Republished with permission from the Harvard Business Review.

Eric Olson provides expert commentary in this Harvard Business Review case study, on how the regional head of business should best way handle the hotheaded but highly effective leader of the India office.

While yesterday’s CMO could justify broad-gauged marketing activities in general terms of strengthening the brand or increasing market share, today’s top marketing role calls for an unprecedented degree of agility. CMOs must now operate in a data-driven, highly segmented, customer-centric, multi-channel world. They must be able to deliver a superior customer experience across all channels, work in real time, and quantify results. At the same time, they must be able to closely align marketing with the other functions represented in the C-suite, including the CIO and Chief Communications Officer.

Whether the CEO of a family-controlled business is a member of the family or an outsider, the central challenge remains the same: how do you successfully balance the needs of the business with the interests of the family? We’ve seen it repeatedly in our work with family-controlled businesses, and we recently heard it strongly reaffirmed in a series of conversations we conducted with family-member CEOs and independent CEOs alike, in both privately held and publicly traded companies.

Few professional experiences can be as overwhelming as taking on the CEO role for the first time. Everything changes in unexpected ways; it’s not about climbing the next rung on the ladder, it’s a quantum leap into a new reality. Brand new CEOs need all the practical, impartial and time-tested advice they can get. And without question, the best source of advice for CEOs is from other CEOs, the select few who can actually say, “Been there, done that.”

As organizations have moved to define, and implement, strategies around data over the last decade, a new box has begun to appear on organizational charts. Such titles or descriptors as Chief Data Officer, Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, Data Scientist, Information Services and the like are now commonplace at the most senior level, as opposed to being a previously obscure role that often lacked a natural place in the organization. As organizations look to fill these newly defined boxes, a true war for talent has been sparked within a relatively unmapped talent pool.

In June this year, Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey with over 200 senior and middle management executives in multinational Life Sciences organisations operating in CEE and Russia. The findings highlight four key issues for leadership development in the region.

A sea change is taking place in legal recruiting in Asia, with China at the epicenter. For the first time since Heidrick & Struggles pioneered the executive search profession in China nearly 20 years ago, the scales have tipped dramatically in favor of local legal talent.

Heidrick & Struggles recently organised an event led by Nigel Keen, Chairman of Laird and Oxford Instruments and Russell King, Non-Executive at Aggreko and Spectris, which addressed the issue of whether the role of the chairman was changing or should change as a result of the so-called “shareholder spring”.

Heidrick & Struggles, the global leadership advisory firm, recently hosted a dinner for human resources directors to discuss why the role isn’t better represented on FTSE boards; and to discuss how HR directors could compete more effectively for non-executive positions.

Over the next 25 years, the world is expected to invest as much as US$40 trillion in infrastructure including roads, railways, airports, water treatment and electric power. In this environment of global growth in the sector, the engineering, infrastructure, and construction companies that serve it – both multinationals operating globally and the domestic companies that compete with them – will find themselves facing significant challenges, especially in emerging markets.

The wealth management industry is undergoing a number of fundamental changes, from new client behaviors and shifts in sources of profitability to new sales formats and emerging business models. Firms are seeking new strategies as they adopt new business strategies to grow revenue and profitability in the new environment, which impacts talent needs. Business and talent management trends will vary significantly by channel; but overall, the industry is rife with opportunity for our Leadership Advisory services.

Despite the barrels of ink and numberless bytes that have been expended on CEO succession planning advice, many directors remain dissatisfied with the process. In one of the most comprehensive surveys of board directors to date, more than a third of U.S. directors and more than half of directors outside the U.S. indicated that their boards do not have an effective CEO succession planning process.
 

It is no surprise to anyone that US boards are grappling with increased scrutiny and ever more shareholder activism.

The third annual global Board of Directors survey captures in extensive detail the governance practices, strategic priorities and views on board effectiveness of corporate directors around the world. Drawn from a universe of more than 1,000 directors from 58 countries, this is the deepest and broadest exploration in the series to date into how boards think and operate.

