Spanning the globe - Essay Example

Spanning the globe There are a number of problems that Eric faces. Firstly, it was the issue of the engineer Fred Banksand the Mexican assignment that he had been assigned. The Mexican team was not able to develop compatibility with the Mexican people. Also, the team did not pay enough respect or show sensitivity to the local and national governments of Mexico which led to undue delays in permits and authorizations. The same problem had occurred in the Indian assignment. Fred was not willing to divide responsibilities and work in collaboration with the Indian engineers and district and federal regulators.

On looking deeper into the problems, it was seen that the repatriate programs were not faring well. The employees were not gaining much from the language courses. Moreover, there was also a concern for the costs of the ventures. Alternative solutions to the problem include that the training be made more formal and rigorous. Rigorous training would involve that there is a preset deadline for the employees to learn the language course and undergo training. The training course should focus more on the development of cooperative ties with the governments of the foreign countries.

Although Eric was not trying to be harsh with Fred, it needs to be emphasized that a number of problems are occurring due to his lack of cooperation with the foreign governments. The current debriefing and counseling sessions should be more holistic and encourage the exchange of ideas between the repatriates and the managers. The company should ask the repatriates about their expected returns and expectations as well as career goals (Katsioloudes & Hadjidakis, 2007). More importance should be given to repatriate turnover.

If the turnover is too high, it is suggestive of the fact that the process is going too fast and the repatriates are not getting enough time to work on their assignments. Although Eric has had a good professional career so far, he was not prepared for the problems that arose. The circumstances that he was in made him learn languages but the same motivation was not present for other repatriates. There is a need to develop incentives for the repatriates and to encourage them to cooperate with the national and local governments of the countries that they are sent to.

One of the ways that he could cut costs would be by reducing the number of repatriates that he sent. However these repatriates must have undergone much more holistic and rigorous training. They would have been given adequate time to be trained and learn the language of the country they are being sent to. The company can respond by changing the structure of the assignments and revising their repatriation strategy and practice (Goliath, 2005). Fred’s remarks suggested that the repatriates found it tough to leave their home country for work.

This should be taken into consideration. The management should try to focus on building value in the visits so that the repatriates feel that they have gained something significant out of it. The money and effort spent on giving more extensive training would not only offset the problems that arose afterwards, but also the transfer of HCNs into the US operations for training and development would prove to be more effective. The company could select qualified engineers from the foreign country and train them accordingly to complete the assignments abroad.

Reference List Goliath (2005). Strategies for successful repatriation. Retrieved from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-415979/Strategies-for-successful-repatriation.html Katsioloudes, M. I. & Hadjidakis, S. (2007). International business: a global perspective. Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann.