The GSB’s International Round Table hosted two Asia and cross-cultural experts 16 February 2006 at Gleacher Center, “Human Resource Challenges for Multinational Corporations in China.” As is my custom, I will summarize the salient facts of the session first, which will be followed by my analysis.
This discussion was led by Deborah Lauer, former VP Global Talent Supply at Motorola who spent six years in China, and Jeffrey Reed, a 20 year veteran of Asia who headed up Unilever-Best Foods joint ventures in Pakistan and China. The talk focused on MNCs’ (multinational corporations) human resource challenges in China, both from expatriate and local talent perspectives. Many of the ideas presented corresponded to the ITA Round Table led by Dr. Wolfgang Fürniß (see China: The New Economy).