MIT Sloan Management Review

Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, International Business

 

Developing Leaders for the Global Frontier

By Hal B. Gregersen, Allen J. Morrison and J. Stewart Black

October 15, 1998

Just as Old World explorers navigated uncharted waters, today’s executives have the challenge of leading organizations into new, unmapped outposts of the global marketplace.

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Imagine the experiences of explorers such as Magellan or Cook as they scanned the horizon of the great Pacific Ocean for days; they had no reliable charts, an unfamiliar hemisphere of stars, shark-infested waters, a crew losing confidence with each passing day, storm clouds gathering in the distance, waves crashing over the ship’s bow, and wind howling. In many ways, the new business world is just as dangerous, filled with brutal storms of competitors, endless seas of change, seemingly strange cultures, confusing marketing channels, and unknown frontiers of technology.

The great difference, however, is that only a few great and courageous explorers were needed in the days of Magellan. Once the seas and their islands were charted, the coordinates didn’t change. In contrast, the islands, mountains, rivers, and valleys of today’s global business world are not static; they change. Markets, suppliers, competitors, technology, and customers are constantly shifting.Consequently, global business now requires all leaders to be explorers, guided by only the faintest glimmer of unfamiliar stars and excited by the opportunity and uncertainty of untapped markets.

At current growth rates, trade between nations will exceed total commerce with- in nations by 2015.1 In industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, commercial aircraft, telecommunications, computers, and consumer electronics, it is impossible to survive and not scan the world... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.

 
 

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