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Selecting Managers with

a Global Mindset
Jonas Babics

16th December 2009 - jonas.babics@gmail.com

Today’s companies find themselves in a very dynamic, changing and challenging


environment. The global economy gets more and more interconnected and provides a lot of
opportunities, but also risks. To be competitive in the global market, companies need to find
the balance between global consistency to save costs and profit from knowledge and
technology transfer and local responsiveness to meet the needs of customers, employees
and suppliers from different countries and cultures, worldwide. Companies need a global
corporate culture. To get this global corporate culture, companies have to define a global
strategy and a corporate vision and values. However, most importantly, they need managers
with a global mindset.
This paper asks the question, how a company can get managers with a global mindset to
find a global response to the issues of the global market. To find answers and to present a
framework to this question, I reviewed current literature and interviewed people from globally
oriented organisations. Concluding, I recommend implementing the concept of global
mindset throughout the whole human resource management, especially in the selection
process.
Table of Contents

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ 2  


Boxes, Figures, Tables................................................................................................................ 3  
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... 4  
1.   Introduction......................................................................................................................... 5  
1.1.   Barry Callebaut ......................................................................................................... 7  
2.   Literature / Topic Review ................................................................................................... 8  
2.1.   Definition of Global Mindset ...................................................................................... 9  
2.2.   Global Corporate Culture .......................................................................................... 9  
2.3.   Individual Global Mindset ........................................................................................ 13  
2.4.   HRM Cycle .............................................................................................................. 15  
2.5.   International Assignment......................................................................................... 17  
3.   Research Results ............................................................................................................. 19  
3.1.   Global Mindset and the HRM Cycle ........................................................................ 20  
3.2.   Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset ............................................................. 23  
4.   Implementation ................................................................................................................. 29  
5.   Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 31  
6.   Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 33  
References ................................................................................................................................. 37  
Annexes ...................................................................................................................................... 38  

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Boxes

Box 1.1. IBM ............................................................................................................................ 5


Box 1.2. Research Methodology ............................................................................................. 7
Box 2.1. Barry Callebaut ....................................................................................................... 10

Figures

Figure 2.1. HRM Cycle .............................................................................................................. 15


Figure 3.1. HRM Cycle with Activities to Support the Development of a Global Mindset.......... 20

Tables
Table 3.1. Important Factors for Positions Requiring a Global Mindset................................... 26

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Abbreviations

CEO Chief Executive Officer


CV Curriculum Vitae
GMI The Global Mindset Inventory
HR Human Resources
HRM Human Resource Management
IA International Assignment
IBM International Business Machines
IHRM International Human Resource Management
IT Information Technology
MNC Multinational Corporation
MNE Multinational Enterprise
SME Small and Medium Enterprise
TNC Transnational Corporation
US United States
USD United States Dollar

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1. Introduction

Globalisation is no new phenomenon anymore. The term is mentioned daily in newspapers,


research literature and corporate communication and the world has also become more and
more interconnected in reality. Almost every company is affected by this trend in different
ways, regardless of the location worldwide. Maybe the products meet the consumers’ needs
and wants not only in the home country, but also elsewhere in the world or suppliers from
different places are able to deliver goods with cheaper prices and of better quality than the
long lasting supplier from the neighbour town. The home market of a company is also open
to competitors from foreign countries and human resources can now be found on the global
labour market. Furthermore, the market itself and the consumer needs and behaviours are
changing rapidly. Technology makes products and services possible, which nobody would
ever have thought of some years ago. To be competitive in this global marketplace, there is a
need for companies to have a global response, a global view and a strategy that looks
beyond the borders. However, the question is, how many executives are capable to
comprehend the complexity of this global world, the threats, but also the opportunities? In
addition, how many companies have really a global strategy? Companies, which early
started to adapt to a globalised world, have now a real competitive advantage (Beechler, et
al., 1999). For all others it is still not too late, but they have to think now and prepare
themselves how to react on the influences and the development of globalisation.
Thinking globally does not mean to standardise everything and trying to flatten all differences
between cultures. For companies, there is the challenge to find a balance between global
consistency and local responsiveness. Through global consistency, companies profit from
economies of scale, cost reduction and knowledge transfer. By local responsiveness, they
are able to meet the needs of customers and employees in different countries (Begley and
Boyd, 2003). The heterogeneity across cultures and markets cannot be ignored by
companies, which want to be successful in the global market, but at the same time becoming
its prisoner can be an equal mistake (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002). To obtain the balance
between global consistency and local responsiveness and therewith being competitive in the
global market, companies need a global corporate culture. Having a global corporate culture
allows a company to understand cultural differences better, adapting faster to global
changes, realizing risks and exploiting the opportunities worldwide.

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Box 1.1. IBM

IBM is a good example of a company with a global corporate culture. IBM describes itself as
a service organisation and a globally integrated enterprise. Strategy, management and
operations take place in many different locations and are integrated into production of goods
and services to deliver value to clients worldwide. Sam Palmisano, the CEO of IBM said,
“work flows to the places where it will be done best – that is, most efficiently and with the
highest quality”. IBM does not see itself as a US company, but as a global company solving
the customer’s problems wherever they are located. This is only possible because of shared
technologies, global IT systems and global communication infrastructure, as well as HR
activities like talent management and development, which are also globally integrated.

Source: Briscoe et al. (2009)

There are different possibilities for a company to work towards a global corporate culture. An
important input from the board of directors that has to take place is developing a global
strategy and formulating a global vision. Employees can be trained in courses and university
programmes and today’s very well advanced communication technology can be used to
bring the people around the globe closer and make them work better together. However, to
develop a global corporate culture, the most important and most effective factor for
companies is to have executives and managers with a global mindset (Paul, 2000). The
management of a global company should be able to feel when to favour global consistency
and when local responsiveness. They have to understand differences in cultures and to be
able to identify the advantages of the complex, interrelated and ever changing global market.
They should have the ability to think global and act global, but also to think local and act
local. This task requires knowledge, experience and the feeling how to behave in other
cultures. Furthermore, companies and their managers have to be flexible, as the market
changes very fast. Having managers with a global mindset is crucial for globally operating
companies and gives them a real competitive advantage. This leads us to the question: How
do companies get managers with a global mindset?
By now, quite a lot of literature has dealt with global mindset. Most of the researches are
about the advantage of global mindset and how individuals can develop it. The difference is
made between individual global mindset and global corporate culture, also called global
identity (Beechler, et al., 1999) or corporate global mindset (Begley and Boyd, 2003). Most of
the academic papers are on the search to find definitions and to put global mindset into the
context of international business management. However, few researches exist when it

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comes to practice and implementation; researches that ask the question, how to train your
people to develop a global mindset or how a company gets managers with a global mindset.
Barry Callebaut, the company for whom I worked during my research, states on its website:
“We are looking for professionals with international experience and a global mindset to
increase our worldwide reach.” (Barry Callebaut, 2009). Barry Callebaut is not alone with this
request. The demand for globally thinking professionals is high and will most likely grow in
the near future. Already now, these professionals are a rare resource on the labour market
(Carpenter et al., 2000). Therefore, this paper tries to support Barry Callebaut and other
companies to identify these managers with a global mindset and to make them a part of their
global corporate culture.
My first research question is, how companies are able to get managers with a global
mindset. The hypothesis to this question is that the concept of global mindset should be
integrated in the whole HRM cycle from recruitment to selection and to training and
development. Within this HRM cycle, I see the most potential in the selection process.
Selecting the right person for a new job, selecting the best people as leaders for multicultural
teams or selecting candidates for international assignments with the highest potential of
success. It comes all down to choice and companies have to make the right one. This leads
me to the second research question: How can a company select managers with a global
mindset? To answer the second question, this paper will deliver a framework, which could be
used as a guideline in the selection process. Companies will gain a competitive advantage in
the global market, if they select the right people, for the right work assignment at the right
location, worldwide.

