European Management journal Volume 5 No 2

0 European Management Journal 1987

ISSN 0263-2373 $3.00

Managing High Potentials in Europe”:

Some Cross-Cultural Findings

C. BrookIyn Derr

lnstitute for Human Resource Management, University of Utah

*The research on which this paper is based was supported by the Raoul de Vitry d’Avancourt
Chair in International Human Resource Management at the European Institute of Business
Administration (INSEAD) from January to August 1985.

How do European firms define high-potential em- firm must identify what qualities it values, what
ployees, how do they identify and select them, how norms and standards it wishes to maintain, what
do they develop them, what problems arise in characteristics its future leaders should possess, and
managing them, and are there differences in diflerent where on the scale of conformity/diversity valued
European countries? employees should be. Any organization will logically
select for its next generation of leaders those who
In 1985, the author put these five questions to 60 reflect its objectives and values. A firm’s high
companies in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and potentials are examples for the rest of the employees
Switzerland, and in this article he reports on the of the qualities the company rewards and wishes to
methods of assessment and evaluation, training and maintain.
development practices on and off the job, and offers
some insights into the corporate skulduggery employed Three human resource issues make the management
by supervisors trying to retain high performing of high potentials an important topic.
subordinates, or create the impression that non-high
performers should be promoted as if they were high 1. Top-level executives must assure the future pros-
performers! perity of the firm. In fact, according to Dalton and
Thompson (1) establishing future leaders is one of
If managing high performers is not without problems, four important leadership functions which cor-
these do va y from one country to another in relation porate statesmen must accomplish. (The other
to cultural factors. These aspects are analysed in three are providing vision or a sense of direction
detail, with the conclusion that they are the for the firm, exercising power responsibly on
dominant influence on difierences in practice in behalf of the enterprise, and representing the
managing high performance. organization both externally and internally.) As
one senior vice president in a financial institution
put it during an interview, “I’ve invested a lot of
The Issues in High-Potential Management my life in this company. The most important
thing I can do before I retire is assure myself that
Assessing, selecting, and developing high potentials the next few generations of leaders are in
(HIPOs) or possible future leaders of the firm is an place - the kinds of leaders who will make the
important process for any company. Every successful company better in the future.”
 MANAGING HIGH POTENTIALS IN EUROPE 73

2. Managing high potentials is a strategic planping development and management; problems and issues
issue. A high-level executive in a multinational oil in the management of high-potential employees.
company told me, “We’ve got the technology and
the capital but we don’t have the right people to The interviews were conducted either in person or
make the move.” Ensuring that the right people by telephone. The respondents were all knowledge-
will be in place to manoeuver the company able about the career and high-potential management
flexibly within today’s changing international practices of their companies. Where necessary,
business environment is an important part of research assistants who were fluent native speakers
successful business planning. conducted the interview. Although many of the
3. Effective human resource management depends companies did employ female managers, the mascu-
on understanding how to reward and motivate line pronoun is used throughout for convenience.
the most valued employees (not just general
managers but also individuals with good ideas, This article reports the findings of the study which
essential specialists and individuals loyal to the asked five major questions:
company) by offering them long-term career
opportunities which correspond to the company’s 1. How do European firms define a high-potential
needs and values. Recent best-selling books such employee?
as In Search of Excellence (2) and Theory Z (3) state 2. How do European firms identify and select
the extent to which managing valuable human HIPOs?
resources has become a priority for all managers, 3. How do European firms develop their HIPOs?
not just for human resource specialists. Effective 4. What are the major problems companies experi-
HIP0 management involves deciding on future ence in HIP0 management?
organizational needs, discovering what mix of 5. What impact does national culture have on high-
people is needed for success, knowing how to potential management practices?
select candidates, and knowing what to offer
them to ensure and motivate service to the
Defining High Potentials
company throughout their career.
A high-potential is someone singled out - often
This paper investigates HIP0 selection and develop-
literally - on a select, secret, and exclusive list. A
ment in European firms. The pattern in Europe
HIP0 is considered a possible future leader of the
shows that there are national cultural influences at
firm, who will receive special scrutiny and get
work, and not just random borrowing from the
special opportunities to develop. If he is successful,
American way of doing things.
he will be given a top level post.
Between March and June 1985, I contacted human
Most organizations evaluate a HIP0 candidate on
resource managers in about 70 European companies
ability and achievement: most often he is a general
and, in the course of many interviews, they gave me
manager who has the possibility of moving up two
access to information about how they developed
or three levels on the management hierarchy by a
future leaders. The sample includes major companies
certain time. Many companies are quite specific
in Germany, Switzerland, France, Great Britain and
about which positions a HIP0 must be ready to
Sweden. The organizations ranged in size from 2,000
fulfill at three- or four-year intervals. Most agree that
to 350,000 employees, with an average of around
a HIP0 must eventually be able to head a division or
40,000 employees. In each country, at least one
major function by the age of forty.
representative of the following industries was inter-
viewed: airlines, cars, banking, chemicals and phar-
During one interview, for example, an executive in a
maceuticals, computers, consumer products, high
department-store chain said, “The high potentials
technology (but not computers), manufacturing, and
are the ones on a short list in the chief executive’s
retailing. The various organizations were chosen
vault”. In another case, an executive in a large car
because of their reputation for being progressive in
company said, “HIPOs are those scheduled to fill
human resource practices, their willingness to co-
certain important positions over the next five years -
operate with researchers, and their importance in
all general manager posts”. Only in the instance of a
each industrial group. The sample does not neces-
national airline was a significant distinction made
sarily include all or even the best organizations in
between performance and potential. As an airline
terms of career development practices. It is, however,
executive stated in an interview, “We are not so
representative.
much interested in past history as we are in future
potential. How to assess the future without examin-
The interviews involved questions about: how the
ing the past is another problem”.
company viewed high-potentials; HIP0 selection,
74 C. BROOKLYN DERR

