International Expansion Plan for Info World Ltd.

1.0 About Info World Ltd:

Info World Ltd is a Silicon Valley based American tech company that is involved in high
technology components manufacturing and software development. It also directy deals with
sales and customer care services. Info World Ltd has been operating for the last 20 years
primarily catering to the need of its local market and in Canada. It offers its products and
services at compeitive prices. Recently, the company is considering to expand its businesses
into other parts of the world since the demand and usage for tech products and services has
risen world wide especially in a post Covid world. As a result, Info World Ltd’s board of
directors made a decision to start operating in one (1) new location as part of their recent
international expansion plan.

The company’s current HR portfolio consists mostly of young, educated engineers, IT

professionals as well as general graduates for its products/services, sales, after sales services
and administration. The company also has a well-developed pay structure that it follows in its
USA and Canada division. Staff in retail sales and customer care are paid hourly and adheres
to the local minimum wage. Sales personnel also get a sales commission when it reaches a
specific range of target. There is also a reasonable promotion /career plan in place for
managers and executives. Currently, 75% of its employees are male but the company is trying
to achieve a better gender and diversity balance.

The company recently conducted a survey exploring employee interest in international

assignments and there was a good response from executives and managers for a chance to
work abroad. However, none of these members of staff can speak any additional languages
and have not worked outside US/Canada.

2.0 What Info World is looking for:

Info World Ltd is looking for external consultancy support to advise them on how best to
develop an HR strategy which will support these international developments. The organization
has never owned any ventures outside of the USA or Canada and so has engaged your
services as external consultants to advise them on all of the key decisions. In particular, the
company needs clear guidance with justification as to which International HRM
practices would be most appropriate and why. The new office will have directors,
managers, executives, technical staffs and retail and customer services staffs.

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The company wants to make it very clear that it wants to maintain the strengths of the existing
HR systems. As a company, it wants to ensure that any HRM decisions enhance the existing
brand strength and maintain the core values of the business. The company is a strong
advocate of ensuring equality of opportunities, diversity and is against any kind of
discrimination, biases or racism at work.

3.0 Requirements:
The board of directors of Info World Ltd require from you (and your team) as a business
consultant) a business report in which you provide details of your proposal.
In doing so, you are expected to choose ONE country and propose an IHRM system for Info
World Ltd to operate in that country. Guidance and submission instructions for the business
report can be found below.

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 Guidance & Submission Instructions of the Business Report (60%)

Section / Title Details / Guidance

University Include student Name and ID number, Course title and code,
coversheet assessment title, date of submission, word count.

Title page Title of your report.

Executive • This section should describe the report’s aim, major findings,
Summary conclusion and recommendations.
• 300-400 words
Contents Page Include page numbers.

Introduction In this section you should briefly describe the customer’s business
and state what the main issues or requirements are.

Give a brief explanation of the objectives of the report and its coverage
(The different Main sections covered in sequence).

Project Details This may require several sections depending on the scope of the
project (you can use sub-headings). This section should include:
• A summary of the nature and key characteristics of the client
organisation (e.g. what have been its experiences with global
expansion? How do you think management would approach
the balance between integration and diversification? How do
you think its IHRM orientation would be? culture, etc.)
• Discussion of the relevant issues faced by the client
organisation
• Host country characteristics (including if are there particular
cultural or institutional barriers which you can highlight , The
culture of the country, The business system and welfare state
of the country, What employees normally expect, What other
employers normally do, What national laws require employers
to do etc).

• A section with your recommendations for a HRM system based

on good quality research - academic and organisational/
industry
• The proposed HR system should include a bundle of HRM
practices (staffing, recruitment, selection, training,
development, performance and reward) and take cross-cultural
and diversity management into consideration.
You need to support your argument with evidence and examples from
both the home country and host country. These (evidence and
examples) may include data and information regarding management
and employment practices, corporate governance and control, laws
and regulations, educational system, culture, national business
systems, state of the economy, type of governments, political situation,

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 and so on. Justify your proposals with reference to academic sources
and theory

Cost Estimate Set out a detailed estimate for effort, timescales, costs etc. broken
(tabulated) down so the client can see what each part of the project will cost. If
there are any unknown factors that might increase costs state these
here. You are encouraged to include sources/references behind your
estimates.
Project timetable Set out a clear timetable for the implementation of your
(tabulated) recommendations.

