Pauline Newman FMC Coroorotion New York City
II
The Edutational Role of Foreign Industry in Developing Countries
Foreign industry in a developing country can serve a valuable educational function in the training of local nationals to meet the immediate needs of industrial growth. The purpose of scientific and technological education in the developing countries in the near future after all is not to do basic research for the advancement of science, but to provide as quickly as possible the technically skilled personnel needed for industrial development and thereby for economic growth. One should not, of course, unduly emphasize the materialistic aspects of education; education is not merely an instrument of economic growth. Nevertheless, recognition of the essential Ikkage between education and economic-social development-between the growth of people and the growth of a society-is responsible for the emphasis on education in development planning. Furthermore, investment by the developing countries in the trainimg of scientists and engineers may be wasted if adequate opportunities for employment within the country are not available. Advanced scientific training, particularly, is subject t o waste if it is not coord'mated with the national goals and economic Presented as part of the Symposium on International Chemical Educational Activities before the Division of Chemical Education at the 146th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Philadelphia, Pa., April, 1964.
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structure of the country providing the training. Highly trained scientists who cannot function aa scientists in their native country tend to migrate to countries where there are greater opportunities to practice to the full extent of their abilities. This is a loss both of this trained manpower and of the resources which went into their training. Latin America, Africa, South Asia, the Far East, the Middle East, and China have 60% of the world's population yet only 10% of its wealth. In contrast, North America, Europe, Australia, and the USSR, with 40% of the world's population, have 90% of its wealth. Those who administer the national development programs of the newly independent nations are naturally anxious to see speedy, if not immediate, results; consequently the goals of scientific education should be realistically appraised. It is difficult for educational planners to solve simultaneously both the long range and the short range educational needs of a country, but accelerated time-tables of industrial development certainly require an immediate supply of practical skills. I n the advanced countries, universities and technical schools provide to industry a continuing supply of young workers and scientists a t virtually any level of education. Also, existing industries provide a source of mobile, experienced personnel, of demonstrated scientifio achievement or managerial ability. None of this
may he true in a developing country. Almost without exception, there is a severe shortage of scientists, engineers, technicians, and all of the skills needed to support an industrialiing economy. The situation is improving, but through normal educational means the desired results cannot he achieved fast enough to meet the impatient demands of new countries seeking to improve their economic situation rapidly. Concentrated efforts to increase the number and the quality of scientists and engineers produced in the local educational system are not sufficient. Educators must also provide realistic training programs and coordinate educational plans with governmental plans to sponsor and aid local industrial enterprise a t a rate fast enough to absorb these new and eager scientists. Let us consider, then, an interim approach over the next decade or two, to provide rapidly the skills necessary to utilize efficiently the advanced technologies of modern industry. The usual procedure is to import into a country the management, engineering, scientific, and labor skills necessary to supplement the locally available supply. These foreign technicians are then gradually replaced through training programs with local people; high-level technical and management assistance remains available for guidance as long as necessary. Foreign industry can be extremely effective in the developing countries, in aiding and supervising such transfers of technology and skills. Four main types of educational and training programs are provided by foreign industry in a developing country: advanced technological education or managerial training at the expense of the foreign company, usually in a foreign institution; training a t the home plant of the foreign company, in technology and/or management; on-the-joh training programs, includmg close supervision and individual development, by temporary foreign personnel; and local education a t elementary or technological level. Let us look f i s t a t the development of high-level manpower, sometimes called "strategic" manpower, in the scientific/industrial context. The existence of this class of trained and skilled persons bears perhaps the most direct relationship to economic growth. Strategic manpower includes generally the educated leaders, including the engineers, scientists, executives, and managers, plus all others with critical knowledge and skills. One way to measure the stage of economic and social development of a country is to determine the proportion of persons in that country with a t least 12 years of education. Yet typically, the least developed countries have only about one person per thousand with the equivalent of a high school education. In countries whose resources are limited, national planners must often choose between broader secondary education (or even literacy education) and the higher education which produces strategic manpower. The burden may then fall upon industry (usually of foreign origin) to contrihute actively to the training and development of leaders, administrators, and skilled professionals within the framework of an emerging industrializing society. A shortage of adequately trained managerial personnel is considered the prime cause of sloweddown development schedules. Expatriate talent a t the man-