• Findings compare and contrast the views between male and female corporate board directors as well as US and non-US directors in six key areas:
• Political and economic landscape
• Company strategy
• Board diversity
• Diverse candidates and quotas
• Board governance and effectiveness
• Succession planning

The accelerating trend for multinationals (MNCs) to move top executives, divisions, and even global corporate headquarters to growth regions, lured by potential in infrastructure, industrial, and consumer sectors, has wide-ranging implications.

There are many public and private healthcare company boards providing necessary strategic counsel and guidance to their management teams. However, many boards lack the diversified skills and experience required to tackle the political and economic changes affecting the healthcare industry in the US, Europe and emerging markets.

Arguably the two toughest roles to fill in these times of business and technological disruption are the heads of analytics delivery centers and heads of analytics teams inside corporations. To be effective, these executives require an unusual blend of technology, business understanding, and leadership skills.

The global recession of 2009 has undoubtedly affected the Life Sciences industry to some extent. The question is whether the impact is temporary, or more strategic and long lasting. Keeping this in mind, we must understand and prepare ourselves for tomorrow. The future lies in the hands of strong leadership.

Just a little over five years ago, with the eruption of digital marketing and e-commerce, C-suites across corporate America reverberated with the cry: “We need a digital expert!” The overriding concern was to bring someone on board as quickly as possible, stimulate internal conversation about digital, and build a capability around that person’s competencies.

The rapid growth of Asian economies is driving demand for more effective leadership to manage the growth. But as regional and multinational companies alike compete for the same scarce Asian executive talent, the question becomes: How can the best people be attracted, retained and developed in order build sustainable businesses?

Recruiting former government officials and retired military officers as directors.

In an era of unprecedented complexity, globalisation and disruptive shifts in business models, the structure of the boards needed to govern our organisations is of utmost importance.

If companies are to compete in the future and respond effectively to multiple stakeholders, they need to embrace diversity, fully understand their customers, and innovate to meet their needs.

It is the role of boards to set the tone.

The analytics and marketing services sector is experiencing explosive growth. Influenced by major trends such as big data, digital and data-centric marketing, marketing automation, customer centricity and customer engagement, organizations are repositioning their services and encountering new competitors. As companies from different industries converge on this emerging market, they find themselves in a new war for talent.

Marketing leaders in the second decade of the 21st Century are facing post-financial crisis frugality and fickle consumers, as well as private label and home brands undercutting their offerings. To make matters worse, their customers are daily disappearing into a mobile “cloud” of digital devices, through which they are increasingly working, playing, price-comparing and shopping.

China has gone from poverty to profitability faster than any other nation in history. But now it’s time for nonprofit organizations to take it to the next level – and leadership is the key.

China is in an ideal position to overcome the middle-income trap that has led to stagnation and decline in other developing economies.

The past few years have created a wealth of new challenges for chief marketing officers (CMOs) and their companies, because technology has empowered customers to speak with a strong and easily distributed voice. Forrester Research and Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey of CMOs across the globe that shows that nearly 80% want to prove their capability as business and strategy leaders. But now technology ranks as the No. 1 area in which they see the greatest opportunity to improve. CMOs also recognize that they must bring customer insight and behavior to the rest of the executive team.

Asset management firms faced an array of formidable challenges in 2011. Market volatility. Low returns. Complicated products. Heightened regulation. New markets. Investor uncertainty. Every aspect of talent acquisition in the asset management field has been affected by these factors.

Facing a tidal wave of new government regulation, companies and trade associations in highly regulated industries must make sure they have the right government affairs team to navigate the uncertain waters ahead. Understanding the complex demands of this function and finding the right leaders to fill it should be a high priority for CEOs and organizations whose success can be profoundly affected by government action.

According to the National Association of Corporate Directors’ 2011 Governance Survey, more than 90 percent of boards conduct full board evaluations and almost 83 percent conduct committee evaluations. However, the same survey says that less than half of boards evaluate individual directors and only slightly over 10 percent have management evaluate board members as part of a 360-degree review. Further, less than 20 percent of boards use an objective third party to help conduct board assessments...

With high aspirations, unbiased interpretation of assessments, and the courage to act, boards can stay firmly on course in their journey toward improvement not just as individuals but as the highest-performing teams they can be.

