Poszukuje odpowiedzi na pytanie: Co to są diagonal promotions? Dla ułatwienia podaję artykuł z którego ten zwrot pochodzi. Niby znam angielski ale nie potrafie sie jakoś do tego ustosunkować, po prostu nie rozumiem tego pojęcia :-(. Potrzebuje tego na zaliczenie, moż
e ktoś jest w stanie mi to wyjaśnić? będę wdzięczna za pomoc
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Cangy
,, Most of us would look at Brazil, Belgium and Bangladesh and see three different cultures. Al Zeien, chief executive of Gillette, the US razor maker, simply sees a lot of people in need of a shave. He believes Gillette is a “global” company in the way few corporations are.“A multinational has operations in different countries,” he says. “A global company views the world as a single country. We know Argentina and France are different, but we treat them the same. We sell them the same products, we use the same production methods, we have the same corporate policies. We even use the same advertising, in a different language, of course.”The company’s one-size-fits-all strategy has been effective. The group makes items almost everyone in the world buys at one time or another, including shavers, batteries and pens. It aims to dominate the markets it operates in: its share of the worldwide shavers market, for example, is 70 per cent, which the company hopes to increase by the launch next week of a new razor for men.To make sure managers worldwide are on the same wavelength, Mr Zeien insists they move from country to country and division to division. Being moved around places them in the role of “idea ambassadors” who can transfer concepts. “I believe in diagonal promotions,” he says. “You don’t move up in a nice progression through one area or country.”
Managers joining Gillette should expect to be geographically relocated three or four times in their first dozen years. During the last few years, Mr Zeien has concentrated on increasing the number of Americans in overseas posts, and the time foreign managers spend in the US.
There are problems with his approach, he admits. Being transferred from country to country can be hard on staff. People in dual-career marriages, he says, probably should not work for Gillette. The company’s commitment to standardisation, moreover, costs it customers in niche markets within countries.
Mr Zeien long ago decided the drawbacks were worth suffering. “I tell my workers all the time that we’ll only be in markets where we can be number one,” he says. “Focus is what gives us bang for the buck.”
(This was by the journalist Victoria Griffith. It was published in the Financial Times on 7th April 1998, p. 10.)