1.1. Barry Callebaut

Barry Callebaut is a young, dynamic and innovative company. Originated from the merger
between the French Cacao Barry and the Belgian Callebaut, the company Barry Callebaut is
now the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products. Barry
Callebaut, headquartered in Zurich / Switzerland, has strong roots in Europe, but also has a
global network of around 40 productions sites in Europe, Africa, North and Latin America and
Asia/Pacific. With cocoa the main resource for their products coming from countries around
the equator, employees of the productions sites coming from different cultures and
customers coming from almost all countries worldwide, Barry Callebaut is extremely
confronted with all aspects of globalisation. To be able to face the challenges and profit from
the advantages of a global market, Barry Callebaut needs managers with a global mindset.
I chose the topic of my paper before I started to work at Barry Callebaut and the research is
no direct request from the company. Nevertheless, as Barry Callebaut has grown very fast in
the last ten years and has not been globally integrated for ages, I assumed that they will still

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have to develop a strong global corporate culture and will therefore need more globally
thinking employees. Hopefully, my research will support the company to select managers
with a global mindset.

Box 1.2. Research Methodology

To find answers to my research questions, I reviewed current literature about IHRM,


international business and about global mindset itself. Additionally, I conducted semi-
structured interviews with various people from different organisations. I have chosen this
research methodology since the topic has a lot to do with psychology, character and
individual opinion. There are a few quantitative researches, which try to measure global
mindset or to find parameters to indicate global mindset. Howsoever, I believe that a
qualitative research method suits this topic better. The result of my research provides a
framework to help selecting managers with a global a mindset, but it will not be a tool to
categorise people into groups of people with and people without a global mindset. The
results will give suggestions for possible indicators, if someone has a global mindset or if
they possess the potential to develop one.
The interview consisted of a structured part with standardised questions, which I asked to all
the interviewees and a part, where I asked prepared questions suited for the individual
person. Furthermore, it contained open questions, which could develop through the
discussion. The interviews were not tape-recorded. I made notes, which I sent to the
interviewees after the conversation for corrections and extensions.
For my qualitative research I selected 8 people from different backgrounds and who are all
confronted with various cultures in their daily work. Their positions ranged from employee to
CEO, Vice President, HR Specialist and University Professor. They came from companies or
organisations like IBM, Barry Callebaut, University of London, University of Applied Sciences
Northwestern Switzerland, a consulting company for intercultural communication training and
also from smaller companies. The average time of the interviews was around 40 minutes.

2. Literature / Topic Review

The term of global mindset is not new in the international business literature. Also in daily
discussions, global mindset is mentioned, when it comes to cross-cultural project teams,
international assignments or global talent management. There are a lot of newspaper and
scientific articles that mention or deal with global mindset. The current research makes the
distinction between individual global mindset and the characteristics of a global organisation.
The literature of individual global mindset treats topics like psychology, culture and

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leadership. The term of global identity or corporate global mindset is mentioned in connection
with organisational theory, strategy and international management. Both of the directions are,
however, linked to HR. Global mindset has always to do with people.
Before I come to the results of my own research, I would like to summarize existing literature,
to understand the term of global mindset better and to be able to connect it with the selection
process. The literature or topic review should enable us to integrate global mindset.
As globalisation and therefore also global mindset is a relatively new phenomenon, the
definitions and views are still different and there is no common opinion, what global mindset
contains and what it does not contain. With the findings of existing research and the results
of my own interviews, I will be able to make a conclusion, what global mindset is and how it
can be defined and used in business practice.

2.1. Definition of Global Mindset

To understand global mindset, we first have to deal with the concept of mindset. According to
Gupta and Govindarajan (2002), mindset is about how people make sense of the world in
which they interact. It refers to cognitive filters that select, what we absorb and how we
interpret something. Every Individual has a mindset and the mindset of each individual is
influenced by the mindsets of others. An individual mindset is more a way of thinking, than a
behaviour (Dekker et al., 2005). Paul (2000) links mindset with experience, he states that
mindset is a set of mental images and assumptions and that an individual develops them in a
process of learning from experience. Global mindset has therefore to do with the way we see
the world, the global market, cultures and people. Global mindset is the ability to see the
world through different eyes. People with a global mindset are open minded. It has to do with
curiosity and interest, but also knowledge; the knowledge of different values and value
dimensions. A global mindset is needed to comprehend the complexity of today’s globally
interconnected world of different beliefs, behaviours and attitudes.
Globalisation is often referred to a process of standardisation. Global mindset, however, is
not seeing everything the same way and trying to standardise everything, but to realize the
differences in the world. The diversity of local markets can be seen as a source of
opportunity and strength (Paul, 2000), but sometimes it makes sense to have a global
consistency in the strategy. Global mindset is the feeling to find the balance between global
consistency and local responsiveness.

2.2. Global Corporate Culture

Companies stand before a great challenge. The global market has a lot of opportunities and
fast growing markets in East Asia and South America offer huge growth potential. However,

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a global market brings also global competition. The emerging markets have not only
customers, but also companies that get more and more ready to compete globally. It is not
only the big Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) that are affected by this development. Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) also have to deal with foreign suppliers, foreign customers
and competitors. The success of companies in the global market and how they can profit
from opportunities and tackle challenges, depends on its ability to observe and interpret the
dynamic world in which it operates (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002). Why some companies
are highly successful in spotting and exploiting the opportunities, while others mismanage
them or miss them entirely, lies in the difference how the company sees the world and how
this affects its actions (Paul, 2000). This ability is called “corporate global mindset” by most of
the literature. Beechler et al. (1999) propose the term of “global identity” to describe the
global mindset on the organisational level. However, as mindset is a way of thinking, a
cognitive approach, I do not believe that it can be used to describe the state of an
organisation. Global mindset refers to the people working in an organisation, but not to the
organisation itself. Therefore, this paper uses the term global corporate culture. Culture is
defined by Jandt (2004) as thoughts, experiences, values and assumptions about life that are
shared by a group of people and that guide behaviour and how those evolve with the contact
with other cultures. Consequently, to get a global corporate culture, companies need
individuals with a global mindset.
Again, global mindset, the way of thinking, is about people. Organisations can be structured
to support the development of an individual’s global mindset. From these structures,
combined with a majority of globally thinking managers, evolve companies with a strong
global corporate culture. The process is two sided, since to achieve a global corporate
culture, companies need globally thinking managers, but the managers with a global mindset
also need a company with a global corporate culture to work and develop effectively.
The following paragraphs describe organisational structures that support global mindset.

Allocation of responsibility
To counterbalance the push for standardization, companies can strengthen the role of their
regional headquarters (Begley and Boyd, 2003). Giving responsibility to these regional
headquarters allows a company to react better to needs of customers and to respond to the
cultural similarities within a group of countries. A very strong headquarters can lead to a
focus of global consistency and an ignorance of cultural diversity. However, greater
localization should not result in greater isolation (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2002) and companies
need a strong corporate culture to hold all the national and regional units of the organisation
together.

