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This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Upon completion of the case study discussion and assignments, students will be able to: (1) understand human resource management in multinational corporations and the importance of cross-cultural management and human resource integration in acquisitions; (2) understand the challenges and solutions faced by multinational corporations in the process of expansion; (3) analysis of what characteristics should be considered in CEO selection for managing a newly acquired company; and (4) analyze how to better promote global human resource management from the dimensions of localized HRM system reform and human resource structure reconstruction.

After a long period of negotiation, exploration, suspension and restart, Geely Group finally acquired 49.9% of the shares of DRB’s Proton Holding and 51% of the shares of the luxury car brand, Lotus Group. On the afternoon of May 24, Geely Holding Group held an acquisition signing ceremony with the Malaysia DRB-HICOM Berhad (hereinafter referred to as DRB). Geely’s commercial territory now extended into Southeast Asia, and its product spectrum increased to luxury sports cars.However, the completion of the acquisition did not mean peace of mind. On the contrary, Geely still faced a series of challenges because of differences in cultural background. The national cultures of the two countries (China and Malaysia) were very different, and so were the values of the two enterprises. Facing the challenges of promoting global human resource integration, Geely needs to make a fundamental decision on the HRM mode in the new-acquired company. Should Geely transplant its own management practice into the Proton, or adopt localized HRM philosophy? Which kind of global HRM practice would be more effective for supporting the new-acquired company developments in the future? In the post-acquisition management, how to better realize the global human resources integration become a key problem faced by Geely.

This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

International Business Management, Global Business Strategy and Human Resource Management

This case is suitable for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program, specifically in human resources management, business strategy and international business management courses.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to figure out the appropriate staffing approaches for the foreign investment projects; to understand the challenges that companies face when they expand in the foreign market; to understand the different foreign markets entry modes.

The Nayel and Bin Harmal Investment Co. LCC. is an experienced company that owns a hotel chain with three properties in the UAE. In 2011, it decided to invest in Africa and build a new hotel – Ayla Djibouti Hotel – in Djibouti. The hotel’s construction is nearly complete. This has urged Bashar Al Tamimi to begin devising a staffing strategy for the hotel. Of particular concern is Djibouti’s lack of manpower with hospitality qualifications and expertise. Consequently, Al Tamimi must grapple with some difficult questions: Should he hire staff with the appropriate international hospitality experience? Or should NBHI invest in the human capital in Djibouti and train Djiboutian people to operate the hotel? Which strategy or approach will lead to the most successful and profit-making outcome for Ayla Djibouti

This case is suitable for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program, specifically in human resources management, business strategy and international business management courses.

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CSS 5: International Business.

Food service management, human resource management, hospitality strategic management and, international business and management.

Graduate students.

The purpose of this case study is to determine whether the practice of talent management serves to motivate fast food service employees. It aims to determine employees’ perceived level of awareness and importance of talent management practices; current practice of talent management within the fast food service sector; and to assess the level of motivation of employees from talent management practices. The survey method employing the use of questionnaires was used to ascertain data from a fast food service establishment in Jamaica, a developing island destination located in the Caribbean region (Sinclair-Maragh and Gursoy, 2015). Jamaica is chosen for the study, as there has been an increase in the number of both local and international fast food entities over the years (Collinder, 2014). The focus on fast food service is important, as they have been providing employment to a significant sector of the population. This type of business operation is classified as a tourism related hospitality area (Purcell, 1996) and as indicated by Christensen and Rog (2008), talent management presents an intriguing opportunity for hospitality organizations to attract employees with requisite skills and experience. The industry is also challenged in maintaining motivated employees (Baum, 2008). Talent management can assist organizations that have long-struggled with high turnover rates and the ability to attract and engage employees that are considered assets and not liabilities. Lockwood (2007) points out that engaged employees are loyal, hardworking and passionate about their work. Motivation theory is used to provide theoretical support for the findings of the study. This is because behavioral theorists such as Abraham Maslow suggested that survival, safety, belonging and self-esteem are factors that can be used to motivate employees and Sigmund Freud believes that people need to be rewarded to get work done (Nohria et al., 2008). This theory is plausible to the study, as it is postulated that talent management can enhance employee engagement, through highly motivated employees (Christensen and Rog, 2008). The study finds that majority of the employees understood the meaning of the term “talent management”. In terms of their personal and professional development, the employees believe that these are highly influenced by the organization’s culture. They pointed out that skills are usually developed through training, cross-training and succession planning. Financial assistance is given for further training and skill development. The performance evaluation process is used to identify employees’ specific skill. Although this is done, the majority has not been placed in other departments that would benefit more from their skills. Only 7.6 per cent reported that this was ever done. Employees’ emotional wellbeing is also important. Although majority of the employees (44.7 per cent) are happy about their work, they indicated that they could be motivated by coaching, mentorship and empowerment initiatives. Overall, the employees’ sense of belonging through their engagement and development, and self-esteem through their morale and competence are important to their motivation levels. They are also motivated when support is provided for training and skill development as explained by the motivation theory.

