For up-and-coming executives, an overseas posting has long been a rite of passage, providing opportunities not available in their native countries and experience that can be invaluable to their companies both during the assignment and after their return home. How has the Great Recession affected this formula? HBR spoke with the top human resources executives at four multinationals about how their companies are adapting global assignments to meet the demands of a changing world. Siegfried Russwurm, of Siemens, talks about the need to recruit workers who will really engage with their new culture-workers with the capacity for truly "international thinking." CEMEX's Luis Hernandez discusses personal and professional factors that can make or break an overseas assignment. In the same vein, Keumyong Chung describes measures that Samsung has taken to reduce failures, including preassignment training of various kinds. Today's economy is prompting cutbacks in some global programs, but the news is not all bad: For example, at Walmart, as Susan Chambers relates, a new emphasis on creative, shorter-term assignments is allowing more people (including more women) to obtain global experience without the major uprooting of a conventional expat assignment. It is also helping them get that experience earlier in their careers-when it can be of maximum benefit to the employee and the company alike.

Frank Heberer, a human resources manager at Medignostics, has proposed a long-term HR strategy for the German midsize pharmaceutical company. All his research points to trouble on the horizon: In just 25 years, more than a quarter of the country's population will be over age 65. What will happen to the firm when workers start retiring in droves? How will it attract smart new hires from a much smaller talent pool? But the executive team is focused on cutting costs here and now. In fact, to save money, Medignostics recently withdrew from an early-retirement program sponsored by the German government. Meanwhile, age-related tensions at the company are growing. A 58-year-old account manager, angry about being forced to resume full-time hours and report to a jargon-happy tyke, has been taking lots of sick days and otherwise disengaging from his job. Heberer believes it is only a matter of time before other employees stage unofficial "strikes," too. Heberer is convinced that, for Medignostics to stay competitive, its leaders have to start thinking strategically about the demographic shift. He's trying to sound the alarm; he's even put together plans to create a child care center to help attract working parents--but his boss has summarily rejected the idea as a luxury Medignostics can't afford. How can Heberer persuade his boss and the other executives, all nearing retirement age themselves, to take the long view? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0510A and R0510Z are Norbert Herrmann, an HR consultant in Bad Endorf, Austria; Barbara D. Bovbjerg, the director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C.; Dietmar Martina, the director of Groupwide Performance Measurement at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany; and Eileen A. Kamerick, the CFO of Heidrick & Struggles International, headquartered in Chicago.

Frank Heberer, a human resources manager at Medignostics, has proposed a long-term HR strategy for the German midsize pharmaceutical company. All his research points to trouble on the horizon: In just 25 years, more than a quarter of the country's population will be over age 65. What will happen to the firm when workers start retiring in droves? How will it attract smart new hires from a much smaller talent pool? But the executive team is focused on cutting costs here and now. In fact, to save money, Medignostics recently withdrew from an early-retirement program sponsored by the German government. Meanwhile, age-related tensions at the company are growing. A 58-year-old account manager, angry about being forced to resume full-time hours and report to a jargon-happy tyke, has been taking lots of sick days and otherwise disengaging from his job. Heberer believes it is only a matter of time before other employees stage unofficial "strikes," too. Heberer is convinced that, for Medignostics to stay competitive, its leaders have to start thinking strategically about the demographic shift. He's trying to sound the alarm; he's even put together plans to create a child care center to help attract working parents--but his boss has summarily rejected the idea as a luxury Medignostics can't afford. How can Heberer persuade his boss and the other executives, all nearing retirement age themselves, to take the long view? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0510A and R0510Z are Norbert Herrmann, an HR consultant in Bad Endorf, Austria; Barbara D. Bovbjerg, the director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C.; Dietmar Martina, the director of Groupwide Performance Measurement at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany; and Eileen A. Kamerick, the CFO of Heidrick & Struggles International, headquartered in Chicago.

Frank Heberer, a human resources manager at Medignostics, has proposed a long-term HR strategy for the German midsize pharmaceutical company. All his research points to trouble on the horizon: In just 25 years, more than a quarter of the country's population will be over age 65. What will happen to the firm when workers start retiring in droves? How will it attract smart new hires from a much smaller talent pool? But the executive team is focused on cutting costs here and now. In fact, to save money, Medignostics recently withdrew from an early-retirement program sponsored by the German government. Meanwhile, age-related tensions at the company are growing. A 58-year-old account manager, angry about being forced to resume full-time hours and report to a jargon-happy tyke, has been taking lots of sick days and otherwise disengaging from his job. Heberer believes it is only a matter of time before other employees stage unofficial "strikes," too. Heberer is convinced that, for Medignostics to stay competitive, its leaders have to start thinking strategically about the demographic shift. He's trying to sound the alarm; he's even put together plans to create a child care center to help attract working parents--but his boss has summarily rejected the idea as a luxury Medignostics can't afford. How can Heberer persuade his boss and the other executives, all nearing retirement age themselves, to take the long view? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0510A and R0510Z are Norbert Herrmann, an HR consultant in Bad Endorf, Austria; Barbara D. Bovbjerg, the director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C.; Dietmar Martina, the director of Groupwide Performance Measurement at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany; and Eileen A. Kamerick, the CFO of Heidrick & Struggles International, headquartered in Chicago.