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Box 2.1. Barry Callebaut

Barry Callebaut is the result of a merger between Cacao Barry from France and Callebaut
from Belgium, which happened in 1996. Today, the headquarters is in Zurich, Switzerland.
However, most of the line managers are located Wieze, Belgium. After several acquisitions
worldwide, Barry Callebaut owns different brands, which are produced in and mostly oriented
to one region. That makes the whole organisation very interesting from a global perspective,
as there is not a strong headquarters that makes all the decisions. The responsibilities are
more allocated to different locations. A weakness is that Barry Callebaut is very much
Europe oriented, which is mostly explained by its original roots. A lot of newly acquired
factories and brands outside Europe are not yet fully integrated into the organisation.
However, if Barry Callebaut follows the same approach than in Europe, there will be most
likely the chance that it becomes a real global company with a strong global corporate
culture. To be global is a key success factor for a food manufacturer like Barry Callebaut.
With raw materials almost exclusively from developing countries, important consumer
markets in Europe and North America and very fast growing markets in Asia and South
America, their business is truly globally interrelated and also affected. Managers with a
global mindset are crucial for Barry Callebaut to be successful worldwide.

Communication technology
The modern communication technology makes it possible to communicate easily with people
around the world. That brings people closer to each other and gives them even more the
feeling to belong to one corporate culture. Project teams with members from different parts of
the world are only possible, if the project team can communicate without great time and
effort. IBM, for example equips all its employees with a laptop and they have access to their
e-mails and documents wherever there is connectivity to the Internet. The offices provide
different possibilities to held meetings like telephone conferences or training courses over the
internal website “blue pages”. To communicate, employees can choose between instant
messaging, writing e-mails or calling each other. IBM has people all over the globe, but with
the communication technology, the people get closer together.
Important is also the transfer of knowledge between the subsidiaries and the head office, as
well as between the subsidiaries (Paul, 2000). To reach this, companies need the right
communication tools. The Internet has made it possible to flatten the world; companies
should now use the modern technology to make their employees communicate with each
other.

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Multicultural teams
If people work together with other people from different cultures, it can influence them to
open their minds and to start thinking differently. According to Gregersen et al. (1998)
contrasting views and values can force members of multicultural teams to think globally.
However, they also state that multicultural teams can be quite problematic, if they are not
managed well. Therefore, to make multicultural teams successful and even bring greater
value for the company, they need a leader with a global mindset. A study by van den Bergh
and Lehmann (2004) showed, that multicultural teams are either much more effective than
teams from a single culture or the performance is much worse. The crucial factor is how they
are managed. The development of multicultural teams within companies should be
supported, but team leaders with a global mindset are needed.

Corporate vision and definition of core values


Operational decisions are often made on the basis of internalized beliefs (Bartlett and
Ghoshal, 2002) and these beliefs are strong influenced by the vision of a company. The core
values include also how a company appreciates diversity and cultural differences. According
to a survey of executives from Begley and Boyd (2003), a company’s vision and values must
show global consistency. Strong values and a consistent corporate vision allows employees
worldwide to work within a local culture, but at the same time being part of a corporate
culture, if possible a globally oriented corporate culture. Most importantly, the corporate
vision should value global thinking.

The structural responses to the global market are needed for companies to be competitive.
However, they are inadequate for dealing with the requirements (Beechler et al., 1999).
Companies need managers with a global mindset. The global experience of managers is
difficult to imitate and can create a competitive advantage for a company (Carpenter et al.,
2000). Furthermore, it is a rare resource. Gregersen (et al., 1998:22) interviewed the former
CEO of Brunswick Corporation, who reflected the sentiments of many senior executives:
“Financial resources are not the problem. We have the money, products, and position to be a
dominant global player. What we lack are the human resources. We just don’t have enough
people with the needed global leadership capabilities.”
Therefore, the recruitment and internal development of global leaders is very important. How
companies can select managers with a global mindset to be able to compete in the global
market is the topic of my research, but to understand what the global mindset of managers
contains, we first have to explain the concept of individual global mindset.

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2.3. Individual Global Mindset

Global companies need global leaders. But how do companies realize that someone thinks
and feels globally and how are they able to indicate the mindset of an individual? What are
the characteristics of a person with a global mindset?
Beechler et al. (1999) described an interesting approach to differentiate between two kind of
people: Cosmopolitans that are oriented and open towards the outside world and locals that
are more narrowly concerned with the affairs of the community and exclude the world affairs.
The cosmopolitan or the global person is interested in other people; they are open minded
and curious. They are not afraid of experiences that are unfamiliar and they are ready for a
continuous process of learning.
Of course it is difficult to allocate characteristics to global mindset. Nevertheless, there are
some common features or qualities described by the literature. Mansour Javidan, dean of
research at Thunderbird, who invented together with other professors from Thunderbird a
tool to measure global mindset (The Global Mindset Inventory - GMI) states that individuals
with a global mindset share an extensive set of intellectual, psychological and social
characteristics (Swain, 2007). According to the GMI, global mindset is about knowing and
understanding the global business (intellectual capital), to be open for other cultures
(psychological capital) and to be ready to trust people, who are different from yourself (social
capital). Gregersen et al. (1998) mention that successful global leaders are driven by a
sense of adventure and that inquisitiveness allows them to understand people. Furthermore,
this inquisitiveness allows them to maintain integrity and to be able to deal with uncertainty
and to manage tensions.
But why is a global mindset important for companies, or what are the managers with a global
mindset doing differently than others? The mindset shapes the perception of managers and
influences them, which strategy they choose and how the implement it (Paul, 2000). A global
company with a global strategy and a worldwide network of subsidiaries are dependent on
managers, who make the right decisions, who understand the complexity of the global
market and who are able to balance between global consistency and local responsiveness -
managers with a global mindset.
That leads us to my first research question: How does a company get managers with a
global mindset? The literature proposes different approaches to develop an individual global
mindset or to support people, who already have a global view or global thinking. Very simple
formulated is it by Gregersen et al. (1998), who have found four strategies that are effective
to develop global leaders, or leaders with a global mindset: travel, teams, training and
transfers. To have the right effect, travelling requires not staying in western hotels and only
going outside to drive from the hotel to the workplace, but to get in contact with the local
culture. Working in multicultural teams is explained above and is a good way to learn

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contrasting views and values. Training is essential before employees are sent abroad or
even before they enter a team with members from different cultures. However, my research
has shown that cross-cultural training is only effective, if it can be linked to experience. When
a company has the possibility, the best way would be to arrange cross-cultural training with
cross-cultural groups. The exposure to different people can teach more than a lot of theory.
The last strategy, transfers, is the most powerful. Eighty percent of global leaders, asked by
Gregersen et al. (1998) identified international assignment as their single most influential
experience in their lives.
These four strategies are all quite expensive. Even multicultural teams can be costly for a
company, as they need more time to form an effective group and the risk is high, that they
fail. Big MNEs are able to finance extensive training and development programmes and they
also have a wide range of young talent to choose from for these programmes. For smaller
companies it is not that easy and they are sometimes dependent on the external labour
market. If SMEs do not have the experience or knowledge to execute international projects,
they have to buy that knowledge either from external consultants or with recruiting managers
with international experience and with a global mindset.
For both ways, choosing internal people or hiring external experts, the most important
element of the process is selection. Which managers are selected as futures executives?
Who do you select for international assignments? Who do you select as project leaders and
who gets extensive training? To answer these questions, I will deal with the selection
process in detail in the next chapter and present the results of my research. However,
selection is not the only critical factor within human resource management to pursue the path
in direction of a global corporate culture. My thesis for the first research question is, that
companies should integrate the concept of global mindset within the whole HRM cycle.

