This desire to grow internationally in a bottom-up, locally inclusive fashion characterizes Tesco PLC. Of the young executives who came through the ranks in the 1990s, almost all were "lifers": people who started on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, stayed with the company, and worked their way up. None, however, was more of a lifer than David Potts, who left school at the age of sixteen to work in his local Tesco supermarket. Gaining experience by stacking shelves on the shop floor and gradually moving into management gave him a deep understanding of the store, its customers, and the challenges involved in meeting their daily needs. Tesco even institutionalized this philosophy in the practice of TWIST - Tesco Week In Stores- whereby all management level employees must work one week a year in a tesco store so as to always stay close to the customer and the stores basic operations. All other activities of the company, whether supplier management, executive meetings, or government relations, are built around this key process. Extending this philosophy to include a policy of growing local talent from the bottom up in its international subsidiaries was natural next step. Now, as CEO Asia, Potts was facing the challenges of operating in 14 countries across Asia, Europe, and North America.