Conclusions This section should draw together the main points from your analysis
of literature and research about the host and home countries, etc. It
explains / synthesises what you have learned from undertaking this
assignment. It should reach an overall conclusion as to the best
international HRM orientation/strategy and practices to adopt.

Reference List You should demonstrate your reading in the subject area through
reference to or occasional direct quotations from appropriate sources.
Remember to credit all sources of information that you use, in text
and in the references section. Avoid random references from the
internet (e.g. Wikipedia).

• Ensure you use the Harvard Business Style of referencing

(see http://libguides.ncl.ac.uk/referencing/harvardatnewcastle)
and that you follow the correct style for author, year, title, and
either the book and publisher or the journal, volume and page
numbers.
• Ensure your references are in alphabetical order.
• Do not use bullet points or numbers when creating your
reference list.
• Ensure all sources you cite are included in the reference list
(and that all items in the reference list are cited in your work).
• Consult a good referencing guide if in any doubt.

Appendices Lengthy appendices are not necessary.

Word Count The length of the report is 4000 words (+/- 10%). The list of
references is not included in the word-count of the paper.

Assessment See Report Rubric Criteria

Criteria

Formatting • Use 12-point font, such as Times New Roman or Calibri (but use
11-point for Ariel).
• Use standard margins (e.g. the default 1 inch or 2.54cm in
WORD or another word processing software).
• Number all pages consecutively in the Footer using the settings
in WORD or another word processing software.
• Use 1.5 line spacing unless indicated otherwise.

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Submission type a) Submit ONE report per group, a soft copy through IESEG
Online.
b) Assign one group member in the team and upload one
electronic copy to IESEG Online
c) Follow the guidance below on how to format your report
Submission Date Deadline of submission: 5th March, 2023.

Detailed Outline for formatting your report

I. Prefatory Items

a. Title Page

This should show:

Course name and number

The student’s name

The student ID number

Title of case study/task

Word count

Your tutor’s name

b. Executive Summary

➢ Up to one-page summary which describes the report’s aim, major findings, conclusion
and recommendations. It is designed to provide a busy reader with the major issues
contained in the report. The executive summary allows the reader to gain insight to
key outcomes without having to read all of the report.
➢ You should write this last
➢ It should be in the third person

c. Table of Contents
This should show:

➢ The full list of sections within the report (including any appendices and reference lists)
➢ The page number on which each section begins

d. List of Illustrations
➢ This includes the Table of figures: the list of all the figures presented in the body of
the report
➢ Table of tables: this is the list of all the tables presented in the body of your report

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II. Main Body

A. Introduction

This should give a brief explanation of the objectives of the report and its coverage.

B. Analysis (Findings)

Here you should conduct a thorough analysis of your report topic and support your
discussion and what you write with evidence and/or argument. This means that must
substantiate each assertion you make with references to relevant theories, models and
concepts in the literature. Also, where possible, you can support your arguments by
facts and figures, and real life examples.

Remember that you must cite all your sources in the text properly. This is important to
acknowledge debts to other writers, to demonstrate the body of knowledge upon which
your research is based, and to enable all those who read your work to identify and
locate your sources easily. If you do not acknowledge the source of your material it is
in fact theft and could be considered as Plagiarism. Note that whenever you quote
someone or write a definition exactly as it was written in the source, you must also
include the page number.

Examples:

• Jobber (2001) defines the marketing concept as: “……..” (Jobber, 2009, p18).
• There is evidence that (Smith, 1990) that the statistical analysis is sound.
• It is estimated that around 73 million people are employed directly by multinational
companies worldwide (UN, 1996).

C. Conclusion

You draw together the main points discussed in the previous discussion and analysis to
make some overall points.

D. Recommendations:

These are actions which your conclusions lead you to believe are necessary and
beneficial for the organization studied.

III. Appendices

This includes relevant information but may not be central to the main body of the report
or may interrupt of the flow of the argument. This material does not count towards the
word length.

IV. List of References

This is the list of sources referred to directly in your report. If you have mentioned a writer
or a book, etc. your must give full details here. The list of references should come at the

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very end of the work after the appendices. It should take the form of one alphabetical list
of the cited works. You must follow the Harvard Referencing Style (see below).