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2.4. HRM Cycle

The HRM cycle describes the whole process that all employees go through from entering a
company to the moment they leave and it is managed by the HR department. The HRM cycle
is a cycle, because this process will start over and over again within a career path of the
individual employees. It does not have a start or an end, as this cannot be defined and will
change from case to case. Since my approach is to incorporate the concept of global
mindset within the whole management of human resources, I will use the HRM cycle to
define the different contents. The HRM cycle shown below is adapted from Tichy et al.
(1981), who described the steps and mentioned the concept for the first time. I will explain
each of the steps in this chapter to be able to integrate the HRM cycle in my research results.
In one of these steps Tichy et al. (1981) speak of development and not of training and
development. For the study of global mindset, training is an important part, as cross-cultural
training and other courses make an important contribution to the development of a global
mindset. Therefore, this step in the HRM cycle below includes also training and not only the
term development. Furthermore, Tichy et al. (1981) do not have a step “recruitment” in their
cycle. The first step, as they indicate it, is selection. I would like to separate recruitment and
selection, as recruitment is a process with a clear interaction with the external labour market,
selecting people can also be a process within the internal labour market, though. Employees,
who already work in a company, are selected for projects, training, international assignments
or jobs on a higher career level.
In the cycle of Tichy et al. (1981) performance and appraisal are two different steps and
appraisal leads then to rewards and to development. This is also a very interesting approach,
which shows that the appraisal of the performance determines, how much someone is
rewarded and if they get the chance for development within a company or not. However, in
the modern corporation I assume that everybody gets the chance for training and
development, which then may lead to performance appraisal. Putting the cycle in connection
with global mindset, this can be different. The costs of the training and development of
people to develop a global mindset are very costly and the selection should be made
carefully. But also in this case, the kind of performance that is measured to make the
decision may be different than in other selection processes. As mentioned before, the HRM
cycle is a cycle because the course of the steps can be different all the time.

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Figure 2.1. HRM Cycle

Source: adapted from Tichy et al. (1981)

Recruitment is the process of attracting people from the external labour market to fill an open
position. It includes the advertisement of the job and also the interviews and the
assessments. Companies may execute recruitment by themselves or outsource it to a
recruitment agency. However, at the end the company will make the selection.
The next step within the HRM cycle describes the selection. This can be the selection of
external people within the recruitment process, but also the selection of employees for
different kind of positions or projects within a company itself.
Induction corresponds more to new recruited employees that have to be integrated into the
company. Of course new team members or new employees within a department are also
inducted, but they already are part of the organisation. Furthermore, one can ask the
question, if induction really does have an end or if it is an ongoing process. In the induction
step of the HRM cycle, the new hired employees are confronted with the values and the
strategy of a company. The more effective the induction is, the faster employees get part of
the corporate culture.

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Especially in the global marketplace, well trained and educated work force is critical to
success and may be the most important source of competitive advantage for globally
operating companies (Briscoe et al., 2009). Therefore, the training and development
programmes of companies have become a very important part within the HRM cycle. More
and more universities offer management development courses and some big MNEs even
have their own educational institutions. The effectiveness of training is hard to measure, why
it may also be expenses that are cut first within a recession. However, most of the
companies have realized the importance of training and development and are also ready to
invest money. It must be seen as investment, since the output may bring profit with being
more competitive on the market as company with well educated staff.
The performance of employees is usually appraised by their line managers. This process can
be formal with a predetermined standard form or also informal. Often in companies the
performance appraisal takes place annually. Based on the performance, the compensation of
employees can be defined. Compensation and benefits is a challenge for globally operating
MNEs, as cultural, legal and taxation issues are very different from country to country.

With regard to global mindset, selection is the crucial step within the HRM cycle. The
development of global mindset is a long process. Therefore, it is important for companies to
choose the right people in the recruitment, for training or for global positions. The employees
still can further develop their globally oriented mindset, but it is an advantage, if they bring
the preconditions before they enter the company or the position requiring a global mindset.
Selecting managers with a global mindset should get the right attention by globally operating
companies.

2.5. International Assignment

The most effective way to develop a global mindset is international assignment experience
(Gregersen et al., 1998). The experience of living and working in a foreign country for a
longer time brings a lot of advantages that are also important for the global mindset
development process. In my interviews, international assignment experience was often
mentioned regarding the development of a global mindset. Furthermore, many companies
recognised that personal experience was the best way for their managers to develop a broad
international perspective (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2002).
The examination of other cultures and other values will broaden the mind and bring a
different view of many things. Hopefully, it also arouses interest and supports curiosity. The
knowledge of other cultures and behaviours is of course very important and can be learned
in cross-cultural trainings. However, to be really effective as a global leader, someone has to
feel how to behave in another culture. Immediate reactions cannot be learned in courses,

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they have to be internalised. This feeling can only be developed with the ongoing
examination of people from the other culture. To gain a real understanding of a culture or to
be able to adapt to it, someone has to experience the culture first-hand (Briscoe et al., 2009).
If someone lives in a foreign country, they have to deal with power that cannot be changed,
like rules, laws and administrative issues. This will learn them to adapt to a different
environment and is a very worthy experience.
International or expatriate assignments can have two different motives, the demand driven
and the learning driven motive (Scullion and Collings, 2006). The first motive is to fill
positions abroad for control reasons of foreign operations. There has been few empirical
testing of the effectiveness of expatriate managers that control foreign operations. However,
one study of Paik and Sohn (2004) shows that expatriates with significant cultural knowledge
of the host country are more likely to be effective than expatriates with low cultural
knowledge in controlling foreign subsidiaries. In fact, expatriates with low cultural knowledge
may even be harmful. The second motive are learning driven assignments. This is where we
come back to global mindset. The global mindset could be achieved or developed through
learning driven international assignments. According to Scullion and Collings (2006) a lot of
important competencies can be achieved during expatriate assignments, among others
understanding the complexities of management in an international marketplace.
Regarding the growing presence of American and European companies in developing
countries, I would add another motive for international assignments, which is the lack of
educated and experienced personnel in these countries. Finding talents with the competence
of leading teams or even a whole subsidiary are rare and highly demanded in emerging
economies (Briscoe et al., 2009) and therefore, companies have to fill these positions also
with expatriates. A longer, but maybe more effective method is to hire talented locals,
sending them to the headquarters in western countries, educate them at good universities
and sending them back to their local country. They will bring the cultural knowledge of the
host country and the experience and education from the home country of a company.
International assignments are therefore not only important for MNEs to control their foreign
subsidiaries, but also for the career development of managers. However, the chance that an
international assignment is not successful and therefore a loss of the investment for the
company, is quite high. Very often the inability of managers and of their families to adapt to
other cultures lead to failures in international assignments with expatriates returning home
earlier than planned or even being dismissed in the foreign locale (Briscoe et al., 2009). The
failure rate is the highest among American companies with a common failure rate between
30 to 40 percent, with an average cost per failure ranging from USD 500’000 to USD
1’000’000 or even more (Briscoe et al., 2009).

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International assignment experience can be very important for companies as well as for
individuals. Since it is rare, valuable and hard to imitate, Carpenter et al. (2000) state, that it
can even create a competitive advantage for companies and increase the market value of
managers in the labour market. Regarding the failure rate and the high cost of international
assignments, the selection process should get high priority. Selecting the right people to
send abroad can make expatriation a success and save the company a lot of money. Most
attention in the selection process should be given to the candidate, but the family of the
international assignee should also be integrated. The inability of the spouse or partner to
adjust to the other culture has been found to be the most important reason for expatriate
failure (Briscoe et al., 2009). Global mindset must be a criterion in the selection process of
international assignees. The ability to adapt to other cultures, the desire to go abroad and get
international experience, the interest for foreign languages will make expatriate assignments
more successful than sending managers abroad that are local oriented and do not really
want to deal with people, who are different than themselves.

