Of Ford's eight participants, six were foreign-born managers working abroad. Everyone agrees that taking the course abroad was a good idea. They were very professional. They impressed me as much as anyone anywhere else. At a company briefing with Indian executives, Christopoulou was struck by employees' willingness to speak their minds.
People express themselves more freely than in the United States.
It's not considered disrespectful. It was almost expected. We saw a very limited piece of China, China at its commercial best. Even when we went out and visited companies, we saw Western joint ventures like Caterpillar, not the state-owned enterprises. The curriculum was modified for 1999-2000 in ways that helped networks develop.