The learning outcomes are intended to guide the teaching-learning process and stimulate students’ understanding of the concepts of talent management specific to fast food service employees’ motivation. The case study is a useful resource for graduate students to enable and develop their critical thinking and solution-oriented skills. Students should be able to critically analyze the case and respond to the questions to garner and improve their understanding of talent management and its applicability in the fast food service sector. Further understanding of the concept can be derived from developing dimensions and measures of talent management that can be generalized to the food service sector.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

HRM, training, strategic HRM.

The case is designed for undergraduate and graduate level business students (BBA and MBA) in human resource management, organizational behavior, strategic HRM, corporate leadership and general management. The case provides an overview of the importance of diffused HRM practices in developing countries on the basis of standardized rules and cultural values defining these rules. The case presents the situation of HR management practices in SIH, Islamabad on the basis of different styles followed by HR managers to develop an egalitarian model aspired on the basis of local values but at the same time is on the line of international standards.

In Shifa, It was observed that locally trained HR managers could better synchronize employees' aspirations with standards of diffused model as compared to foreign trained managers. It was found that the former group of professionals appreciated local values; therefore they considered these values while following standardized rules and regulation; whereas the latter group took it as a bunch of obsolete concepts which had nothing to do with employee management practices in urban/modern organization. Therefore, positive perception of locally trained managers' about the indigenous' wisdom and its consideration in employee management decisions enabled them to play a proactive role in developing cultural fit HR practices, besides winning the support of both, management and the workers. This also allowed them to “maintain balance” between local aspiration and international standards of operations. Although SIH is unique in terms of its mission, services, organization, and its use of technology, it is believed that this unique case may provide useful insights for organizations in similar situations. Many of the difficulties faced by SIH either support or help to understand situations prevailing of other organizations working in the context of Pakistan. For instance, any public or private organization or multi-national corporation following Western (diffused) HR model to regulate workforce in the local setting can get benefit from this research.

The teaching objectives of the cases are apprehend the importance of diffused HRM practices in developing countries context. importance of indigenous wisdom of flexibility and culturally fit HR practices as a proactive approach towards HR issues handling the case of Mr Shahbaz and Ms Aysha Ahmad. Importance of social networking and controlled personalized models for employee regulation, e.g. case of Mr Abid Elahi.

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Human Resource Management and Public Sector Management.

The target audiences for the case study are BSc, MSc and MBA students and management trainees and executives who are interested in learning the human resource (HR) practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of their employees and their employee’s family which, in turn, motivates them to contribute more efficiently and effectively for the organisation. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programmes as this case discusses time-tested HR practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers.

India has and is undergoing sweeping economic changes lately. There are several organisations that have supported this positive change. Of these, one such organisation, which shouldered the infrastructural burden of the transportation sector in India’s growth story, was the 160-year-old Indian Railways (IR), the world’s largest commercial employer. IR’s profit over the past few years was a far cry from its loss-making days, which tempted the government of India to consider privatisation in 2001. The transformational turnaround would not have been possible but for IR’s employees. After celebrating IR’s 160th anniversary in 2013, the case organisation wished to revisit its HR practices to understand its recent economic transformations and to strategise how they can improve and sustain maximum efficiency in future. The objective of this case study is to understand the “people side” of IR by explaining its current HR practices and to investigate and identify changes over the years so that changes then can be implemented in the context of HR practices for the future. Hence, the case attempts to explain the role of HR management in IR’s turnaround strategies. Resistance exhibited by IR staff towards its recent initiative of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation across India due to fear of job losses and insecurity is also discussed in the case. Teaching note for this case study explains existing people management frameworks published in the research literature to class participants by applying it to the case company. In addition, the teaching note also discusses how chief personnel officers (CPOs) of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees with least resistance. Changes/initiatives that can be imbibed by the CPOs in the existing HR practices to overcome the resistance exerted by the employees and to improve the existing system are also discussed.

This case study’s primary objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the HR practices being followed in IR, the world’s largest commercial employer. The case also attempts to assess the ERP system initiative by IR and analyse how it can be imbibed into the existing IR’s HR system. In short, the case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which form the learning objectives of this case study: What are the HR practices that are being followed in the world’s largest commercial employer? How are the HR practices followed helpful in the retention of employees? How can IR pursue the change initiatives, especially ERP implementation, among the employees without any resistance? What are the changes/initiatives that can be imbibed in the HR practices to improve the existing system?

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

International Human Resource Management.

Master in Management, MBA.

This case is based upon a real Latin-American multinational company operating in France. The character called Anne, Human Resources Director of the French subsidiary, has to implement an organizational project, while at the same time managing local constraints. She also deals with the internal employee survey on working conditions. Through this case study, students will analyze international human resources issues in a company that has offices in different locations and therefore has to deal with different cultural and legal constraints. It tackles questions of employee satisfaction, working conditions and internal communication. It deals with the specific role of the Human Resources (HR) Director of a multinational company’s foreign subsidiary, who has to comply with headquarters’ instructions concerning the implementation of organizational projects and also abide by local laws and regulations.

“The Paradox of Development” case has four main learning objectives: It illustrates some well-known cultural values frameworks, such as Hall and Hall’s (1990), Hofstede’s (1991), Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s (1998) and the GLOBE study’s (House et al., 2004) in a concrete way. It teaches students how to deal with the particular issues and constraints of multinationals when operating abroad, especially when the company’s headquarters are located in a developing country while the subsidiaries are in a developed country. And it helps them better understand the role of an HR Director in such a context. It illustrates the shift from standardization–localization debate [global integration – local adaptation dilemma, Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989); Prahalad and Doz (1987)] towards the choice of HR practices among three options, not two: standardization towards headquarters’ practices, standardization towards global best practices and localization (Pudelko and Harzing, 2007, 2008). It tackles the issues of employee satisfaction and working conditions in an international context where employees have different cultural values.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management

The case primarily deals with the HR issues confronted by a US telecom company entering India for software development.

The case can be used of MBA and BA level courses in human resource management and international management.

The focus of the case is on the international HR issues that emerge and how this company goes about solving its challenges of charting an international course. The telecom company establishes an Indian subsidiary, USTC-I, for this purpose and recruits fresh graduates and experienced professionals for USTC-I. The case describes the human resources challenges faced by Todd Johns, an HR Manager with the US company as the company attempts to recruit professional for USTC-I. This case deals with specific HR tools and techniques that can, and perhaps, should be used in identifying, recruiting, hiring and retaining employees.

