RNATIONAL MANAGEMEN CHAPTER 16 + HIRING AND MANAGING EMPLOYEES CASE BP: Challenges in Global Staffing Bing wcrting. mnng ling hn rue eer eae alee ea ees ‘lial. BP te tyra eadag tod ps coeny tod wr hid apes nergy coun ntl Riel si ei egecates aia pers Peale cre eat ope ai lee ea peta as en bo See epee a sting pole 1 ena ttt epaon conte fo ot ey Aa eihes GU EP es oon Tagine Flee rete Ty 201, BP sod six forer meni of carey teat Steps ore wat BE cine we mas of paecea ou Ta alia a cea BP regina ln Singapore Shen Bigil Or, bate gin» crops civnuge ove BP th Aen Bere Mea santana cere ee es eae Gea ot be eaten os Sesto in by pee trey cones ur wea cs Go ieee The sk pepe sed ty BP were Qak Cin Thean, fr nt il bal ie neal manages St eons: Pel Jet Declan bea! of opis earn ee eee oe ea ee ree sas pes Sic a es aed eo Sil un Sheuhen Bgl Gop. nk Chin Tce, Fe eters Grice ic bec eda by BP in 99 and wes ened of a ites US-ted colleges oSenchen Bria Oven fis Gal es Tos Damien et Ue Tone os a feces ese apace Br Sait noc BE eine Gt ctelrecs snk sores of a teria 'G wie et Coes Wy ce or SE ce ereipraate With the ultimate aim of setting up a Singapore-based oi trading firm. According to BP, the unauthorized disclosure of such information would greatly damage the security of BP's strategies. BP also argued that its customers were being di- verted to Shenzhen Brightoil, which was considered a delib- crate act of sabotage. Furthermore, BP insisted that the six employees directly helped Shenzhen Brightoil Group while they were still employed by BP, contradicting the terms of their employment contracts, ‘The six denied all accusations against them in August 2010. The case was extremely important for BP as its ‘Singapore office works in the Asian oil-trading hub, which has very competitive jobs market. BP has many rivals in the re- gion including large corporations such as Mercuria Enerey Ltd., Noble Group Lid,, Standard Chartered Lid. Citigroup Inc., Societe Generale SA, and Trafigura Beheer BV, which are hiring coal, il and natural gas traders in Asia amid raising demand in the region for energy. BP argued that it lost the op- portunity to address any human-resource issues and stem the loss of its staf as a result of the sudden and mass resignations cof many of its valuable employees. Thinking Globally 1. What advantages did BP expect in hiring local managers in an emerging market like southeast Asia? 2. What challenges did BP face by hiring local people in its office in Singapore? 3, Suppose a company decides that it has made a mistake by hiring local personnel in a key Asian country. What are some potential problems that it will face if it decides to install or reinstate expatriate managers in these positions? Source: Russell, C, and Carigan J, “BP Sues Six Forme Staff for Misusing Confidential Information”, Bloomberg Businessweek ( ), July 23, 2010; Tan A. “BP Ex-Employees Deny ‘Wrongdoing in Singapore Lawsuit", Bloomberg Businessweek ( ), August 2, 2010.