150 Laura Wollen and ARPCO, Inc.

LAURA WOLLEN AND ARPCO, INC.

Laura Wollen, group marketing director forARPCO, Inc., a manufacturer of small electricaltools and appliances, telephoned London fromher Columbus, Ohio, office. She was gettingready to recommend her best product manager,Charles Lewis, for a position in the Londonoffice, a job that would give Lewis the inter-national exposure he would need to progresstoward senior management. She and David Ab-bott, her counterpart in the United Kingdom,had had several conversations about Lewis’scandidacy, and Abbott had seemed impressed.Wollen simply wanted to touch base with himbefore making her recommendation formal.

Only two candidates were serious contendersfor the U.K. product manager job: Frank Bill-ings and Charles Lewis. Billings had joinedARPCO the previous year as a product mana-ger for the housewares division. Before that,he had been a sales representative for one ofARPCO’s main competitors. Wollen knew Bill-ings fairly well because he had reported to herfor several months on a special project. Shefound him to be intelligent and hardworking.

Yet she believed that Lewis, who had reportedto her for three years, had the same innate tal-ents but was better prepared for the job and pos-sessed a creative spark that Billings did not.With a bachelor’s degree in business administra-tion and two years of experience selling financialservices, Lewis had joined ARPCO as a sales repin the Midwest. He immediately proved himselfa winner. Marketing often recruited high fliersfrom the sales force, so Lewis was soon offereda job as product manager for power saws.

This case was prepared by Mary C. Gentile.Copyright 0 1992 by the President and Fellows of Har-

vard College.Harvard Business School case 393-003.This case was adapted from an earlier version published

in the Harvard Business Review, July-August 1991.

Within a year, Lewis had such command ofhis product management job that Wollen askedhim to head the introduction of an electricalcharging system for ARPCO’s new line of cord-less power tools. The assignment required morethan the usual amount of interdependence andcollaboration, but Lewis worked carefully andcautiously to develop the relationships that heneeded. The product introduction was a smash-ing success.

Now in 1990 the company wanted to launchthe charging system along with several cordlesspower tools in the United Kingdom. It wasARPCO’s first entry into the British home work-shop market. Its success was important becausethe last few years-the late 1980s-had broughthigh interest rates and inflation that slowed con-sumer spending iri the housewares division.Entry into the do-it-yourself home maintenancemarket was seen as a \vay to benefit from a slow-ing economy as consumers turned towardhousehold projects to save money. ARPCOhoped to expand its revenues and to maintain itsvisibility in the United Kingdom, while waitingfor the economy to pick up and for the opportu-nities that Europe 1992 would bring.

Jobs outside the United States were highlyprized at ARPCO. and only very strong per-formers made the cut. When an openingoccurred, marketing directors reviewed theirproduct managers and selected appropriate can-didates. They then discussed the candidates in-formally with the director who was doing thehiring, and each could recommend one candi-date to his or her divisional vice president. Thevice presidents typically reviewed the recom-mendations and passed them on unchanged tothe director in the host country. ARPCO en-couraged managers to recommend their bestpeople; it rewarded managers for the number ofpeople they put on the fast track and for the per-formance of the fast trackers in their first sixmonths on the job.

To Wollen’s mind, Lewis was a natural for thejob. Although she hated to lose him, she wasglad he would have the opportunity to demon-strate his ability in such a visible position, andshe was eager to play a role in his professionaldevelopment. But her friendly conversation withAbbott suddenly took a” unexpected turn as shelearned that Abbott no longer shared her enthu-siasm for Lewis.

“You’re the group marketing director, Laura,so I can’t tell you who to recommended for the po-sition, but I’ll go on record as preferring Billingsto Lewis.” Abbott’s British enunciation had aninsistent edge.

“That really surprises me,” she responded. “Iknow Billings is bright and motivated and all ofthat, but his experience is in housewares, just asyours is. Lewis, o n the other hand, has threeyears in the home workshop division. His expe-rience can get the launch off to a good start, andI know how important that is to you:’

“You’re right, I do have a lot riding on thislaunch, and it will require a lot of coordination.That’s why I’m trying to pull together a team ofprofessionals who can work together in the Brit-ish environment. I need people who are comfort-able with our sales force, our research and sup-port staff, and our buyers. When Billings washere on temporary assignment last fall, he d e monstrated that ability. I’m sure he can learn theproduct line.”