order to identify potential. Some firms even employ

Zdentifying High-Potentials industrial psychologists to screen potential recruits.

Several generalisations can be made about identifi- The early-career period is also a time for the
cation and selection of HIPOs in Europe. First, many company to evaluate a new recruit’s performance.
U.S. companies use assessment centres and other Executives confirmed that they looked for exceptional
systematic programmes for appraising performance competence, the ability to learn quickly, sensitivity
to help identify HIPOs, including taking an inventory to and harmony with the company, hard work,
of future human-resources (Management Rmiezu, loyalty, and the skillful advancement of company
1984). In contrast, only three European firms I interests - in short, “paying dues“. The most
studied (four per cent) reported using assessment common and most important method of evaluating a
centres, either their own or those run by external recruit’s success in meeting these criteria is his
consultants, to identify HIPOs. boss’s informal recommendation.

A more popular European system - used by about A notable exception to early performance evaluation
50 per cent of the companies I interviewed - is a is the “fast track” option of some companies, usually
nomination process. Managers, or regional managers, those experiencing rapid growth. They need new
proposed potential HIPOs to top managers who managers and future leaders quickly. Some label the
formed a corporation-wide Management Review employee as a HIP0 early on, even at entry. He
Committee (MRC). The MRC, made up of a few then moves much more rapidly than his colleagues
human resource specialists and top-level line up the management hierarchy. His HIP0 status is
managers, made the final selection based on sub- “assumed” and must be continually confirmed
jective judgment and personal acquaintanceships. rather than earned from the beginning. Some of the
companies interviewed had established “fast-lane”
Some of the companies who use this nomination options within the last ten years but expressed some
system have pre-selected sets of formal criteria. For doubts. Human resource specialists and managers
example, one French company favoured candidates wondered if these HIPOs were staying in positions
who had graduated from a certain grand kale, long enough to acquire skills and be properly evalu-
although good performance and results were also ated. The natural resentment of other employees
important. In one bank, it was an advantage to have gave further cause for doubt.
come from a commercial or lending background,
while in another it was an advantage to have been in
Developing HZPOs
marketing. In many cases international experience
was considered important. More and more top managers in Europe view inter-
national expertise as essential for a high-potential
The complexities of corporate politics also play a candidate. About 50 per cent of the companies
part. Even where a well-defined system for apprais- interviewed (and 75 per cent of the large multi-
ing performance exists, top management nearly national firms) specified this criterion.
always controls the final selection. These managers
are often defending and enlarging their own spheres Most of the companies interviewed which had
of influence and at the same time selecting their own specific HIPO-management programmes also sent
successors. About half of the executives interviewed their HIPOs to executive development programmes
described the process as “horse trading” among (such as those at the European Institute of Business
high-level influentials. Administration, INSEAD, at the IMEDE Management
Development Institute, at the International Manage-
A majority of the seventy-three firms in the study ment Institute (IMI), or at the London Business
evaluated candidates on recruitment and provided School) appropriate to their level of responsibility
early-career training as part of the process of and range of experience. Others held in-house
identifying and selecting HIPOs. Many also took seminars, sometimes lasting as much as a week,
into consideration their recruits’ future potential. where a combination of outside experts and senior
The most common practice is to recruit from specific executives would provide the formal training. This
universities (usually elite institutions) which produce in-house option, they observed, has three advantages:
graduates with the talents and values the firm is It gives HIPOs the chance to meet their peers and
looking for. Another common practice is to “steal” senior executives; it trains them; and it focuses on
experienced managers from other companies which the specific needs and requirements of their own
have already successfully recruited and trained the organization. Sending HIPOs away to be trained has
HIPOs. A third strategy is to give extensive psycho- the advantage of broadening their view and
logical tests and attitude tests before recruiting, in encouraging cross-fertilisation.
 MANAGING HIGH POTENTIALS IN EUROPE 75

