SPANNING THE GLOBE

By Allen D$.$ Engle, Sr$.$

Eric Ohristopher, Assockate Director for Global HR De velopment at Tex$-$Mark, was sitting in his car in an early$-$moming traffic am$.$ He had thought that by leaving his homeat $7,00am.$ he would have been ahead of the heavy commuter traffic into San Artonio's dity cen ter. The explanation for the long queue was announced by the radio traffic service. Alarge portable crane, used to set up conciete bariers around road works, had overturned, and inbound and oubound traffic would be at adead stop for at least an hour.

Eitc had ended up at Tex$-$Mark, a computer inputoutput manfecturer and supplier, trough an indirect carea route. Brought up in the Hill Country Vilage distict of San Antonio, Eric had graduated from Churchil High Scho ol and Baylor Uriversity in Waco, Texas with a major in History and a minor in Spansh. His maternal grandmother lved in Tennessee, but was bom and grew up in Edinburgh, Scotand and Eric had spent severa surmers while in high school and at university backpacking around Europe.

His faclity for languages was impressive and he had an excalent working use of Spankh, French, Itaian and Gieman. He could converse in Cantonese, as the resut of working in a noodle restaurart during university and had started a tutorial course in Mandarin last tal.

Upon graduation, Eric backpacked around Europe and South America unti his money ran out. Retuming to Dalas he took a tcketing jo with SouthWest Airines and was quickly moved to the training unt. After four sucoessful years at SouthWest, he was contacted by a heachunter about a position as Clobal Development Assistant with Tex$-$Mark. The promised comblnation of global travel, more money and a return to Sen Antonio proved imesistble, and Eich had been with Tex$-$Mak for five years now. Hs caleer progress to date was outstanding, despite the extra workdad setimposed by undertaking MBA studies at UT$,$ San Antonio as a pat$-$time student.

Tex$-$Mark had started out as a 'spin off' frm from IME Computers in the late $1970$ s$.$ Patents combined

with an excelence in engineering, an outstanding institutonal sales staff, cost$-$sensitive producton and pricing, al combined to make Tex$-$Mark a major force in the printer and optical scanner industry. Tex$-$Mark: inherited a production tacily in San Artorio from IME, but the company also had irtemational producton faclites operating in three courtries: Monterrey, Mexico, Leith, Scotand, and more iecently in Japur, India A major new tadity going was planed to start production in Wuhu, China late next year.

Research and new product development activites were split between the home offces in San Antorio, a printer certer in Durtam, North Carolina and an optca: research 'center of excellence' in Edinburgh, Scotiand. Major sales, distibution and qustomer sevice centers had recenty expanded into Asia and are now located in Pheims in France; in Memphis, Tennessee; in Sydney, Australa; in Plo de lanaro, Brazl; in Hong Kong and in Tel ANA, larael.

Faced with the long delay. Eich turned the radio volume down, turned up the ar conditoning, and telephoned his office on his hands$-$free car phone to ackise them of his stuation. Fortunately, his persona assistant was aready at work so Eric was able to rearrange his schedule. He asked that the $10$:$30$ meeting with Fred Banks, a Plant Engineer recertly repatriated from Jaipur, be pushed back an hour. Hs major concem was a teleconference meeting at $2$:$00$ with his Drector who was carrently visting the sales center in Memphis, and the other four members of executive carea developmert team in San Antonio. The general topic was a review and evaluation of traing and developmert strategles for expatriate professionals and maragers resuting from TexMak's growth and the new production shitt to Asia Eric had indirectly heard that Juanita Roberto, the Yoe President for HR wanted costs cut and her delegates on the team would be pushing for streamined $($Eric had mentaly translated that as cheaper$)$ training programs, shorter expatriate ssignments and a faster appointmert of $HCNs$ whenever possible.