“But let’s face it,” Wollen said. “That assign-ment was a three-month fill-in in housewaresand didn’t include any client contact. Besides,Billings has been on line as a product managerfor only 1 1 months. Compared with Lewis, he’sless mature, less creative-”

“If you insist on recommending Lewis, fine. Iwon’t refuse the hire,” Abbott said crossly. “ButI need someone who will fit in, someone who canwork comfortably and constructively with theteam I’ve put together, not some individual con-tributor whose main concern is the next rung onthe career ladder.”

Wollen hesitated, then trusting her instincts,said, “We’re not really talking about the samething here, are we, David? This isn’t about mar-

ket knowledge or ego. It’s about race. You’reconcerned because Lewis is black, aren’t you?”

“You didn’t eve” mention it in our earlier con-versations! If one of my managers hadlit men-tioned it, I wouldn’t have known until he walkedin the door for the interview two weeks fro”1“OW.”

“Does it matter? Is it relevant here?” Wollenasked.

“The only thing that matters is that my newproduct manager is able to wjork well with theother rrlrmagers and that he-or she-is able toadjust to the culture. Other managers like Lewishave been uncomfortable here, and we can’tafford to botch this introduction. It’s the key toour presence i” the whole mzrket.”

“Look. David.” Wollcn I-casoncd, “ill t h ethree years Lewis has worked for me. he’s had towork with all kinds of co-workers and custon-ers, and they ~11 had their ow co~~cerns and “s-sumptlons about hitll. But he managed to buildproductive relationships despite all those things.If you think he’s too setlsitive or inflexible, I canpoint to--”

“Don’t misunderstand me, Laura. Lewis looksvery good on paper. I’m certain he’s very tal-ented and will go far with ARPCO. I just don’tbelieve that he is the lnost appropriate candidatefor this position at this time. And when a man-ager doesn’t last, everyone suffers from the lossof continuity. It will set the product line backmonths. Our group can recover from that kindof setback, but what about you? A failed recom-mendation will become part of your record. Andjust think what it will do to Lewis’s career.”

Wollen winced. “What would have happenedto my career if Ralph Jordan hadn’t bee” willingto take a chance by putting a woman productmanager in the home workshop division forthe first time? That’s all I’m asking of you, thatyou give Lewis the chance to showy what hecan do.”

“Perhaps this one is a bit too close to home,Laura. Are you sure this isn’t just a persona1issue?”

Wollen regretted giving Abbott that openingand closed the conversation coolly: “I’ll think

152 Lawn Wollen and ARPCO, Inc.

about what you’ve said and submit my recom-mendation by the end of the day.”

Wollen hung up the phone and rushed fromher office up to the eighth floor conference roomfor a meeting with the rest of the home work-shop marketing directors and Ralph Jordan,their divisional vice president. Much as she triedto shift gears, she kept thinking about Abbott’squestion, “Are you sure this isn’t a personalissue?”

ARPCO

ARPCO was a $2.5 billion business, based inColumbus, Ohio, that produced small appli-ances for the home and workshop, as well aslarger equipment for the yard and garden. Withover 200 products, the company was organizedinto three divisions:

Housewares . This was ARPCOS original busi-ness, representing $1.25 billion in sales. It in-cluded three product families-Food and Bever-age Preparation, Personal Care, Cleaning andGarment Care.Home Workshop. This division represented $750million in sales and included the Power Tools,Garden n Aids, and Watering g and Lighting productfamilies.Groundskeepers. This was the newest f division, rcp-resenting g $500 million in sales . It included twoproduct families-LawnCare e and WintcrCarc.

Throughou t the 1980s, , as the Housewares mar-kct matured, ARPCO relied more heavily ongrowth from new-product development, expan-sion into the two newer divisions, and interna-tional markets. By the close of the decade, oper-ations in Europe, the United Kingdom, LatinAmerica, and Canada represented 30 percent ofARPCO’ s revenues. Although recession andeconomic uncertainty were slowing consumerspending in many of their markets, ARPCOmanaged to maintain modest growth in both1989 and 1990 through innovative product intro-ductions and expansion into new globalmarkets.

This emphasis underlay the company’s strong,

explicit commitment to the development of in-ternational managers. ARPCO had a traditionof careful career tracking and attention to per-formance management and mentoring. Its lead-ership was convinced that the key to their con-tinued competitiveness was in their people, socareer management systems had been modifiedto include opportunities for international assign-ments.

