HRM (Business Psychology) – 7 BSP 0363 /
0319
Coursework Brief – for Anglo-French Wines
Direct
This consists of an individual report
of 3,500 – 4,000 words on the topic described below.
BACKGROUND – Commercial issues:
Anglo-French
Wines Direct markets a range of English and French regional wines; mostly for
wine producers and co-operatives who have small or no marketing departments.
Their
HQ is in Hampshire and their turnover has grown to £100 million.
The
company plans to grow to £150 million over the next 5 years; with 50% of this
revenue coming from outside the UK & France; up from 30% this year.
To enable them to achieve their global growth strategy, the CEO believes it is
critical to develop a leading-edge leadership development programme.
With
the increased strength of the Australian currency, Australian wines have become
less price-competitive. The Marketing Director thinks that this gives the
company a great opportunity to expand its business in south-east Asia, where
the growing middle classes are generating an increased demand for good quality
and good value wines.
Human Resource Management issues:In early 2013 they
appointed a high calibre Global Human Resources Director, Fiona Grant.
Her role is to drive their people development strategy. A key task is to
improve their leadership development programme.
Her
previous role was as International Talent Manager for LVMH in Paris.
Historically,
AFW Direct has taken an ethnocentric approach to management positions in their
international subsidiaries (i.e. most posts being filled by British nationals).Two
years ago, the Board of Directors took the decision to move to a polycentric
approach, with the aim of moving to a position where most management roles
would be filled by local managers within 3 years.
However,
for various reasons they have made little progress in this area.
The
previous HR Director set up a “High Flyers Programme” four years ago. The aim of
the programme was to develop the middle and senior managers of the future by
sending them to one of the international subsidiaries for two years. Then bring
them back to a more senior role in the UK.
Managers
attended a 1-week generic Leadership Programme run by a mid-sized consulting
firm in Portsmouth, shortly before they moved abroad.
The HRD who championed this approach, left 18 months ago. Then they had an
Interim HR Director until the new Director was appointed in March.
As
the business has grown the number of expatriate managers has grown to 48, and Fiona
expects to add another 12 people this year. However, she has discovered a
number of difficulties with the existing programme. From her initial
investigation she has identified the following problems associated with managing
& developing staff in a multi-national organisation. These include:
- 25% of their expatriates
returned home early due to dissatisfaction - Over 35% of the expatriates who
remained in post were considered to be under-performing compared to
management expectations of them
(the policy was to send ‘high-flyers’ as part of their development) - Around 30% of those who
completed their postings, left within a year of returning to the UK.
BRIEF:Produce a report analysing the
possible causes of each of the three main problems in the “High Flyers
Programme”. In each section of your report, you then need to include proposals to
tackle the three main problems (25% for each section). To conclude discuss other
factors needed to bring about change to a leading edge Leadership Development
Programme (25%).
Your
report needs to address issues including recruitment & selection / training
& development / performance management / pay & reward.
Your
report should start with a report plan outlining how you will structure your
report. Contents page and reference page are not included in the word count. Your
work should be fully referenced in order to avoid plagiarism.
Submission and word count: You need to submit an electronic
copy of your Report (3,500-4,000 words) by 2300 on Wednesday 8 January 2014;
and a paper copy to class or the Coursework Submission Point by Thursday 9th
January.
Useful resources and web sites:
.geert-hofstede.com/”>www.geert-hofstede.com (Hofstede’s cultural dimensions)
.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-in.html”>www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-in.html
(Provides
tips for doing business in different countries)
.harzing.com/”>http://www.harzing.com
(The
personal website of Professor Anne-Wil Harzing provides information, on-line
papers and resources on international management, including research-based
insights into expatriation.
MARKING GUIDELINES:
For
this coursework we expect you to take on the role of Consultant Business
Psychologists. This means that we expect you to produce an evidence-based
report. For example: how do their three main problems compare with benchmark
organisations.
Also,
you need to link relevant theories to business practice to help with your
diagnosis of likely factors contributing to the problems. These could include
Best Practice / Best Fit models of HRM; Systematic Training & Development
Cycle and models of Evaluation.
You
can obtain better marks through identification and analysis of wider research
into how other multi-nationals have managed their human resource management
issues.
In
your conclusion section (worth 25% of the marks) you need to discuss how these
various good practices can be adapted and implemented by this company to
develop a leading edge Leadership Development Programme.
