Reference no: EM132747154

Question 1. What should be included in programs designed to prepare employees for global assignments?

Question 2. Would this preparation differ for business leaders? Explain.

Question 3. Why is it important for employees' families to receive training, too?

COMPETING THROUGH GLOBALIZATION - Effectiveness in Global Business Requires More Than Just a First-Class Ticket

• For companies that conduct business around the world, employees need to go beyond just understanding cultural differences. Employees have to adapt and adjust their behavior to effectively work and live in the host culture. This means that employees and their families need to be prepared for international assignments. Iberdrola USA, a global company with 5,000 U.S. employees, is in the electricity transmission and generation business. Iberdrola sends U.S. employees to work at its locations in Mexico, Scotland, Brazil, and Britain and other European Union countries. Also, it brings employees to the United States to work for two to three years.
• To prepare employees for international assignments, Iberdrola pays training consultants $1,500 to $3,000 per day to teach employees language and cultural basics, such as understanding preferences for personal space. The company also has an exchange program in which children of U.S. employees temporarily stay with host families overseas and vice versa.
• At Boeing, the aerospace company with employees in 28 countries, employees and their families going on an international assignment are provided with one-on-one cultural sensitivity training and orientation. Boeing also provides "lunch and learn" cultural talks and rotation programs that allow overseas staff to work up to nine months in the United States.
• For companies with a global presence, developing global leaders who can be effective with employees from different cultures and countries is essential to their success. Qualcomm, the semiconductor and telecommunications company, helps leaders prepare for global assignment by matching them with a mentor who has expertise about the country where the job is located. L'Oreal, known for its cosmetics, asks its leaders to complete a cultural assessment that gives them information about how their leadership style would be seen in different countries. L'Oreal uses this assessment to provide experiential-based learning, such as overseas assignments and serving on a project team including members from around the world.