CASE STUDY

Spanning the globe Eric, Associate Director for Global Hr Development at Tex-Mark was sitting in his car in an early morning traffic jam. He had thought that by leaving his home at 7.00 am he would have been ahead of the heavy commuter traffic into San Antonio City Centre. The large portable crane used to set up concrete barriers around roadworks has overturned, and inbound and outbound traffic would be at a dead stop for at least an hour. Eric had ended up at Tex-mark. A computer input-output manufacturer and supplier, through an indirect career route. Brought up in the Hill country village district of San Antonio, Eric had graduated fro Churchill High school and Baylor University in Waco, Texas with a major in history and minor in Spanish. His maternal grandmother lived in Tennessee, but was born and grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland and Eric had spent several summers while in high school and at university backpacking in Europe. His facility for languages was impressive and he had an excellent working use Spanish, German, French and Italian. He could converse in Cantonese as a result of working in a noodle restaurant during university and had started a tutorial course in Mandarin last fall. Tex-Mark had started out as spin off firm from Dell computers in the late 1970s. Patent combined with excellent in engineering, an outstanding institutional sales staff, cost-sensitive production and pricing, all combined to make Tex-Mark a major force in the printer and optical scanner industry. Tex-Mark inherited a production facility in San Antonio from Dell, but the company also had international production facilities operating in three countries: Monterrey, Mexico, Leith, Scotland and more recently in Jaipur, India. A major new facility was scheduled in Wuhu, China late next year. Eric major concern was a teleconference meeting at 2.00 pm with his director who was currently visiting the sales center in Memphis and the other four members of the executive career development team in San Ontario, The general topic was a review and evaluation of training and development strategies for expatriate professionals and managers resulting from Tex Marks growth and the new production shift to Asia.

Eric major concern was a teleconference meeting at 2.00 pm with his director who was currently visiting the sales center in Memphis and the other four members of the executive career development team in San Ontario, The general topic was a review and evaluation of training and development strategies for expatriate professionals and managers resulting from Tex Marks growth and the new production shift to Asia. Erics meeting with Fred Banks had not gone well. Fred had been a bright and promising young engineer back then and was the first person chosen to go to Scotland in 1983. He was so successful in bringing the facility online in an eleven-month assignment that he was made lead engineer of the team that went into Mexico in 1989. The three year Mexican project did not go as smoothly. Certainly, there were many unavoidable economic uncertainties during that period. Reviewing the files, Eric felt a large part of the problem was that Freds team did not relate well to the Mexican counterparts. Furthermore, the Tex-Mark team did not treat the local and national government agencies with enough respect and sensitivity. Eric noted that permits and authorizations that should have taken weeks instead took six months or more. After the Mexican project, Fred stayed in San Antonio with occasional trips to Durham, North Carolina. His assignment in India in 1999 was by sheer chance, as a last-minute replacement for another engineer whose father was diagnosed with serious cancer some two weeks before the family was set off on assignment. Eric had helped design the training program for the original candidate and had even included a one-week visit for the candidate and his wife.

Today Fred was angry and disappointed that an eighteen-month assignment in India had turned into a three year assignment and that a research position in Durham-promised to him by a previous VP( two VPs ago) was filled by a younger Durham resident employee. Eric bluntly countered that the eighteen-month assignment had become a three-year assignment largely due to Freds unwillingness to train and hand over responsibilities to local engineers and his inability to work constructively with district and federal regulators in India. The conversation took a hostile turn and although Eric did not lose his temper, he was troubled by Freds final comment: If this how you treat the people willing to go abroad. Youll never get your best engineers to leave San Ontario. With the Chinese operation adding to the number of expatriate destinations, Eric realized TexMark should have a more formal policy regarding the international assignment. Feedback regarding the interviews and conversations with Tex-Mark employees with countries experiences was mixed. Some had developed into the longer-term mentoring arrangement but other expatriates had found it not useful. Language courses were problematic. Eric knew not everyone took languages the way he did. On too many occasions, there were time employees left the country mid-way through their language courses. As of now, two issues came into a priority in the meeting! that needs to be considered.

QUESTIONS:

1. Does Erics personal background assist in his assessment of the problem he faces? Support your answer with TWO (2) justifications. (4 marks)

2. Based on the language training and mentoring issues, in your opinion, how can TexMark improve? (4 marks)

3. How Tex-Mark can reduce the issues of an international assignment is extended to a longer-term,with a reason that nobody can replace him, and the unwillingness of expatriates to train and hand over responsibilities to local engineers and his inability to work constructively with district and federal regulators in India. (4 marks)

4. Freds final comment: If this is how you treat the people willing to go abroad. Youll never get your best engineers to leave San Ontanio made Eric realize that he has to get information pertaining to his priority now. In your opinion, what is his reaction to this? (6 marks)

5. Briefly explain TWO (2) points how Tex-Mark can be effective in performance management to ensure a successful expatriation. (4 Marks)

6. Suggest THREE (3) incentives that can be given to an expatriate. (3 Marks)