China is the third-largest luxury economy in the world and is about to become the biggest, overtaking the United States and Japan. Yet just 15 years ago, luxury was almost non-existent in China.

While luxury has become ubiquitous and a massive industry in China with annual growth exceeding 50 percent for many brands for several years, luxury talent is more than ever a rarity.

The luxury industry is faced with a serious bottleneck. The talent pipeline has not kept up with the growth. In contrast, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), industrial, and hospitality industries started blossoming much earlier in China and grew my more moderate growth rates, allowing these sectors to build talent.

Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey of key decision makers in Latin America, targeting senior executives and senior HR practitioners of multi-national and local Life Sciences companies in Latin America, with the aim to understand the mission-critical leadership issues being faced in the industry today.

The results highlight some key leadership gaps in Latin America including the lack of a strong senior-talent pipeline, senior talent that isn't driving the change/transformation needed, and senior leadership that is not prepared for the future.

To fully deliver on the promise of cloud computing, cloud service providers and customers/CIOs alike will require some new and highly specific leadership abilities – as we found in a series of in-depth conversations we recently conducted with leaders on both sides of the equation.

As boardrooms lead corporations in challenging economic times, more than ever, directors are pressured by internal and external stakeholders to deliver results. Indeed, with continued turmoil in the markets and increasing scrutiny of governance, board accountability remains top-of-mind in the business and financial communities. Heidrick & Struggles and WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD), together with Dr Boris Groysberg of Harvard Business School, surveyed corporate directors, both women and men, within and outside the United States.

Recent forecasts by the International Monetary Fund confirm what most multinational companies have known for some time: the best hopes for growth in the foreseeable future lie in Asia. While growth in advanced economies is expected to reach only 2.5 percent in 2011, emerging and developed economies are projected to expand by 6.5 percent. China and India will lead the way, growing by 9.5 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Vietnam is projected to grow by 6.3 percent, Indonesia by 6.2 percent, and Malaysia by 5.5 percent.

With these trends expected to continue well into the future, the companies we talk to are increasingly eager to add board members with experience and expertise in Asia.

Talent management is an area that sits at the centre of law firm capabilities and is essential to the long term success of a firm. Heidrick & Struggles, in conjunction with Winmark Research and their Networks, has launched a report on this topic based on extensive research of managing partners and leading general counsel.

Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey of senior executives and senior HR practitioners in local and multi-national life sciences companies in EMEA, with aim at understanding the mission-critical leadership issues in the industry today.

The results in this report highlight some key leadership gaps including the lack of a strong senior talent pipeline, current senior talent ill-prepared for the future and not driving needed change.

Following our well-received 2009 publication, Boards in turbulent times, Heidrick & Struggles has again examined the status of the largest South African public companies with respect to global corporate governance practices, and compared them specifically with the top public companies of fifteen European countries.

The findings are all the more relevant against the backdrop of the country’s growing role as an emerging market, and its position as the springboard for global enterprises’ growth strategies into Africa. It should be noted that South African boards have suffered the same erosion of public trust and tolerated increased scrutiny regarding their performance and governance, as have their global counterparts.

Access the full European Corporate Governance report.

In this research paper we explore the thoughts and opinions of 150 senior pharmaceutical R&D leaders. The interventions required to address many of the issues raised in this study can only be achieved through thoughtful cultural change, internal leadership development and deliberate external hiring.

Chairman 2.0, the recently published German Chairman study, was specifically tailored for the German market. It was featured in Die Welt, the German national business newspaper and the well-received study was published to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the publication of the German Corporate Governance Code and the tenth annual German Corporate Governance Code Conference.

As the global financial crisis, recent natural disasters and political uprisings have shown us, our global supply chains and ability to deliver are increasingly vulnerable to factors entirely outside our control. Add to that the possibly disruptive new technology such as 3D manufacturing printing, hard-hitting new competitors from emerging markets and falling customer loyalty, and it is easy to wonder if manufacturing CEOs sleep well at night.