In the Marketing area, line management ca-reer tracks followed a fairly straightforward pro-gression. Product manager positions were theentry point for candidates recruited from severalpools, including new MBAs who were hired di-rectly into these positions and BA degree hold-ers who distinguished themselves over a five-year period in several positions, typically Salesas well as other marketing-support areas such asResearch, Distribution, or Support Services.

Successful product managers were circulated through different product families, different divi-sions, and/or different regions. Over the past fiveor six years, international assignments had be-come clearly necessary for promotion to the nextlevel-Product Group Marketing Director--and competition for these posts was intense.

Performance evaluations for product manag-ers were based upon product performance aswell as upon supervisors’ review. Evaluations forproduct group marketing directors were basedupon product group performance as well as su-pervisors’ (in this case, marketing vice president)review. Among the criteria evaluated by the vicepresidents was a marketing director’s effectivc-ness in developing new managerial talent. Thisevaluation was based upon both the number ofproduct managers placed upon the circulatingtrack, as well as their performance during thefirst six months of their new assignments.

Wollen’s Career

Wollen had been with ARPCO for nine years,and although she knew the company had itsproblems, she was proud of it. It was known formaking high-quality tools and appliances and

Lourrr Wdlerz and A RPCO, h,c. 153

EXHIBIT 1 ARPCO, Inc.-Organization Chart

United States j,

Marketing Director

United Kingdom

Marketing Director Marketing Director

.r

United Kingdom

for being a responsible employer. The companywas full of bright, dedicated people, many ofwhom had been with ARPCO for more than 20years. But by the time W&n reached Jordan’soffice, she found herself thinking about the time

five years earlier when she nearly left in disillu-sionment and defeat. It was Jordan who con-vinced her to stay.

Having joined ARPCO fresh from her MBAprogram, Wolle n came ready to make her mark

on the organization. She was particularly inter-ested in the relatively new home workshop divi-sion. Her father was a carpenter, and she hadspent many evenings and weekends watchingand helping him. She loved that time workingquietly beside her father and was proud of theskills he had taught her. She saw the home work-shop division as the perfect place for her to com-bine her talents and interests.

In interviews with the ARPCO recruiters, shehad stated her interest in the home workshop di-vision, but they urged her to take aposition withhousewares. They assured her that if she didwell, she could circulate into another area. Thatbegan a four-year stint with food processors,vacuum cleaners, and electric knives. Wollen im-proved the performance of every .product shemanaged, and whenever she learned of an open-ing in the home workshop division, she notifiedher supervisor of her interest. Nevertheless, shewas consistently passed over. Finally, after beingoverlooked yet again, she was ready to leave. Be-fore she did, she made a last-ditch effort by goingover her director’s head to Ralph Jordan, whowas then the divisional vice president ofhousewares.

Jordan knew Wollen’s record, and after lis-tening to her story. he looked into the situation.Six days later, he told her she had an interviewfor product manager of ARPCO’s power drills ifshe wanted it. She still remembered much ofwhat he had said to her that afternoon: “Laura.you have an outstanding record in housewares.and you deserve to be circulated among otherdivisions and regions. You have potential to do\vell here, both for yourself and for the company.And I’m committed to developing talent when-ever I find it.

“But I want you to listen to what I say to younow. Home workshop has never~had a womanproduct manager before, partly because of a lackof interest on the part of our women productmanagers and also because of a lack of imagina-tion on the part of our marketing directors. Atany rate, you’ll be working with managers and

customer reps who will find you an anonYou’re taking a risk by leaving housewares. Eif,you succeed, you will be opening a whole nset of doors for yourself.

“I can’t guarantee that you’ll succeed. I caeven guarantee you a level playing field. Th:just the nature of the market you’ve set ycsights on.

“What you do-and the challenge; yface-are not within my control. But I’llwhat is within my control: I’ll provide you w.the support and the authority you merit-j1as I would with any other talented managerno more, no less.”

Wollen interviewed for the position, and whit was offered to her, she promptly accepted.

