As the College of Business Administration introduces its Master of International Business degree, we thought it was the perfect time to explore what Atlanta area companies seek in potential global employees. We sat down with Scientific-Atlanta Inc. and United Parcel Service and found that global employees are crucial to each. Both are in different stages of international growth, but executives made one thing very clear: They have definite ideas about what kind of professional will help make them be more competitive as globalization continues.

UPS is a $22.4 billion company that has been developing its global markets since the mid-1970s. The company has 340,000 employees worldwide including 38,000 in international operations. Rick Boheler is a 20-year veteran with UPS and the leadership development manager for corporate training and development. UPS is the world's largest package distribution company and transports more than 3.1 billion parcels and documents annually.

Scientific-Atlanta Inc. is in the early stages of formalizing its global hiring and training program. John Hamilton is the director of human resources for Scientific-Atlanta Inc.'s corporate headquarters in Norcross and has worked for the company for 14 years. Scientific-Atlanta has about 4,700 employees worldwide, with about 2,000 of those in countries outside the United States. The $1 billion company provides products, systems and services to develop advanced terrestrial and satellite networks that deliver entertainment, information and communications.

Q. What kind of globalization program does UPS have today?

A. UPS first began to look for opportunities outside of the U.S. in the mid-1970's. First, in West Germany and then in Canada, we built ground-up "brown operations" that closely resembled our U.S. domestic model. By the mid-1980's, with the potential of a single European economy on the horizon, we realized that we had to expand our international presence beyond West Germany and Canada; our customers were looking for a single integrated carrier that could handle all of their transportation requirements, door to door - both in the U.S. and throughout the world. Through an aggressive strategy of acquisitions (16 since 1988) and service partner agreements, UPS was able to establish a worldwide distribution network. This includes the first pan-European, integrated ground and air distribution network, similar to our domestic U.S. operations. Today, our service area includes more than 200 countries and territories as well as every address in the U.S.

Q. Where do you see UPS in 10 years?

A. I see UPS continuing to develop its core business, which is pickup and delivery of small packages. We are currently the world's largest package distribution company and I would expect that in a decade from now we will continue to be the industry leader. We certainly will have expanded our use of technology in order to leverage our vast distribution network and to provide our customers with a broad range of integrated ground and air express delivery options and customized logistics services. And we will continue our efforts to provide "real-time" package tracking information to our customers. A decade from now, our international volume and revenue will have become an increasingly important aspect of our overall business. In the future, UPS Worldwide Logistics (a subsidiary), will play a significantly larger role in bringing in new business from customers who desire a wholly integrated approach to their transportation requirements.

Q. What do you look for in potential candidates for global business?

A. UPS was founded in Seattle, WA in 1907 and has a long history of promotion from within. When advancing a candidate into a management position, international or otherwise, we are looking for individuals who have previously demonstrated the capacity to assume greater responsibility. As we develop our international operations, we will continue to rely on long-term UPS managers who know the business thoroughly, but who also have the ability to adapt to the different cultures and conditions they will certainly experience when placed into an international assignment. Although we have utilized ex-patriots extensively in the past, our current strategy is to limit their use to the greatest extent possible. We have learned from our experiences in Germany and Canada that it is in our best interest to give the required training and support to the local UPS management personnel (country nationals) and to return our ex-patriots to the U.S. at our earliest opportunity. Of course, we will continue to utilize these assignments as a development tool and to ensure continuation of our strong culture in our various international operations.

Q. What type of training do you offer people who will work in other countries?

A. As I mentioned, it is our intension to promote from within whenever possible. We recognize the importance of providing a solid training program that provides our people with the tools necessary to be successful in whatever position the manager may be assigned. For our managers who have been selected for an international position, we rely on a thorough orientation prior to departure from the U.S. This orientation includes the spouse and is preceded by a "spousal interview" designed to ensure that all appropriate issues have been thoroughly reviewed and discussed. In addition, newly assigned managers are supported by the management personnel already in place in our international regions and districts. Specific training varies depending on the location, the position and the previous experiences of the manager. Training is frequently tailored to the needs of the individual. Other training is of a more general nature. For example, we recently conducted an orientation (in Atlanta) with 29 of our country managers. These UPS'ers traveled to the U.S. from Asia, Europe and South America to participate in the week-long training session and orientation.

Q. What kind of globalization programs does SA have now for hiring?

A. I can't say we have any formal globalization program. We do recognize that when it comes to the way we develop our employees, particularly our leadership employees, the way we pay them, the way we communicate with them and the way we generally indoctrinate them into the company is going to have to change. We're basically an Atlanta-based company and all of our facilities have historically been in Atlanta. We have factories in Juarez, Mexico; Toronto, and Vancouver, Canada; and major offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Sidney. We'd like to have over 50 percent of our revenue generated by international sales by the year 2000. Currently, 37 percent comes from international sales.

Q. What will have to change for Scientific-Atlanta to become a truly global company?

A. We need senior management leadership that has lived and worked internationally. There's no substitute for experience so we're going to have to recruit internationally. Wešll have to develop our own global experience for executives or recruit executives who have lived and worked in various locations.

Q. Where do you see SA in 10 years with its global workforce?

A. I see continuing growth of our factories outside of the United States both in Mexico and in other Pacific Rim locations. I see joint ventures being a common way we will do business, as well as strategic partnerships. I see a very large growth in the company and I see a much more culturally diverse workforce throughout the company, especially in our leadership positions.

Q. What do you look for in global business job candidates?

A. If we're going to grow, we really look for people who are ingenious, self-sufficient, and have a "can-do" approach to their job because much of what they find in locations outside the United States requires a lot of out-of-the-box thinking. They're dealing with the time zone difference, the unique nature of the problems they're going to encounter and the fact that probably much of their work experience in the United States won't prepare them for what is really required. For people who are interested in working internationally, the key is getting the experience. There's just no substitute to demonstrating your commitment to work internationally by actually having studied and worked abroad and mastered one language. Language is extremely important, primarily as a true indicator to one's commitment to an international career.

Q. What type of training does Scientific-Atlanta give its employees for global work?

A. Most of the training is in rotational job assignments. We have developed our own curriculum in-house where we have a structured program that acquaints our employees with many elements of the global job assignment: cultural differences, legal differences, language requirements, regulatory requirements, and other issues specific to a global assignment. We just started a training program and we're still in the pilot stages. None of our employees have been through the entire thing.

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