Some companies systematically assigned their HpOs tour the branches, and meet the HIPOs (thus,
to work with certain key people - either excellent forming their own opinions), peers, and supervisors
mentors who could provide good training or influen- to discuss the HIPO’s performance and potential.
tial executives with whom it was essential to be They then made separate evaluations and recom-
acquainted. However, few of the European firms mendations to the Management Review Committee.
investigated reported using systematic and formal
“assigned mentor” programmes. Some of the executives interviewed complained that
their HIPOs were reluctant to be geographically
The most common and, according to most, the best mobile. Scandinavian employees had strong geo-
development option for HIPOs is to rotate them graphical attachments. Many of them had spouses
through a number of important job assignments (job with established careers, children and family commit-
rotation) and provide them with the background and ments which they did not want to disrupt. In
on-the-job experience needed to assume future France, many high potentials would not leave the
leadership positions. Most companies had informal country after their children reached a certain age
job rotation programmes, which included working because the rigid French educational system makes
in key functions and key areas, with key people, and it difficult for children to reenter France and gain
on important problems. Some corporations had very access to a grand Pcole, on which future success
systematic career planning programmes which sent depends.
their HIPOs through a carefully designed portfolio
of prescribed assignments on the way to the top. As A third problem was how to deal with faltering
in a tournament (where winning allows the candidate senior executives so that the positions would be
to remain in the game and losing eliminates the open for up-and-coming high potentials. Many of
candidate forever or puts him into a less prestigious them, quite predictably, are very influential and
game), this portfolio process of elimination theoreti- therefore difficult to remove. Organizations must
cally identifies “the best of the best”. Executives in adopt more creative ways of removing faltering
these companies conceded, however, that winning senior executives by, for example offering them
is often an issue of endurance, mobility, willingness consultancy positions, part-time work, special project
to subordinate one’s private life to the job, and assignments, and even lateral or downward moves
political skill, as much as outstanding performance or in order to make room for the next generation of
inherent ability. leaders.

This option might help solve a related problem: how to

Problems in HIP0 Management manage temporary “burn outs” of the high potentials
themselves. The high-potential tournament is so
Twenty-three firms (32 per cent) reported that ident- emotionally and psychologically demanding that up-
ifying and selecting high potentials is often sabotaged and-coming HIPOs often pay a great price in their
by “boss deception“. Many supervisors “hide” their private lives. Family problems are common, as are
best people in order to retain the services of highly fatigue, ill-health and over-absorption in work. One
productive people who will continue to make them Swedish HIP0 working in France confessed that if
look good by producing high-quality results. Some his company’s expectations did not level off to give
managers also try to advance their less able subordi- him more time for himself, he might voluntarily
nates to HIP0 status in order to move them out. To plateau for two or three years just to get his personal
solve this problem of “manager deception”, some life back in balance. He realized that such a decision
firms have offered career rewards to bosses who might jeopardise his career but he felt that other
identify and develop future leaders. Other firms important aspects of his life were in jeopardy from
promise a boss a comparable replacement if his his work commitments. It would seem beneficial for
HIP0 is transferred or promoted. Some companies those who manage high potentials to take a long-
ask both the new employee’s boss and his boss’s term perspective. The best talents and energies of
boss to provide evaluations so they can have more future leaders somehow need to be reserved for the
than one opinion. Some companies identify and future and not totally used up in the present.
label HIPOs only after their second or third assign-
ment so that the evaluations of several supervisors A person who makes unusual personal sacrifices to
can be compared. follow a HIP0 career route often becomes depressed,
and causes problems during plateaus or periods of
One large French multinational company in the waiting for the right position to open up. As one
chemical/pharmaceutical industry cross-checked executive commented, “Edward was a real pain,
supervisor evaluations using a team of human asking what was next and complaining of boredom
resource specialists whose single function was to every day. Finally, he left the company and joined
76 C. BROOKLYN DERR

