#1) It was announced in January 2003 that the current managing director of the Indian subsidiary of Tel-Comm-Tek (TCT) would resign within a month. TCT immediately began searching for a replacement based upon the following preferences: desire to promote from within, selection from a mix of nationals, and an emphasis on international experience. A selection committee was chosen to nominate the new managing director for TCT India and the following six potential candidates were identified.
The first candidate, Tom Wallace, is a 30-year veteran that has never worked abroad, only speaks English, and regularly has his performance rated as proficient. He currently is supervisor over a U.S.-based operation, similar in size to the one in India, but the position will soon be eliminated. Tom plans on retiring in roughly four and a half years.
The second candidate, Brett Harrison, 40, has been with TCT for 15 years. Though he has never been assigned an international position with the company, his performance is rated highly and he will undoubtedly move into upper-level management within the next few years. He has some knowledge of India as he and his wife have frequently visited the area over the past 20 years. His wife is a mid-level executive with a multinational company that does not possess an operation within Indian.
The third candidate, Atasi Das, 37, joined TCT 12 years ago after earning her MBA. Her performance is consistently rated as excellent and for two years she was second in command of a group half the size of the expanding Indian operation. Although she expressed her goal to be assigned international responsibilities upon joining TCT, she has never worked abroad. She currently is unmarried, speaks Hindi, and her parents are first-generation immigrants from India now living in the United States.
The fourth candidate, Ravi Desai, 33, has an MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management and currently works in...