ABSTRACT
To understand the tension these managers feel, consider the situation. A Dutch
manager with a consumer products firm has been relocated to a large developing nation.
On one hand, the parent firm wants a particular laundry detergent-in a standard-size
box, color scheme, and so on-introduced in the host country as part of a global
brand-image strategy. On the other hand, the size and cost of the detergent are
prohibitively high for many potential consumers in this developing nation. They are used
to scrubbing their clothes with small “bricks” of soap that cost just pennies per brick. The
international assignee tries to explain the local situation to management in the corporate
office but is branded a nonteam player. When he begins to give in to the global strategy,
local managers view him as a corporate crony.