another”. At least one career development expert simply went from the switchboard to his office and
has suggested that top management deal with slow- the next voice I heard was that of the director
growth or no-growth by setting up a “slow burn” himself or his secretary when he was out. In the
route to the top, offering high potentials more lateral other seven cases, I talked first to an executive
moves and rest periods along the way (4). assistant. In short, I found that if I could say exactly
who I needed, few intermediaries were necessary.
Another issue mentioned by a dozen interviewees in
the study was the need to expand the definition of France
high potential so that valuable specialists, functional
In general, French companies view high-potential
generalists, and people with new ideas, all of whom
management as a systems problem and regard
are very much needed in senior roles for the future
procedures for selecting such employees and placing
well-being of a company, are more explicitly re-
them in specific career paths as being of great
warded, and moved into positions of influence.
importance. They also place importance on planning
While most of the interviewed executives felt that
for successors and they clearly value general man-
their companies would always need more general
agers from technical (usually engineering) back-
managers than anything else, they all believed that
grounds and from certain grands &co/es. The French
these other kinds of HIPOs were of equal value in
also seem to have the least flexibility in their various
some smaller proportion and that the career paths
career options. If a HIP0 somehow loses his status,
and reward systems should reflect this corporate
he is essentially removed from consideration for
reality.
further career progress.
A related issue that came up repeatedly in interviews
At the same time, it was surprising in this research
was that good human resource managers must
to discover how many large French companies have
provide viable career alternatives for its non-HIPOs.
redefined the HIPO-concept within the last few
Those I interviewed repeatedly expressed concern
years and are experimenting with variations on the
that the ordinary hard workers in the firm, cut off
traditional concept. They still recruit from the grands
from glamorous HIP0 status and rewards, became
iccofes but most of them use well-defined processes
non-productive through neglect. Various career-
for quickly assessing the managerial capabilities of
oriented individuals have different definitions of
their recruited elite, placing the top candidates on
career success. Only one type is attracted to getting-
carefully prescribed career paths which will lead to
ahead throughout an entire career. It is inefficient to
top managerial positions. They rely strongly on
ignore the other career-oriented individuals and fail
performance reviews, succession planning, and
to provide appropriate opportunities for developing
career pathing as part of a complex system for
their productivity (5).
managing their high potentials.

The Impact of National Cultures on HIP0 The French give the impression that they value
Management external executive education least among the national
groups and that they view HIP0 management as a
Germany systems issue. Many of the firms I contacted are
developing sophisticated computer programs to aid
German firms appear to be the most bureaucratic.
in this succession planning, paying detailed attention
Deviating from the rule and even individual innova-
to the logic of various movement options. French
tion disrupts the chain of command and established personnel specialists are intensively involved in
practices within the organization. German inter-
helping top management select HIPOs. This systems
viewees thus reported fewer HIP0 programmes and
approach, rather than the informal personal-
fewer alternative career paths to meet the diverse
recommendation approach, is also consistent with
career needs of the employees.
advancement through merit which has operated for
nearly all of the candidates since early education.
Accompanying a clear bureaucracy, however, there
seemed to be an equally clear emphasis on making
Great Britain
sure that it works and that individuals are account-
able. After dealing with French and British organiz- The unique British style of HIP0 management,
ations, I was surprised to learn that when dealing which has traditionally matched future leaders
with German organizations, I could simply pick up against a profile of appropriate behaviours, attitudes,
the phone, without the help of a contact who “knew and skills, is clearly in a period of reappraisal and
the right person,” and ask for a high-level official in transition. Far from trusting and rewarding technical
a German or Swiss company, such as the director of experts, British firms have traditionally valued
personnel. In nine out of sixteen cases, the call classical generalists as best suited for high-level
 MANAGING HIGH POTENTIALS IN EUROPE 77