Economic growth and expanding wealth in Latin America offer asset management firms increasingly attractive opportunities for distribution. To convert those new opportunities into assets under management, existing firms and new entrants alike will need talented distribution professionals who understand the region and the markets. Those firms that know what to look for in such talent – and know what that talent looks for in firms – can get a significant head start in a race that will only become more competitive.

Asia is fast developing a globally competitive advantage across many areas of business. In the pharmaceutical industry alone, 55 percent of multinational companies (MNCs) and 62 percent of local companies believe their centre of growth will soon be in Asia.

By 2030, 43 percent of all global consumption will be here, largely driven by the rapidly growing middle class. This growth will shape both the size and scale of investments in Asia.

In early 2011, Heidrick & Struggles conducted a survey to understand the leadership challenges in the Life Sciences industry in APAC. This summary provides a snapshot of the results, insights and implications drawn from the 234 responses received from APAC-based life sciences CEOs, regional heads, country managers, regional HR heads and country HR heads.

Transaction Services is emerging as a core business offering, due to its stable and reliable income. As global banks and specialist players channel more money into developing this sector, there is increased competition for top talent which enables industry players to remain at the top of their game.

Emerging Talent: how diverse leadership is driving success in Transaction Services examines the changing market drivers and pressures in the sector and the leadership talent competencies required to address these issues. In doing so, we argue that future talent is not necessarily sitting only within Transaction Services, but within an untapped pool of professionals who, although lacking the sector knowledge, possess the skills required to excel within this field.

Marketing und vor allem Kommunikation sind die Themen im Unternehmen, zu denen die meisten Führungskräfte eine Meinung haben und diese auch vertreten. Obwohl Marktforschung heutzutage eine solide Datenbasis für Effektivität und Effizienz von Marketing liefern kann, wird diese von den technischen Experten im Unternehmen oft mit Argwohn betrachtet. So sind Diskussionen über Marketingstrategie und –budget immer lebhaft und hitzig – und man könnte meinen, das Unternehmen bestünde aus altgedienten Marketingfachleuten.

Rebuilding the finance function within the Financial Services industry: during recent difficult financial times, with a greater sensitivity to risk in the market, many executives thought twice about leaving a ‘known risk’ situation for a company with an ‘unknown risk’ environment. Looking ahead, there are several factors that have come to bear at the same time that will substantially change the dynamics for finance over the next several years.

We see a new bred of leaders emerging in the next few years – essentially a hybrid of the two types of leaders, westernized kimchi leaders.

Demographics is destiny, as Auguste Comte, the founder of the discipline of sociology, famously observed. With huge numbers of people in the US and Europe moving past their prime spending years and smaller generations behind them, that destiny looks particularly difficult for consumer-facing businesses over the coming decade – unless they act now to prepare for a future that will be vastly different from the past 10–15 years.

Despite rigorous efforts to raise governance standards over the last few years, insufficient attention has been paid to the behavioural as opposed to the structural/process challenges in boardrooms today.

The 2011 European Corporate Governance report addresses these issues not only by providing a measured picture of the rising corporate governance standards in Europe but by sharing, for the first time, qualitative insights into effective leadership within the boardroom.

This biennial report provides you with quantitative data collected and analysed on 400+ publicly-listed companies from 15 countries; commentary and recommended best practices from our consultants; and the views of international opinion leaders within the corporate governance space.

Download country-specific data.

In the past twelve months our firm has witnessed a substantial rise in demand for a new breed of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) leader – now often known as the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), to mark the transformation of the role.

No longer merely an audit and compliance manager, this new breed of corporate leader works directly with other top corporate leaders, frames EHS issues in strategic terms, and operates in the far broader context of environmental and social sustainability.

Understanding the new demands of this role and finding the right people to fill it should be a high priority for companies that want to maintain public confidence and protect shareholder value – especially those in industries with high EHS risks.

There’s no denying the shift to asset management outsourcing in the insurance industry. Given the complexities of the market, the pains of the recent financial crisis still being felt and the rapid expansion of specialized insurance asset managers, this trend is expected to continue. Does that mean a decreased – or even non-existent – role for the insurance company Chief Investment Officer? Not at all. In fact, that role is more important now than ever before.

