What is IMD International Search Group?

IMD International Search Group is a global alliance of independently owned retained executive search firms, founded in 1972. It is consistently listed among the top-20 global executive search organizations, with 40+ offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Every member firm is a boutique led by senior partners with deep, career-long roots in their local market.

How does Silvia use the IMD network in a search?

When a mandate needs candidates outside the US–Mexico corridor — a European operations leader, an Asia-Pacific supply chain executive, a Brazilian country manager — Silvia coordinates directly with the IMD member firm on the ground in that market. The client works with Silvia; the corridor firm runs the local sourcing, screening, and cultural read.

Which member firms do most of Silvia's cross-border work?

For inbound US and Mexico searches, Alder Koten works closely with US-based members and with the Canadian, European, and Asian firms that most often supply industrial and manufacturing candidates. Specific member firms are selected per mandate based on the country, sector, and role.

Executive Search

Global Reach — IMD International Search Group

Global reach for cross-border executive search — through the IMD International Search Group alliance.

Executive search rarely stays in one country. A US-headquartered manufacturer needs a plant director in Poland. A Mexican industrial group is opening a commercial office in São Paulo. A private-equity-backed platform is buying a competitor in Germany and needs a country manager fast. Silvia Flores serves those mandates from the US–Mexico corridor and extends coverage globally through IMD International Search Group, the alliance Alder Koten has been a member of since 2014.

What IMD is

IMD International Search Group was founded in 1972 and is one of the top-20 global retained executive search organizations. It is a partnership of independently owned boutique firms — 40+ offices in 25+ countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East — each led by senior partners with deep, career-long roots in their local market. Member firms collectively run more than 2,000 senior-level searches every year for clients worldwide.

Why boutiques in an alliance win at senior levels

Global search firms trade local judgment for scale. Independent boutiques trade global reach for local judgment. IMD is structured to keep both: every mandate is delivered by the boutique on the ground in the country where the role sits, with the alliance providing coordination, common quality standards, and cross-border referral discipline. For senior industrial, manufacturing, and operations leadership — where cultural read and plant-floor credibility matter as much as the résumé — this is the model that holds.

How this shows up in Silvia's practice

Silvia leads the manufacturing, supply chain, industrial sales, and operations practice at Alder Koten across the US and Mexico. When a client's mandate crosses into another country, she coordinates directly with the IMD member firm in that market — briefing them on the client, the role, and the corridor context, and running the mandate as a joint engagement. Clients get one accountable partner in Silvia and one local firm doing the sourcing and screening where the candidates actually live.

Where IMD covers

Alder Koten's own footprint spans Houston, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. Through IMD, that footprint extends to member firms across Australia and New Zealand, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the broader United States — with the specific member firms named per mandate. For the US-side of the corridor see Executive Search US; for cross-border work between the US and Mexico see US–Mexico Cross-Border Executive Search.

How the search runs

International mandates still follow The Dynamic Fit Method™ — Ability, Capability, and Capacity assessed against the rate of change the role will carry. Alder Koten and the participating IMD member firm work off shared standards for search planning, calibration, assessment, and reference discipline, so a candidate presented in Milan or Tokyo has been screened to the same bar as a candidate presented in Monterrey.

Global Reach — questions

What is IMD International Search Group?: IMD International Search Group is a global alliance of independently owned retained executive search firms, founded in 1972. It is consistently listed among the top-20 global executive search organizations, with 40+ offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Every member firm is a boutique led by senior partners with deep, career-long roots in their local market.
How does Silvia use the IMD network in a search?: When a mandate needs candidates outside the US–Mexico corridor — a European operations leader, an Asia-Pacific supply chain executive, a Brazilian country manager — Silvia coordinates directly with the IMD member firm on the ground in that market. The client works with Silvia; the corridor firm runs the local sourcing, screening, and cultural read.
Which member firms do most of Silvia's cross-border work?: For inbound US and Mexico searches, Alder Koten works closely with US-based members and with the Canadian, European, and Asian firms that most often supply industrial and manufacturing candidates. Specific member firms are selected per mandate based on the country, sector, and role.