Asia-Pacific companies turn to head-hunting

Asia-Pacific companies turn to head-hunting>

People, not just products, are the key to success for firms operating in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a Harvard Business School professor.

Michael Yoshino, a specialist in global management strategy, says there is fierce competition to hire effective managers among companies in emerging Asian markets. "Companies in different industries making different products all compete in the human resources market," Yoshino said Tuesday in a speech to an international forum of executives and scholars in Tokyo. The global business growth forum was conducted by the International Consortium for Executive Development Research.

Yoshino divided companies in the Asia-Pacific region into two main groups -- regional, such as the Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine companies; and global, meaning companies from outside that region. According to Yoshino, despite the fact that many of these regionally based companies are family-run, their management should not be underestimated.

Many Southeast Asian companies founded by local entrepreneurs are now being run by well-educated sons and daughters with significant international experience, he said. "You should not have this notion that the guy who started with the pushcart is still at the helm," he said.

In addition, family-oriented management promotes company loyalty, and local managers tend to have useful political ties to governments. However, these regional companies have hired many Western expatriates to catch up with the latest technology, Yoshino said.

Yoshino expressed the need for drastic changes in managerial mind-set for Japanese companies trying to compete in the Asia-Pacific market. Government protection in Japan has produced companies that are still very much domestic organizations, according to Yoshino. Despite the fact that Japanese firms have sent many highly skilled, knowledgeable executives abroad, "unless the headquarters mind-set changes, internationalization never really happens," he said.

Yoshino cited corruption as the most crucial problem plaguing Japanese companies. "The world standard requires transparency," he said. "Japanese management culture is still very eccentric."