W&en and Lewis

In a way, Wollen did have a personal stakeLewis’s situation. She had embraced Jordaphilosophy of developing talent. When Levfirst went to work for her, Wollen had rcllecton the fact that he was the only black mana~in her group and one of very few in the divisicShe was aware that he was oat as well knit inthe social fabric of the group as other managehired around the same time. Although Lewis galong with his colleagues professionally,didn’t socialize with them and their families, ccept for formal ARPCO events. Wollcn had listymied, uncertain as to how she could ass-Lewis to work his way into the organization. S.believed she couldn’t change people’s attitudand so she looked for a structural solutionthe problem. She was always more comfortatworking with systems and frameworks than wiefforts to persuade or neg’otiate.

When the opening arose for a product maager to introduce the charging system fARPCO’s new line of cordless power tools, WClen had some concern that Lewis’s outsider sttus would cause problems for the project ifmeant that he coiddn’t work himself into the iformation loop with the other product mana

tion. The two of them had discussed the positionat great length when it first opened, and initiallyLewis was excited but concerned-excited aboutthe implications of such an assignment, con-cerned about the imp&t on his family, Aftermany long conversations with his wife, who hadjust rejoined her law practice after a year-longmaternity leave, Lewis had told Wollen that hewas willing to make the one-and-a-half to two-year commitment.

As Lewis entered the office, Wollen could seethat the concern was back.

“Thanks for seeing me on such short notice,”Lewis started. “It’s about the U.K. position, ofcourse. I know you haven’t promised me any-thing. .”

“But I told you you’re high on the list. Go on.”“It’s just that I’ve heard rumors from some of

the guys ova in housewares, and I don’t knowhow much credence to give them.”

“What exactly did you hear?” Wollen asked.“Vague comments, really. When they found

out I was being considered for the London slot,they shook their heads and said things like ‘Ihear it’s real conservative over there’ and ‘Don’texpect a lot ofwarmth. I thought they werejeal-ous. But then they got more explicit. They toldme about a product manager who was assignedthere-a black manager. He found the environ-ment very difficult?

“You know we can’t promise that all your cli-ent contact will be smooth sailing,” Wollen said.“You deal with that all the time, and you’vealways been able to establish your credibilityfirmly and quietly.”

“But that’s just it,” Lewis replied. “With thisother manager, the customers weren’t the prqb-Ian, or not the only one. It was the other manag-ers and even the supervisor, David Abbott. Iknow I can deal with difficult clients, but I’vealways counted on my boss’s_on your-sup-port. I’ve got to know there’s some authority be-hind me. I’ll need David Abbott’s support.”

Wollen hoped Lewis couldn’t read her face.She knew Lewis was right about needing

ers. On the other hand, the social distance couldgive him a balanced perspective, free ofpersonalloyalties that might complicate the task. Finally,she thought the charging system assignmentmight be just what Lewis needed to hook intothe product managers? informal network.

The posting provided the opportunity forLewis and Wollen to begin to,develop a closementoring relationship. Wollen was open andaccessible to Lewis, and she made a point ofchecking in frequently with him during the firstfew months of his new assignment. This supportwas an important signal to Lewis and to theother product managers as well. They were madeaware of how important the collaborative proj-ect was to the entire group. And in fact, thiscordless segment of the power tools market hadbeen growing at a rate five times that of the restof the group over the past two years.

At about the time Wollcn had begun to lookaround for an international assignment forLewis, she learned of ARPCO’s plan to enter theBritish home workshop market with the cordlessline. The timing and fit seemed perfect.

Although he had no prior international expe-rience, Wollen felt that Lewis was by far herstrongest candidate. When considering any man-ager for an overseas assignment, ARPCO en-couraged their executives to conduct extensiveconversations with candidates, detailing the ben-efits and the challenges of such posts: financialand career implications, cultural barriers, familyimplications, reentry considerations, and soforth. Wollen had called Lewis in several weeksearlier and had raised the topic with him. Shehad encouraged him to view the series of videotraining programs that ARPCO’s HR team haddeveloped to help managers anticipate the issuesthey might face overseas.

Back in her office after a difficult lunch dis-cussing cuts in the research budget, Wollen triedto prepare for a I:30 meeting with CharlesLewis. Lewis had requested the meeting hastily,which meant one thing: He wanted to get toWollen before she submitted her recommenda-

Abbott’s support, and she was undecided abouthow to handle Abbott’s message from the morn-ing’s call. She was also concerned about puttingARPCO in legal jeopardy.1

Wollen didn’t know how much candor shecould afford, so she proceeded cautiously. “Youknow, Charles, when U.S. companies send expa-triate managers overseas, there are bound to beobstacles. Sometimes people are outright hos-tile, if only because they think you’re taking op-portunities away from them. When you-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Lewis in-terrupted. He sat silent for a long, uncomfort-able moment, then said, “I’ve given this oppor-tunity a great deal of thought. My wife and Ihave considered the pros and cons for both ofour careers, for our marriage, and for ourdaughter. We don’t expect it to be easy, but we’reready to face the challenge.”

