MGMT 4300—Managing A Virtual Workforce

Instructor: Ed Martinez
Weight: 50 points - No partial credit. All questions must be answered in order to receive a grade.

Assignment #7
Instructions: Read Case 8.1 and Case 8.2. Then, answer its respective questions as shown at the bottom of the case.
After this assignment is complete, please submit the WORD document to Blackboard.
Note: While I am primarily interested on your analysis, spelling check is appreciated.

Case 8.1. Working in a sheltered enclave in Shanghai, China

David Smith is an electrical engineer working for an MNC based in Detroit, Michigan. Although U.S. and European companies
like David's are more inclined to post their Asian third country nationals on assignments in China, this more economical
approach to recruiting managerial talent and deploying expatriates is still limited due to talent scarcity and national laws and
regulations inhibiting full mobility. When his company asked him to go to China for an expatriate assignment, David was not
really excited about the offer. Although China had achieved remarkable economic growth and frequently made newspaper
headlines, he knew very little about the country. He had never studied Mandarin or the history of China. But David's family
liked Chinese food and enjoyed watching Chinese movies. For this assignment, David was required to stay at least three years
in China until Chinese managers fully learned how to operate the newly opened factory. Furthermore, David's family was faced
with two other important family issues that made their decision more difficult: David's wife, Linda, an accountant making a
decent income, would have to quit her job. In addition, they would need to find a good private school for their son,
Christopher, a second-grader.

David's company insisted that this assignment would provide him with a great opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.
After a long deliberation, he decided to take the offer. When David's family arrived at their new house in Shanghai, China, they
could not believe their eyes—it was very much like the one they lived in on the outskirts of Detroit. Access to the compound
was through a guarded checkpoint. The specially treated water, unlike nearly any other place in China, was pure enough to
drink from the tap. Even the garbage was sterilized. David said, "My company is paying $23,000 a month rent for this house."

As a growing number of MNC executives are being brought to China because of their companies' commitment to globalization,
more and more are moving to complexes like the one where David's family lives: a recreated American suburbia with rolling
lawns, two-car garages, ranch-style homes, and its own school, shopping mall, and golf course—all only ten minutes away from
the new international airport. After being in Shanghai for almost two years, David and his family members do not really feel
like they are in China. David can totally concentrate on his work at the office, without worrying about his wife at home. On the
other hand, he started to worry that living in such an exclusive enclave would only emphasize the division between expat
nates and the Chinese community and the markets he was supposed to be learning about. He began to ask to himself, "Am I
doing the right thing?"

QUESTIONS FOR CASE ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

1. What are potential reasons why David's company would desire to send its own home country expatriate instead of using a
local Chinese manager or a third country national.
Well some potential reasons are that Although U.S. and European companies like David's are more inclined to post their Asian
third country nationals on assignments in China, this more economical approach to recruiting managerial talent and deploying
expatriates is still limited due to talent scarcity and national laws and regulations inhibiting full mobility. As well, another
reason is that as a growing number of MNC executives are being brought to China because of their companies' commitment to
globalization.

2. Can you identify the main family issues facing David's family?
second grader.
3. Do you see any longer-range pitfalls in the approach used by David's company to carry out its HR policy to attract the most
qualified expatriates?

Yes, I saw that, David's company insisted that this assignment would provide him with a great opportunity to climb the
corporate ladder. When David's family arrived at their new house in Shanghai, China, they could not believe their eyes—it was
very much like the one they lived in on the outskirts of Detroit. For example, David’s company gave them access to the
compound was through a guarded checkpoint. The specially treated water, unlike nearly any other place in China, was pure
enough to drink from the tap. Even the garbage was sterilized. David said, "My company is paying $23,000 a month rent for
this house."

CASE 8.2. Re-entry shock: A family affair

Hannah Heikkinen looked out the window as she sipped her coffee. As the HR director of Nordic Oils she was taking a quick
break from a meeting with the directors from various departments of the company to discuss expatriate assignment issues
and, in particular, problems with repatriation. This meeting was prompted by the recent resignation of Pekka Nieminen.

