Менеджеры и менеджмент (Executives and Management) - 15 стр.

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Richard Greenhalgh, head of management development and training at the Anglo-Dutch consumer group
Unilever, says that in a few areas, such as integrity and the Unilever code of conduct, corporate culture takes
precedence.
'But you need a balance between having a very international cadre and having a national presence,' he says.
'A few years ago, we were concerned that we had too many expatriates. Five years ago, three of our four busi-
ness heads in Italy were expatriates. Now they're all Italian. In a consumer business like ours, that's important.'
The global executive, in fact, may be something of a myth. According to Mr. Greenhalgh, the use of expa-
triates goes against the policy of providing a career ladder for local managers.
In fact, however global the company may be, it remains necessary to manage people differently in different
countries. Within Europe, Mr. Greenhalgh says, Unilever has traditionally been much more open with managers
in northern than southern countries, on matters such as where they stand in the salary scale or what their pros-
pects are. But that is changing, he adds. A younger generation of managers is more likely to have traveled when
young, and many have taken an MBA in the US.
Behind this lies the most fundamental problem of all: the fact that apart from a handful of companies, even
the biggest corporations are dominated by the culture of the home country. 'Outside that handful,' says Lowell
Bryan, a senior partner with McKinsey in New York, 'companies are very German, or very British, or very
American. And in the case of US companies they assume globalisation means Americanising the world. At
least others don't have that arrogance.'
But if the members of top management are all nationals of the home country, it makes it much more diffi-
cult to attract and keep talented and ambitious managers from other countries. In fact, the problem lies not in
attracting people – a talented Indian or Korean manager will typically want early experience with a multina-
tional – but in keeping them. 'People will join the company to learn,' Mr. Bryan says, 'but unless they feel
they're part of the core company, they're going to leave, and exploit the brand status of the company in their
next job.'
So given the importance of local cultures within the global company, an obvious question is how to ap-
praise and identify talent around the world on a consistent basis. Unilever, Mr. Greenhalgh says, has been
working on this for the past four years.
'We've been developing a set of eleven management competencies we can use worldwide', he says. 'The
aim is to have a clear objective measure of potential. We measure such things as entrepreneurial drive, the abil-
ity to lead and develop others, and integrity. That makes up a common core of behaviours. We've tested it, and
so far it seems to be culturally transferable.'
FINANCIAL TIMES
World business newspaper.
T a s k 14.
A. Understanding main points
1. Which of these statements gives the best summary of the text?
a) Having expatriates in key positions is still important for international companies.
b) Using local managers rather than expatriates is now the objective of most companies.
c) Developing managers from around the world who share the company's values is essential for global
success.
2. According to Lowell Bryan of McKinsey, how many international companies are not dominated by the
culture of the home country – a lot, or just a few? What is the phrase he uses?
B. Understanding details
Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text. Find the part of the text
that gives the correct information.
a) Few companies are genuinely global. T
b) The use of expatriates is growing at Unilever.
c) Corporate culture is more important than local needs in most areas of management.

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