Performance Appraisal in Pepsi Cola China
"In China, you are inevitably dependent on expatriate employees," explains Pepsi-Cola's Anthony, whose 500-person workforce includes a number of expatriates. "There's no established tradition of companies breeding middle managers, so there are very few experienced local people to recruit," he notes.
Experts agree that local talent is needed for long-term success, but expatriates can help accelerate the learning curve of developing executives and managers.
"It has been proven by case studies that companies can use expatriates to successfully groom and develop local senior managers," says Lucent's Ng. "It works well when U.S. expatriates come in as coaches and run the business in parallel with the local executives," Ng says. "That way, the local executives understand that they're being developed to take over."
Unfortunately, the living conditions and long stays required of U.S. expats can be trying - especially for those with families in tow. "There's constant pressure on us to keep our foreign service employees in place long term," Anthony says. "In China, the businesses value personal leadership, so the concept of being loyal to a company doesn't exist. Instead, loyalty to an individual leader in a company is prevalent. So if you put in an expatriate manager, he had better stick around."
For how long? "The experts say five years," quotes Anthony, who notes that most expatriates stay only for about three years.
Regardless of the tough living conditions, there's no lack of U.S. nationals looking for expatriate assignments in the sizzling Asian business climate. In fact, there are roughly 100,000 expatriates working in Asia, estimates Bill Sheridan of the International Trade Council in New York City.
Still, matching expatriates to good positions can be a tough balancing act, and an employee's obligations to working spouses, aging parents and children often tip the scales.
To avoid such problems, some companies are targeting Asian expatriates from neighboring
Experts agree that local talent is needed for long-term success, but expatriates can help accelerate the learning curve of developing executives and managers.
"It has been proven by case studies that companies can use expatriates to successfully groom and develop local senior managers," says Lucent's Ng. "It works well when U.S. expatriates come in as coaches and run the business in parallel with the local executives," Ng says. "That way, the local executives understand that they're being developed to take over."
Unfortunately, the living conditions and long stays required of U.S. expats can be trying - especially for those with families in tow. "There's constant pressure on us to keep our foreign service employees in place long term," Anthony says. "In China, the businesses value personal leadership, so the concept of being loyal to a company doesn't exist. Instead, loyalty to an individual leader in a company is prevalent. So if you put in an expatriate manager, he had better stick around."
For how long? "The experts say five years," quotes Anthony, who notes that most expatriates stay only for about three years.
Regardless of the tough living conditions, there's no lack of U.S. nationals looking for expatriate assignments in the sizzling Asian business climate. In fact, there are roughly 100,000 expatriates working in Asia, estimates Bill Sheridan of the International Trade Council in New York City.
Still, matching expatriates to good positions can be a tough balancing act, and an employee's obligations to working spouses, aging parents and children often tip the scales.
To avoid such problems, some companies are targeting Asian expatriates from neighboring