HR in Action

Imagine that Costco is planning to expand operations to India (Costco currently has warehouses in several foreign countries, including the UK, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Spain). As part of this hypothetical expansion, the company plans to send five employees on 3-year expatriate assignments in India. Costco senior management would likely lay out detailed plans and a list of objectives for the expatriates to accomplish during their assignments. Given the inherent challenges of working at such a distance from other colleagues and managers, all parties would benefit from identifying and agreeing upon several quantifiable and qualitative measures to track expatriates' progress toward their objectives. Given the critical role of feedback in shaping performance, it will be essential that Costco leadership remains committed to regular communication with expatriates to monitor expatriate progress towards objectives and provide support and guidance if those objectives are not being reached. As part of the evaluation process, Costco should calculate the costs invested in the expatriate assignments (e.g., training, relocation expenses) against the tangible and intangible benefits gained through the assignment.

When Costco managers identify ways to track whether employees are making progress toward their goals, they are in what stage of calculating their return on investment (ROI)?

A. Defining the assignment's objectives

B. Evaluating the expatriate's performance against these measurements

C. Calculating the ROI

D. Developing an equation that converts qualitative behavior into quantifiable measurements

E. Agreeing on the quantifiable measurements for the assignment