management positions. In a traditional British firm, small select group. Thus, in this and .other ways,
a HIP0 would usually emerge from an elite public social democracy influences much of the managerial
school or university (perhaps from a known military thinking in Swedish companies.
unit), be a “gentleman”, converse knowledgeably
about the classics, philosophy, and history, and I interviewed a manager in one of the two major car
approach business problems with a broadly humanist companies in Sweden who was newly appointed to
perspective. Several interviewees reported the cur- run part of the French company. He tried to learn
rent debate among top-level directors about whether the business by doing a bit of everyone’s job in the
to continue all or parts of that model or whether to best social democracy tradition, including bringing
place more reliance on HIPOs with a more technical coffee for his secretary and cleaning up his own
business education - for example, MBAs. The debate dishes after a break. He genuinely did not see
has been fueled by the intense world competition in himself as being in a position of authority, but his
most international markets and a sense that Britain’s French subordinates were extremely confused by him
managerial/business understanding of those markets and labeled him as a weak supervisor. In the Swedish
is not always as good as it should be. tradition, social equality is extremely important. Few
people want to be boss because there are few
Interviews with British managrs also revealed a dual rewards for it; the job often comes with little
system of identifying and developing HIPOs. A fully authority - in fact, having more authority than
defined and formal merit system coexists with a others is often considered undesirable. Part of this
highly informal set of practical assessments to car executive’s eventual success as a manager
discover if the candidate fits in with the organization’s depended on his ability to adopt the French style of
image. Fascinating stories are often told about “knife management, even though it was not compatible
and fork” tests - dinners where executives carefully with his own style.
appraised candidates’ table manners, speech accents
and conversational skills. Many of the interviewees Switzerland
went out of their way to deny that anything but a
The Swiss companies, while scoring slightly more
formal merit system exists, even while jokingly
than the U.S., French, and British companies in how
reporting incidents that indicate the importance of
they value HIP0 general managers, seem unique in
personal appearance, dress, personality, speech
their attitude about keeping career separate from
habits, and fitting in with the organization’s image.
personal life. The survey showed that Switzerland
has the lowest score in valuing an employee who
Sweden balances his professional career against his private
life. It also showed that Swiss companies scored
Swedish companies had fewer specific HIP0 pro-
highest in not taking into account an employee’s
grammes than did the other national groups. Seventy
personal circumstances when making career decisions
per cent of the Swedish companies were among those
about him.
that complained about the difficulty of sending their
employees abroad, even for training in international
posts, This is due to the large number of two-career Results of A Sumey on HIP0 Practices
families in Sweden, where the spouse’s career
would be disrupted by frequently moving from one I also surveyed some 120 high-potential executives
place to another, and to the reluctance of many in comparable large multinational companies home
Scandinavians to leave their roots in Scandinavia. based in these various countries. Many of these
This must have a serious effect on careers, since 79 respondents were participating in executive develop-
per cent of the companies surveyed in this study ment programmes for HIPOs only at INSEAD.
reported that geographical mobility is an important These subjects, including about 50 per cent of those
factor in career advancement. interviewed above, were asked to complete a twenty-
item questionnaire about the HIP0 management
In terms of training, Swedish businesses, like practices in their various firms. Included in the
American firms, seem to value those with a business questionnaire were items asking them about their
education, even though the MBA degree is much perception of high-potential individuals and qualities
less common in Europe than in the United States. in their companies.
Swedish companies provide extensive development
and training opportunities for managers who are All of the respondents from the five countries report
valued; but many Swedish firms make these training that their companies value HIP0 general managers.
opportunities available to a greater number of I tested various other concepts from career theory
people - to some extent self-selected by their willing- and the literature. A broad concern of the study was
ness to participate - rather than reserve them for a to deal with diverse career opportunities for different
78 C. BROOKLYN DERR