3. Research Results

The aim of this report is to suggest a framework for companies to be able to select managers
with a global mindset or to select people with the potential to develop a global mindset. A
question that arises at this point is, if it is really possible to have a global mindset or if it
always will be a development, an ongoing process. It is actually a process that can take
years (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002), and can also continuously be improved. From a
certain stage on, however, I would speak of having a global mindset. If the person has the
global experience, understands global interconnected issues, thinks globally and is able to
work with or to lead other employees and customers from different cultures, it makes it
easier, if we can talk of a person having a global mindset and give a name to this
competence and way of thinking.
A global company does not need to have all employees with global mindsets. For certain
positions it can even be an obstacle, for example a sales representative, who is responsible
for a local market. These employees need the focus on the local market conditions and
customer needs. They should know what the company is doing outside this specific country,
but they do not have to understand all global strategic issues. A global perspective is not
needed and could also bring his focus away from the local country. Furthermore, a person
with a global mindset would soon be unsatisfied with a job only focusing on one country,
rather than different countries and cultures. This could make global mindset as a
disadvantage for some positions, even within globally operating companies.

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There is also a difference, if a company selects someone from the internal market or from the
external labour market. Big companies are able to hire a lot of staff for entry positions and
choose afterwards from a pool of people the ones, who have the potential for a global career.
Global mindset would not be a main criterion in the external recruitment process, but only
from a certain career level on within the company. Smaller companies do not have these
resources and are therefore dependent on the external labour market. Either they recruit
managers with a global mindset or they hire consultants, which are able to implement global
strategies or to lead global projects. Therefore, global mindset is not important for all
selections of employees. The company has to decide for which positions a global mindset is
required and when it is not necessary or maybe even hindering. In this paper, I would like to
concentrate on three cases: The selection of managers to be sent on international
assignments, the selection or recruitment of external managers for global positions and the
selection of team leaders of multicultural teams. In these cases, selecting managers with a
global mindset or in certain cases people with the potential to develop a global mindset
would bring an advantage compared to selecting people with a local focus.

3.1. Global Mindset and the HRM Cycle

Before we come to the selection process, I would like to answer the first research question,
how a company gets managers with a global mindset. My thesis is, that the concept of global
mindset should be integrated in the whole HRM cycle. The results of my interviews and also
the results of the literature review have shown that most of the suggestions, how a global
mindset could be developed, can be aligned with the HRM cycle. As it is mentioned in the
earlier chapters, companies can also build structures and develop strategies and a vision to
support global mindset. However, at the end it is a process that happens individually. Each
individual starts themselves the development of a global mindset. Therefore, I would like to
allocate possible “global mindset activities” around the HRM cycle.

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Figure 3.1. HRM Cycle with Activities to Support the Development of a Global Mindset

Recruitment
Global mindset should for certain positions be a core element in the recruitment process.
Among other skills and competencies, global mindset could be an integral part of a job
description, which will also be mentioned in the job advertisement or will be a demand for the
recruitment company. For a job that deals with different cultures and different countries,
global mindset should be regarded. A company can advertise in a way to attract the right
people. To attract people with a global mindset, they should advertise in a diverse way.
Furthermore, companies can already include global mindset when recruiting young talent,
although they might not yet have it or need it for their first job. This will fill the pool of potential
employees for global positions and international assignments.

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However, not only the candidates have to be open minded, also the ones recruiting should
see the process from a global perspective and open the possibility to apply for the job to
candidates worldwide. If a company recruits employees not only from the host country,
where the position is open, but from different countries, the staff will get much more diverse,
which will positively influence the way towards a global corporate culture.

Selection
In the selection process, global mindset might be one of the core arguments to select
someone for a position. This is the crucial step within the whole HRM cycle. Gregersen et al.
(1998) state that global leaders are born and then made and that not everyone has the ability
to become one. Therefore, they state that companies should not give opportunity and
education to just everyone, but to select the people with the right talent. Based on my
interviews, I would not see it that tight. I believe that intercultural training and cross-cultural
experience does not harm anyone and could support all employees to be more open minded.
However, the chance that someone succeeds in a position or project, where global mindset
is important, is much higher, if global mindset is already part of the selection process.
Otherwise it can be a long way that is costly and consuming for all the involved parties. How
global mindset can be integrated in the selection process will therefore engage us again in
the next chapter.

Induction
At this stage, a new employee is confronted with the corporate culture for the first time. When
a company emphasises diversity, tries to integrate global operations and supports the co-
operational teamwork of people from different cultures, employees entering the organisation
will feel it immediately. If a company has a global corporate culture, the employees will most
likely also develop a positive attitude towards a global approach. They should take over the
corporate vision and become a part of it.

Training and development


Intercultural training, language courses and knowledge regarding other cultures and markets
can also make a worthy contribution to the development of a global mindset. To make the
training most effective, the programmes should be linked to practice with real case studies
and field based business projects. Regarding Gupta and Govindarajan (2002), in-company
programmes have the advantage that the learning occurs on multiple levels, compared to
courses at a university. Training could leave the classroom through interactions with
colleagues from other locations around the world. However, also non-business related

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courses, which support the interest and curiosity of people, may influence positively the
mindset of the participants.

Performance appraisal
Measuring the performance of individuals and teams has become an important tool to ensure
the performance of the whole organisations and to be able to identify and close possible
gaps (Briscoe et al., 2009). For companies that are globally integrated, their performance
relies heavily on the ability of individuals to handle global tasks and issues. Therefore, the
success of multicultural teams or the success of someone leading a global project should get
weight in their performance appraisal. This is also an opportunity to identify employees with a
global mindset. Leaders of multicultural teams and projects crossing borders that are highly
successful will most likely have the ability to understand global issues and to work with
people from different cultures.

Compensation management
Should global mindset be rewarded? Carpenter et al. (2000) propose that international
assignment experience should receive substantial benefits. However, how can be measured,
if an international assignment leads to a better understanding of the culture, to an open
mindedness and curiosity? To be able to directly reward global mindset, it should be possible
to measure it. I suggest, that it should not be tried to comprise global mindset into numbers,
as it is highly subjective. However, based on my interviews, I came to the conclusion that
people with a global mindset will get the chance to achieve a higher position within a
company very soon, which also includes higher compensation. Furthermore, giving someone
with a global mindset a globally integrated task can be a greater benefit than a bonus.
Having a global mindset is a condition or a characteristic and should not get a reward.
However, results should be rewarded, which are expected to be higher for managers with a
global mindset. That gives an indirect reward to managers with a global mindset. For some
jobs, global mindset is a precondition and not an additional advantage.

3.2. Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset

Selection is about choice. This choice has consequences; often it has critical consequences.
Therefore, the choice has to be made well reflected and prepared. We will deal with three
choices that arise in different selection processes: Who to send on international assignment,
who to recruit externally for an international oriented management position and who to
choose as team leader for a multicultural team. These three selection processes have in
common, that the companies should choose managers with a global mindset or at least
someone that is thought of being able to develop one. Why is it important to have a global

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mindset? Based on my interviews and on the literature review, I suggest that in these
positions, managers with a global mindset perform better, compared to managers without a
global mindset. Managers with a global mindset bring very important competencies that are
needed in these positions, as they are all related with other cultures and with the global
market. The crucial task is therefore to find out the mindset of a person. The GMI from
Thunderbird School of Business measures the intellectual, social and psychological capital of
individuals and can help companies to determine which professionals are most likely to
succeed in global positions (Berdan, 2009). This might be a solution to make a pool of
potential global leaders, as it was done by NEC (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2002). However, for
the final selection, the choice should not be based on an index. The selection of individuals
for global jobs includes personality, motivation, experience and knowledge and has to be
made individually. Most of the global mindset characteristics can be found out in interviews
and in studying previous workplace descriptions.

