Arthur M. Whitehill Professor of International Management at the University of Hawaii. He is also a member of the Affiliate Faculty of the Japan-America lnstitute of Management Science in Honolulu

Whitehill, Arthur M.

English

Georgia Southern University: Digital Commons@Georgia Southern

Southern Business Review Volume 13 Issue 2 Article 7 September 1987 How to Pick Your "Man in Asia" Arthur M. Whitehill University of Hawaii Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sbr  Part of the Business Commons, and the Education Commons Recommended Citation Whitehill, Arthur M. (1987) "How to Pick Your "Man in Asia"," Southern Business Review: Vol. 13: Iss. 2, Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sbr/vol13/iss2/7 This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Southern Business Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu. HOW TO PICK YOUR "MAN IN ASIA" Arthur M. Whitehill Not everyone agrees that the next hundred years will be the ··century of the Pacific ." But mo twill admit that the Pacific-A ian nations have emerged as the fastest-growing part of the world. Today. though Japan may not be Number One among industrial nations. she surely ranks as Number Two. And increasingly the Japanese are feeling the hot breath of Korea on their necks - with Taiwan , Hong Kong and Singapore not far behind. Adding to this economic powerhouse arc more than a billion Chinese who are making a strong bid to enter the race. There is no escaping one conclusion: American and European managers mu t join the crowd or get left behind. Not hundreds. but thousands of We. tern businessmen will have to spend a considerable part of their careers living ani.l working in that corridor of nations stretching from India to Japan . Regional of-fices, subsidiarie~. and joint venture, will have to be ~taffed by the brightest. mo\! dedicated. and high!) motivated expatriate manager~ that can be found . Thi5 raise~ a new and difficult challenge for many corporations a~ they incrca~-ingly internationalize their business. Put in the ~implest term~: How can they pick the real winner. to successfully carry their company flag to foreign ~hores b a winner at home ,urc to be a winner there? Or i~ there a very special breed of executive needed to deal with the tough problem, faced by expatriate~ throughout the world? I asked these que,tion~ of per,onnel officer, in more than a dozen large inter -national corporation, in New York City . The companie~ repre,ented ,uch diver,e indu,trie\ a, electromc,, petroleum. pharmaceut irnb. and hanking . All were suc-ce,,ful 111 thc ,cn ,e that they had ,urvived the rigors of global competition for more than a dcc.:mlc. And all h,1d opcratiom in one or mori:: Pacific-A,ian nation,. The,e human re,nurce, experh had wnn ,ome-ani.l lmt a few-in their effort~ IO ,elect manager, for foreign as,1gnmcnt,. Th..: winners had ,pelled profit,. Lo,ers h;1d neared ;1..:utc fru,tn.111nn and required ,uh,tantial expenditures of time and monc) tn ,elect and tram replaeemenK On the bas1\ of th..:1r real -world experience . the) identified lour categoric, ot qualific,1tion~ com1dcred e,,ential for ,uc.:ce,, : ( 11 tcchmcal competence: 12) cro,~-cultural km1\~ledg..: : (3) a unique ·•mix .. of ph} ,,cal and pcr~onality traJt,: and ( language ability. Let u, look at each of the,c recommendation, . Technica l Competence FiN. ,md mo,t impnnant. i, technical crnnpctencc 111 the ,en,c nf unque~uonable ability IL> do one\ job. It thi:: candidate i, in accounting and finance, he mu,t be the grcatc,t financial \v11ard arnund. Or if he i, an engineer. he muM be the bc~t engineer ever encl)Ulltcred by h1~ foreign hmts. Whatever hi, ,pcc ialty. hi, performanc·..: mu~t be outstanding. There are two rca~on why a candidate ~hould have an excellent track record ,it home hcfore being turned lllo,e in Tnipei. Tokyo or Singapore. Any foreign as~ignmcnl, particularly in a culture very different from one·~ own. i~ full