Final Case Study

Answer5: In my opinion, out of the three options I would suggest the third option for the Controls, Inc. subsidiary. To continue with their current strategy containing a lot of errors and haphazard would mean dissolving the company into nothing in the coming future. Also I would also not suggest hiring an HRM specialist that also from another firm because the Company cannot afford to take such risks in handling such high paid workers who needs a suitable working environment with hardworking team-mates.
So the best thing to do is to slowly progress to achieve their targets by improving their human resource quality and services. There are lot of mistakes that were made by the company during the assignment of James in China which included mistakes in their reservations and other transfer facilities. These are uncared part of operations by the Company in the overseas. This is due to un-trained workers who lack the knowledge of the importance of such projects and those who don’t understand the diversity in overseas management. Therefore I suggest Controls Inc. to carefully analyze their staffs or recruits and train them well before assigning such tasks so as to make things comfortable for people like James who are enthusiastic about such projects. These small things such as language translation, accommodation and so on, if are managed badly; it affects their flow of work.
Controls Inc. also has expanded very rapidly during their age of progression which has made it hard to manage all their branches especially in the overseas. Branches or JV’s in the overseas where taken very less care. The team sent to China to find a suitable JV had returned without finding an appropriate one as the team lacked negotiating skills. The team didn’t have enough potential to meet in grounds with Chinese and took off in just one month. This process could’ve been successful if they were well trained in negotiation and if they were made to understand the different types of JV’s in China.
Therefore Controls Inc. must surely look forward to this matter and train their workers and make sure that all are involved in the formulation and implementation of International Human Resources Strategy.
Answer6:
There are many consequences that are faced by an expatriate management program which is poorly managed and it could rather create great loss to the firm in an aim to increase the revenue earned from foreign activities of the business. Before starting an assignment abroad the company must first
Other types of consequence would be improper movement or transportation of the team who are involved in the project abroad. The Randolf’s had a great deal of trouble in travelling and accommodation and a lot of money were spent on this way. The accommodation provided by the company was very unsuitable for James and they had to make other arrangements to fix it. The help that James received from Controls Inc.’s subsidiary, Controls Asia-Pacific, was often ineffective and inconsistent.
Other expatriates in China always had complaints about other Chinese workers and there was little or no support from the Controls Asia branch. Filtration, Inc was more helpful than Controls,Inc. to the expatriates in many ways. These drawbacks and carelessness will in the long-run cause a great job turn-over and lot of people would be lazy to work in abroad due to these hard to get management. Apart from the costs of sending workers abroad, these problems could later turn into cost when no taking seriously.

Answer7: James’ exposure to the Chinese business environment has taught him a lot of things and is happy to have been working with very fine laborers who are very dedicated and compassionate to the company and who followed the steps of James in all of his actions. There were lot of good people he made friends with in these 13 months like the Managing Director in Shanghai and many others who were very kind and open in discussing issues and being frank.
The Chinese environment was totally different as his perception sometimes. The factory management was not so bright. Employees were paid less and the safety features in the factory also lacked very much. Employees were in more size which James later decided to discuss about with the Chinese managers to reduce the number of workers to cut down cost.
James also noted that in Chinese Joint Ventures negotiated by Filtration. Inc., the U.S partner always secured the position of managing director. He also observed that when Chinese managers were dealing with subordinates, decision making was very top-down. The Personnel Department Joint Venture which is state-owned Chinese companies were unusually powerful to James compared to most U.S companies as they maintained all employment files and were very connected to the Communist Party.
James also noticed that most Chinese people were not following the Communist politics and saw that most like to live normal lives rather than being involved in parties (political) of any kind.
He also found that Chinese workers have an eye for detail. Since the Chinese are from the high-context culture, trust really matters to them. Apparently, James was often tested by them to see how much truth and dedication he has in him towards this JV.
While looking at the culture, James found out that the Chinese youth mostly likes to imitate the western style which James found very gratifying. Everything about them was so calm and clean. They do not leer at a woman and often remain calm even in the tightest traffic jam. James also found out that the Chinese have an attitude that they know more than Westerners do which is never shown in them in a boastful way.

Answer 9: James Randolph can include the problems he faced and how he tackled them. Starting from the improper assistance he had to face when there were no prior arrangements of reservations or car service made for his arrival. The request to increase the pay for a translator was not taken into consideration and it was difficult to manage without a translator. He needs to include all this in the report so that the management can focus on improving these details and make things easier. The unorganized operations that are carried out by the Personnel and Human resource can also be included. The hiring is done in a chaotic way and no proper consent is achieved. The global positions need more focus of the managers to select appropriate candidate which is best suited and not randomly select. James Randolph should be frank in his report just like the preceding managers were before him. As this frankness will help the management to reconsider the expatriate program and invent a better initiative. By being honest he won’t lose anything, instead make life easier for others. James can write about the resizing of the factory as the workplace is small and employees are too much. The same output can be achieved with fewer employees and the working conditions need to be improved. There are no safety hazards and the factory lacked temperature controls. By mentioning all this in the report, James can give the managers a picture of the factory and its operations, which the managers would otherwise clear, remain unaware of. He can additionally include about the culture of China, the working environment, the social obligations and governmental policies. The ethics can also be written in his report. While being frank he can clearly mention that he had intend to be there for three years and accomplish more than what was expected out of him. The disappointment faced by the sudden removal from the JV in China should be expressed and brought to the notice of the management. James can write about the Chinese employees and their positive attitude towards everything. The recommendations he needs to include are more help to be seen from regional headquarters and home office. Improving the working conditions for the Chinese employees can also be recommended for their safety. James can report this to his Manager in Human Resource or Internationl Human Resource manager, whoever would be more suitable for this.

Reference: International Management- Managing Across the Borders and Cultures- Helen Deresky.