American CEOs Need to Get Some Culture

While Michael Schrage (“U.S. Is a Free Market When It Comes to CEOs,” June 2) makes a good case for the openness of American corporations to considering foreign executives as CEOs, there are some significant points that are being missed. Even if foreign companies were inclined to consider Americans as chief executives for their multinational corporations, few would qualify.

Whereas Michael Spindler, for example, converses with ease in English, the vast majority of American candidates for CEO consideration have at best a dim recollection of high school German or French, and their knowledge of foreign culture usually does not extend beyond the superficial and frequently incorrect cliches served up by the American entertainment media.

European executives generally are fluent in at least one foreign language and have a working knowledge in one or two others. Schrage’s assertion “that it is almost impossible to imagine a set of circumstances where Nestle is run by someone other than a Swiss” would certainly hold for the typical American candidate, who would probably need an interpreter just to find the executive washroom.

I believe foreign multinationals are not nearly as averse to considering American candidates for the top spot as is implied, if they could find some that have at least a working knowledge of the local culture and language.

PAUL W. ROSENBERGER

Manhattan Beach