of ,urpri~es. The expatriate. therefore . simply doc~ not have the time or energy to ' 53 harpen h.is basic job ~kills when each day brings some new, unexpected crisis. Funhermore. his credibilJty with foreign manager~ must be impeccable. An im-pres ive past record of achievement will go far toward impressing his hosts that they are. indeed. dealing with an expert. To illu trate the element of surprise ~o common in over. ea~ assignments, a few example may be helpful. Take the matter of engineering tandards which are by no mean univer~I in nature . Standards in A)ian countrie. may be European or American depending largely upon hi~torical a~~ociation. Even with respect to contract . which WeMerner, believe to be binding in every respect, Asian companies ma) ignore a key dau~e ~impl) because · 'circum~tance~ have chang-ed" since signing the agreement. On a less M:rious scale. there arc the man) ·'little ~urpri~es·· encoumered every day in a foreign a. signment. For example. lhc concept of time may vary widely among different culture~. In man) A\ian countrie,. a meeting called for ten will comene at twelve-with no apolog) ror the delay. And there alway~ are the ~urpri~es arbing. from i.emantic~-that is. di ffcrence!> in the meaning~ of words. An an wer assumed to be .. yes" may turn out to be .. no ... or at best .. we will give the matter further thought." Turning to tht requirement of unque~tioncd credibility. one further comment ma) be in order. In almoM all C:l!,e the expatriate manager i~ ieweJ a an out-sider. :,trangcr. who is guilty until proven innocent . H" . u!,pected ~in!, run the gamut from per!>onality defect!,, ,uch a~ rudenc!,~. nuivete . or obnoxious informality. to total ignorance of hb hos.I!,· culture. language and values. In spite of all thi:, going again!,L him. the \ i~itor from abroad may ~ill enjoy grudging fC!,pt'Ct 1F he obviou:,ly know, omething that hi~ hosts do not know. The role of an expert goe!, far m overcoming preJudice!, and d1Mrust. It is for thb rea,1m that the internallunal per\onnel exerntive!, c.JUC!,lloned were unanimom in their conviction that technical competence wa, the most important criterion in !>electing their manager, for ovcr:.ea, a!,~ignmenl!-. . ro!> -Cult ural Kno" ledge Ne t nn their li,t of mo~t-nceJcd qual1fica11on!, i!, a deep and ~cn!>itive under-standing of cultural diffen.:ncc, . It might be ca~y tn a,~ume that this refers o~ly 10 a knowledge of the foreign environment "ithin v..h1ch the expatriate mu. t hve and work . But equal priority wa!, given to knowing a gn:at deal ubout one·, own country. A, one pcr~onnel llflicer expre~~ed it. · 'Our people have to be good bu~ine,~ amba~~ador~ v. hen we !>end them abrnad." Western Culture. What ,orts of knowledge about their O'-' n countrie~ ·hould thc:-e corporate amba:.,ador\ po~ c~\·1 Anyone who ha, traveled in a ,tatu other than 1ha1 of ca,ual touri,t know~ the many tough question~ thac m.i) be asked. History. literature, ei:onomi policic~. ~ocial cu tom~. TV and tage personalitie~. and politic, all are tair game . The role of ATO. the mystery of Swis bank accounts , or basic que~tions concerning geograph are fa ori te when Asians in-teract v.ith European visitors . And an all-time puzzler for American managers •~ when their ho!>ls want to know all about the incredible elei;toral-college Y tern for choosing president . Then there are the endless queMion~ about the vis itor ' home-country business 54 cultu re. How arc important corporate decisions made? How much. and on what basis are executive~ paid? Are their country's top managers reall y "mercenarie~" who will dei.en their company and move to a competitor who will offer a higher salary? What is meant by the popular phrase, .. golden parachute." in explaining the termination of top corporate executives'l These can be awkward questions for the already harried expatriate manager. A shocking discovery of many well-intentioned but only slightly informed bul>incs~ traveler~ ii. that their hol>t!