International assignments:
As mentioned before, the failure rate of international assignments is high, which costs the
companies a lot of money. It could either be the case, that international assignees return
home earlier than planned or that they even leave the company at all. Until recently, most of
the employees sent abroad were chosen regarding their technical expertise in the home
country (Briscoe et al., 2009). This, however, disregards all the “soft factors” that are
important for the success of international assignments. Employees and also their families
have to be well prepared before they leave their country for the challenging task abroad.
European companies are known to better include cultural and personal issues into the
preparation or training of international assignees and therefore do not experience the high
failures rates as their American counterparts (Briscoe et al., 2009).
Training and preparation is one thing, the mindset of the candidate is the other. Conditions
described by Briscoe et al. (2009), which are said to lead to a higher probability of a
successful international assignment, are very similar to the characteristics of a person with a
global mindset. Therefore, I suggest that global mindset should be a criterion in the selection
process of choosing managers, who are sent abroad. However, as stated by Gregersen et al.
(1998), international assignment experience is also the most effective way to develop a
global mindset. Do you now send managers abroad because they have a global mindset or
that they develop one? The determination has to be made with the motive that lies behind
the international assignment. With the motive to control foreign operations or with the motive
to fill in positions that cannot be covered by the local labour market, companies should select
managers with a global mindset and at the same time take into consideration technical skills
and competencies that are needed for the job abroad. With the learning driven motive,

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developing a global mindset is the reason to send someone abroad. To make this
international assignment effective, employees, who are most likely to develop a global
mindset, should be selected.
That remains the question how to select managers with a global mindset for international
assignments. The selection process to choose the right person to send abroad has to be
taken seriously and different parties should be involved. The responsible person is
confronted with the choice why to send one employee abroad and why not another. Beside
the candidate, their spouse and family, also the current and the future manager should take
part in the process and someone from the local HR, as well as a representative from global
HR. Briscoe et al. (2009) even suggest to include an interculturalist, who will be able to
assess the candidate’s ability to adjust to the foreign culture.
Before the interview, some available information could give indication of a potential global
mindset. The previous work experience is crucial. As the mindset of individuals is shaped by
mindsets of other individuals (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002), global mindset is most likely
shaped with the interaction with people from other cultures. In the workplace, these
interactions can be made with staying abroad. Even travels could have the effect that
someone gets more open towards other countries and cultures, but the longer the stay
abroad is, the better. Cultural interactions can also be made in multicultural teams, as well as
in courses with culturally mixed classes. Additional indications could be drawn from the CV,
like the mastery of foreign languages or hobbies, which show that someone is curious about
the world and its people (e.g. interest in history, culture, travel or politics).
The next step is the interview. Personality and mindset may be categorised with
questionnaires by some companies. However, the best way to find out how someone thinks
is in a discussion. As we know now the factors that can indicate the existence of a global
mindset, it should be defined how to ask questions to find them out. Very important,
especially for international assignments, is the motivation of the candidate. Are they
motivated to go abroad? Are they motivated to meet and be confronted with people from
other cultures? Another factor is interest. A person with a global mindset must be interested
in global issues and international relations. The third factor is knowledge. The international
assignee has to know the behaviour of other cultures, the history of the country and of
course knowledge of the local market. They will not be able to know all the details, which can
only be learned in the country itself, but basic information should be known, which also
shows the interest of a person. Kedia and Mukherji (1999) add another knowledge
component, which is technology. To be really effective in a global environment, managers
need the ability to use technology and information systems. This is also the way to stay in
contact with the home country and with other countries to even further extend the global
perspective.

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If someone is sent abroad to get the mindset that is required for international assignments or
global positions and to get the experience to become a global leader, the process to select
the candidates is more or less the same. However, focus will be laid on the potential and not
on the existence of a global mindset. The motivation and interest should get more weight, as
they could indicate the possible development of a person. The cost factor for the learning
driven motive for international assignment, might play a more important role, since the
assignment is part of the career development of young talents and could also be seen as
training. It is an investment with the return of developing effective global leaders. Since the
costs for such training is very high, the person should be selected very carefully.

Table 3.1. Important Factors for Positions Requiring a Global Mindset

Previous work experience Work experience abroad


Being part of an international project
Leading multicultural teams
Orientation of the previous department or company
Skills & Competencies Foreign languages
Communications skills
Leadership skills
High developed cognitive complexity
Feeling how to behave in other cultures
Adaptability
Ability to manage uncertainty
Motivation Motivated to work abroad
Motivated to meet people from other cultures
Seeing globalisation as a chance
Flexibility Mobility
Willingness for change
Open mindedness
Interest Curiosity about the world
Interest in other cultures
Knowledge Communication technology
Foreign markets
Other values, attitudes and behaviours
Global political and economic situation

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External recruitment
If the internal pool of human resources with the ability to work on global projects is not as big
as required or inexistent, companies are dependent on the external labour market. This
might be especially the case for SMEs that are new in the global market and lack the
international experience. However, also MNEs are often dependent on external expertise
and have to recruit global managers externally. An additional component, compared to the
selection for international assignments, is the interaction with the external environment.
Global talent is a rare resource (Carpenter et al., 2000) and most likely the candidates are
aware of that. If a company does not hire somebody, the candidate will find another job and
will use their talent in another company; maybe even in a company that is a competitor. The
defined and existing recruitment process of companies does not have to be changed, but
completed by integrating global mindset into the process. The previous workplace is
essential, as well as the reason why someone wants to change. If the former company is
local oriented, but the reason for the candidate to change the workplace is to work for a
global company, they will be motivated to expose themselves to people, who are different
and will be interested in global issues.
Globally successful companies have to adapt to the global market. As the market is changing
all the time, global companies also undergo continuous changes. Otherwise, they would not
be able to be competitive on the global market. This could be organisational change,
strategic change or the acquisitions and selling of business units or companies. To feel
comfortable in such an environment, employees should like changes and be able to adapt to
it. Recruiting new employees, they should be asked, if they are motivated to be part of a
changing organisation and if they are flexible enough to still perform in this environment.
People with a global mindset will be willing for change, which also includes the change of the
person itself with being influenced by other people and the change of the external
environment. The complexity, heterogeneity and indeterminacy of the constantly changing
MNEs can only be comprehended by managers with highly developed cognitive complexity
(Beechler et al., 1999). To find out how candidates deal with complex situations, they could
be confronted with situations in the selection process, where they have to show, how they
would react. Furthermore, case studies in groups or alone could show the ability of people to
react on new and intricate interrelations.
Selecting external people has the disadvantage that most of the time, nobody within the
company will know the candidate and could make a statement about their attitude towards
people, who are different. The assessment and decision has to be made with less
information and knowledge about the person. However, the longer global mindset is an
essential part within the selection process, the more specialists from HR and also line
managers are used to feel and recognise the mindset of the candidates. Anyway, the risk will

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remain in the definition of global mindset. Although, companies were implementing global
mindset as a standard criterion in the selection process, all the involved parties would maybe
understand the concept differently, as there is no common definition of global mindset.
Therefore, at the end, the person with highest quantity of power will define what global
mindset is. In the case of the selection process, it is the people selecting the candidate. If
global mindset is requested for a position, they have to be able to define the existence of a
global mindset from the candidate. They need the sensitivity to find out, which candidate will
most likely be successful in the global oriented position. This framework should help to find
characteristics of global mindset and support them to select the right people.

