Global Human Resources - Fred Bailey: an Innocent Abroad (Expatriates)
Case 8 | Fred Bailey: An Innocent Abroad | Individual Case | | | |
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT 3 3. ALTERNATIVES 4 3.1. Premature Termination of the Contract and Return Home 4 3.2. Cross-Cultural and Language Training 4 3.3. Home Buddy Support System 5 3.4. Local Mentor Support and Expatriate Gatherings 6 3.5. Generous Compensation 7 4. CONCLUSION 7 5. IMPLEMENTATION 8 5.1. Short-Term: Alternatives 2 & 3 8 5.2. Long-Term 9 5.2.1. Expatriate Pre-selection 10 5.2.2. Expatriate Support 11 5.2.3. Recruit Local Managers 11
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Fred Bailey was offered an opportunity to head the new Tokyo office of Kline & Associates on a 3 year contract as the managing director, which is a big promotion and on the path to become a partner of the firm. This news was met with less enthusiasm by his wife Jenny, who was concerned about the children and her idea to return to the work force part-time. Despite Jenny´s concerns, the career move and expatriate benefits seem too good to pass up, thus Fred accepted the role. Subsequently, the Bailey family moved in a short period of time with little knowledge of Japan, the people and the culture.
The subsequent problems arose in many aspects – firstly the cultural differences including language and food were not prior known to Jenny, which resulted in her daily frustrations. For Fred, it was the differing culture in the workplace and behavior that invoked his frustrations. Both suffer from the mistake of attempting to impose their own home values on the host country´s people and employees which resulted in cultural clashes and misunderstandings, hence culture shock.
On the other hand, the overemphasis on the technical qualifications of Fred by Dave Steiner could be another contributing factor to the current dilemma of Kline & Associates Tokyo office and Fred as well. Although credentials and technical skills are
Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT 3 3. ALTERNATIVES 4 3.1. Premature Termination of the Contract and Return Home 4 3.2. Cross-Cultural and Language Training 4 3.3. Home Buddy Support System 5 3.4. Local Mentor Support and Expatriate Gatherings 6 3.5. Generous Compensation 7 4. CONCLUSION 7 5. IMPLEMENTATION 8 5.1. Short-Term: Alternatives 2 & 3 8 5.2. Long-Term 9 5.2.1. Expatriate Pre-selection 10 5.2.2. Expatriate Support 11 5.2.3. Recruit Local Managers 11
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Fred Bailey was offered an opportunity to head the new Tokyo office of Kline & Associates on a 3 year contract as the managing director, which is a big promotion and on the path to become a partner of the firm. This news was met with less enthusiasm by his wife Jenny, who was concerned about the children and her idea to return to the work force part-time. Despite Jenny´s concerns, the career move and expatriate benefits seem too good to pass up, thus Fred accepted the role. Subsequently, the Bailey family moved in a short period of time with little knowledge of Japan, the people and the culture.
The subsequent problems arose in many aspects – firstly the cultural differences including language and food were not prior known to Jenny, which resulted in her daily frustrations. For Fred, it was the differing culture in the workplace and behavior that invoked his frustrations. Both suffer from the mistake of attempting to impose their own home values on the host country´s people and employees which resulted in cultural clashes and misunderstandings, hence culture shock.
On the other hand, the overemphasis on the technical qualifications of Fred by Dave Steiner could be another contributing factor to the current dilemma of Kline & Associates Tokyo office and Fred as well. Although credentials and technical skills are