Fortalecer la Gestión Institucional Fortalezas

107| P a g e control. When asked about how AE managers helped to achieve control within EngCo, interviewees stated they were expected to consolidate and integrate duplicated functions, and spread the values of the firm (described here as socialisation) within the local environment. Of these objectives, the chief control function mentioned by interviewees within ManCo was the consolidation and standardisation of duplicated systems and processes within EngCo. More about these obectives and how they were fulfilled will now be discussed further.

4.5.3.1. Consolidation and Standardisation of Local Processes

Three of the seven AE managers interviewed stated that their assignments were also for control purposes. These managers included the finance comptroller (R3), the IT manager (R6), and the general manager (R7). These managers indicated that they were assigned to ensure that the processes and systems utilised within EngCo were in keeping with those stipulated by ManCo’s US headquarters. For example, R3, the financial comptroller, stated that he was primarily sent to ensure that the activities and practices within EngCo’s financial department were in keeping with not only the local and organisation’s financial regulations, but also with ManCo’s home country regulations and overall company values. He stated:

“The first is really around making sure that integrity and quality of the numbers and the financial results that we report are robust and strong. So when we say we make X number of machines and we generate this amount of revenue, and we generate this much of profit, we need to make sure that we…that what we say and what we produce is reflective of the results that we have. We’ve also got requirements to maintain a very strong internal control environment for financial requirement in the US.”

- R3, Finance (EngCo)

The need to ensure alignment with US financial regulations helped to justify why it was necessary that an expatriate filled this role. Not only were AE managers expected to transfer their expertise from headquarters, but they were also expected to ensure that employees adhered to these processes and implement them in the way that they were meant to be implemented. AE managers who were sent for such purposes typically operated at a very senior level and reported directly to ManCo’s headquarters in the US. Within EngCo, R3 was a manager of managers, who had three

108| P a g e direct reports. He explained that the key way of delivering on this expatriate objective was through helping to set objectives at a local level, and advising and ensuring that his direct reports delivered on these goals. He provided further explanation with regards to how such control and adherence was ensured within his role on a daily basis:

“I am providing more leadership, coaching, mentoring, setting strategy, setting visions, making sure that we execute to that strategy and vision, and then interacting with my peer group, or other manager of managers, to make sure that they also deliver on the strategy and vision as well. So it’s probably allot of softer skills that are required than just being, just pushing numbers around on a spreadsheet”

-R3, Finance (EngCo)

R3 also explained that being based within EngCo allowed him to directly oversee key investments being made at a local level and consult on these business deals. This often involved investment in new organisational facilities and products. In such situations, R3 would assess the contribution of the particular investment and the extent to which it was deemed to be financially viable or otherwise. If it was determined that it was, then particular ManCo headquarter procedures would be put in place to monitor its contribution and repayment. Other AE managers agreed that they were providing similar leadership within EngCo on a daily basis. The general manager, R7, explained that ManCo had specific control systems which it utilised globally to monitor the performance of each unit, and that AE managers helped to ensure that these were delivered upon in the way that would meet headquarter expectations. He stated that each factory was run along the same standards and using the same metrics as other ManCo factories around the globe. Given the number of different businesses abroad, the duplication of organisational practices tended to occur, and resulted in additional expense for the organisation. Using these metrics and similar organisational control systems, AE managers would be sent to identify this duplication and streamline processes to avoid such inefficiencies. R6, the IT manager who was also assigned for this reason, stated that this was particularly important within his division. He provided an example of how he aimed to consolidate processes within EngCo’s IT department:

“Historically, this group would use product A and this group would use product B so ManCo would buy different IT solutions for the same process if you will, just because this

109| P a g e group wasn’t talking to this group…So within IT we’re trying to say, okay we’re buying one tool and not thirty tools or we’re buying two or three tools because engine facilities may need different from tractor facilities. We try and utilise the same common tools and common processes to reduce ManCo’s overall operating costs.”

