Moving to a foreign country is not easy, no matter how many times you have done it or how receptive you are to new experiences. Successful global organisations can identify the best candidates for global assignments, and one of the ways they do this is through individual assessments prior to assigning people to global facilities. Form groups of 3 to 5 individuals. Your newly formed team, the Global Assignment Task Force, has been given the responsibility for developing a global aptitude assessment form for Zara, the successful European clothing retailer. The company is starting to become well known in North America and Zara’s managers have positioned the company for continued global success. That success is based on a simple principle- in fashion, nothing is as important as time to market. Zara store managers (more than 600 worldwide) offer suggestions every day on cuts, fabrics, and even new lines. After reviewing the ideas, a team at headquarters in A Coruna, Spain decides what to make. Designers draw up the ideas and send them over the company’s intranet to nearby factories. Within days, the cutting, dyeing, sewing, and assembling starts. In 3 weeks, the clothes will be in stores from Barcelona to Berlin to Bangkok. That is 12 times faster than its rivals. Zara has twice a week delivery schedule that restocks old styles and bring the new designs. Rivals tend to get new designs once or twice a season. Because Zara is expanding its global operations significantly, it wants to make sure that it is sending the best possible people to the various global locations your team’s assignment is to come up with a rough draft of a form to assess people's global aptitudes. Think about the characteristic skills attitudes. And so on that you think a successful global employee would need. Q1. What characteristics, skills, and attitudes do you think a successful global employee would have? Q2. What additional information might the firms need to know to assess potential global employees? What life experiences or activities might be good indicators of a suitable global employee? Explain why you think these indicators are important?
Moving to a foreign country is not easy, no matter how many times you have done it or how receptive you are to new experiences. Successful global organisations can identify the best candidates for global assignments, and one of the ways they do this is through individual assessments prior to assigning people to global facilities. Form groups of 3 to 5 individuals. Your newly formed team, the Global Assignment Task Force, has been given the responsibility for developing a global aptitude assessment form for Zara, the successful European clothing retailer. The company is starting to become well known in North America and Zara’s managers have positioned the company for continued global success. That success is based on a simple principle- in fashion, nothing is as important as time to market.
Zara store managers (more than 600 worldwide) offer suggestions every day on cuts, fabrics, and even new lines. After reviewing the ideas, a team at headquarters in A Coruna, Spain decides what to make. Designers draw up the ideas and send them over the company’s intranet to nearby factories. Within days, the cutting, dyeing, sewing, and assembling starts. In 3 weeks, the clothes will be in stores from Barcelona to Berlin to Bangkok. That is 12 times faster than its rivals. Zara has twice a week delivery schedule that restocks old styles and bring the new designs. Rivals tend to get new designs once or twice a season.
Because Zara is expanding its global operations significantly, it wants to make sure that it is sending the best possible people to the various global locations your team’s assignment is to come up with a rough draft of a form to assess people's global aptitudes. Think about the characteristic skills attitudes. And so on that you think a successful global employee would need.
Q1. What characteristics, skills, and attitudes do you think a successful global employee would have?
Q2. What additional information might the firms need to know to assess potential global employees? What life experiences or activities might be good indicators of a suitable global employee? Explain why you think these indicators are important?
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