unit 90

Review the SHRM case: “

International HRM Case Study

”

Prepare a 4–6-page case analysis on the topic of strategic management and why it is critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission. In your analysis, respond to the following question: What is strategic management and why is it critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and mission?

Your analysis of this case and your written submission should reflect an understanding of the critical issues of the case, integrating the material covered in the text, and present concise and well-reasoned justifications for the stance that you take.

Case analysis criteria: Your case analysis should consist of:

A brief analysis of the situation and pending decision problem, as presented in the case, and as relevant to your answer. This should be exceptionally brief and you should assume the person reading the Assignment is familiar with the details of the case.
Identification of the major issues surrounding the organization or individuals involved with the organization.
Identification of alternate courses of action to address the issues identified.
The decision or recommendation for action, with the appropriate supporting arguments.
The case question is designed to guide the direction of your analysis in the case. Your analysis should address and ultimately answer the question.

Additionally in the case analysis, make sure that you assess the value of multiculturalism and diversity in a global environment.

You may discuss your case analysis Assignment with the class, but you must submit your own original work.

Case analysis tips: Avoid common errors in case analyses, such as:

Focusing too heavily on minor issues.
Lamenting because of insufficient data in the case and ignoring creative alternatives.
Rehashing of case data — you should assume the reader knows the case.
Not appropriately evaluating the quality of the case’s data.
Obscuring the quantitative analysis or making it difficult to understand.

Typical “minus (–)” grades result from submissions that:

Are late.
Are not well integrated and lack clarity.
Do not address timing issues.
Do not recognize the cost implications or are not practical.
Get carried away with personal biases and are not pertinent to the key issues.
Are not thoroughly proofread and corrected.

Make sure your document includes:

• Your name

• Date

• Course name and section number

• Unit number

• Case name

• Page numbers

The case analysis should be a minimum of 4–6 pages long, double-spaced. Check for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage. Citations should be in APA style.

STRATEGIC HR MANAGEMENT

STUDENT WORKBOOK

International HRM
Case Study

By Fiona L. Robson

This case study has been adapted from the original version of the case study found at
www.shrm.org. The submission instruction is the portion that has been adapted.

Project Team

Project leader: Fiona L. Robson

Project contributor: Bill Schaefer, SPHR
Nancy A. Woolever, SPHR

External contributor: Sharon H. Leonard

Editor: Courtney J. Cornelius, copy editor

Design: Terry Biddle, graphic designer

For more information, please contact:
SHRM Academic Initiatives
1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Phone: (800) 283-7476 Fax: (703) 535-6432
Web: www.shrm.org/hreducation

08-0753

http://www.shrm.org/

http://www.shrm.org/hreducation

International HRM Case Study

Purpose of the Case Study

This case study is geared toward an audience with a basic understanding of the issues
involved in recruitment and selection.

The case is based on a fictional organization in the hotel industry; however, the
content covered is relevant internationally and among different industries. The
material is presented in this manner to allow you to apply theory to a practical
situation.

You will have an opportunity to think about the key decisions involved in
international assignments. You will be able to transfer your knowledge of domestic
HR issues to the international context and consider the roles and duties performed
by expatriate workers.

Learning Outcomes for Students
By the end of the case, you will:

■ Understand the main elements and issues related to international assignments.

■ Demonstrate an awareness of when it is appropriate to use expatriate workers and
the key debates that are involved.

■ Appreciate the skills and knowledge needed by expatriate workers.

■ Consider how organizations can prepare expatriate managers to succeed in an
international context.

Expectations for Students
For this case, you will be acting as independent management consultant. You will be
accountable for all of the activities provided in the case study document.

Recommended Resources

Brewster, C. (1997). International HRM: Beyond expatriation. Human Resource
Management Journal, 7(3), 31.

Brewster, C., and Scullion, H. (1997). A review and agenda for expatriate HRM.
Human Resource Management Journal, 7(3), 32-41.