“I’m not asking for any guarantees of suc-cess,” Lewis continued. “But I am asking you toconsider whether or not you think I truly have ashot in this slot. Is this a suicide mission? If it is,then don’t recommend me. I’11 trust your judg-ment. Maybe I don’t have the right to ask thatof you, but you know more about the situationthan I do, and I don’t see that I have a choice.”

Lewis and Wollen ended the meeting with a

I. As ofNovember21, 1991. the Civil Rights Act of 1991

solemn handshake. Wollen’s forced smile fadedwhen Lewis closed the door.

Earlier in the day, Wollen thought nothingcould dissuade her from recommending Lewis.Now she Sat at her desk poring through the per-sonnel files, looking for a reason to change hermind.

The company policies were clear: “promotethe most qualified person, regardless of race,gender, or ethnic background” and “capitalizeon the considerable investment ARPCO makesin its people by applying their skills in ways thatwill maximize benefit to the company and theindividual.” In Wollen’s opinion, Lewis was themost qualified, and making him product man-ager in Britain would leverage his training andexperience in the United States. She also won-dered how long he would remain at ARPCO ifhe didn’t get this opportunity. Lewis knew inter-national circulation was critical to his careerthere and he was very ambitious.

The criteria used to evaluate her performancewere also clear. Her vice president would con-sider the number of product managers sheplaced on the circulation track and how thosemanagers performed in the first six months oftheir new assignments. Lewis was her best-vir-tually her only-shot.

But policies and her own career aside, therewere other considerations, such as the realitiesof the London office and Lewis himself. Could

extended protection from discrimination in employment toU.S. cilizens working in foreign countries while employed by

he succeed in the United Kingdom without Ab-

U.S. firms. This act extended the coverage of Title VII of the bott’s support? Could she-or the firm-pro-_Civil Rights ACL of 1964 and of the Americans with Dirabili- wde support for Lewis once he was in Abbott’sties Act to such employees. before this, the applicability of shop? And finally she wondered: Should she justTitle VII to U.S. employees an foreign soil had been a con- make the recommendation and let Lewis decidetested area of the law In March of ,991, the Supreme Courtupheld an earlier decision in Bozrresl~n E A&ion Aster-icnrz

for himself whether or not to accept it?

Oil Co. and ruled that Title “11 did not apply outside U.S. Wollen glanced back at the recommendationterritors. The nw Civil Riehts Act of 1991 addressed and papers she held in her hands. It was 500 ~.h!.changed that situation. and Ralph Jordan was waiting for her.

Laura Wollen and ARPCO, Inc.

What issues can you identify for(a) the manager (Laura Wollen)?(b) the organization?

Has Laura Wollen or the organization made any mistakes so far?If you were Laura Wollen, what would you do at this point?What changes might the organization consider?

* Some mention is made in the case of ARPCO having a tradition of caret3 career tracking andattention to performance management and mentoring. Yet, we see no real evidence of theorganization having a HRIS, a succession chart, promotability ratings, or any real career plan orpath for Lewis. The first things mentioned in evaluating candidates are broad remarks like“intelligent,” “hardworking,” “creative,” “less mature,” and “comfortable.” The use of theselabels shifts as the needs in a conversation change. Do they have documented case examples?Wollen has been exposed to Lewis for several years, and Abbott has had roughly three monthsexposure to Billings. This differential exposure raises some concerns. Proximity errors arepresent when you favor or disfavor the person you know best, when they in fact have similarlevels of performance. It is possible Abbott’s judgment was shaped by his familiarity with Billingsand/or discriminatory attitudes, rather than the proper “objective factors.” When one looks atfactors such as related experience, sales growth for the products handled, seniority, and pastperformance, Lewis seems like the best choice. Of course, Jordan did take a chance on Wollenwhen he moved her from housewares to home tools, just like Abbott now wants to do withBillings. Nonetheless, if the organization had a HRIS that documented each person’sperformance, their experiences, case examples, and their appraisals by various superiors, concernsover proximity errors, liking and discrimination would be diminished. Utiliing multiple raters,and people who did not have a vested interest in the outcomes, would improve objectivity.