> seem to know more about Germany, Fram:c. or the United States than do the representative~ ofthel>e countriel> . Thb is not only acutely embarrassing, bul it al o doe\ little to asl>ure that important aura of credibility mentioned earlier. Foreign ullure. Turning to the expatriute'l> knowledge of the hO\t coumry. thi increal>ingly is con idered a top priority by leading international corpora-tion~. Bul for the majority of bui.y executivei.. the pre~surc of their jobs ha prevented them from doing their homework. and their familiarit) with Pacific-Asian naliom il> i.uperficial at bei.t. This i~ true even with rel>pect to Japan- perhapl, the moM rel>earched and documented nation 111 the world. Unfortunately. much of the information on Japan ·, management !>y,tcm tend!, to he !,Uperfic1al or, in ,ome ca. e:,. mi~leading. No le.,, an authority than Wilham G. Ouchi Ill hh heM-selling book THl:.ORY ( Z ~lated 1hat ~•Upon reaching age fifty-five. all employee~ except the top fe'-' who are managing director, of the firm mu~! retire ." The foci is. the majorit) of Japane!>e employee, nov. retire clo~e to age sixty. In the ~ame book he daim., that .. there i!, no pen.,ion or -.ocial :-ecurity" in Japan. But Japan doc, have a comprehensive and l,ophisucated ,odal i.ecurit) ,y.,tem. Tn achieve up-to-date. ao ~-cultural undcNanJing i!> not un ca,y ta:,k . For global ,ale men , moving from one country and culture tn another ever) fe\, day,. it b an impos,ihle goal. Bul for those e,patriate manager, who an.: a:,:,igncJ to a ,ingle foreign country for an cxtcndcd pcriod of time. 1t ii. an achievement\\ h1ch can mc,m the difference between l>UCce:,:, and failure . A few tip, on negouaung in A.,ian nation, will 1ll u,tratc the need for careful. crol,s-cultural preparation : I. Chine,c executive!. ab,olutcl) dcmand technical competence. Many We tern companic, in China havc had to dcla) bu:.rncl>!> operation., in order to ,all rn more highly-quahfied 1echnic1ani.. 2 A key requirement rn K11rcan hu\lnc,, i., 1-.ilmn. mcaning inner feeling or mood . A Korean v. ill not do hu,inc~, , 1th a per,on who ha, offended hi~ inner feeling~ . 3. Bu~inc card~ alway, are used m Japan when one bu,me,,111,rn meet~ another The) ,houlu be a ,tandan..1 pattern and ,11c to fit Japanc,c lilmg ~y~tcm1, :rnd mu I have ,quarc corner~ ~ince round corner, arc u~ed only b) women. The) ~hould h~ bilingual and presented Japanc~e ~idc up. with the printing facing the receiver. 4. In The Phihppme~. a common ~aying. bahala na or God wilb it. indicate~ that ~ucces~ b con\idered more a matter of fate than individual merit. 5. In lndonc~ia. there il> an ancienl and "honorable" cu~tom of u~ing '"speed money " w g.rca~e finandal deal,. 6. Malay~ view life as a pas:-ing thing. and to avoid personal chitchat or show 55 100 much concern for profits can lead to total n:jection . The Busines~ Council for International nder~tanJing eMirnates that international per. onnel who go abroad without cro~~-cultural preparation have a failure rate ranging from 33-66 percent. Thi!, i!> rn contra!,t lo le\i, th,m two percent for those who had the bcnefil of !,UCh training . Fortunate!). many international companies entering the Pacific/ A~ian market no~ realm: th.: crucial importance of in-depth cro~s-cuhural knowledge for their repre.;cnt .. uve~ . Ph),ical and Pcn,onalil) Trait-. What phy~ical characterbtic~. per~onal value~. anJ behavior pattern~ are needed by your '"Man in A!>ia'"? There•~ little dnuht that an ovcr!>Ca!, a~~ignment is not for everyone in an international organization . A ,pecial "mix" of tr:iits ecms to contribute 10 expatriate !