Question

WHO WILL STAFF UP THE CHINA OPERATIONS?

Your international company headquartered in New Jersey is sending an expatriate to China for a three-year assignment to staff up and run a new branch of its industrial products business. The main Chinese customers are using the products in their Middle Eastern and North African petroleum operations. You have extensive overseas experience and presently serve as VP, Human Resources. You chair the selection committee. There were 12 internal people interested in the position, and your committee has narrowed this to 3 final candidates, all of whom want this assignment. Here are the candidates: Tom is a mid-level finance manager with stellar performance reviews. He has no foreign experience and would like to develop his career in this direction. He is single, has an MBA, and has been out of school for 20 years. His background is in finance at the undergrad level, which he studied at Ohio State University, only 50 miles from his hometown. He is involved in the local Council on Foreign Relations and is an accomplished athlete. Firdaus is a deputy VP of HR at corporate. Her family emigrated from Yemen to Chicago when she was in grade school, and she speaks, reads, and writes Arabic, both classical and the Yemeni dialect. She is married, with two children. Her husband George is a professor of history and does not speak Arabic. She has a PhD in engineering, joined the company on the operations side, and has made the midcareer transition to HR successfully. She finished her PhD at the University of London in the UK before she began with the company and is now early midcareer. Her performance reviews are stellar. She encountered an incident at HQ several years ago when there was a discussion about her wearing a headscarf, but this was resolved without her changing her practice. She is well known and well liked throughout HQ. Her husband is ready to take a leave of absence for three years to accompany her.

Gunther is VP of the German-based EU company. His functional background is accounting, and he is credited with the success of the company in the EU. He built the business from a small operation in Frankfurt to the EU sector leader in only seven years. He speaks German and English and is known for being well organized and “button-upped.” His work is timely, accurate, and detailed. Gunther’s boss, the president of international, was a bit surprised that Gunther expressed interest in this position, since it is perceived as junior to the position he has now, although it would have an equivalent title on paper. Gunther has an undergraduate degree in anthropology and took graduate-level accounting courses earlier in his career. The company would like someone who could get the operation up and running, stay for three years, and then transfer the position to a local hire whom they would have developed for the responsibility.

1. Drawing on the cultural dimensions that we have reviewed, along with your business knowledge, whom would you recommend for the position?

2. What would be your reasoning for this choice?

3. Whom would you suggest for a backup candidate, if the first selection declined the position?

Answer 1

1) Working in China and setting up the business there would need an appreciation of the culture there and also appreciating the differences and navigating through them. Thus a person who has demonstrated successfully that he or she has the ability to deal with people from different cultures and emerge successfully should be the ideal choice. Along with that, would also be needed the business knowledge and an academic background commensurate with the position. Cross-functional knowledge would be particularly helpful to appreciate the intricacies and interdependencies of various functions and the issues which may result from such a structure.

2) Keeping in view the above points and the fact that Firdaus has a multi-cultural background and has successfully navigated through these differences and adapted to grow into a successful professional makes her an ideal choice for this position. Also her cross-functional work background and her current role in HR wherein she must have good experience in resource management and good inter-personnel skills would mean that she is first choice for this position.

3) As a backup, I would choose Tom as another choice who can be posted there. This is because of his stellar record and his experience in other activities involving team work and interactions with other people. This is expected to help him in his role wherein he may set up the new operations through a co-ordial inter personal framework.