Search for the 'worldly-wise' company executives

寻找“精通世故”的公司高管

The quest for international managers is under-way in virtually every industrialized economy. The search has been been made urgent by the globalization of world markets and the growth in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. These trends are pushing companies' existing management resources to the limit. Many firms report being so stretched that they simply do not have enough of the high-quality people they require to lead their global  expansion.

几乎每个工业化经济体都在寻求国际经理人。由于世界市场的全球化和跨国并购的增长，这一搜索变得更加迫切。这些趋势正在将公司现有的管理资源推向极限。许多公司报告说，他们捉襟见肘，根本没有足够的高素质人才来领导其全球扩张。

Other companies are having difficulties releasing experienced people from existing operations in order to lead new international ventures. There are indications that a shortage of internationally skilled people may be an important constraint on firms' international ambitions. These problems mean that developing managers who think and operates globally is absolutely vital for companies operating in foreign markets. However, identifying the need for international manager is easier than developing them.

其他公司很难从现有业务中释放经验丰富的人员，以领导新的国际企业。有迹象表明，国际技术人才的短缺可能是企业国际野心的重要制约因素。这些问题意味着，培养具有全球思维和运营能力的经理对于在国外市场运营的公司来说绝对至关重要。然而，确定国际经理人的需求比开发他们更容易。

so what makes an international manager? Paul, a professor at INSTEAD, the European business school, does not believe that any particular nationality produces a more international manager.Neither does he believe that it is a matter of having a ability to cope with a lifestyles that involves working in Madrid one day, London the next and Berlin the day after. Jet-setting between international operations merely creates a business equivalent of the over-packaged tourist. Rather he believes that the secret of being a good international manager is being comfortable with managing diversity.

那么，是什么造就了一名国际经理人？欧洲商学院INSTEAD教授保罗不认为任何特定的国籍会产生更国际化的管理者。他也不认为这是一个有能力应对一种生活方式的问题，这种生活方式包括前一天在马德里工作，第二天在伦敦工作，第三天在柏林工作。频繁在国际间公司间穿梭享乐的阔佬们仅仅是过度包装的游客在商业的对等物。相反，他认为，成为一名优秀的国际管理者的秘诀是善于管理多元化。

Ford of Europe, which has encouraged the development of international managers for more than 20 years, says that its managers are globally-minded before they become global operators. From the moment they enjoy the company,employees are faced with having to think internationally.A car you buy in the UK, for example, is going to be the same car that sells in Germany, Finland and Portugal, so the people who are involved in the car's development have to be aware of the market requirements in all those different countries.

20多年来，欧洲的福特一直鼓励国际经理人的发展。福特表示，其经理人在成为全球运营商之前，都具有全球意识。从他们享受这家公司的那一刻起，员工就面临着必须进行国际思考的问题。例如，你在英国购买的汽车将与在德国、芬兰和葡萄牙销售的汽车相同，因此参与汽车开发的人员必须了解所有这些不同国家的市场需求。

Generally, it seems that the only effective way to develop international skills and perspectives is through direct international experience. This can be through involvement in international task forces or through living and working aboard. Such experiences open people's minds to the fact that things are done differently elsewhere and encourages them  to think in a wider context.

一般来说，发展国际技能和观点的唯一有效途径似乎是通过直接的国际经验。这可以通过参与国际工作队或在国外生活和工作来实现。这样的经历让人们意识到其他地方的做法不同，并鼓励他们在更广阔的背景下思考。

Formulating effective strategies for developing a company's management resource is a demanding exercise, with conflicting issues to be resolved. Should, for example, only an elite few receive international experience in preparation for top jobs or should it be offered to a wider group? Another dilemma  is whether to use local managers or expatriates.

制定开发公司管理资源(需要解决冲突问题)的有效策略是一项艰巨的工作。例如，应该只有少数精英获得国际经验，为顶级工作做准备，还是应该提供给更广泛的群体？另一个难题是，是使用当地经理还是外籍员工。

The recruitment and development of effective international managers require considerable financial resources and can be hard to justify at budget meetings. Language training, overseas visits and in-house management courses are all expensive to implement. However, without them, companies will continue to find their expansion plans frustrated by a lack of internationally effective managers.

招聘和培养有效的国际管理人员需要大量的财政资源，在预算会议上很难证明这一点。语言培训、海外访问和内部管理课程的实施都很昂贵。然而，如果没有他们，公司将继续发现其扩张计划因缺乏国际有效的管理人员而受挫。