Earley, P.C., and Peterson, R.S. (2004). The Elusive Cultural Chameleon: Cultural
Intelligence as a New Approach to Intercultural Training for the Global Manager.
Academy of Management Learning and Education, 3(1), 100-115.

Forster, N. (2000). Expatriates and the impact of cross-cultural training. Human
Resource Management Journal, 10(3), 63–78.

Ingemar Torbiörn, I. (1997). Staffing for international operations. Human Resource
Management Journal, 7(3), 42-51.

Matthews, V.E. (2000). Competition in the international hotel industry.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(2), 114-118.

Morris, M., and Robie, C. (2001). Meta-analysis of the effects of cross-cultural
training on expatriate performance and adjustment. International Journal of
Training and Development, 5(2), 112-125.

Background Information
on the Organization

Brunt Hotels, PLC, owns more than 60 hotels. They recently acquired a small hotel
chain headquartered in France. Brunt’s chief executive decided that half of the new
hotels in France would be retained and rebranded as part of the Brunt Hotels Group;
the other half will be sold. This will support Brunt’s strategic objective of growing
the organization slowly to make sure that new ventures are well supported and
opened on time and on budget.

Brunt’s hotels are considered budget accommodations; they are functional, clean and
reasonably priced. Additional information about these hotel standards is available at
http://www.qualityintourism.com/content/pdfs/Standards/Budget%20Hotels%20
Standard_INT .

Most guests stay for one to three nights and are a combination of business and
leisure travelers. The hotels are typically situated in downtown locations that are
easily accessible by mass transit. Tourists are attracted to these hotels in popular
visitor destinations where the many local attractions mean that they will not be
spending much time in their hotel rooms.

The organization has decided to use an ethnocentric approach and send some of their
existing managers to France to lead the changeover of the new hotels and then
manage them after they re-open. If this new overseas venture is successful, Brunt
may decide to acquire other small hotel groups in other European countries. The
organization would like to own 150 hotels in the next five years. Their 10-year plan is
to own 300 hotels across Europe. This is an ambitious target, so it is important that
the organization finds an effective formula to operate successfully in other countries.

http://www.qualityintourism.com/content/pdfs/Standards/Budget%20Hotels

Case Study—Part One

The organization has never owned hotels before, and has hired you as an
independent management consultant to advise them on how to proceed. They
provided you with the following information during your initial meeting:

■ A majority of their existing managers said they would like a chance to work abroad.

■ None of their existing managers speak French fluently.

■ They will allow four weeks to rebrand the hotels. The new hotels must be ready to
open after that time.

■ They expect to recruit a large number of staff for the new French hotels, because
more than 70 percent of the employees from the acquired organization left.

■ They will require their managers to be flexible and move between countries if any
problems arise.

Case Study Question 1:

Based on the information you have to date, what do you think the key priorities should be?

The hotel management asked you if they should look only at internal candidates who are
parent country nationals (PCNs) or recruit host country nationals (HCNs).

Case Study Question 2:

Should only PCNs should be hired?

Should only HCNs should be hired?

Should there be a combination of PCNs and HCNs should be hired.

Present the advantages of the approach you support and give specific reasons
why

Case Study—Part Two

Brunt management decided that because this is their first venture into a foreign
country, they want to use PCNs to set up the new hotels and that only internal
candidates should be considered. They think that this is important so they can
incorporate the organization’s values. However, they believe that once the hotels are
up and running, HCNs could be hired. The management vacancies must be filled as
soon as possible.

In their company literature, the organization states that their core values are to:

■ Provide excellent levels of customer service to all guests.

■ Provide a clean and comfortable environment for guests and staff.

■ Recruit and retain excellent staff.

■ Support and develop staff so they can reach their full potential.

■ Continuously strive to improve all aspects of the business.

■ Ensure that all hotel buildings, fixtures and fittings are well-maintained in a
proactive manner.

It is important that the management consultants for this project take these core
values into account when making their recommendations.

Case Study Assignment #1:

Write a recruitment advertisement for the new positions which can be sent to existing
managers by e-mail. Your advertisement should include, at a minimum, the following
information:

■ Main responsibilities of the new job.