To find out how FedEx Express delivers award-winning diversity as a natural part of its corporate culture, we interviewed several top executives. The common theme was: "Look around – it’s a diverse world. We’re surrounded daily by men and women of different races, languages, colors and ages. Why should the place we work in be any different?"

The list of competencies required of today’s Chief Legal Officer is long and getting longer. The expectations – of boards, CEOs, and regulators– are making the role more complex than ever. Here’s what that ever more demanding role looks like among the Fortune 500 today.

With the discussed constraints, roadblocks, and trends making executive recruiting increasingly more challenging and crucial, we hope the guidelines and suggestions set forth enlighten your understanding of the value and need for talent management strategies that include truly “best practices.”

The CEOs who lead the top 100 companies in Mexico’s ‘Expansion 500’ list, not only impact the Mexican economy, they also populate the financial and social pages of their newspapers and magazines. These CEOs routinely make decisions that affect millions of people, influencing economic, social and environmental outcomes. As the country continues to change rapidly, what are the common characteristics of today’s CEOs and how will the new breed of CEOs be defined? How do these CEOs compare to their peers outside of Mexico?

Building on previous research undertaken by Heidrick & Struggles, we explore the transatlantic comparisons of top business leaders against CEOs in Mexico. From the analysis is a compelling snapshot of the new breed of CEOs emerging in this ever-changing environment.

Professionals within the natural resources industry are faced with ever more complex and daunting projects within the context of a highly competitive and political marketplace. And in an age when mitigating risk is more important than ever, the role of the project director in particular, is becoming increasingly demanding.

Heidrick & Struggles reveals the increased demands being made on the future generation of project directors within the fast-evolving natural resources sector. Following in-depth interviews with leaders in this sector, best practices and benchmarks have been identified that will enhance project management capabilities and, in turn, sustain the pipeline of future generation project directors.

With strong growth potential and low unemployment rates in major cities hovering around 2-5%, many believe that the shift in political and economic power to Asia is inevitable. Blessed with a vat of cultures and great contrasts, the region is seeped in diversity and bubbling with change, business leaders are faced with the realization that there isn’t a single person who can confidently say he/she understands all the nuances, cultural differences and belief systems of its four billion people. However, as business leaders, we must do our best to grasp the region’s political, economical and socioeconomic dynamics, because of its growing importance to our organizations and jobs. The stakes are high and will certainly challenge our adaptability.

The tide of private equity investment that has washed over logistics companies in the past ten years has not only roiled the waters of competition, it has also created tremendous churn among the CEOs at those companies. This PE-driven turnover at the top, coupled with the intervening recession, has resulted in a sharp bifurcation of the CEO talent pool.

With content now zipping across various platforms, convergence has bulldozed the boundaries between the film, music, publishing, broadcast television and radio, telecommunications, computing and consumer services industries – and the repercussions are rippling across India’s economy, society and executive talent pool.

In his acceptance speech for the Business Transformation Entrepreneur for the Year award in 2007, Raghav Bahl, CEO of Network18 group, attributed his success not to individual effort, but to the contribution of all the employees of the Network18 group. An old guard of the industry, Mr. Bahl is recognized for his vision in transforming a small setup into a giant media powerhouse. He should also be applauded for having the vision to bring on Haresh Chawla as Group CEO as early as 1999 to assist him in building Network18. Similarly, in 1995 another old guard, Prannoy Roy, hired K.V.L. Narayan Rao as Chief Executive Officer of NDTV, one of India’s largest private television producers.

To remain agile, innovative and customer-driven market leaders need to build strong leadership cultures across their organizations. But do India’s mobile telecom players have the right network of capable and dynamic leaders to deal with this onslaught of new challenges?

What’s in a name? A great deal, obviously — especially when you are talking about job titles. In India's telecom industry, title inflation is an industry norm where it is getting increasingly difficult to get a grip on a name-card holder’s true depth of experience and responsibility. Will the standardization of designations across the telecom industry help all the players calibrate their recruiting better?

