Chicago food and beverage company: The challenges of managing international assignments
Which staffing framework do you recognize in this case study? Explain its characteristics and the advantages of using this type of framework?
Ethnocentric staffing is the staffing framework used in the case of Chicago Food and Beverage Company for the operations in the Asian market. Ethnocentric staffing is a framework of staffing in which preference is given to the Nationals for top ranking positions in the global operations. For example, the appointment of Paul Fierman on March 2004 in replacement of Mike Shannon to work as General Director of CFO Vietnam. Paul, after gaining his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Cornell University had worked in different positions in the United States.
- There are different characteristics and advantages of this staffing framework like a delegation of staff having a similar nationality as the parent company could increase the credibility of the management and control of the company because of the reason that they have good knowledge of procedures and policies of the company.
- Another advantage of this staffing framework is that in the condition of lack of enough qualified workers for top positions in the company. For instance, Chicago food and Beverage Company’s management decided to appoint Paul Fierman with a mission to lead the subsidiary in Vietnam.
- The adoption of this staffing framework helped the Chicago food and beverage company to maintain its culture in its subsidiary in Vietnam to ensure that the culture of the company is unified rather than diversified (Whitehead, 2017).
Would this type of staffing framework affect Paul’s ability to get things done? Why, or why not?
Yes, this type of staffing framework affects the ability of Paul to get things done because it would be an opportunity to gain international experience. Paul had higher level professional potential in the Chicago food and Beverage Company, but lack of international experience was a problem for him. This staffing framework could be exceptional training for Paul because by working in Vietnam, he would be able to prepare himself for higher level managing positions within the Chicago food and Beverage Company. But the key problem in the case of Paul is that due to the limited period of three-year appointment in Vietnam discouraged Paul due to which this staffing framework could affect his ability to perform better in Vietnam. Paul became frustrated after 6 months of arrival in Vietnam due to two big problems. It might result that due to certain issues of compensation, the performance of Paul would be affected during his stay in Asia (Bodolica & Waxi, 2007)
Explain if any of the other staffing frameworks would be any better? What can you recommend to the company’s headquarters in this sense?
There are two other types of staffing framework that could be used in the Chicago food and Beverage Company. One of these is the polycentric staffing framework, and the other is the geocentric staffing framework. The important point is that very staffing framework has its advantages and disadvantages because it directly depends on the culture and business nature. In the case of Chicago food and Beverage Company, I would recommend for headquarters to research to find the best framework. I would recommend adopting the geocentric policy approach to staffing in the Chicago food and Beverage Company. It is better to approach to increase performance because positions are assigned to any person, regardless of country of origin, culture, and background of employees. In the case study, the situation faced by Paul could be avoided by the company in the future (Whitehead, 2017).
Why does Paul want this job? Is Paul a good candidate for this expatriate position?
Based on a case study, it could be seen that the only objective of Paul to work on this job was to gain international experience. Otherwise, it could be seen that Paul was not a suitable candidate for this expatriate position. By looking at the requirements for a candidate for the position of managing director, it could be seen that Paul was not standing up with those requirements, for example, a lack of linguistic skills and lack of experience with inter-organizational restructuring.
What comments can you make on expatriate management in general? And what comments can you make on the expatriate recruitment policy in particular?
Expatriate management, in general, should be based on at least six of the following steps:
- There should be proper strategic planning regarding the company’s positions
- There should be a proper framework for staffing under which management needs to conduct a job analysis, proper recruitment, proper selection of candidates and conduction of orientation.
- Provision of proper training
- There should be a proper support policy for the employees working in the overseas environment
- Performance management
- Proper repatriation management
Expatriate recruitment policy should be based on the objective of selecting an experienced candidate with a good understanding of working both at the local and international level market (AETNA, 2018).
What are the different expatriate compensation methods you recognized in the text? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these different expatriate compensation methods?
Home country balance sheet method, international method, and negotiation method were the different expatriate compensation methods adopted by the human resource department of Chicago food and Beverage Company. The advantage associated with the negotiation method of compensation is that it is easy to manage and flexible, but it has the disadvantage of being time-consuming and expensive. The advantage of home country balance sheet method is that it is cheaper due to its economic neutrality nature, and it also does not require regular updating, but the disadvantage is that it is also expensive, and it might discourage employees with less than 6 years international experience such as Paul in the case study. The advantage of the international method is that it increases the motivation of senior management, but the disadvantage is that it could be complex to administer, set up and design (Bodolica & Waxi, 2007).
What do you suggest to the U.S. headquarters’ human resources manager to improve the expatriate satisfaction/compensation?
The difference in compensation package might lead to a reduction of the motivation of potential employees so U.S. headquarters’ human resources manager should need to ensure the expatriates that all employees are treated by the HR manager on the fair basis of compensation. There should be the same compensation package for expatriates having the same line of work. All benefits and allowances should be provided fairly to staff working in the home or international unit. For an instant, in the case of the study Paul’s frustration was directly linked with the compensation issues.
References
AETNA. (2018, September 22). Expatriate management. Retrieved from https://www.aetnainternational.com/en/about-us/explore/international-health-insurance/expatriate-management.html
Bodolica, V., & Waxi, M. (2007). Chicago food and beverage company: The challenges of managing international assignments. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 13(3), 31-42.
Whitehead, S. (2017, March 24). Staffing Policy & HRM Issues in International Business. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/staffing-policy-hrm-issues-in-international-business