■ The skills you are looking for in the position.

Case Study—Part Three

The management team liked your recruitment advertisement, but realized that they
did not consider the salary for these new positions! Since the organization has never
hired managers to work in foreign countries before, they do not know how to start
determining the compensation. They provide you with the following information
that they found on the Internet:

■ Existing salary for managers is £30,000 (45,000 Euros) plus bonuses.

■ Surveys show that the average salary for hotel managers in France is 60,000 Euros
with no opportunity to earn bonuses.

The directors want to have a consistent approach as to how they compensate
expatriates because they expect their overseas business to expand in the future. They
also want existing employees to be enticed into working abroad and want to have a
good range of incentives.

Case Study Assignment #2:

Suggest a compensation package for the hotel management position. Explain the rationale
for your design. You may also include non-financial benefits.

Case Study—Part Four

The management eventually approves the advertisement and the compensation
package and distributes both internally. Interested candidates are asked to write
a letter to the CEO to explain why they think they are the best person for the
job. Thirty managers apply for one of the new positions (there are 10 positions
available), which means there will be 20 unsuccessful candidates still working for the
organization.

The management team acknowledges that the application letters were not helpful
with making decisions and that they need a more robust selection process. There
must be a strong sense of fairness in the selection process because they do not
want to de-motivate any of these existing employees. They want to select the right
candidates because it is essential that the new hotels are successful and up and
running quickly and efficiently. The senior managers know all of the candidates
quite well (personally and professionally). They would like you, as a n independent
consultant, to design an appropriate selection methodology.

The management team advises you that they do not want to take into account the
marital or family situation of the expatriate candidates; they are concerned that this
may fall afoul of equal opportunities legislation.

Case Assignment #3:

You as a management consultant must design a selection process for the candidates.

There is no budget limit for the development of the process. The senior management
team knows that it is important to get the right person for the job. However, because the
new hotels must be up and running quickly, they ask you to design a selection process
which will take a maximum of two days.

You must be able to justify why your method is appropriate.

Case Study—Part Five

The management hires six candidates to work overseas because they did not feel
that the other candidates were qualified. They feel confident that these six can
successfully open the new hotels. The success of these managers is vital to the success
of setting up the new business, so management wants to ensure they provide effective
support for them in terms of training and development. They believe that the best
option is to divide training into two parts: pre-departure training and on-the-job
training in the new country. Since the organization has never sent employees abroad
before, they are not sure about what should be included in these training programs.
The only mandatory area that must be included is an introductory language section
(including basic business French) so that the managers have a basic grasp of the
French language by the time they open the new hotels. However, they hope that the
managers will enjoy their introductory language course and will continue to attend
more advanced language classes when the new hotels are open.

Case Assignment #4:

The organization knows that training is important; but despite looking at what other
companies offer, they cannot decide what the key training areas should be.

They would like for you to suggest the content and structure of these training programs

Case Study—Part Six

The management team decides to your proposed training program, confident that
it will be useful and informative for the new expatriates. However, they would also
like to provide external support for the new expatriates to make their transition to
a new country as smooth as possible. They are aware of some of the services that
can be offered to support employees on both a personal and professional level, but
do not have a comprehensive overview.

Case Assignment #5:

The management team asks you to conduct Internet-based research to find out what
expatriate support services are available in France.

You need to create a list of the services that are available and provide details of at least
one organization which could provide the services. These services should then be
listed in order of priority for the expatriates.

You should be prepared to justify your reasons for prioritizing the services.

SHrm members can download this case study and many others free of charge at www.shrm.org/hreducation/cases.asp.
If you are not a SHRM member and would like to become one, please visit www.shrm.org/join.

http://www.shrm.org/hreducation/cases.asp

http://www.shrm.org/join

1800 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3499

Background Information on the Organization

Case Study—Part One
Case Study—Part Two
Case Study—Part Three
Case Study—Part Four
Case Study—Part Five
Case Study—Part Six

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