International Organizational Behavior 2e Chapter 7 Activities Page 1
CHAPTER 7
SELECTING AND STAFFING OF INTERNATIONAL
EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES
MAKING THE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING – Multinationals Find
Recruiting and Retaining Chinese talent a Tall Order
China presents many challenges for foreign companies. Perhaps one of the most surprising
is that finding, and retaining, talented Chinese employees is tough business indeed. The
reasons have to do with the thousands of foreign companies that establish themselves in
Even if a multinational is somehow able to lure top Chinese employees, it is often difficult
to hold onto them despite offers of plenty of training and perks added into the mix. In
skilled positions, many multinationals in China report turnover rates above 30% annually.
Moreover, raising salaries has created bidding wars. Small wonder then that salaries in
China are estimated to be rising at a 15% annual clip for talented, English-speaking
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hiring right out of college, even though most Chinese engineering graduates have weak
English skills and little experience.
To sum up, an increasingly large group of multinational firms are locked in a talent war
with Chinese companies—many of which also now do business abroad. Both sets of firms
States or Europe.
Assignment Questions
1. First, if you were in the position described above, what would you do? What
tactics might help you recruit and hold the Chinese talent that will be the key to
your success as a multinational firm in China?
2. One clue is that other things besides money seem to be increasingly important to
3. You can get some ideas by searching for stories in the popular press about how
forward-thinking multinationals, such as Motorola, Tyson Foods, and others, are
4. You may also wish to see what the Chinese firms who are competing for
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DEVELOPING YOUR INTERNATIONAL CAREER – Your International Orientation: Are
You Ready for an Expatriate Assignment?
Purpose and Instructions
This exercise helps develop students’ self-insight about their cross-cultural skills as well as
their experience with and interest in other countries. Consequently, it may offer students
some valuable guidance about whether they would be attracted to and succeed in an
expatriate or other foreign work assignment.
Dimension 1: Your International Attitudes
Use the following code key to respond to questions Q1 through Q4.
1 Strongly disagree
Q1._____Foreign language skills should be taught in elementary school.
Q2._____Traveling the world is an important priority in my life.
_______Add up total score for Dimension 1 (scores will range from 4-20)
Dimension 2: Your Foreign Experiences (use the code keys underneath each question)
Q1._____I have studied a foreign language.
1 Never
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Q2._____I am fluent in another language.
1 I don’t know another language
2 I am limited to very short, simple phrases
Q3._____I have spent time overseas (e.g., traveling, studying abroad, on family trips,
working).
1 Never
2 About a week
Q4._____I was overseas before I turned 18.
1 Never
2 About a week
_______Add up total score for Dimension 2 (scores will range from 4-20)
Dimension 3: Your Level of Comfort with Differences
Use the code key below for questions Q1 through Q4.
1 Extremely similar
Q1._____My friends’ career objectives, interests, and educational backgrounds are . . .
Q2. _____My friends’ racial and ethnic backgrounds are . . .
_______Add up total score for Dimension 3 (scores will range from 4-20)
Dimension 4: Your Participation in Cultural Events
Use the code key below to answer questions Q1 through Q4.
1 Never
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4 Often
5 Always
Q1. _____I eat at a variety of ethnic restaurants (e.g. Greek, Indian, Thai, German).
_______Add up total score for Dimension 4 (scores will range from 4-20)
Assignment Questions
1. Would you like to improve your international orientation? If so, what could you do
to change or improve things?
2. Is an expatriate assignment something that is attractive to you? Why or why not? Do
you think you are ready for an overseas assignment based on your scores?
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MAKING THE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING – Soul-Searching in Seoul:
One American Expatriate’s Cautionary Tale
Linda Meyer’s experience in South Korea is a cautionary tale for any expatriate. She was
very attracted to the opportunity to finally become an expatriate and accepted a
management position in human resources at Seoul-based SK Telecom. This was an exciting
Yet soon after arriving in Seoul, Ms. Meyers began wondering if she had made a huge
mistake. Despite experience in previous jobs requiring considerable overseas travel
(including months-long stints in the Czech Republic and Ecuador) and her expertise as an
expatriate consultant, Ms. Meyers was unable to grasp, much less operate effectively at SK
So what happened? The signs of things to come started early when Ms. Meyers was initially
emailed by an SK Telecom recruiter—who assumed she was a man. She obviously
eventually took the job, feeling it was simply too good to pass up. Once she arrived in Seoul,
But Ms. Meyers was completely shocked by the struggles she had communicating with her
Korean colleagues inside the company’s hierarchical management structure. Her inability
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questions to learn anything, Ms. Meyers felt that even her polite questions were interpreted
as criticisms.
Things eventually got so bad that many of her colleagues simply would not speak with her.
The other shoe finally dropped in 2009, when Ms. Meyers was told that her contract would
not be renewed. While disappointed that she did not have the impact on the company that
she would have liked, Ms. Meyers also felt a sense of relief that she would be leaving.
In terms of her own style, Ms. Meyers also concluded that she should have been more
patient when introducing changes to her Korean subordinates. For example, soon after
arriving in Seoul, she tried to create a more informal environment by telling her Korean
subordinates to stop using her title and address her as “Linda.” Unfortunately, this
Assignment Questions
1. What is your assessment of the situation that Linda Meyers found herself in?
Who is responsible for her difficulties as an expatriate?
2. Does it surprise you that Linda Meyers encountered so much trouble in Korea,
particularly given her prior experiences and positions? Why did she struggle to
respond more effectively? What is the implication of all of this?