* A somewhat strange situation exists here. The person who seemingly has the formal authorityto make this selection decision is not the person who will be supervising the individual. Abbott,the fbture supervisor, can thus effectively threaten Wollen that a poor choice could hurt both thecandidate’s career and her career (p. 152). In short, he has the authority to make her decisionsucceed or fail, which gives him informal power. Perhaps it would be simpler for the organizationto make the future supervisor the decision maker, so the actual power and responsibility arealigned. This, of course, would not solve all of the problems in the case.

* Many organizations do not reward managers for recommending subordinates for promotions.Some managers tend to hide their stars. ARPCO has instituted a policy of rewarding managersfor the number of people they put on the fast track, and their first six month performance. On thesurface, this seems like entirely a good thing. After reviewing this case, it becomes clear the selfinterest this introduces into the process may not be entirely good. Laura Wollen has enoughdifficulties without being concerned about “Lewis was her best-virtually only-shot.” (p. 156).

* Wollen has made the situation worse via her conduct in several ways. She raised hersubordinate’s hopes by providing him with company training films about foreign assignments and

her discussions. She later misleads Lewis when he raises the allegations he picked up via thegrapevine about Abbott. Her concern about protecting her organization legally inhibits her fromdiscussing the actual situation. This makes the situation more diicult to deal with, and mighteventually erode the trust between superior and subordinate. She could have simply indicatedAbbott favored Biigs, and she was going to look into the matter further. Moreover, why didWollen ask for Abbott’s input, if she had already made up her mind and did not want his input?After this conversation, Lewis has far worse prospects for success if he is selected. Directlyasking a person (Abbott) if he is a racist, or if race is an issue, is unlikely to be an effectiveinterpersonal technique. Abbott manages to reverse the situation by suggesting Wollen has madethis a “personal issue.” She fails to mention that fair employment policies are supported by boththeir organization and the US government. Earlier in this conversation, Wollen made a remarkabout Billing’s experience being in housewares, just like Abbott’s, This sounded lie a put down.It is somewhat ironic that she started in housewares as well. Barbs like this arecounterproductive. Once tones start to escalate, and people make threatening remarks lieAbbott does, the person may feel it is essential to carry these threats out later when he is crossed.

* The organization should consider tracking the progress of its women and minorities. Aninvestigation could be conducted when people fail to produce the anticipated results. One can seeWollen had been the victim of stereotypes for years. It would be beneficial to look into whathappened previously when an Afro-American manager encountered difficulties in the UK. Oneshould not jump to conclusions. The problem could lie with the employee, with Abbott, withother managers, with customers, or some combination thereof At the moment, we only havehearsay remarks about this past problem. Nevertheless, one does not want to wait until you havea long string of bad experiences before concluding a problem exists. Abbott’s remarks to Wollenare questionable. While Wollen’s direct confrontation of Abbott clearly hurt human relations, itdid yield illuminating information with respect to possible discrimination. If a discriminationproblem exists, she is not in a position to address it. She could simply outline her experiences andactions to date to her superior, and let him take it from there. For some reason, she has takenmore upon herself than Jordan did when he gave her a chance. At the moment, she is perplexedby the fact she has obligations to the organization, the individual (Lewis), herself, and the law.One must recognize one’s limitations.

* At several points, we learn international experience is critical to career progression at ARPCO.One might argue whether racist attitudes would or would not hurt an Afro-American in the UK.However, currently women and certain minorities would probably face difficult situations in anumber of foreign countries. One former student stated ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans.” Hemeant the company should bend to the racist and sexist attitudes and behaviors that are known toexist in certain sectors. On the other hand, the U.S. government and many organizations havefought against the practice of bribery that is a part of business in many foreign countries.Similarly, we could fight against the racist and sexist views and behaviors we encounter.

ARPCO’s foreign assignment stepping stone policy could easily have a disparate impact.Ad hoc selection decisions seem to be made for foreign assignments, rather than having any sortof a centralized, coherent plan. Is foreign experience a really important occupational qualificationfor advancement? If it is deemed so, the provision of training material, additional support andcarefbl assignment selection would seem to be a must to help women and minorities succeed.