Multicultural teams
Being part of a multicultural team may be positive for individuals to develop a global mindset.
However, multicultural teams are not at first training fields for individuals, but a crucial part for
MNEs to be competitive in the global market. Multicultural teams have the ability to achieve
very positive results for complex tasks, where different opinions, views and also creativity are
needed. The broad cultural knowledge within a multicultural team helps making important
and difficult decisions, especially when different markets and countries are involved. The
success of multicultural teams is controversial. In my interviews, I found out that some
companies stop to pursue cross-border projects, as the time and effort is too high. They still
support multicultural teams, but only within the headquarters or in one specific country. The
time difference, geographical distance and the major cultural differences can therefore be
avoided. Foreign employees working in the headquarters may still have some cultural
differences, but they are more or less adjusted to the local culture. A study from van den
Bergh and Lehmann (2004) showed that multicultural teams are either much more
successful than single cultural teams or much less successful. The factor, which makes the
critical difference, is how the team is leaded.
Multicultural teams need a leader, who can deal with people from various cultures, who finds
the balance between the needs of the team members and who is able to get the best results
out of this diverse team. Diversity can be an opportunity and an advantage, but the risk of
dissonance within the team is also high. Some skills how to lead multicultural teams may be
learned in leadership courses. However, the feeling how to deal with different people is much
more important. The leader of a multicultural team needs to have a global mindset. This is
not a guarantee for a positive project result, but the likelihood that the team performs well, is
high. In the selection process of choosing a team leader, global mindset should be
integrated.
One of the most important factors will be previous experience with leading multicultural
teams or with being member of a multicultural team. The opinions of other team members

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should be taken into account, as the wellbeing of the members is important for the
performance of the team. Compared to the other two global minded selection processes,
experience, skills and competencies are more important and should be emphasized by
choosing team leaders for multicultural teams. Motivation and interest are of course also
relevant. However, the team has only one chance to perform in a project. The project may
have a short duration and it is not a long time process of development for the team members.
The knowledge about other markets is only crucial, if the project involves these markets. The
knowledge of economic and political interrelations may also be less relevant. The knowledge
about cultures from team members is very important, though. This knowledge will help the
team leader to set timetables, allocate tasks and understand difficulties.
Most of the selection processes will not include interviews, but judgements of line managers.
The people responsible to choose multicultural team leaders have to be aware that leaders
of multicultural teams need other skills than leaders of single cultural teams and should know
the important factors. If the line manager itself is often confronted with cross-cultural issues,
they will know on what the success depends. However, if the line managers have no
experience with working intercultural, they need guidelines provided by the HR department.
The effort may be higher when implementing multicultural teams, especially if they even
cross borders. However, companies have to take into consideration the advantages. In a
globally connected economy, strategically important decisions should be made in teams that
do not exist of members from only one culture. Like this, the team can represent the diversity
of the global market. Furthermore, the team members will start to develop an understanding
for individuals different from themselves and may even start to think globally. Multicultural
teams are an important part for a company to approach a global corporate culture.

4. Implementation

Almost all interviewees I interviewed, have heard or read about the concept of global mindset
before. For some it is a topic in the daily work, others have read about it in journals or
newspapers. Current textbooks of International Human Resource Management dedicate at
least a small chapter to global mindset. However, to make it a part of a company’s culture, it
has to be integrated in HR processes and policies. The world economy gets more and more
interconnected and differences of cultures cannot be ignored anymore. For MNEs, that have
their business allocated on all continents and also make a growing part of their sales in
emerging markets in Asia and South America, global mindset or the global corporate culture
must even be part of the vision. Not every employee within a company needs a global
mindset, but everybody should be aware of the opportunity of diversity. Therefore, global

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mindset is not only an HR issue for the steps within the HRM cycle. It is a concept to be part
of the strategy and vision.
Within the globally operating companies more and more jobs require at least an
understanding of the global market. Some jobs even require a global mindset. For these
jobs, global mindset has to be part of the selection process.
Barry Callebaut wants people with a global mindset. The statement on their website (Barry
Callebaut, 2009) was supported in one of my interviews. A lot of positions are connected with
Africa as the most important supplier of raw materials, but also with different people around
Europe or even America and Asia. Barry Callebaut grows very fast and is still an organisation
within an ongoing process of change. Other businesses are acquired or business units are
sold. That requires flexibility and adaptability of its employees. To get these employees, I
suggest implementing global mindset in the whole HRM cycle. That starts with the
communication of the importance of global mindset from the HR department. Line managers
should be aware that global mindset is an issue for the company and should be informed
about its advantages. Furthermore, global mindset should be part of job descriptions, job
advertisements and interviews. Once part of the company, employees should get the chance
to develop their global mindset. The company could offer language courses, intercultural
training or non-business related courses to broaden the interest and perspective of its
employees. Most importantly, employees should be sent on international assignments.
Although, the costs for the companies might be very high, if managed well, international
assignments will also bring a high return. The more employees make experience abroad, get
to know other cultures and other employees from different countries, the more a global
corporate culture will arise.
Managers with a global mindset will most likely get a high position within a company very
soon. Carpenter et al. (2000) state that international assignment experience is a ticket to the
top and that the market value of managers with IA experience is higher than of managers
without it. Hopefully, that will motivate young talents to go abroad and expose themselves to
other cultures.

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5. Conclusion

To succeed in today’s interconnected, multipolar and diverse global market, companies need
a global response to global issues. They need a global strategy and vision to meet the needs
of customers, suppliers and employees worldwide. Implementing a global strategy does not
mean doing everything in the same way everywhere in the world. It includes the knowledge
and sensitiveness that there are differences. Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002) wrote about the
transnational corporation (TNC) that draws upon global expertise, technology and resources
and in addition works hard to localise in order to be seen as a local and not only as a global
company. This approach allows companies to save costs and profit from technology transfer
with global consistency and at the same time react to differences of cultures and behaviours
through local responsiveness. Global strategy and global thinking is by no means the
American way, as some people may see it. It is neither to favour global consistency over
local responsiveness. It is rather the balance between global and local. The global market
does not need a “one size fits it all” solution, but instead companies that realize the
differences and which are able to respond to them. Bolgar (2007) suggests to standardise
inside operations and on the other hand to localise outside operations. In general this might
work for companies most of the time. However, in reality a lot of cases also need an
individual judgment.
To be competitive in the global market, companies need a corporate global culture, a culture
that allows and even supports diversity and at the same time profits from common corporate
values. The global market is growing, especially in emerging markets like China, India and
Brazil. These countries are not only attractive consumer markets, but also origin of very
competitive new global players. More and more MNEs from developing countries enter the
market. All companies from developed and from developing countries are confronted with a
new, dynamic and ever changing environment. They have to be able to find solutions to
complex issues.
To find this global response or strategy, companies need managers with a global mindset,
who are capable of finding the balance between global consistency and local
responsiveness. They need global leaders, who can manage employees from different
cultures and who can adapt to these cultures, while working in other countries during
international assignments. These global leaders have to make decisions that influence
different people from various places and therefore they must understand the diversity of
these people worldwide. The global market brings with it a lot of opportunities, but also many
risks. Managers with a global mindset should be able to exploit these opportunities and
simultaneously be aware of the risks and find global solutions to confront them.
Environmental and social issues get a more and more global dimension and are not local

