The Role of the General Manager in the First Stages of Internationalization

There are many companies that in the next few years will find they need to start internationalizing. There are also many that are currently involved in the first stages of internationalization and yet most of their general managers do not have enough experience in this. It might be useful for them to know how some general managers, who have successfully transformed a local company into an internationalized one, have carried out their functions, the situations that they have faced, how they have conducted the general management process, the risks they have taken, their capabilities, etc. This analysis consists of: − Identifying similar problems in the sample companies' internationalization. − Inducing relevant elements of their general managers' behavior in solving problems. − Attempting to identify, at a higher level of abstraction, some particular capabilities of these general managers. 1 Professor of Strategic Management, IESE