How to be a better global manager?
[Interesting Read from Fortune Magazine]

In 1997, with $100 billion in annual sales and 750,000 employees in 8 countries including the U.S., Wal-Mart decided to open 85 stores in Germany, a move Wall Street analysts applauded because it would pave the way for expansion into all of Europe. The retailer bought up a couple of smaller German store chains, and sent over an executive who had successfully run 200 U.S. Wal-Mart stores from headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to manage the German operations. Nine years later, in July of 2006, Wal-Mart announced it would close down its German stores.

The resulting loss: About $1 billion.

What went wrong?

http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/08/magazines/fortune/how_to_be_better_global_manager.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009070912