kinds of high potentials and the management of studied, for example, it was possible for a functional
career diversity (5). I postulated, for example, that generalist to achieve remarkably high positions. One
some firms might regard specialists and technical/ leading company, for example, distinguishes between
functional gurus as high potentials. functional and general senior managers. It also seems
more important for a HIP0 to demonstrate his
Diagram 1 summarises the responses to a question technical competence more convincingly and over a
designed to test this idea. While no statistically longer period of time in German organizations than
significant differences (at the .05 level of confidence) in other countries. As a result, German companies
were uncovered in analysing their various responses, give experts and specialists great respect. This is
we see that the French and British have a lower similar to Laurent’s finding that a “creative mind”
regard for technical/specialist HIPOs than do the was seen as vital for career success within German
other countries. The interviews help explain these companies (6).
findings.
While this position has undeniable strengths for the
In France, interviewees clearly stated that while it German companies, at least half of the German
was important to have a technical education (for interviewees warned that those who chose to
example in engineering), it was equally important to become technicians were most likely to plateau in
develop quickly and adopt a general-manager per- their careers because they would be unable or
spective. The French are likely to give experts the unwilling to broaden their horizons and become
negative status of “technicians”. functional generalists or high-level specialists in the
future. German management makes a crucial distinc-
The British seem to remain sceptical about the value tion between becoming a functional generalist and
of a technical background and education (including remaining a narrow specialist.
one in business). They favour a more general
approach and a more classical education. For many A second characteristic which reveals the German
years the British have rejected the narrow “technician” reliance on expertise, is that German companies
approach to leadership and management. Many more consistently sought the services of industrial
would argue, for example, that there is less status psychologists and various experts to identify and
attached to being an engineer in the U.K. than in select their HIPOs than did other national companies.
many other European countries. They also reported a stricter merit system for
advancement. There are no elite German universities
In contrast, one of the most striking aspects of HIP0 at which attendance is considered essential as there
management revealed from the interviews in Germany are in the U.K., the US, or in France. However,
and SwitzerIand was the importance assigned to advanced degrees such as the PhD or certificates of
expertise. In a majority of the German companies merit are essential for high potential selection.

Diagram 2 Questionnaire Statement

6. Our company values high-potential technical/professional specialists
and provides special developmental opportunities and rewards for them.
D(P) = NS
90
90- 85
82 N = 10
80- N = 20
N = 17
70 -
60- 59
52 N = 32
h so- N = 42
u
8 40--
30 -
‘O-
lo-

o-
FRENCH BRITISH SWEDISH GERMAN SWISS
Cultures
 MANAGING HIGH POTENTIALS IN EUROPE 79

Another concept that I wished to test in Europe tvas formal Weberian bureaucratic structure in which
the extent to which companies valued innovators or individuality is protected as long as members obey
internal entrepreneurs as high potentials. In Search of the formal rules, private life is strictly separate from
Excellence by Peters and Waterman (2) makes the organizational life and there is discretion within the
point that creating the conditions for internal entre- rules and structure.
preneurs to develop occurred in almost every
successful U.S. firm they studied. An analysis of the questionnaires also reveals that
size of the organization and the nature of its
Diagram 2 illustrates some statistically significant business account for some significant variation.
differences on the item used to gather this data. In general, the larger the company the more
Here we see the French and Swedish executives developed the HIP0 management programme and
reporting that their companies value HIP0 intra- the more varied the possibilities for various kinds of
preneurs less than do the others. These results are HIP0 careerists. The following industries have more
also a little surprising because the Germans and high-potential management programmes: banking,
Swiss reported in the interviews that they were computers, consumer conglomerates and chemicaY
generally uncomfortable about separating out an pharmaceuticals, whereas airlines, the car industry
elite group because such a practice disrupted the and retailing firms have fewer and less varied HIP0
smooth operation of a bureaucratic organization. programmes for their employees. Further research is
The Germans and the Swedes in the interviews necessary to find out why the size of the organization
attached greater value to hard working, loyal, and the nature of the business produce different
lifelong employees than to HIPOs, probably because HIP0 management programmes.
of the norms of social democracy in Sweden and the
strict adherence to bureaucratic systems in Germany.
Conclusion
Perhaps German companies see intrapreneurship as
important in the world of competition, regardless of
All of the companies studied in Europe were
their past practices, norms and values.
interested in the high potential concept. They all
saw managing of high potentials as an important
The strict French position planning approach to
strategic and human resource issue. Most of them
organization, where HIPOs are systematically moved
defined a HIP0 as a future high-level general
along a complex succession map, would not seem to
manager with the potential of moving up to a top
value or trust parallel subsystems of internal entre-
management position. Consequently, most of the
preneurs. This data corresponds to Crozier’s findings
firms have formal and informal programmes for
(7) that the central issue in French organizations
identifying, selecting, and developing HIPOs.
is ensuring both rational collective action and indi-
vidual autonomy. This is done by using a very

