You work as a people management professional in a UK manufacturing company operating in thepharmaceutical sector. Your organisation is based on a single site where it employs 3000 people,most of whom are employed in well-paid professional, technical and administrative roles. Thereare large teams working in research and development, marketing, and production. While yourcompany has been highly successful at exporting its major products, aside from some salesrepresentatives, it has never employed many people to work overseas previously and has not beeninvolved in any international ventures.
This situation is about to change. Your company is about to become a wholly owned subsidiary of amuch larger Japanese corporation which has interests in pharmaceuticals as well as health foodsand the manufacture of specialist medical equipment. Your site will soon be expandedconsiderably and become more diverse in terms of its manufacturing capability.
As a result, your core People Management team will double in size over the coming two years andwill need, in part, to start focusing on meeting the needs of a larger international corporationheadquartered in Japan. The parent company will be expatriating members of its managementteam to oversee UK operations and there will also be opportunities for established members of theUK based team to work for periods in Japan alongside colleagues there who specialise in peoplemanagement.
Consequently there is a need for your team to develop its international people management knowhow quite rapidly and to adapt its practices to meet the needs of this new situation. You areasked to lead the project team, working to make this upcoming period of transformative changeproceed smoothly and successfully. Your initial task is to organise a two-day training event for allmembers of the People Management function who are based on your site with a view both toexplaining some of the likely challenges which lie ahead and to prepare everyone to meet themeffectively.
Your manager asks you to brief her about your plans for this training event by responding to thefollowing 11 questions relating broadly to what needs to be covered. At this stage all that isrequired is a brief outline of your initial thinking, but it is important that this is appropriate,thoughtful, well-informed and well-justified.
You may, if you wish, choose a different Southeast Asian country to discuss. However, you shoulddiscuss this with your assessor first and ensure that you have their approval to do so.
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Questions
Question 1 (AC 1.1)
Drawing on Geert Hofstede’s cultural mapping research, examine the major ways in which UK andJapanese workplace cultures differ from each other and how this may pose significant challengesfor your organisation in the future following the takeover.
Question 2 (AC 1.2)
Assess the benefits to your company of employing people in an international context following thetakeover.
Question 3 (AC 1.3)
Explain why there is typically some tension in multi-national companies between a wish to adhereto global corporate standards and norms when managing people, and an equally strong need torespect established local standards and norms. How can this tension best be resolved in yourcompany as it prepares to implement the proposed takeover?
Question 4 (AC 2.1)
Assess the major short term people management factors that your company will need to considerduring the next few months as the implications of the takeover become clear to the workforce.
Question 5 (AC 2.2)
Explain two major ways in which employment and labour market traditions vary between the UKand Japan. Illustrate each with a practical example.
Question 6 (AC 2.3)
Evaluate two major ways in which common people management practices differ between the UKand Japan.
Question 7 (AC 3.1)
Explain the main role and function of a well-run and effective international people managementfunction.
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Question 8 (AC 3.2)
Consider the features of people management in a typical Japanese company employingprofessional staff. Which would you like to see adopted by your workplace? Which would youprefer to see not adopted?
Question 9 (AC 4.1)
Evaluate the potential advantages of expatriating Japanese staff to work in the UK and vice versa.
Question 10 (AC 4.2)
Explain which personal attributes and competencies your companies should consider whenselecting staff to work at the new parent company’s headquarters in Japan.
Question 11 (AC 4.3)
Explain which policies and practices your company should adopt for managing the repatriation ofexpatriate staff after their assignments in the UK and in Japan.
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