Students should be able to: evaluate the current situation of the organization and offer possible remedies and solutions for improving future human resource practices in a global context, identify and analyze the effectiveness of how HR tools (recruiting methods, interviews, selection methods, orientation programs, reward systems) are implemented, develop a plan for improvement of HR recruiting and selection in an international context, explain the factors and problems that can undermine an interview's usefulness, and techniques for eliminating these problems in an international context, explain the pros and cons of background investigations, reference checks, and pre-employment information services in an international context.

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The manager of engineering at Palm Oasis Engineering in Dubai expressed dissatisfaction with his compensation. The uncertainty of his continued participation at a key position came at a critical time for the company. This case provides an event for the analysis of HRM issues of a small company in a nontraditional, international context. Real and perceptual issues surrounding expatriate employee compensation, including wages and benefits relative to home country, cost indices, inflation, and currency fluctuations, are analyzed. Motivation and negotiation strategy are also examined.

This case has been disguised to protect the anonymity of the company and key individuals. The industry, name of the company, and names of personnel have been changed. The authors were granted access to key personnel at the company during a limited time frame.

This case is designed for upper level, undergraduate international management, international human resource management, and human resource management courses. The case is designed as a mid-semester decision-based case that allows students to apply concepts on motivation, human resource management, and negotiation.

Human resources management, international human resources management.

The case is suitable for undergraduate or graduate/training programmes specialised in international dimensions of HRM.

The study aims to evaluate the experiences of hotel employees at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok's new employee centre. This centre, called the “O-Zone”, is an example of the hotel's commitment to the well-being of its staff. On a larger scale, it is an illustration of a method to maintain employee motivation and commitment in the luxury hotel industry. The case is particularly useful to investigate as the hotel has created a unique approach to employee well-being in a large urban setting where employees experience a stressful living environment, including long commutes. This is supported by studies in the literature which reveal that burnout and stress are important factors to consider for hotel employees.

The case study allows students to discover the following key learning points: an example of a well-being initiative for employees of a luxury hotel in the Thai context; an investigation of the need for employers in luxury hotels in Thailand to attract and retain talent; and an understanding of the use of incentives at work for employee motivation in the Thai luxury hotel industry.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Human Resource Management & Social Entrepreneurship.

The target audiences for the case study are undergraduate and postgraduate (e.g. BSc, MSc as well as MBA) students and also management trainees and executives who are interested in understanding the social capital enhancing practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of 1.7 million employees and their family. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case discusses time tested practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers. The case also demonstrates the application of different frameworks on social capital and corporate social responsibility which can be used by the participants in their firms to assess the social capital.

Indian Railways (IR) remains the world’s largest commercial employer, with approximately 1.7 million employees, which conveys the huge magnitude of social capital inventory accrued. This social capital, especially people side of IR, played a very crucial role in running the organization successfully for more than a century. As an organization, IR has guaranteed heavy importance for its employees while making decisions on strategic level. But recently, IR was moving towards automation and was cutting on cost incurred for its employees. IR was already exhibiting decreasing trend in the number of employees employed in the organization. These initiatives were resisted by IR employees due to fear of job losses and insecurity. In 2013, Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) of different zones have to rethink about their HR practices to assure confidence for employees on the security of their jobs and sustain the social capital accrued by IR over years. The objective of this case study is to describe the social capital accrued by IR over the years by offering livelihoods for nearly 1.7 million families across the country. Teaching note applies the frameworks on social capital in literature in the context of IR. Teaching note also discusses how CPOs of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees without affecting the social capital accrued so far.

Case study’s primary objective is to apply frameworks available in literature on social capital and corporate social responsibility to understand the social capital accrued by IR over decades. The case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which forms the learning objectives of this case study: How do the existing frameworks on social capital measurement explain the social capital accrued by IR over decades? How can a firm assess its accrued social capital? How can one demonstrate the same using the case of IR? How can IR pursue change initiatives when it comes to its employees without affecting the social capital accrued over time?

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CSS:10 Public sector management.