The Candidates
The Asian Regional Office Charged a selection committee to nominate the new managing director for TCT India. The committee identified six candidates:
- Tom Wallace A 30-year TCT veteran, Wallace is knowledgeable and experienced in the technical and sales aspects of the job. He has worked with Mr. Kent on several projects in developing supply chain initiatives in the United States. Although he has never worked abroad, he has toured the company's foreign operations and recently expressed interest in an expatriate slot. His superiors typically rate his performance as excellent.
wallace is due to retire in about seven years; he and his wife speak only English. They have three grown children who live with their own families in the United States. Presently, Wallace manages a U.S. -based operation that is a little larger than the present size of TCT India. The merger of his unit with another TCT division will eliminate his current position in six months.
- Brett Harrison Harrison, 44, has spent 15 years with TCT running both line activities as well as supervising staff. His superiors consider him highly competent and poised to move into upper-level management within the next few years. For the past three years, he has worked in the Asian Regional Office and has regularly toured TCT’s Asian operations.
Both he and his wife have traveled to India a few times and are somewhat familiar with its geography, politics, customs, and outlooks. The Harrisons know other expatriates in the Bengaluru region. Their children, ages 14 and 16, have vacationed in India with their parents. Mrs. Harrison is a midlevel executive with a multinational pharmaceuticals company. It presently does not have an Indian operation.