Managing internationally: International dimensions of the managerial task

Following a review of the literature on managing internationally, Juan Roure, José Luis Alvarez, Carlos Garcia-Pont and José Nueno challenge the conventional view. This says that international managers are generalists with a global mind set, and that in the process of internationalisation the internal and external tasks of the manager are affected equally. The authors use field research to demonstrate that global managers are less in evidence than is commonly believed, regional management is more widespread than global management, and the internationalisation of managers affects their internal activities more than their external ones. Internal and external tasks of managers are mapped, and future lines for research identified.