James had always been intrigued by the idea of securing an international assignment. His interest heightened on the day that Controls Inc. announced its intentions to expand the business through establishing a more international presence worldwide. By age 51, James had worked in managerial positions in Engineering, Quality, Customer Support, and Program Management for the last 15 of his 23 years with the company, but always in positions geographically based in Pauley, Illinois. He frequently mentioned the idea of working on an international assignment to his superiors during performance reviews and in a variety of other settings. He did not mentally target any specific country, but preferred an assignment in the Pacific Rim, due to his life-long desire to gain an even deeper understanding of his wife's cultural heritage.
Finally, two years ago, he was able to discuss his interests with the corporation's International Human Resources Manager. During this interview, he was told of the hardships of functioning as an expatriate. There could be a language problem as well as difficulties caused by the remoteness from home office. He remained interested.
A year later, James was first considered for a position that required venture development in Tokyo. At one point he was even told he had been chosen for that position. With little explanation, the company instead announced the selection of a younger, more “politically” connected “fast tracker.”
When, a few months later, a discussion about the position in China was first broached by personnel, it was almost in the context of it being a consolation prize. The position, however, appeared to be one for which James was even better suited and one that would be challenging enough to “test the mettle” Of any manager in the company The assignment was to “manage a joint venture manufacturing facility” located on Chongming Dao Island, about 25 miles north of Shanghai. The strategic objective of the TV was market entry into China.
Soon thereafter, in mid August of 1992, James was asked to go immediately to Lakeland to meet one on one with Joe Whistler, the Director of the Freezer and Cooler Controls Business Unit, to discuss the TV.
The negotiating team was still in China in the process of “finalizing” the JV agreement with the Chongming Electro-Assembly Company, a state-owned electronic device assembly operation. The corporation felt that there was a dire need to put someone on site. Joe asked if he could leave next week! James indicated that he was interested in accepting the position and that he was willing to do whatever the corporation required of him to make it happen as soon as possible It was understood that a formal offer for the position would be processed through Personnel and communicated through James's management. When this trip didn't materialize, James wondered if this was going to be a repeat of the Tokyo assignment. Finally, in late September, James's supervisor approached him and said “If you still want it, you've got the prize.”
HOW IT ALL BEGAN : A First Time Expatriate is Experience in a Joint article from Business Technical Catagory HOW IT ALL BEGAN
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