Nordic Oils is a drilling company based in Finland that operates in five countries: Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, and, the
newest office, Colombia. Although they had been sending expatriates abroad for more than thirty years, the employees had
never been away for more than two years at a time and were often able to visit home during their work terms. But when the
Colombian office opened, Pekka Nieminen was sent for a five-year term to train and guide the new office employees. This
extended assignment proved very productive for the company, but the repatriation of Pekka and his family fell short. Now as a
replacement expatriate was preparing to move to the Colombian office, Hanna and other senior-level colleagues were
discussing what improvements should be made to achieve smoother repatriation in the future.

Pekka's extended term to Colombia had been deemed necessary by the Nordic Oils management team due to the extreme
cultural and work differences between Finland and Colombia, requiring significant adjustment. The new office start-up also
required a major initial time investment in new workforce staffing and training. Pekka had worked with Nordic Oils for ten
years before moving to Colombia with his family. He had a wife and two children who were seven and twelve upon departure
from Finland. In Colombia, Pekka was the head of a team that included three other Finnish employees who ensured that the
Colombian office was run parallel to the Finnish office and that employees were trained according to Finnish standards.
Pekka's family experienced culture shock when first introduced to the Colombian culture, but with training and support from
the company they worked through it and adjusted.

After the five-year term expired, the family made their way back to Finland to begin reintegration into their home country.
This is where major problems began to occur. The children were having difficulties readjusting into their schools. The eldest,
who was in his second year of Finnish high school upon return, was facing complications in the company of girls. He was seen
as being too forward and aggressive toward his female friends, who were beginning to reject him. The youngest, who was in
her last year of primary school, was dealing with the fact that her former friends had changed and had developed new groups
of friends. Due to the reserved manner of the Finnish culture, she was finding it harder to meet new people and had quickly
acquired the reputation of being overly friendly. These issues were a result of their years in Colombia's very outgoing culture.

Anneli Nieminen, Pekka's wife, worked as a preschool teacher before leaving for Colombia. While away from Finland she didn't
work and was not only having a hard time finding work in Finland but was not looking forward to spending days away from
her family again. In addition, she was not feeling comfortable with her old friends. During her stay in Colombia she had learned
to express herself more openly and developed different values that were more in line with Colombian views. Her friends,
however, did not understand her changed mentality. This caused Anneli to perceive them as being slightly cold and aloof.

Pekka was also having some problems, primarily at work. He was not fully aware of changes that had occurred at the Finnish
office during his absence and was struggling to settle in. Colleagues who had previously been on par with him had been
promoted, which was causing some tension. And while in Colombia Pekka had been in charge of the team overseeing the entire
operation and was responsible for many others as well. But back in Finland Pekka was returned to his old position of quality
engineer manager and was responsible for far fewer employees and decisions, making his work seem less significant. In
addition, before leaving for Colombia, Pekka had been told of the strong likelihood of a promotion at the end his term abroad.
Due to the developments and changes within the company during this time, the promised position was no longer available.
The lack of increased income with the anticipated promotion made life in Finland very expensive. The family had become
accustomed to having an elevated disposable income in Colombia, and moving back to the high cost of living in Finland
required them to tighten their budget significantly.

Hannah threw the remaining few sips of her coffee into the staff room sink and began to walk back to the meeting. Based on
the company's previous smooth repatriation experiences, Hannah and her colleagues had not been sensitive to the Nieminen
family's possible reintegration difficulties. The meeting that afternoon would be the first time this problem had been
discussed. Finding solutions would be difficult. It was going to be a long afternoon.

QUESTIONS FOR CASE ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

1. What was different about the expatriate assignment to Colombia, compared to the company's previous expatriation
experiences, that might have contributed to a more challenging repatriation experience for Pekka and his family?

It was different because Pekka's extended term to Colombia had been deemed necessary by the Nordic Oils management team
due to the extreme cultural and work differences between Finland and Colombia, requiring significant different expierences.
For example, the new office start-up also required a major initial time investment in new workforce staffing and training.
Pekka had worked with Nordic Oils for ten years before moving to Colombia with his family. He had a wife and two children
who were seven and twelve upon departure from Finland.

2. What could Nordic Oils do more effectively before initial departure to Colombia, during the foreign assignment, and after
return to improve the family's repatriation adjustment?
Well

3. What could a family like the Nieminens do for themselves to increase the likelihood of a smoother repatriation experience?

Some things they should do is try their best to focus on the positive things of what they are doing and actually make a decision
they are all happy with, so they can try their best to smoother their transition to the repatriation experience. As well, Provide
support to the entire family. Help the repat’s spouse find a new job