- R6, IT (EngCo)

In this assignee’s local team, individual groups were responsible for a separate IT system, for software for production scheduling or managing customer accounts, which was necessary for the smooth running of the factory. With regard to what mechanisms were used to help ensure control and efficient management within the local environment, R6 provided some examples of some of the more tangible assets that assisted with the management of local teams:

“In a lot of places it’s trying to manage by visual management, of having metrics and targets, there’s a corporate PM system that says you do an annual goal setting and annual reviews. That is still the same regardless of where you are so that makes kinda the most critical thing a manager does easier. You are managing by metrics, managing your people” - R6, IT (EngCo)

Such metrics were owned by the assigned manager and then cascaded down to the leaders of the different groups being managed, and from there were circulated to other group members. R6 also went on to explain that the reduction of organisational duplication was among the main reasons that he had been sent to roll out the new global IT system previously mentioned.

4.5.3.2. Socialisation of Local Managers/Employees

In addition to consolidating organisational processes, AE managers were also engaged in the socialisation of local employees. Within ManCo, it was primarily the senior-level AE managers that were involved in this particular role. This was largely because these individuals had built up a significant amount of organisational expertise and trust over the years. All three of these managers stated that because of this, they were expected to transfer key organisational ideals and values to the UK-based EngCo. When asked what the key ManCo values were that they sought to embed at a local level, these were identified as Integrity, Commitment, and Teamwork (ICT). The main way that employees helped to embed ManCo values at a local level was to ensure that they

110| P a g e displayed such values as they went about fulfilling their organisational roles. All senior managers stressed that ingraining values at a local level begun with their leadership within the local facility, where they became an ambassador for what ManCo stood for as an organisation. About this role, R3 declared:

“We are in a way the embodiment of ManCo values for your team people that report to you so you gotta be ever vigilante on making sure that you're demonstrating or setting a culture that are in line with the ManCo values… typically these things tend to come up when we have a difficult conversation around certain topics and when we go through it and I always bring up the fact that well we're a values-based company so you know we're gonna do the right thing here and the right thing is this and that aligns with our value of this”

– R3, Finance (EngCo)

Other managers agreed that a key part of this process was ensuring that employees understood how their actions tied back into the company values and was reflected in their daily actions. R3 also provided an example of how he demonstrated this recently at a local level. He elaborated:

“I was having a conversation with somebody in India about some taxes that we were gonna have to pay on machines that we build and the question was raised by one of our external consultants that hey if you shift some costs from one product to another product you might not have to pay these taxes and the senior manager that I was talking to, we both agreed that we understand what they're asking us to do but we're a values-based company and that wouldn't be in line with our integrity and it would make a lot of sense to us to do that so we've got rather than potentially avoiding tax that in the long run that is not gonna be the

right thing to do”

-R3, Finance (EngCo)

It was instances such as these where managers were presented with the opportunity to display overtly what the ICT values stood for, and what was expected from local employees. At the same time, while ManCo was very keen to transfer ManCo values to the specific location, AE managers also stressed that they were not dismissive of local practices. While ‘virtualising’ the company culture, AE managers were also keen on maintaining good relationships with local employees and

111| P a g e identifying best practices within the local setting. R3 explained:

“I think that ManCo does a very good job of respecting local cultures. So although we are an American company, I think there’s a lot of emphasis placed on making sure that we think globally but we act locally and regionally, and we respect and spend a lot of time thinking about what culturally is the right thing to do…So, you’ve got one foot kind of in both realms; you want to make sure that you’re following the corporate ethos and corporate cultural values, but then you’ve also got to be mindful of local intricacies and local differences.”

- R3, Finance (EngCo)

Indeed, the willingness of local employees to comply with or accept headquarter values was highly dependent on the relationship created by AE managers. Regarding the embedding of ManCo’s work ethos, R4, the middle-level marketing manager, though not transferred specifically for this purpose, spoke of the need to change certain organisational practices in EngCo. He stated that while in his home office employees engaged in cross-departmental working, EngCo employees were often not willing to share information or seek assistance with problems from across departments. This practice was put down to a legacy driven by procedures set up by past managers. It was explained that local employees were concerned about “airing dirty laundry to people”, and as a result kept issues in-house. While this did not hinder current organisational projects, R4 believed that much more could be accomplished if more cross-departmental links were established. When asked what measures were being taken to bring about a change in attitude, he explained:

“I volunteer my time and resources a lot to other people just to say it’s available, and try to invite them into my organisation as well. When we host meetings we try to invite more people than probably necessary just so they can see what we’re doing, and can be part of that process as well.”

