Is Top Management Really on Top?

The article discusses the results of a survey about the foreign investment decisions of executives in the U.S. One problem that affects investment decisions is the widening of gap between top-management investment intentions and lower-level implementation. Standard operating procedure (SOP) can assure the CEO that projections pertaining to investment factors are based on common assumptions. However, the chief disadvantage of SOP is its failure to provide guidelines for preliminary screening. Top managers should convert their foreign investment attitudes and international goals into explicit strategy pronouncements that are communicated downward.