>UCCC!,!1. Little need he 1,a1d about tht trcmendou\ imponance ot good phy1,1cal and mental health . A foreign a!,!,ignml.!nt naturally me~n~ change~ in climate, diet, and excr-ci!le habih. The difficult aJju~tment to a n.:~ en\ 1rnnment leave~ liulc time for medical treatment or therap, Furth.:rmorc . medical practice~ in Asia frequently conflict sharply with tho~e in the Wc,-t. Japanc,c physicians. for example, typically double as pharmaciM~. In man~ A~ian hospital,. a family member is expected to ~tay with the pauent anJ help wnh h1, i.:are . AnJ it i:. by no means unusual for patients 10 tip their tloctor upon complc11on of treatment. Beyond ba,ic good hcllllh. there arc a numb.:r of personality trall!> which seem 10 contribute to acceptanc.: by one's foreign ho,h . Patience already has been discu:.~eJ . Humility ~oulJ al!,o ,tantl high on th.: 11:.t of Jc,1rahle traits. The humbling experience of A"an competition during the pa,1 s.:vcral Jccatles ,hould help We,1ern m.inager, tak.: a more moJc:.t view nf thc1r own wisdom and superiority . Because international bu,incs, 1s so extremely J1tfo:ult anti re~ults arc low to be realized . an expatriate manager muM be a "persistent optimist." A well-known jol-c define, a pcs,1mist as an opt1m1st who ha!> been 111fom1cd of th.: facts. In turn. we might Jcfinc a per~l\tent op11mi~1 a~ one who remains optimistic after hcing intormed. Gloom and Joom have no place in Jcal mg with tliffirnlt mtcrna· tional negotiations . A particularly valuahle trait tor thl' e,cpmriatc manager is a high tolerance for !,ilence. European~ and Amencan, tend to be rnnr.: articulate. mor.: out~pokcn. and fintl long pcriou!, of :,ilencc almo:,t unbearable . Many A:,ian!.. on the other hanJ. will con~1Jer the prolonged ~ilence~ in negouation~ to be the mo:,t protluc-tive lime. A Japanc:,e lriend once comrnentctl "You We~ternen, like the cxpre. :,ion 'Don·t juM ~it there ... do wmcthing . • We Japane~c woulJ rcvcr!le it and say 'Don't just do :,omcthing ... :,it there .• "Sitting m 1,ilencc while eon!,ide ring the full rnngc of alternatives in a Jifficult ,itual1on will earn high marb for the expatriate dealing with Asian counterparti. . A healthy re~pect for age b another pcr~onal characteri~tlc that i:, appreciated hy A:,ian manager:,. In mu:,t Oriental culture, the age/wi~dom equation ~till prevaib. Older executive:, arc con~idered wiser, and thu:, :,hould be recognized fir~t and li:,tencJ iO with an awe approaching reverence . Even in exchanging bu~incs~ cards, it is an unwritten rule that a visitor shoulJ prc:,ent hi:, card firSl to the olde:,t pcr:,on among his hosts. It is difficult for manager from America 56 and other youth-centered cultures of the We t to accept thi!> deference to age . A final comment ha, to do with dre~!> codes. Asian~ typically put more tre~s upon non-verbal communication than do We!,terner!>. And dre. i, i!> one of the mo~t powerful form, of ~uch communicalion. For example, the Japanese ~alaryman ·s --uniform·· b a dark suit. white !>hirt. dark tie. and highly-polished black hoe, . While total conformity b nol expected of foreign bul,ine~ men. very loud clothing doe~ create the feeling that the vii.itor, are not laking the negotiation~ ~eriously. Other countrie. have somewhat lci.i. formal drei.l> requirement~. Bue it i~ good advice for the expatriate lO leave the wild ~port coats. aloha \him,. and splal,h} ties at home . Language AbililJ The lat criterion for ,uccc. ~ in an A,ian a,,ignment i, the expatriate'\ t·om-mand of hil> hoMi. · native language In all easel,. perloonnel officer~ concerned with ,electing over ca, reprcl>entative, mentioned 1hi\ requirement la,t. Thi, doc, nut imply 1hat they con~ider it lca!>t important. But it doe, reflect the general feelmg 1ha1 language ability il> the moM J1flicult and elu,ive qualificauon to find among candidate, for foreign a!