978-1259317224 Chapter 14 Part 3

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

4. Why might an international company encounter challenges in trying to establish a

linkage between the international human resource approaches it uses and its competitive

strategy? How might these challenges be managed successfully?

5. Why has there been an increasing use of third-country nationals in the foreign

operations of ICs? Do you think this trend will continue? Why or why not?

6. International companies often encounter performance problems with expatriation,

where problems arise due to issues associated with the expatriate’s family. What advice

7. What are some of the quality-of-life issues that employees should consider before

taking their families abroad as part of an expatriate experience?

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

8. Why are expatriate employees frequently paid more than their colleagues at

equivalent job levels in the home office? Do you think this premium is justified?

9. Suppose you are the CEO of an American multinational. On your staff and in the U.S.

operating divisions of your company are several bright, able, dedicated female executives.

They are also ambitious, and in your company, international experience is a must before an

executive can hope to get into top management. An opening comes up for the position of

executive vice president in the company’s Middle East subsidiary, headquartered in Saudi

Arabia. One of the women on your staff applies for the position, and she is well qualified for

the job, better than anyone else in the company. Would you give her the position? What are

the arguments pro and con?

10. Using the company example in question 9, suppose another position becomes

available, this one as treasurer of the Japanese subsidiary. The chief financial officer of the

company’s California division applies for this job. She has performed to everyone’s

satisfaction, and she seems thoroughly qualified to become the treasurer in Japan. In addition,

she speaks and writes Japanese. She is the daughter of a Japanese mother and an American

father, and they encouraged her to become fluent in both English and Japanese. Would you

give her the job? Why or why not?

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

MINICASE: Jayden White: Should He Accept an Expat Assignment to China?

1. If you were a good friend of Jayden White, what recommendation would you give

regarding whether he should accept the international assignment that has been offered to

him?

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

BONUS ACTIVITIES (additional resources not in the text)

This section provides you with support of your course above and beyond what’s found in the

text. We have developed these resources to support your course, to support your traditional,

hybrid, flipped, or online class.

VIDEO SUGGESTIONS

McGraw Hill’s collection of international business videos is available on pinterest at

https://pinterest.com/mheibvideos. The content is rich and varied, and it is updated monthly.

There is a page on “Human Resources in the International Business” that provides a range of

potential resources for the content in this module.

Youtube provides many videos that look at opportunities, challenges, and other aspects of

expatriate life in various nations of the world. These can be useful to either use in class or to

assign to students to find, analyze, and report back on. For example, “Settling Abroad: The Expat

Life Episode 1,” found at https://youtu.be/TXm0wIkpHj8, provides a discussion of the challenges

that expats face when settling abroad and how to manage them, with input from psychologist

Eugenia Gajardo. HSBC has recently listed countries that are the best to live in as an expat, so

the video “25 Best Countries to be an Expatriate,” found at https://youtu.be/hlj0Ul-wdKA,

examines some of these countries in more detail. Many videos are focused on a single country,

such as “A Day in the Life of a Costa Rica Expat,” found at https://youtu.be/qwf9q6LOmOE.

The video on “Wal-Mart Bribery Allegations: What Legal Problems, Penalties Could It Face,”

found at http://video.pbs.org/video/2227185314/, includes discussion of the more than $24

million in alleged bribes paid by Wal-Mart in Mexico. This can provide the basis for interesting

discussion in class about some of the pressures that confront employees working in international

environments and the kinds of skills, experience, preparation, and support that is necessary in

order to ensure that appropriate decisions are made within and across the units of an

international company.

GlobalEdge and the Academy of International Business provide links to a number of

organizations that offer videos about international business. You can find these links at

https://aib.msu.edu/resources/videodepositories.asp.

TEAM EXERCISES

These may be done individually or in groups or teams, either in or out of class, for later class

presentation. Some are also appropriate for use in hybrid/flipped classroom and online courses.

1. We have had good response from students when we have asked them to evaluate the

local benefits and costs of labor mobility across national borders. You can assign this as a verbal

report or presentation in class, to help stimulate learning by peers as well as interesting

comparisons. The material in this module is a good place to start their analyses.

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

2. Assign students to look for some of rich blog sources and prepare reports about working

conditions in different countries. Then you can ask the students to identify what key issues

seem to be evident based on the comments, why these issues might be occurring, and whether

and how these issues might be anticipated and/or managed by companies and their expatriates

in order to minimize the negative consequences. These analyses can be shared in class to help

initiate a discussion on the design of organizational structures in international business.

3. Have students report on the types of training available for language and culture, including

approaches that may be more appropriate for adults versus children, and training that can

occur prior to departure versus once a trainee is immersed in the foreign culture. It can be

useful to take several of these articles and ask students to compare them and discuss ways to

put together an effective program for developing language skills of a company’s prospective

expatriate personnel and their families.

4. Have students prepare an expatriate adjustment manual for a particular country. We

typically suggest that an expatriate, his or her spouse, and their two children (one who is school

age, one not yet in school) are being sent to a particular nation and need to prepare for a

successful immersion there. We let student teams select the country and then ask them to

prepare a thorough, practical guide to help them prepare for and successfully immerse into that

culture. We encourage them to consider a broad range of personal and professional factors

that arise in such an assignment, and ask them to first present an outline of topics to be

covered so that the instructor and/or the class can help to identify whether important areas are

overlooked or not being adequately covered. Then we ask the students to prepare and submit a

detailed report, written in a practical and usable manner, as well as making a presentation to

the class.

SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITIES

Case Studies

Case studies that focus on international human resource management are available through

Ivey Publishing and Harvard Business School. Ivey’s catalog is available for browsing (www.

iveycases.com); the cases are downloadable and pricing is in the U.S. $3.50 range. Harvard

Business Publishing (https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/pages/home) requires an account and

offers free review copies for educators. The case prices begin in the $3.95 to $6 range.

“Solvay Group: International Mobility and Managing Expatriates,” examines the challenge

facing the head of International Mobility at Brussels-based Solvay Group. He must consider how

to handle the expatriation status of four talented executives in his company, with each decision

having important personal and professional implications for the executive in question. This is a

Harvard Business School case.

“Development of a Multinational Personnel Selection System” describes the challenges faced

by a company with production plants in various regions worldwide. The company wishes to

International Business

Geringer, McNett, Minor, Ball

Instructor Guide to Module 14

standardize the personnel selection system in a manner that would be highly specific for a

particular nation, while also being valid for different countries. The case raises a number o

issues relevant to IHRM, such as job requirements to assess, modules to include, stages an

methods of the modules, and implementation of the system across various Asia-Pacific region

nations. This is an Ivey Publishing case.

“Jaguar or Bluebird? (A): Mark Chan’s Decision to Stay Overseas or Return Home after his

Expatriate Assignment,” examines the experience of an employee who worked for the

Singapore subsidiary of a British multinational and was sent on an international expatriate

assignment to the company’s headquarters in London. After an enjoyable and successful

assignment in London, he discovers that he cannot find a position back at the Singapore

subsidiary that fits his experience and skills. He contemplates what he should do. This is an

Insead case distributed by Harvard Business School.

CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

1. Global Debate: The GLOBAL DEBATE: Why Aren’t More Women Selected for