From Waitress to Professor: Surprising Lessons for Investing in 920 Emerging Markets

Abstract

Expanding operations into an emerging market is adventurous and challenging. It requires tenacity but also bedrock insight and ballast skills. Having operated in dynamic emerging markets (EM), “the waiter and the professor” are metaphors for critical, often overlooked, staffing candidates. Their competencies apply ubiquitously: the local office manager who sets up the office; the financial manager of the operations overseeing the critical first years’ business plan and budget; the government liaison for managing concessions; local advisers who provide tax, regulatory and other advice; and the professional staff. Companies hiring their EM work force should draw broadly from the local base: junior and senior, those with expat or foreign experience, and some pure locals, males and females.