>!,ignment!,. Mo,t of my New York c.:onta(;t, agreed that the bc,t of all world, woul<l be one in which applieanb "ould excel with re~pect to the qualification~ already di~cus cd and be fluent in the language of the p,Jrtit:ular country to \\ hich the} arc a,signcd. But th1 i~ nut like!) to happen. Since techmcal competence i, the controlling criterion. each opening abroad will require a particular type of ,pecialiM . The chance, arc :.light that the !,pcciali:-,t al o will he tluent m the language of 1he countr) involved . A recent ca~e point~ up th1~ dilemma . A large tclecmnmumcatHln~ company in the Unned State, had npencd a regional office in Taipei A mul11null1on <lnllar ontract upon which 1hc company wu~ btddmg required a top-notch C\(Xrt in management intormat1on ,yMcm, . The a,~ignment to Taiwan\\ 11uld be for at lcaM three year~. Se:.irchmg it~ human re,ource, in the heau office . lhe 1<leal candidate wa~ found- in term, of techn1(;al ab1l11y . He "a:. .il,l' proficient m a foreign language- in th1, ca~c. Spani~h• A perfect match between the expertise required anJ the appropriate language abilit} 1~ very h,1rd to find . Perhap~ the mo\! m1:,leading and overworked expre~:,1on in m1emational bu~me:.~ is ... Don't worry . .. they all :.peak Engh~h." II 1:. true that the language of mtcr-natinnal bu~me~, i~ Englb,h . But it i!t al~o 1rue that the \llleague, \I. 1th whom an expatriate mu~t \\-Ori,.. . 1fay 111 and day out. "ill not all be ahk or "illing to "work m Engli:.h . ·• Being confined 10 thme foreign execuuve~ who can h:rn<llc managerial Engli~h mcc1n, hcing limned 10 a ,mall. anJ uwall: at} pica I. group of al,~ociatel, . Only a handtul of mature manager~ in European or American cmnpanie~ an: proficient in Chine e. Japanese , or other A~1an language. The cour~e followed by mo~t international companie~. therefore, is to pick the bc~t pcrnm available for foreign al,~ignmenh- in term~ of technical ~kill~. cultural l,.nowledgc. and appropriate personality "mix··-ond then plunge that person mto an inten~c. total-immersion type of language program if time permit~. Futhermorc. mo~t com-panies now wisely demand that tht:: expatriate continue ·tu<ly of the foreign language throughout his foreign asltignment. A minimum time spent on ~uch Mudy 57 typically is one hour of classroom study before or after each work day . This is not an easy burden for already overworked manager~ to carry. but it will contribute immensely to their credibility. acceptance. and effectiveness on the job. There was a clear con ·en u among the human re,ourcelo expens interviewed that electing a "Man in Asia .. can not follo\\ the model for electing a per on for a domestic assignmem. Mi~take, are extremely costly, and ecuring replacement takes a great deal of time. The four categoric~ of qualifications they con~ider e sential for succe provide at least a rough guide to what is needed in the tough arena of international busines~. Metting the~e requirements can not guarantee that you will have a winner in that imponant position over.ea .. But profiting from the experience~ of thee ea oned international executive~ surely can cut down the failure rate. With these basic qualifications. both the expatriate and hts home office can feel comfortable knowing that a very special person has been ~elected "ho has a beuer-than-evcn chance to succeed in Korea . Japan. Tam an or an) other nation in the mo~t exciting and challenging pan of the shrinktng bu5ine~~ "orld. Reference, Harri . P.R. and Moran. R T. ,\Ianaging Cultural Difference Hou~ton : Gulf Publishing Company. 1987. Ouchi , W.G. Theor} Z. Reading. !\fa~~- = Addi~on-Wesley Pubfahing Company. 1981. Whitehill. A.M. and Takezawa. S. \\ork Wa~~= Japan and merita. Tokyo: The Japan Inst itute of Labour. 198 I. Whi1eh11l. A.M. The i e\\ merican faecuthe. Taipei : H:mard !\fanagement Sm·1ccs. Inc .. 1986. Zimmerman. 1\1 . Ho\\ To Do Bu ~in • \\ ith The Japane,e. Ne\\ York: Random Hou~e. 1985 . Arthur M. Wluteh11l i~ Prote ~or nf International Management at the Univcr~ity of Ha,, a1i . He i~ abo a member of the Affiliate Facul;) of th,;: Japan-America ln,titute of Manageml'nt Sdence in Honolulu 58 

How to Pick Your  Man in Asia

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How to Pick Your Man in Asia

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