The famous playwright William Shakespeare once wrote, “To business that we love we rise betime, and go to it with delight.” The Indian entertainment industry has much to delight in with its stellar growth projections, as the country’s increasingly affluent and sophisticated consumers flock to local entertainment sources as a means to spend their wealth.

Boards today face a performance imperative that was hard to imagine even as recently as a few years ago. The increased scrutiny, the growing complexity of business and ethical issues faced, and the need to strike the right balance between mentoring and monitoring can strain the capacity of even the best boards.

There are crises and then there are crises. A hostile takeover attempt, the death or sudden departure of a CEO, a hurricane or blackout that threatens business continuity—all of these may come unexpectedly and require adept crisis management by boards of directors. These cases often pale in comparison to situations where the company could be seen as liable: defective products, large-scale accidents or environmental disasters. And today, the question of liability will not only be tried in the courts but also in the court of public opinion—immediately, continuously and without regard to the rules of evidence.

India’s technology and business services players face a leadership crisis. Their boards invariably find themselves asking if the senior management team have what it takes to help them advance to their next stage of development. High levels of market complexity mean that there are no straightforward “yes” or “no” answers. Other than the capabilities of their leaders as individuals and as a team, vision, perseverance, egos, culture, loyalty and a host of other variables all play a part.

In keeping a pulse on the critical leadership issues for our clients, the Asia Pacific Financial Services Practice recently conducted a survey to assess the gender diversity situation in the region by speaking candidly with 22 senior female executives working in equity, fixed income, foreign exchange and interest rates sales, trading and structuring positions. This report provides a summary of all the conversations.

This collaboration between NACD, Heidrick & Struggles and Pearl Meyer & Partners, is designed to measure boardroom confidence in the economy and in business, reflecting how public company board directors feel about the overall American business climate, as well as their own companies' prospects now and in the future.

Today, almost every European multinational company engages with China in some way: exporting to and importing from there, and even maintaining a physical presence in China through joint or wholly foreign-owned ventures. However, as China asserts its influence and plays a growing role in shaping the global economy, are these companies mentally as well as physically present; and are they prepared for the worldwide influence this emerging global economic superpower will wield in the future?

The growing number of women taking a seat in the corporate boardroom has prompted an increased interest in how these directors approach board service versus their male peers. In the wake of the financial crisis, with widespread discussion about board accountability, it is especially important to ask how male and female directors diverge in their approach to the boardroom. How do both genders feel trust in boards can be restored? How do men and women differ – and agree – when rating their boards’ effectiveness in handling fundamental board responsibilities? Do either men or women directors believe that quotas are necessary for creating a more diverse boardroom?

At Heidrick & Struggles, our Global Sport Leadership Advisory Practice believes that the global industry of sport needs a new caliber of leadership to match its importance on the world’s stage. Sport is a laboratory for leadership and a metaphor for the belief that in any endeavor, people are the only form of a sustainable, competitive advantage. To reach the top and stay there, the most effective leaders of the future require a broader perspective, a sense of purpose, adaptability and…wisdom.

While the complete impact of the BP oil spill is yet to be determined, we can be certain of one thing – the disaster will be a game-changer for the largest industry on the planet. Change in the oil and gas industry will be manifested in many ways – commercially, technically, and most assuredly, from regulators. Yet, the most significant change may come in the executive profile of those who lead oil and gas companies.

The first half of 2010 has witnessed a fundamental shift in the global hedge fund industry as it enters a period of significant growth set against economic recovery and increasing scrutiny from regulators and institutional investors. The recent momentum has carried industry assets across the US$1.5 trillion mark, with sentiment high for continued growth. The resurgence can be attributed largely to strong performance in 2009, but net inflows have also steadily increased. Further testament to the industry’s dramatic rebound can be seen in the increasing number of hedge fund managers who are now closing their funds to new investors.

Shared services, with a long track record of success and new momentum following the recession, is rapidly evolving. To find out how – and what it takes to lead shared services organizations on the journey – we interviewed 30 outstanding practitioners. What they told us can help senior executives see what kind of leaders they need to capture the full business value of shared services.

