferred to use someone internal for the position. About this he stated:

“I think lack of a good pipeline of talent for sure. A UK-based person would probably have been able to perform that role, would have been external though. Which is the reason why they went for me because I was an internal option however based in Belgium”

- H4, Sales (HealthCo)

H1, the GMM, confirmed this, stating that it was the particular company expertise of such individuals that were valued in such instances. With regards to transferring their particular skills within the local environment, it was also expected that managers who were assigned within HealthCo would identify a local successor for their position and train up this individual. H1 explained that it was the hope in most cases to have the position filled by a local employee when the AE managers’ contract expired. Though this was the aim, she also made it clear that this could not always be attained. She explained:

134| P a g e he’s working and trains them up, or transfers his skill and knowledge and trains them up so that they can move into that place and he is replaced with a local employee so the expatriate manager goes back home. That’s the ideal scenario. It’s not always possible.” - H1, GMM (HealthCo)

This approach was similar to that used by ManCo, the US manufacturing firm, where such assignments typically lasted for more than three years to ensure that there was enough time for skills to be imparted. In HealthCo, however, H1 made it clear that such local training was usually short-term in nature, lasting between six and twelve months during the AE managers’ UK tenure. Whereas such assignments in ManCo might run past three years, cost was a key consideration in this decision within HeathCo, as assignments that extended beyond this time became even more expensive for the company to maintain. Hence the sooner the local was operationalised, the better it was financially for the company. At the time of the interview, while AE managers were sent to transfer their unique knowledge, none of the managers interviewed indicated that they were involved in the training of a local successor.

Headquarters perspective/values:

All of the managers interviewed agreed that it was important that HealthCo, as a part of MedCo, gained a more international view of the corporation. It was important that there was an understanding within this UK subsidiary of how the global business might approach particular activities or jobs, and AE managers who were transferred from the US-based offices, or who had worked with the firm for a number of years, were best placed to provide this view. Through assigning foreign managers with considerable experience within the business, fresh and external perspectives were gained and could be used to approach situations from different angles. Indeed, this was one of the reasons that H2, a senior marketing executive, was sent to this location. During the interview, this assignee provided an example of how she helped to convey aspects of MedCo’s perspective or approach to work within the local subsidiary. She stated:

“What I left for them I think is a positive ‘can do’ attitude goes a long way in MedCo. People tend to gravitate to people who make you feel like anything is possible and excited about the challenges ahead verses some of my English counterparts feel…they first

135| P a g e complain about it, and then they can get their head around it, but they think it was fun that people have told me that it was good to get a perspective from an American about an American company.”

- H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

The work ethos displayed by this manager, and which she attempted to transfer mirrored many of MedCo’s corporate values, some of which included Meritocracy, Drive for Growth, and Excellence and Innovation. This particular expatriate’s role was very inter-related with the socialisation role of AE managers, where managers sought to embed the organisational culture within the local subsidiary. H2’s attempt to transfer such values might also be seen as an effort toward that end result. As indicated by her comments, such values were transferred during interpersonal communication and interactions with local colleagues. This could be in meetings, over the phone or on a one-to-one basis. When asked about how the transfer of values was achieved in practical terms within HealthCo, she provided further explanation:

“I think you would see it in meetings…If we’re all sitting around a big conference table with 20 people in the room and when a questions was asked I would respond with a ‘yes things are taking on, we can do this”. People at first felt like she agreed to fast and there’s gotta be a catch here, “Maybe is she not getting it”, but what they kept seeing time and time again is that my behaviour of taking something on or that I can do that was rewarded by home office back in the US”

H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

This manager stressed that it was through the overt display of the MedCo approach and demonstration of how this was rewarded was key in diffuse such tacit knowledge at a local level. Other interviewees stressed once again that this was why senior level managers with siginifcant experience and built up trust were preferred in some instances to fill a particular position within the local subsidiary, as opposed to using a local employee. These sentiments were also in agreement with the previous comments from H1, the GMM in HealthCo, who explained that these expatriate managers brought with them a different way of thinking into the local organisation. While other managers also indicated that their presence provided the local subsidiary with a global

136| P a g e view, they stated that this was not the primary reason for their assignment within MedCo. Other knowledge-related reasons are outlined further.

