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Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Answers to In-Text Questions
Chapter 16: Opportunities and Challenges in International HRM
TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE DANGER ZONE: THE CASE OF MERCY CORPS
Case discussion questions:
1. What do you think the unique and similar challenges are for NGOs versus for-profit
companies in terms of HR and HR strategy?
Responses might vary greatly here. Certainly there are unique challenges tied to being a
2. What advantages do you think Mercy Corps has in recruiting, hiring, training, and
managing employees relative to a domestic business? What are the challenges?
While responses will vary, advantages are that the unique nature of the industry requires
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
3. Cultural intelligence is the ability to work effectively across cultures. How do you think
Mercy Corps can hire based on this skill? How can this skill be developed?
While training may help in making employees more culturally aware, experience will
4. How do you think improved expertise in data analytics would affect the HR functions of
Mercy Corps?
Data analytics might provide real-time data for those in the field as well as the home
5. Organizations have a choice in centralizing or decentralizing their operations, including
those of HR. To what degree do you think that centralized HR operations would be
beneficial for Mercy Corps? Which operations would benefit from centralization? Which
ones are better left to the discretion of local teams?
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
What might be most effective at Mercy Corps may not be effective at all multinational
Spotlight on Ethics: Managing Ethics Globally in Multinationals
Questions:
1. As an HR professional, suppose you are assigned to arrange for your company’s international
employees to receive ethics training to define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, and to
know what to do when confronted with questionable requests. How would you develop a set
of training objectives? Would you hire an outside training vendor, and if so how would you
select the vendor?
Student responses might turn in to a discussion about ethics instead of how a multinational
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. Find an example in the news or in the HR literature of a global company that was accused of
corruption. How was the case resolved? What did the individuals involved do right, and what
could they have done better?
Responses will vary by student based on the company they chose and the ethics violations.
Mini-Case Analysis Exercise: Developing a Global Mindset
What would you advise your CEO that the company do? Develop a concrete proposal about how
to develop a global mindset in the company and provide justification for your plan. Be sure to
include a discussion of the resource requirements of your plan.
First, you cannot send all senior leadership on an overseas assignment at the same time. Those
who go first would, in theory, be promoted first, potentially causing dissatisfaction with those
who have to wait years for this opportunity. While the idea of the overseas assignment as a basis
for leadership, it will take providing this training for all employees. Additionally, having an
overseas assignment will not mean the assignment was successful or that leadership skills were
gained.
While a global mindset and understand might be important, there might also be a variety of
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
HR Decision Analysis Exercise: Exceptions to the Rule?
Please provide the rationale for your answer to each of the questions below.
Are the policies legal, ethical, and fair?
These policies are legal, ethical, and fair. While certainly emergencies occur, these policies are
in place to ensure the equal and fair treatment of all employees. There are no laws that say an
Are they evidence based/evidence informed?
These do not appear to be evidence based or evidence informed for either the organization or the
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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Do they foster healthy employee–employer relationships?
While students might initially view the granting of these requests as a way to foster healthy
employee–employer relationships, they must also consider the impact on those other employees
Are they timely and cost-effective?
These appear to be timely and cost-effective. While the cost of granting these requests are low in
the overall scheme of the organization, they have to potential to be very costly in the future.
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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Do they take a systematic stakeholder perspective?
Students may have different feelings about this. Some will feel the decision does not take a
Considering your analysis above, overall, do you think refusing to make exceptions would be an
effective decision? Why or why not?
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What, if anything, do you think should be done differently or considered to help make this
decision more effective?
Alternative solutions can be found. The employee can pay for his or her own ticket to the
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
HR Decision-Making Exercise: Assessing the Effectiveness of Expat
Management
Questions:
1. How would you go about measuring the effectiveness of your expatriate program? What
type of information would you collect and how? Develop a plan to collect the information
you need.
Students will have a variety of ideas here. There are several measurements regarding the
effectiveness of the program including the success while on the overseas assignment and
2. How would you assess whether you are sending the right employees for these
assignments? Describe what steps you would follow.
Those who are sent on the assignments should have the KSAs needed to succeed and
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
3. Effectiveness of expatriates relies on their ability to cooperate with local employees, and
perceived unfairness and resentment on the part of locals may hamper expatriate
effectiveness. What can you do to prevent such resentment?
Training before the assignment begins can help the expatriate become more culturally
