Bloomberg?s article ?Jain may be lost in translation as Deutsche Bank seeks chief? has once again ignited speculation about the successor to the top job at Deutsche Bank. The article suggests that the 140-year-old German institution appears to be having an identity crisis, in terms of trusting a non-German to negotiate its halls of power. Anshu Jain, the sole head of the investment bank, is considered the frontrunner for the position. Having turned the bank profitable after the downturn, generating close to 78% of the bank?s pre-tax earnings in the first half of this year, Jain earned a place in the top-100 most influential people in finance, ahead of his boss Josef Ackermann. So why the hesitation in naming him CEO?
Well, for one he was born in India and another, he doesn?t speak German. A bit ironic for a financial institution that was named ?best global investment bank? by Euromoney this year. These are only two foreseeable hurdles, one of which is fixable, in Jain?s path to becoming CEO. Might we take the liberty of recommending a crash course in German to him?
Frivolities aside, this isn?t about endorsing Jain?s candidature but the larger debate about old Europe?s reluctance to embrace change. It appears that there exists a trust deficit in European companies, especially those that play significant financial/political roles, when it comes to allowing foreigners to take on leadership roles. Japanese companies, barring Daiichi Sankyo, suffer from a similar condition. They prefer to have Japanese nationals at the helm of their global operations. Indian companies, however, appear to be more progressive. We have a Malaysian running the retail division of one of the largest private sector firms (Reliance Industries), an Austrian in the role of COO for a PSU (Air India) and an Englishman as a former executive director of Tata Sons. The US, too, for all the protectionist policy it is advocating, gives us examples of Indians like Pandit and Nooyi who head Citibank and Pepsi, respectively.
Given the changing economic order, with only gains to be achieved by sourcing talent from across the globe, it may serve traditional European powerhouses to recondition their sensibilities and open their doors to change.
feedit@expressindia.com