- R4, Marketing (EngCo)

This manager continued to explain that ManCo had a very ‘open door’ policy both within the organisation and externally, hence it was important that barriers were not created between local departments. Other managers also agreed that where challenges or differences were met at a local

112| P a g e level, they tried to overcome these by holding meetings to explain reasons behind particular ManCo procedures and actions. What was particularly important in these meetings was the ability of managers to translate key organisational values in a way that employees understood where these fit into local objectives and daily practices. In many cases, one-to-one meetings were required with those employees who were unclear about how headquarter processes may fit with local mandates. In the rare instance where resistance was met consistently, or threatened to negatively impact productivity or other employees, interviewees explained that they would call on the assistance of the local HR function to intervene or initiate disciplinary action. About this R6, the IT manager stated:

“If it continues and gets to the point where it's negatively impacting our teams productivity, and other people around them, and impacting our business then we'll work with HR to start a disciplinary process and make sure that that person understands what's needed and what we need from them and what we need from them to improve and that we want them to improve and to be successful but in some cases that doesn't always work out and in most cases we have to work with HR to follow the disciplinary process”

- R6, IT (EngCo)

While meetings with employees, displaying actions, and gaining HR support were ways of facilitating the socialising process, one managers acknowledged that resistance to policies and procedures was not a regular occurrence within EngCo. Some managers believed that this was because of the value placed on following procedures and articulating rationale for organisational actions. They explained that it was important to ensure that global policies and strategies were articulated in a way that were useful and relevant to the local subsidiary context. This went far in ensuring that global procedures were being implemented and acted upon as intended by ManCo. It was also stated that this action was more commonly done in subsidiaries based in emerging economies such as China or India where a similar past is not shared. In addition to disciplinary procedures, however, local employees understood that senior AE managers were often the holders of key organisational resources, and this fact was believed to act as a deterrent unnecessary conflict or upheaval. R3 explained:

113| P a g e are...love to follow policies and procedures so it's pretty simple. Also as I am the holder of the cheque-book it makes it a lot easier to transfer those policies and procedures to others as well. I think the culture here is one where you don't typically have allot of resistance to doing the right thing and as long as you articulate the reason why in a positive way and supervise with the individuals with whom we are making the change and then reminding them this is the reason why we're doing this”

-R3, Finance (EngCo)

Indeed, other managers agreed that, in the words of one interviewee, that it was “their job to ensure there was enough culture” (R7, GM). In addition to this, another part of ensuring coordination and control at a local level was through the development of contacts within the local environment. While the ManCo brand was well known internationally, managers in the market claimed the UK market was proving challenging when seeking to market specific product lines, for which there were local and better known alternative brands. As a result, AE managers often sought to further establish the brand by organising corporate events and establishing sponsorship deals in order to build ManCo’s public identity. It was typically the senior-level AE managers that were engaged in such activities as they were better able to act as ambassadors for ManCo, as a result of their years of accumulated expertise and company knowledge. R3 provided another example of this:

“I went to an event on Monday night, I was invited by a law firm to go to listen to an academic from Cambridge speak at a private dinner about how organisations change the future. So it was good, I got to sit next to the professor, we got to talk, we exchanged business cards and he explained how organisations change and what that means for the current or corporate structure.

-R3, Finance (EngCo)

In addition to representing ManCo at a local level, such events provided AE managers with an opportunity to engage with people that they would not interact with in the UK-based facility, as well as allot of people outside ManCo who would go on to become career-long colleagues or potential local information sources. R3 stressed that attending these events was an investment for long-term payback.

114| P a g e subsidiary, EngCo. In addition to this, the objectives of these functions were highlighted, and the various activities and processes involved in the achievement of these were outlined. To further inform an examination of where assignees’ roles fit and how these roles were monitored, the following section will draw attention to assignee’s reporting structure, as well as the observed and intended outcomes of their expatriate roles.