PART TWO

Questions9– 14

Read the text taken from an article about the development of international managers

Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps .

For each gap 9– 14, mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet .

Do not use any letter more than once .

There is an example at the beginning .(0)

Search for the “ worldly –wise” company executives

The quest for international managers is underway in virtually every industrialized economy , the search has been made urgent by the globalization of world markets and the growth in crossborder mergers and acquisitions. (0) Many firms report being so stretched that they simply do not have enough of the high-quality people they require to lead their their global expansion.

Other companies are having difficulties releasing experienced people from existing operations in order to lead new international ventures. There are indications that a shorftage of internationally skilled people may be an important constraint on firms’ international ambitions. (9) However, identifying the need for international managers is easier than developing them.

So what makes an international manager? Paul Evans, a professor at INSEAD, the European business school, does not believe that any particular nationality produces a more international manager. Neither does he believe that it’s a matter of having the ability to cope with a lifestyle that involves working in Madrid one day, London the next and Berlin the day after. (10) Rather, he believes that the secret of being a good international manger is being comfortable with managing diversity.

Ford of Europe, which has encouraged the development of international managers for more than 20 years, says that its managers are globally-minded before they become global operators. (11) a car that you buy in the UK, for example, is going to be the same car that sells in Germany, Finland and Portugal, so the people who are involved in the car’s development have to be aware of the market requirements in all those different countries.

Generally, it seems that the only effective way to develop international skills and perspectives is through direct international experience. (12) Such experiences open people’s minds to the fact that things are done differently lese where and encourages them to think in a wilder context..

Formulating effective strategies for developing a company’s management resource is a demanding exercise, with conflicting issues to be solved (13) Another dilemma is whether to use local managers or expatriates.

The recruitment and development of effective international managers requires considerable financial resources and can be hard to justify at budget meetings. (14) however , without them, companies will continue to find their expansion plans frustrated by a lack of internationally effective managers.

A from the moment they join the company, employees are faced with having to think internationally

B This can be through involvement in international task forces or through living and working abroad.

C Should , for example, only an elite few receive international experience in preparation for top jobs or should it be offered to a wider group?

D these problems mean that developing managers who think and operate globally is absolutely vital for companies operating in foreign markets.

E Language training , overseas visits and in-house management courses are all expensive to implement.

F Jet-setting between international operations merely creates a business equivalent of the over-packaged tourist

G Companies are now emphasizing the human skills involved in managing other people

H These trends are pushing companies’ existing management resources to the limit

9-10 D F11-14 A B C E