Dangerous Overseas Assignment Case StudyOn June Edward Leonard of Creston, British Columbia, a diamond driller workingfor Terramundo Drilling Inc. Terramundo was kidnapped by members of the RevolutionaryArmed Forces of Colombia FARC in northeastern Colombia.Leonards captors wanted to negotiate a deal for gold mining shares with GreystarResources, a gold mining company from Vancouver and the owner of claims in ColombiasSantander province for which Terramundo and Leonard were contracted to drill coresamples. Leonards boss, Norbert Reinhart, wanted to purchase his employees freedom bypaying dollars to the FARC guerrillas.On October in a meeting with the guerrillas, Reinhart exchanged the ransom moneyfor Leonard. While Reinhart was hoping to walk away with Leonard after the moneyexchange, the FARC realized that Reinhart was the president of Terramundo and thoughtthat in him they had an even better hostage. After days in captivity and complexnegotiations between the FARC, local contacts, and Canadian governmental and companyofficials, Reinhart was released on January The case shows the dangers of frontier mining which has had a strong tradition in Canadaand illustrates some of the potential challenges for employees on international assignments.At the same time, the case has started a strong debate about the responsibilities ofcompanies operating in industries and geographic regions dangerous to their employees,and the necessity for precautious actions and support structures protecting internationalassignees. In the same year Reinhart was taken hostage, more than people werekidnapped in Colombia, including at least foreigners.Source: Fennell, T and S Timmins. Homecoming for a Hero. Macleans noJanuary : Assuming your team is hired as external HR consultants to conduct a postmortem review of thesituation and advise the top management of the Terramundo Drilling Inc.

Did Reinhart do the right thing by getting involved in the way described and help hisemployee? What were Reinharts alternatives and options? with intext citation