What Is Global Manager

What Is a
Global Manager?
by Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal
It is hard today to use the word "globalization" without a certain
sense of irony, rueful or otherwise. Riven byIdeology, religion, and
mistrust, the world seems more fragmented, more at odds, than at
anytimesince, arguably. World War II. But however deep the political divisions, business operations continue to spanthe globe, and
executives still have to figure out how to run them efficiently and
well. The question that Christopher Bartiett and Sumantra Choshal
pose-"What is a global manager?"-seems thereforeeven more
pressing than itdid when their article originally appeared in these
pages n years ago. Their answer, too, feels particularly timely. "There is
no such thing,"they write,"as a universalglobal manager." Multinational
companies instead require three kinds of specialists-business managers,
country managers, and functional managers-and a set of senior executives
to nurture thespecialists and coordinate their efforts. Bartlett and Ghoshal
provide comprehensively researched examples of all four types of managers,
exploring the different skills and perspectives they require tosucceed. Their
article lays out a model for a management structure that balances the local,
regional, and global demands placed on companies operating across the
world's many borders.
If youroperations span the
globe, you need to develop
three very different kinds
of managers and then unite
them in a common purpose.
IN THE EARLY STAGES of its drjve oveiseas. Coming Glass hired an Americanex-ambassador to head up its international division. He had excellent contacts in the governments of many nations and could converse in several
languages, but he was less familiar with
Coming andits businesses. In contrast,
ITT decided to set up a massive educational program to "globalize" all managers responsible for its worldwide
telecom business - in essence, to replace
the company's...