THE CASE OF THE

FLOUNDERING EXPATRIATE
GROUP 5

Nisha Sharma H19032

Noel Saji Paul H19033
Pradan Jain H19035
Sujoy Mondal H19054
 Situation Analysis
Company
1. Argos has acquired companies across
Europe to ensure market share rises.
2. To meet financial targets all newly
acquired firms have to be integrated.
3. Company has sent its top performer to
head the integration process, but he
has no prior experience with the issue.
Insights
1. The case talks about integrating the units
but there is no data available to make a
judgement on whether the acquired units
needs to be integrated or not
2. Cultural differences in different countries
is leading to friction.
3. The company has a result oriented culture,
is ignoring people issues and expecting
immediate results.

Problems Identified
1. Unifying all the newly acquired companies and integrating it with Argos

2. Cross cultural leadership and communication issues faced by expatriate

 Short Term Recommendations

1. Bert Donaldson should be sent back to US.

2. An executive from Europe should be chosen to replace Donaldson as he/she will be
able to handle cultural issues better.
3. Donaldson can be used as a consultant if his expertise is required.
4. HR of Argos Europe should be consulted while choosing the new person to replace
Donaldson.
5. Frank Waterhouse should directly mentor and supervise the person so chosen.
6. All the above points will help in unifying the units across Europe
Evaluation criteria and Evaluation of Long-Term Alternatives
Ensuring Cultural Return on Time to
Alternative Integration Investment Implement

Introduce Leadership development

Low High Medium
program

Job evaluation + objective selection High High Medium

Preparing selected candidates and their

High Medium Low
families for the move

Establishing feedback mechanism and

communication channel (network) for High Medium Medium
expatriates
 Long-Term Recommendations

1. Introduce leadership development program since past achievements of

managers can’t be the sole criterion for allocating the assignments

2. Do Job Evaluation to create selection criteria.

3. If an expatriate is chosen then prepare the selected candidate and their family
for the move

4. Establish a feedback mechanism and frequent communication network with

the other expatriates throughout the assignment
 Long-Term Action Plan

1. Calculate the return on investment the company is getting by sending an

expatriate vs selecting a person from the local area.

2. Following criteria is to be used for job evaluation

Spouse and Personality

Adaptability Motivation for Organisation
Leadership Dependents/ Traits- Patience,
to Cultural a Foreign Specific
Capability Work-Family Flexibility etc.
Change Assignment Requirements
Issues

3. If an expatriate is chosen for an assignment, the person should be connected

to the expatriate network of that region so that the person can connect with
them to resolve cultural differences.