Diagram 2 Questionnaire Statement

14 Our company values high-potential internal entrepreneurs and
creative people and provides special developmental opportunities and
rewards for them. D(P) = 01

69 70
N = 19 N = 10

55
N = 31

41
N = 17

FRENCH BRITISH SWEDISH GERMAN SWISS

Cultures
80 C. BROOKLYN DERR
However, these general patterns and practices are because of the large number of dual-career families
culturally influenced. Viewed according to the in Sweden and the reluctance of many Scandinavians
national origin of the firm, interesting variations in to be geographically mobile. Once they choose such
the HIP0 concept and management practices emerge. a path, however, it appears that they work hard, are
It is probably not stating the case too strongly to say geographically mobile, usually receive international
that in Europe, HIP0 management seems to depend experiences of various kinds, and otherwise conform
on national culture and its effect on an organization’s to the more typical definition of high-potential
culture. general manager.

German firms are the most bureaucratic and attach The Swiss are an unusual cultural mix. In some
the most value to specialists and functional general- ways, they are bureaucratic and similar to the
ists. The Germans value qualifications, demonstrated Germans. They attach great importance to functional
competence, and a creative technical mind. Their expertise but also value steady workers and company
bureaucratic structures tend to work efficiently and loyalists instead of reserving high status only for
effectively. HIPOs. They very much value hard work.

In general, French companies view high-potential The study of national culture and its impact on
management as a systems problem and emphasise corporate culture is just beginning; but if, for
procedures for selecting such employees and placing example, we look at trends in international manage-
them in specific career paths. They also emphasise ment, attempts to achieve Japanese productivity by
systems which plan for succession and clearly value adopting Japanese management styles, and the
general managers from technical (usually engineer- crucial need to understand how to improve worker
ing) backgrounds and from certain grands ~coles.The motivation in multinational corporations, more
French also seem to have the least flexibility in their systematic research is obviously required.
various career options. If a HIP0 somehow loses
that coveted status, he is essentially removed from References
consideration.
1. Dalton, G.W., and P.H. Thompson, Novutions:
The British still seem to put much emphasis on Strategiesjbr Career Management, Glenville, Illinois:
fitting in with the corporate culture, either by Scott, Foresman and Co., 1986.
success in certain institutions (public schools, certain 2. Peters, T., and R.H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of
universities, certain military units) or by conformity
Excellence, New York: Warner Books, 1982.
with the norms and values of the culture. Should 3. Ouchi, W.G., Theory Z: How American Business
corporations continue to emphasise a classical edu-
Can Meet The jupunese Challenge, Reading, Mass:
cation and a broad general approach to business
Addison-Wesley, 1981.
problems or should they change to newer business
4. Bailyn, L. “The Slow-Bum Way To The Top:
education methods? This question, currently at the Some Thoughts On The Early Years of Organiz-
centre of a widespread debate in the U.K., is
ational Careers, N in C.B. Derr, ed., Work, Family
stimulated by the need to be more competitive in and the Career, New York: Praeger, 1980, pp. 94-
world markets. 105.
5. Derr, C.B., Managing the New Careerists, San
Swedish firms have many norms of social democracy
Francisco and London: Jossey-Bass, 1986.
which restrain the development of elites. There are, 6. Laurent, A., “Perceived Determinants of Career
as in U.S. companies, many viable options for those Success,” in K. Trebesch, ed., Organizational
who do not choose (or are not chosen for) the high-
Development in Europe, Bern, Switzerland, Houpt,
potential path. It is sometimes difficult to get well-
1980.
qualified persons with the preferred engineering and 7. Crozier, M. The Bureaucratic Phenomenon, Chicago:
business educations to adopt HIP0 status, especially
University of Chicago Press, 1964.