William B. Werther

The paradox of international talent: alternative forms of international assignments

In the area of international human resource management, academic research has emphasized the need to focus on alternative types of international assignments outside expatriate assignments including short-term, frequent flyer, and commuter assignments (Collings, Scullion and Morley 2007, Mayrhofer, Hartmann, Michelitsch-Riedl and Kollinger 2004). This paper discusses international recruitment and selection practices, the role adjustments plays, and even gender and marital status, and illustrates how the dynamics have changed with the increasing prevalence of alternative international assignments. Although global talent management trends have evolved in practice, international human resource management theorizing has not kept pace (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley 2004). Given the need for research in the area of alternative assignments, we believe this paper will have important theoretical and practical implications for multinational enterprises.

Perspectives on mentoring

Explores perspectives on mentoring, including the mentor, the protege and the organization. Emphasizes key benefits to each of these parties. Addresses the question of why mentors engage in mentoring. Discusses the role of leadership in the development of leader‐supported mentoring processes.

Mentors at Work

Practitioners and researchers agree on the importance of mentors, even though the spontaneous creation of mentors and proteges is little understood. The mentor‐protege creation process is addressed, and the individual and organisational benefits, and the role of proteges in the relationship, are discussed. Also discussed is the need for mentoring and mentors, explaining how informal, even chance encounters, can grow into strong relationships that benefit both parties and their organisation. Special emphasis is given to the protege′s role and likely road‐blocks to the formation of these important relationships.

Personality Variables in Management Development Interventions

In designing consultant‐driven management development interventions, personality issues typically are viewed as moderating variables, if they are considered at all. Reports on two “action‐research” oriented, team‐building interventions, based on Jungian theory as operationalized by the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicators. Illustrates the often overlooked importance of personality issues as an important precondition to successful management development efforts.

Strengthening corporate governance through board‐level consultants

Corporate governance represents a primary leverage point for improving organizational performance. CEOs generally control the information received by the board of directors, and so the board′s functioning may suffer from an information deficit. Offers a potential solution to such dependency through the use of consultants who report directly to the board, thus serving as independent sources of guidance and information. Suggests outside consultants could help board members to meet their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders by improving corporate governance. They could also define the roles of board members; evaluate CEO performance and rewards; monitor the development of others in senior management; and objectively identify and evaluate key issues which call for a board response. Proposes that using consultants to span the boundaries between the board and the organization offers a key point of leverage in improving corporate performance.

Interim management of international strategic alliances

Leadership decisions are among the most vexing issues that face an alliance partnership. Permanent leaders imply expectations about their treatment as employees, even after they are no longer an ideal fit. Staffing from among the partners’ human resources assumes that talent is not in short supply and implies a potential favoritism in the operation of the alliance. Interim management offers a unique and superior, albeit not perfect, alternative. Interim leaders may be particularly effective at facilitating an alliance start‐up and when the alliance is to transition from one stage of the organization’s life cycle to the next.

Broad‐based consensus building

Discusses the purposes, structure, processes, and pitfalls associated with government‐business alliances built through very broad‐based strategic planning. The need for these aliances often arises from issues or threats that neither party can resolve by itself. Geovernment and business alliances exist in all societies, varying only in frequency of use and effectiveness. Very broad‐based strategic planning (VBBSP) efforts seek a broad consensus through an inclusionary approach that reaches out to embrace representatives of the relevant constituencies. Paralleling the examination of VBBSP skills and efforts, addresses the use of VBBSP approaches as a technique for developing an organizational vision among various constituents who make up an organization. Concludes not only that government‐business alliances are common and essential but also that VBBSP may be the most effective way to address the different processes and outcomes related to these alliances. VBBSP also offers considerable promise for building intra‐organizational consensus.

Violence at work: consultants and managers walking the line

Management consultants and the managers they advise face a growing dilemma: they have few skills and generally no training in identifying potentially violent employees, and yet, managers and their company are likely to be held liable for the violent acts of employees because when employees have been killed by co‐workers, victims’ survivors have filed ‐ and won ‐ premises‐liability lawsuits against employers. When concerned consultants or managers seek to understand the growing phenomenon of workplace violence, the academic‐ and practitioner‐oriented literature offers little more than news‐oriented accounts. In an attempt to provide insights into the area of workplace violence, provides two case histories that offer anecdotal‐based insights. The two cases describe the steps used at two different employers when confronted with a potential for employee violence in the workplace.

Leadership and developmental interventions for dysfunctional workers

Specific types of dysfunctional work behaviours form an identifiable pattern that can be uncovered through a needs analysis and addressed by a multi‐dimensional, five‐step developmental effort. Includes a framework for these behaviours, an outline development intervention, a case study and recommendations for further action.

A University/Corporate Solution to Closing the Executive Development Gap

Management development programmes often do not capture senior managers and executives as attendees, leading to a developmental gap among organizational leaders. Even when the need is obvious, training and development managers can seldom require executive attendance. Issues of status, time, perceived importance, and other barriers often leave top management outside the developmental loop. Addresses an ongoing, university/corporate partnership which provides targeted development opportunities for top management in a way which bypasses many typical barriers and partially closes the senior‐management development gap.