Three Keys to Getting an Overseas Assignment Right

How to tackle a management role in a new cultural and regulatory environment.

by

Mark Alan Clouse and Michael D. Watkins

by

Mark Alan Clouse and Michael D. Watkins

From the Magazine (October 2009)

Summary.

Reprint: R0910N

The mergers that thrive postrecession will be those that focus not just on the numbers but on integrating and motivating employees. To extract lessons on how to manage the human side of M&A, Harvard Business School’s Kanter studied a dozen deals that overcame the usual barriers to success: employee shock, protests, and anxiety, all of which can fuel supplier unrest, government disapproval, and customer defections.

Procter & Gamble, for instance, faced the prospect of “blood on the floor” in its ranks when it bought Gillette, because headhunters went after Gillette managers. Yet P&G managed to retain a large percentage of them, and it enlisted employees in keeping suppliers, distributors, and customers happy. The company met cost and revenue targets within the first year, incorporated Gillette’s superior go-to-market processes, and continued to position itself for growth even as the current recession loomed.

Kanter highlights the key strategies behind effective integration by describing practices at P&G and two other companies: CEMEX, which needed to transfer know-how to acquired employees so they could absorb its processes quickly and meet global standards, and Publicis Groupe, which treated its mergers like reverse takeovers, allowing acquired talent to take the lead in building new capabilities.

The Idea in Brief

• International experience is as valuable as ever—particularly in today’s global organizations.

• But the personal challenges of an overseas assignment are also as daunting as they’ve ever been.

• Settling your family, adapting your communication style, and understanding the new regulatory environment are critical for transitioning successfully, the authors say.

Assuming a new leadership role is hard even in the best of circumstances: relationships are undefined, routines are unfamiliar, and expectations are often unclear. Now imagine yourself heading up a new unit or project in a corporate and national culture radically different from your own. To strengthen their CVs, many ambitious executives willingly learn new languages, uproot their families, and puzzle over local laws and customs.

A version of this article appeared in the October 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review.

MC

Mark Alan Clouse is the managing director of Kraft Foods Brazil. He was previously managing director of Kraft in greater China. Michael D. Watkins (mwatkins@genesisadvisers.com) is the chairman of Genesis Advisers, a Newton, Massachusetts–based leadership development firm. He is the author of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels (Harvard Business Press, 2003). His new book is Your Next Move (Harvard Business Press, 2009).

Three Keys to Getting an Overseas Assignment Right

The Idea in Brief

Partner Center

Explore HBR

HBR Store

About HBR

Manage My Account

Follow HBR