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 31


problems anymore. The companies need leaders, who understand the interrelation and
complexity of our global world. Today, the success of individuals and of organisations
depends on the awareness and understanding of cultural differences, economic and political
climates, different laws and rules, as well as the expectations of customers and competitors -
in essence, a global mindset (Swain, 2007).
Not everybody within an organisation needs a global mindset, but for some positions it is
absolutely crucial. Along other important leadership skills and competencies, global mindset
should be a requirement for globally oriented jobs. For jobs, which are only locally oriented,
global mindset is not primarily needed. It might even form an obstacle and could also lead to
dissatisfaction of the employee. People with a global mindset will look for global challenges
and will most likely find a superior career position soon. Furthermore, managers with a global
mindset are a rare resource and with companies realizing the value of global mindset, there
will also be a high demand for these professionals. Therefore, companies have to start to find
these talents. They could employ managers with a global mindset or young talents with the
potential to develop one. In addition, companies should build an environment that supports
global thinking and the communication between employees worldwide. The people within
these organisations should feel that they are part of a global culture. However, at the end it
depends on the individual itself, if they are open for other people and interested in other
cultures.
Global mindset is about people; it is about character and personality. Therefore, Human
Resource Management will play the most important part within the search for these globally
thinking managers. The way to a global corporate culture involves the training of individuals,
building multicultural teams, sending people on international assignments and recruiting
external managers. All these processes are about choices. HRM is responsible to choose the
right people; they have to select managers with a global mindset. Selecting these managers
is not an easy task. Global mindset is difficult to measure and also to define. To be able to
single out managers with a global mindset effectively, companies need indications of global
mindset factors. This paper will help to find these indications to choose the person with a
global mindset and favour them over someone else. Furthermore, the framework introduced
in this paper should serve to implement global mindset within the HRM cycle, especially
within the selection process.
Once the managers with a global mindset are selected, the personal development should not
stop. Global mindset is an ongoing process and a continuous examination of other cultures,
people and behaviours. This is needed to better perform in positions that are confronted with
global issues and which need a global response. Companies have to support the
development of global mindset through training, interaction with other employees and with
the possibility to move within an organisation. These different actions can improve employee

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commitment, financial performance and receptivity to organisational change (Begley and
Boyd, 2003) and will also open the minds of other employees and hopefully motivate even
more people to aspire after a global way of thinking. As global mindset is an opportunity for
richer experience and better performance.

6. Discussion

This report addresses globally operating companies independent of their size. Both, small
MNEs and big MNEs need managers with a global mindset and they should gain an
advantage by reaching towards a global corporate culture. However, whether a global
corporate culture and the individual global mindset of the company’s managers is really a
competitive advantage, depends on the objective a company wants to achieve. Small
companies that serve only the local market do not have to think globally. Of course, they will
be affected by globalisation and at least the top management should be aware of that, but
they do not need a global strategy. It could even be a disadvantage as many local customers
are very happy to be served by a local company. Although, the global risks of a changing
market and new competitors should be taken into account, managers should particularly
focus on the needs and opportunities of the local market. On the other hand, internationally
operating companies cannot come around to concern themselves with the differences in the
world.
Global mindset has to be seen in a context. In the selection process, global mindset could be
an integrated part, but other factors are also important like business experience, leadership
competence, technical skills and knowledge of the products and markets. Only focusing on
global mindset might be the same mistake as ignoring global mindset. However, as the
development of global mindset includes a lot of the above mentioned factors, managers with
a global mindset will most likely bring the other skills and competencies with them.
As already mentioned, not all positions within a company require a global mindset. A lot of
job profiles need other mindsets. However, a globally oriented workplace demands an
understanding of globally connected issues. These positions are quite numerous in big
MNEs. The selection processes to find people to fill these positions should include the
consideration of global mindset. In this paper I concentrated on three selection processes:
The selection of international assignees, the selection of leaders of multicultural teams and
the selection of external candidates for global positions. Global mindset might be equally or
even more important for other selections as for example the selection of executives,
members of the board of directors or selecting managers to be promoted. These selection
processes are interesting to be dealt with by further research.

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 33


The view of what exactly is needed to have a global mindset could be as different as cultures
are differing. Various people may emphasize different aspects and see them as the most
important ones for being successful in the global market. The importance of knowledge of
foreign languages for example is controversial. The English native speaking people I
interviewed did not rate foreign languages as important as German native speaking people. It
is true that one might come along in the business world with only being able to speak
English. However, if someone is not interested in foreign languages at all, they are most
likely not interested in the culture. It is very difficult to understand a culture without dealing
with the local language. The knowledge of a foreign language helps to understand how
people think and behave. Therefore, on international assignments it should be a minimum
requirement that the assignee at least learns the basics of the local language. The better
they speak the language, the better they understand their colleagues and customers. Briscoe
et al. (2009) even state that international assignees have to speak their customers’
languages for successful business relationships.
To define the global company is also difficult. When do you speak of a global company? The
UNCTAD (2002) defines the Transnational Corporation (TNC) as an enterprise that locates
production or controls assets of other entities in economies outside their home economy.
Other authors speak of Multinational Corporation (MNC) or Multinational Enterprise (MNE).
However, is a company with subsidiaries in two other countries already a global company?
Going abroad has also a different meaning for an American company than for a Swiss
company, because for the Swiss company to open an operation in a foreign country like
Germany or France is already done by only crossing the close-by border. Asking
interviewees, which company is really a global company, I received different results. Some
emphasized on the global locations worldwide, regardless of how the company is organised.
Others focused more on the structure, the allocation of responsibilities or the consideration of
diversity as a sign for a global company. Very significant is how a company presents itself.
There are companies, which want to be seen as global organisations like Lenovo, which calls
itself a global company without really having a headquarters and with an intrinsic global
culture. On the other hand, there are companies, which want to be perceived as local in
every respective country. A Brazilian exchange student thought Nestlé to be a Brazilian
company before he came to Switzerland. In Hong Kong people also believe that Nestlé is a
Chinese company. Which of these examples is now the more global company?
Global mindset and global corporate culture is a long-term development and also a long-term
investment for companies. Thinking in short-term goals would be counterproductive.
Developing a corporate culture and shaping an individual’s mindset cannot be reached within
a year. The sooner companies realize the importance for it, the better they are prepared for
the challenges of the global market. Furthermore, companies have to leave behavioural and

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 34


thought pattern behind them, because the world has started to be very dynamic. Facebook
and Internet Blogs may seem a time consuming activity, distracting people from work.
However, these instruments could be used as communication platforms to get in touch with
people from other cultures within or outside the organisation. Consumer trends may have
their roots in Internet forums. Companies should be open to new technology and new life
styles as long as it fits their corporate values.
With this paper I present a model or framework and I suggest specific factors to be a sign of
global mindset. Is it truly possible to reduce the complexity of global mindset to a model?
Would this not ignore the diversity and differences, which I mentioned all the time? Models
are always a simplification of a complex situation, but companies need a simplification to be
better able to implement it. Otherwise it could not be part of a defined process. Therefore, I
tried to bring the concept of global mindset into a framework, but I would like to emphasize
that by using this framework, people will still have to be aware of the complexity of the
subject. Selecting managers with a global mindset needs sensitiveness and feeling for other
people.

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 35


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Annexes

Annex 1 Structured Interview Part - Global Mindset ............................................................. 39

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 38


Annex 1 Structured Interview Part - Global Mindset

1. How often have you come across the term / concept of global mindset?

very often
sometimes
rarely
never

2. Where have you read or heard about global mindset?

______________________________________________

3. a. How strong is the relation for the following areas with global mindset?
(1 weak / 5 very strong)

b. How important are the following areas to be competitive in a global market?


(1 not important / very important)

a b
cross cultural teams 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
international marketing 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
global strategies 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
HR policies 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
cross boarder mergers & acquisitions 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
global environmental and social issues 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
international finance 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
foreign languages 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
cross cultural leadership 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
global social network 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
macro environment 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
foreign markets and consumer behaviour 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
global talent management 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

4. How important is a global mindset for your position? (1 not important / 5 very important)

1 2 3 4 5

5. List the three most global enterprises?

____________________________________________________________________

6. Short definition of global mindset or keywords.

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 39


Personal Information

Surname:___________________________

Name:______________________________

Organisation:_________________________

Position:_____________________________

E-mail:______________________________

Jonas Babics Selecting Managers with a Global Mindset Page 40

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