Square D in Palatine, Union Special in Huntley and Guardian Electric Manufacturing in Woodstock.
The names of these corporations suggest solid American institutions. But behind these Yankee-Doodle-Dandy sounding firms sit foreign ownership. Square D was purchased by the French electronics giant Groupe Schneider in May 1991. The industrial sewing machine company Union Special is owned by the Japanese firm Juki Co., and Guardian Electric became a unit of the Koike Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan in December 1989.
Such foreign ownership reflects the global nature of business today, throughout the country and the northwest suburbs. And while economists and corporate chieftains discuss the merits and demerits of foreign investment in the United States, for a growing number of workers in the northwest suburbs that foreign investment represents the very real place where they work and that very real employer that provides a paycheck.
Working for a foreign firm operating in the U.S. can present valuable opportunities for some, but irritating problems for others because foreign firms and their U.S. operations, in general, are run differently than American companies.
The key to unlocking opportunities at a foreign firm, say experts, is understanding those differences.
”The biggest advantage for the individual employee working at a foreign firm is being exposed to a global perspective,” says Donald Sedik, director of the Global Trade Development Center at Harper College in Palatine.
That global outlook is becoming a necessity for success in today`s business climate.
The employees at Zenith Data Systems in Buffalo Grove can attest to that. The company was purchased from Zenith Electronics Corp. by the French firm Groupe Bull in December 1989. And while the desktop and laptop computer firm sported an international network prior to its acqusition, Matt Mirapaul, director of corporate public relations at Zenith Data Systems, believes ”We have a much more global perspective and a broader and greater global understanding of our customers` needs because we are now part of a worldwide company that offers a full range of products from mainframes to tiny notebook computers.”
Job security is another big plus. ”Globally oriented firms tend to be the successful ones and job security is always better at a successful firm than at an unsuccessful one,” says Professor Leslie E. Dennis of Loyola University`s Institute of Human Resources and Industrial Relations. And though tiny cracks may be occurring in the Japanese practice of hire-for-life, the vast majority of Japanese employers still consider layoffs anathema because they feel they have failed to be good managers if they must fire employees.
That also is the modus operandi at the German-owned Heidenhain Corp. in Schaumburg. ”We have a simple rule that we do not lay off people just because a manager misjudges business or does not make his or her goals,” says general manager Rick Korte. ”We don`t subscribe to the hire-when-you-need-them, fire- when-you-don`t attitude.”
One of the biggest advantages of working for a foreign firm is the extensive training and educational opportunites these companies provide their employees. Heidenhain not only pays 100 percent of the the tuition for employees to take special courses or to get a college degree, but general manager Korte currently is devising a program to give dollars-and-cents incentives to workers who opt to hit the books. ”Continuing education is a must for us if we are to continue to compete successfully,” Korte says. ”But sometimes employees need an extra monetary reward to spur them to get that continuing education.”
There are, of course, drawbacks to working for a foreign firm. Certainly, the biggest is the lack of mobility up the corporate ladder.
”The U.S. is way ahead of the rest of the world, with the possible exception of Sweden, when it comes to the role of women and minorities in the workplace,” Dennis says.
Solid career advancement aside, working for an overseas firm can take some adjustments on the part of American employees. Those adjustments can be made easier by understanding that we, as Americans, view ourselves in a far different light than foreigners view us.
”Many of our cultural values are so ingrained in us that we are not even aware that we have these values,” says Noel A. Kreicker, president of International Orientation Resources, a Northbrook firm that trains executives and employees for overseas assignments and helps foreign firms become acclimated to the U.S. business environment.
Kreicker explains: ”Americans tend to be independent and pioneer-spirited. We believe in equality and we are trusting. We really do believe people are innocent until proven guilty.”
But overseas, the view of Americans is different. Foreigners often view us negatively as, ”boastful, arrogant people who have superficial
relationships and friendships. They see us as materialistic, and as people who do not honor their elderly. They also think we are TV and junk-food addicts,” Kreicker says.
With those views, though, are many positive ones: ”We are viewed as creative, innovative, friendly, accessible and informal,” Kreicker says.
Many of the misunderstandings between American employees and foreign bosses stem from divergent views and expectations. For instance, Kreicker recalls the miscues between French and American executives at a U.S. company that the French had acquired. ”The French came for a visit and the Americans thought they were being gracious by getting Perrier and croissants for a working lunch in the U.S. corporate offices,” she explains. Unfortunately, the French expected a formal, 2 1/2-hour lunch at a fine restaurant and were insulted by such an informal meal.
To combat such misunderstandings, Zurich-American Insurance Co. in Schaumburg has fashioned a program designed to ”provide our employees with the insights necessary to deal with people all over the world,” explains Wayne Bossov, assistant vice president and director of the company`s training and development. Such insights are a necessity because Zurich-American, the U.S. unit of the Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Co., has operations across the globe. In the program, for instance, employees might learn that eye contact, which is so important to Americans, is considered a sign of disrepect in Indonesia.
Too, given our sense of equality, Americans often are seen as being presumptuous by foreign executives. ”American workers feel quite comfortable talking with and making suggestions to their bosses, but a European or Japanese executive would find such suggestions, particularly if they were delivered in an informal manner, to be very out of line,” Kreicker says.
The consultants have some advice for U.S. employees who may find their firm has been acquired by a foreign concern. ”Don`t jump to any negative conclusions,” Kreicker says.
Experts note that despite cultural differences the foreign companies buying American firms want to make the ownership transition as seamless as possible.
”I have worked with American firms which have been acquired by the Japanese,” says John Salajka, president of the consulting firm Administrative Management Group in Arlington Heights. ”The new owners have been very careful to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for the employees so that operations are not distrupted.”
But divergent cultural practices encompass more than just style. Different practices can translate into dollars and cents. Compensation at U.S. firms tends to be more generous for middle, upper-middle and top management than at foreign companies.
Of course, the biggest stumbling block to opening opportunities at a foreign firm often is language. Whether an employee would be wise to learn the owner`s language depends upon the how senior the executive is and the language itself. Robert P. Fiorani, an executive at Square D, viewed learning French as a welcome avocation rather than a grueling task. ”I always wanted to learn another language and now I have been given the chance,” he says. Since the acquisition, he and about three dozen other executives have taken French lessons. But French lessons will not be the exclusive territory of the executives. Fiorani says the company plans to offer language classes to middle-management, clerical and hourly workers as well.
