Fred’s comment to Eric could easily be frustration on his part but also considered a threat to sabotage Eric’s efforts to select qualified engineers to take the assignment to Mexico. What would you do, and why?
Fred has been a valuable employee, excelling in his international assignment, but he now is experiencing possible burnout and frustration over the extension of the assignment beyond the original agreements. A major reason for the delay is that he did not effectively get the job done because of lengthy delays stemming from his hesitation to hand things over to host country engineers. He was also ineffective in adapting to host country officials and regulations. How would you address this with Fred?
Eric recognizes that Juanita Roberto, vice president of HR, is pushing for budget reductions and is advocating a do-more-with-less philosophy in the expatriate program. This includes changing pre-departure training for employees and family members. Eric’s current plan is effective, but he recognizes that a serious deficiency is the language training; it will require an increase rather than a decrease in spending. The language training is vital to success. How should Eric convince Juanita of the importance of investing in better language training for expatriates?
What would be your plan of action to address each of the above issues?