Recent high-profile business failures have prompted calls for tougher corporate governance at a time when public distrust of leaders – political, religious and corporate – has reached alarming levels. Yet boards must also support and empower their CEOs and executive teams to achieve the best outcomes. The future role played by corporate chairmen will be crucial to resolve this paradox and rebuild public trust. Interviews recently conducted by the UK Board Practice with over fifty chairmen, CEOs and thought leaders, resulted in the report Purposeful Partners, the changing role of 21st Century Chairmen. It suggests that chairmanship is emerging as a powerful and distinctive form of business leadership with its own unique skill set, rather than a ‘downshift CEO’ position. This has major implications for the ways in which companies manage their boards and recruit, evaluate and compensate their future chairmen.

This report not only contains our observations and conclusions about the future of the chairman role but also open and frank comments from our contributors. One such contributor commented "The modern role of chairmen is, increasingly, to provide air cover and partnering to the CEOs."

For companies that must weave high-quality luxury products, brand heritage and appealing style into the customer’s sense of identity – and do so profitably – finding the right design leaders is a real challenge.

The good news: Many boards are improving their CEO succession process. Companies have been motivated by either the carrot of investor confidence or the stick of regulatory pressure to focus on the future strategy of the business in determining the required skills, experience, and leadership criteria needed in their next Chief Executive Officer. The bad news: Many boards still neglect one of the most basic elements of this process – the CEO’s job interview.

Public company boards that have avoided recruiting new members since the recession began will find themselves caught in a vise when they re-enter the market for directors in 2011. On one hand, the pool of traditional candidates, which has been shrinking for almost a decade, will be smaller than ever. On the other hand, demand that was pent up during the recession will be unleashed as the economy continues toward full recovery.

From roots in compliance and equal opportunity, diversity has emerged as a critical business issue for leading companies. They are aggressively seeking to harness its business relevancy by creating a culture of inclusion where the diversity of ideas shows up in better performance.

Company leaders know they need the power of digital marketing to grow revenue. But many also say they’re having a hard time finding the right people to make it work. CEOs, CMOs and HR leaders will need to understand the complex demands of digital marketing roles and the best approach to finding and nurturing that talent.

Few champagne corks fly from the balconies of corporate headquarters these days. For too many years we have taught ourselves that the money would never run out, that we were more powerful and intelligent than the markets, that resource limitation was another person’s problem. That myth ended. It is time to work again. Courage in leadership has come back into fashion.

After the 2002 passage of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) by Congress, a shock wave rumbled through the independent school, college, university and non-profit worlds. Many wondered how the new demands for operational transparency, record-keeping, audit committee independence and whistle-blower protection would affect their institutions.

Ten Myths that Fuel Failure

The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia all fall down the ranking on the talent map forecast for 2012. But despite difficult conditions, some of the emerging market countries in this region are catching up or are close to the developed nations in western Europe on a number of indicators.

During the first quarter of 2008, Heidrick & Struggles gathered data on attrition and internal replacement rates from twenty-one global companies. Each was a leader in its sector, operating in a minimum of forty countries with a head count of over 60,000 employees.

What to expect when a private equity firm taps you to provide oversight to one of its portfolio companies? Here are several important differences in such service and in the contributions you will be expected to make.

Many of Korea’s big Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies were set up in the 1960s and 1970s, when there were fewer product choices on the shelves and consumers were happy to stick with familiar brands. Decision-making could be driven at the production level rather than by the marketing department. Their dominance in South Korea had been absolute – until now.

In few areas of business is globalization more noticeable than in the area of corporate titles. Offices and cubicles throughout the world proliferate with managing directors, directors, and vice presidents. Much of this has to do with the multinational companies’ drive to facilitate true cross border teams. The emphasis is on flat management structures, open communications between all levels and western style egalitarianism. Yet in some countries such titling protocols are but a gloss over older, and more deeply ingrained, titling systems. Nowhere is this more true than in Korea – and MNCs ignore this fact at their peril.

To grow and prosper, Korean generic drug firms need to focus on building high caliber teams.

To succeed in China, international hoteliers need to ensure they have a world beating team of functional leaders within their China head office.

Armies of in-store promoters dominate Korea’s retail scene. They are expensive and often inefficient, but what is to be done?