Me and My Dog

In my opinion Schindler did not select a suitable candidate when they chose to offer the position of General Manager to Silvio Napoli. Silvio was the wrong candidate to select for the position because of his age and relative lack of experience within the company, and the status of his young family. Schindler should have identified that both of these factors would prove to be problematic for a person who needs to devote all of his time and energy to the position of General Manager. Secondly, they did not offer the appropriate cultural training and overall support for Silvio in the build up to, and the early months of his new job in India. Coupled with the unforeseen circumstances the company encountered, this proved to be a recipe for disaster.

Silvio Napoli is a smart and hard-working person with the potential to have a long and successful career with Schindler. By working for the CEO of the company in the corporate headquarters, Napoli was well placed to learn and develop as an important employee. However, Napoli was not ready for such a major move. His level of experience and age were factors that created major difficulties in India, as Napoli’s subordinates did not fully respect his leadership. An example of this is when the company signed of on a custom-built elevator in direct violation of his business plan for India. A second problem that was overlooked by Schindler was the young family that was accompanying Napoli to India. He did not have the time to focus the energy required as the General Manager while simultaneously setting up his family in their new life. These issues should have been identified prior to offering Napoli the job.

The second mistake Schindler made in this process was the lack of training and support that they offered to Napoli before and during the move to India. Napoli seemed to arrive in India with little understanding of the cultural differences between his new and old countries. His business plan called for a fast-paced and totally...