Management Beyond BRIC

For many multinational companies, the transfer of management practices and business expertise can be most challenging in those emerging markets beyond Brazil, Russia, India and China. Yet, the reward for doing it right is not only a transfer of expertise from developed to emerging, but a transfer of the growth culture from emerging back to developed.

Forbes today posted an interview with David Ulrich, one of the world’s most recognized HR professions, making the case for why HR should be at the executive table – and highlighting an example of hot business issue where HR was most needed today: how do we use talent to compete in emerging markets?

Ulrich makes the point that the focus for many companies is not limited to staffing issues in BRIC, but that the complexities of finding strong talent for the “next 11″ are most challenging.

Two in a Box = A Two Way Transfer
One concept is to experiment with a “two in a box” approach, whereby a western leader with developed market expertise is paired with a high-potential local leader to help facilitate a knowledge transfer to the local team. The added benefit of this approach, Ulrich explains, is that it helps transfer the cultural values, energy and creative ways of working from the emerging market back to the developed.

Deloitte: Emerging Markets are Both Product & Talent Markets
A report released today, by Deloitte, highlights the findings of a Dec 2010 study on the top talent concern for organizations: “competing for talent globally and in emerging markets.” The report reiterates the need for HR to work with business leaders to support and accelerate the growth of emerging markets, viewing those markets as both product and talent markets.

Beyond the growth culture and energy often found in markets, as Ulrich explained above, these markets often have specialized operational talent as they are rapidly being tasked with the challenges of working in hyper-growth situations.

Help is Welcome
Given the challenges associated with this rapid growth, HR teams in emerging markets are often those most welcome to support from headquarters and foreign experts, as most staffing, talent management and development programs are often in their early years in many emerging markets. This environment also makes it an ideal field laboratory for HR experts to experiment with their latest transformation programs and processes.

Forbes Blog: Dave Ulrich on Why HR Should Be at The C-Suite Table
Deloitte: Human Capital Trends 2011
Image: Deloitte Report Cover

This entry was posted on Monday, May 30th, 2011 at 8:54 pm. It is filed under Management, Multinationals and tagged with David Ulrich, Deloitte, Emerging Market Talent, Forbes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.