agerial level is only a temporary solution. Thus far, virtually all management training for developing the foreign student enrollment in the leading American countries is done outside of the country concerned; the foreign student enrollment in the leading American business schools is about &15%. On returning home, however, the student is likely to find that his training in a foreign environment has not adequately equipped him to cope with the problems (technological, social, and cultural) of his home country. Pending the estahlishment of suitable husiness schools in developing regions, experience has shown that individual management development by enlightened industry is the most effective and rapid solution to this problem. Beyond the shortages of top management personnel, the main difficulty lies a t the succeeding levels in the hierarchy: plant supervisors, technicians and maintenance engineers, experts in raw materials, research workers, production engineers, and all the various decision-making personnel normally responsible for organizing and maintaining the flow of production. The Trainimg-Within-Industry System is a name often given to development of this type of middle management and line supervisors, in the absence of an adequate supply of such persons. These programs were developed and refined in the United States during World War 11. They were designed to produce effective supervisors and leaders in the shortest possible time, by organized on-the-joh training. It has been suggested that the problem of human resources in less developed countries is similar to the one the United States faced during the emergency of the early 19401s, and that the emergency techniques which were effective a t that time should he applicable to today's urgent needs in the developing countries. Some private companies have used this type of system in their foreign operations, and the United Nations has attempted to establish such programs in the developing countries through the UN Technical Assistance program. Many industries also give formal training courses in scientific and technical fields in the local communities, and some participate in and contrihute to the general educational system of the area in which they are located. This sort of program is valuable in supplementing the country's own educational system; in addition, considering the attitudes of strong nationalism in the emerging nations, such a cooperative educational activity is beneficial to the industry's public relations in the newly independent country. Although many industries sponsor programs of training local personnel in the United States, either by sending them to schools or by a planned sequence of exposure to methods in American plants, there are many disadvantages, some of them quite subtle, to this approach. Consequently, the practice now favored sends American consultants to the foreign country to assist and to train the local personnel. Foreign observers tend to attribute America's advanced industrial achievements solely to our advanced technology, not recognizmg that our way of doing things is d i e r e n t from that prevailing in older traditional societies, or that our social structure and industrial organization pattern are completely different. Very often, personnel from the developing countries are exhaustively instructed Volume 41, Number I I , November 1964
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in technology in the United States, but fail to see this technology as part of the over-all organization and attitude which characterize American industry. Upon their return home, they find the local environment so diierent from that in which they acquired the American training that their attempts to apply the newly-learned technology are frustrated or ineffective. A very serious problem confronting the developing countries is that of the loss of scientists and engineers to the more developed areas as soon as they are trained. There are many sociological reasons which have been advanced to explain this desertion, including the lack either of opportunity or of choice in the native land. Some countries, for example, inherited a tradition of professional employment wherein graduate engineers and scientists, coming home, find themselves with no alternative but a low rung on the civil service ladder, while these less qualified occupy the higher post. In other countries, there often just are not enough academic or industrial posts to accommodate the specialized training and specialized interests developed abroad. One complaint often heard is that highly skilled scientists who have earned advanced degrees find themselves doing lab technician's work, both because there are no technicians to be had and because the country can't afford the luxury of basic pioneering research for
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which the scientists are trained. Some make the best of the situation, out of patriotism or foresight, but the problem is very real. In the conflict with a traditional class structure of society, foreign industry may play an important role in accelerating change. In societies with traditional leadership classes, it may be very difficult for a talented individual to achieve status as a scientist or a leader. However, by promotion from within through internal training and with a system of adequate compensation, this traditional structure may be shaken. Providing opportunities for economic achievement to talented persons can be an important step toward creation of the large middle and managerial class which has been the strength of industrial societies; and which does not yet exist in the less developed areas. Planning for educational and industrial development is a complex process. Foreign-based industry can and does contribute both by assisting directly in planning operations, and by providing on-the-job training programs which are specifically designed for nationals preparing to fill technological roles adapted to their native land. Foreign industry can help alleviate a difficult shortage, and thereby play a most useful educational role.