5.5.1.2. Knowledge Acquisition

While AE managers indicated that they were transferred for their company expertise, they also indicated that the transfer of knowledge flowed in both directions. H1 stated that in many cases, the managers assigned to HealthCo were in very senior positions and hence were not transferred primarily for management development. However, although they were engaged in the dissemination of knowledge within this UK location, the experience of being on an international assignment also allowed for the acquisition of valuable and various forms of knowledge, which benefitted both the employee and the organisation. Although this knowledge was specific to the local environment, in many cases it was also context generalizable which made it useful outside of the UK environment. Examples of such knowledge will be provided in the below section. Understand Local Environment:

Only one manager indicated that understanding the local environment were among their chief priorities while on assignment. It was indicated, however, by another manager that this priority might be emphasized depending on the stage in the manager’s career at which the assignment occurred, as well as the focus of the particular job role. Where AE managers operated at a more senior level, then it was unlikely that they would be expected to acquire knowledge from the local environment although some knowledge acquisition still occured regardless of initially outlined intentions. This opinion reflected the profile of interviews as three of the four AE managers interviewed operated at a senior level. H3, who was based within the HR department, stated although this was her first expatriate assignment, understanding the local environment was not a key priority that she was primarily sent as a result of her seniority and functional expertise. Other senior AE managers agreed, explaining that the emphasis of their particular assignment was that they share their particular expertise with the local environment. Regarding knowledge acquisition during his three years on assignment, H4, the one middle-level AE manager, stated that being in the global headquarters and working with individuals from diverse national backgrounds helped to enhance his international experience and ability to engage with various cultures. Other managers also highlighted the differences in culture as an opportunity to expand their knowledge base by

137| P a g e learning about different approaches to work and cultural backgrounds. In describing what she learnt while based in HealthCo, H2 in marketing stated:

“The other thing that I will take from a business perspective is that I now have an appreciation for the rest of the world and what I mean is that when you’re the guy that sticks out, it forces you to appreciate everybody else’s differences because you want them to appreciate yours. So I think that it was humbling to go alright the US is not the centre of the universe. It’s kind of the ‘Aha’ moment”

- H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

Similar to this, where managers reported that they had learnt from the local environment, it was mainly to do with understanding different cultural environments and how to respond appropriately in different organisational contexts. Though managers had been with the company for some time, they all agreed that such experiences were eye-opening and would benefit them moving forward in their careers. The following section will examine AE managers’ role in the facilitation of knowledge within and across different global subsidiaries.

5.5.1.3. Knowledge Facilitation

Another aspect of AE managers’ knowledge transfer was the facilitation of knowledge between various organisational units and also between various stakeholders. This role was very similar to expatriates’ coordination role as the emphasis within HealthCo appeared to be on establishing effective communication between the subsidiary and other organisational units. Particularly, it was important that those assignees who performed a global role could adequately communicate with and gain information from employees in widely dispersed geographical locales. To ensure this, these managers engaged not only in the linking of organisational units, but ensured that the knowledge being passed to and from the local subsidiary was understood and interpreted in the way that accurately conveyed MedCo’s global mandates. With regard to facilitating better communication, H2 stated that one of the reasons that she was sent to the UK headquarters was because of the need to be co-located with her boss. She had stated that the London timezone facilitated better communication with her global clientele and team members. While this might be conceived as more of a practicality, she stressed that it was among the primary motivations for her

138| P a g e being assigned to the UK, in light of her global mandate. About this she explained:

“It allows me, my mornings are dedicated to India and Asia, and my afternoons are dedicated to the US and Europe, that’s just how my day works. So I start my early morning, my 8 o’clock meeting with my friends in India or the marketeers in China and different places. And then the afternoon is consumed by the US. The timezone from London allows you to support all those people”

– H2, Marketing (HealthCo)

H2’s physical location within HealthCo aided in better communication with her marketing counterparts across subsidiaries in different geographic zones. Her comments were in agreement with comments made previously by H1, the GMM, who had stated that among the reasons that HealthCo UK headquarters received many AE managers were because of the nature of their global role, as well as the need to be located in the same facility as their immediate superior. H2 also went on to explain that it also helped to increase productivity because when her tasks were completed and her day wrapped up at 7pm, she could pass these on to colleagues in another country to carry the project forward. This meant that she could work around the clock as opposed to having to wait because of large disparities between time-zones. This was also the same for her interaction with her global clientele, which included not only global customers but also vendors. Another manager, H4, stated that it was also in the best interest of the company to have him located within the UK headquarters as he was part of a global team. He stated:

“Eighty percent of the team members was based in the UK so that was a direct argument to have this position based here. Secondly it’s the global headquarters, so global headquarters tend to have more roles available and opportunities available than remote