The Floundering Expatriate
Those chosen to represent a company in a foreign country, are often very meticulously chosen. There are countless hours of interviews, and a great deal of discussion around the potential for success of that person. In the case The Floundering Expatriate there was little discussion about who should run Argos training department, and thus there was little success. Argos International was a firm based in America that was looking to expand their business into Europe. Frank Waterhouse, the CEO of Argos Diesel Europe, was responsible for filling many of the positions in this foreign location. One of the key positions that needed to be filled, was someone to help facilitate the training program in Europe. Bill Loun, the CEO of Argos International, strongly recommend Bert Donaldson for the position. Even referring to Donaldson as the “pick of the litter”. With such a strong recommendation, Frank Waterhouse immediately chose Donaldson and expected the best.
In reality though Donaldson struggled greatly at his new position. While Donaldson was a part of this new location staff morale was at an all-time low. The training program he was in charge of was significantly behind deadline, and ultimately had made very little progress at all. Worst of all it was not until his keynote speech that everyone started to realize where he was in the training department. While the majority of these problems can be blamed on Donaldson, there is definitely some shared responsibility on the people above him.
The first mistake that Bert Donaldson made, was accepting this position in Europe. After going through the case, it was clear the Donaldson was not ready, mentally for this project. Donaldson was being caught between two worlds, his personal and his professional. While he was being tasked with setting up this new training regiment, he had a great deal of family related issues going on. Donaldson’s wife was miserable without her job, and his eldest daughter having issues while applying to colleges. These take a significant toll on Donaldson’s mental state, and make it extremely difficult for him to preform adequately in his job. He should have been more aware of these possibilities before accepting this position.
On top of accepting this position Donaldson made very little effort to prepare himself of this new location. All parts of the world are very diverse, and to perform well, one must understand the culture of that location. It is almost as if Donaldson assumed that his experience in Cairo and living in America would prepare him for Europe. Sadly, he was mistaken and it is clear that this impacted his performance in Europe. Throughout working at Argos Europe, there were many instances where his lack in knowledge of the culture produced negative results. From not allowing his workers time to take a break and long meetings, to not taking the time to learn any of the language. Not taking the time to prepare for a foreign culture made Donaldson’s time in Europe extremely difficult.
While a majority of the blame can be placed on Donaldson there is also some that can be put onto the people responsible for hiring him. Frank Waterhouse did not do much outside searching to find someone for this foreign position. Waterhouse should have done some searching and not just gone with the first person he heard about. On top of that he should have helped Donaldson prepare for this new location. Waterhouse could have offered to pay for language courses or help make him aware of the culture changes. As of a result of the lack of preparation Donaldson ultimately failed, and now there needs to be some preparation to reconcile these problems as fast as possible.
There are many options as far as how to progress from the problems currently going on. While many would argue that the best way to progress would be to fire Donaldson, I disagree. Donaldson can be blamed for some of the problems, but he has had a history of success as well. There are two directions that can Waterhouse can decide on. One decision is to have Donaldson remain in Europe, the other involves him returning to America. If he decides to stay in Europe what needs to happen is there needs to be a great deal of problem solving to find out the core reason of his failure so far. From the case, it appears that the primary cause of his failure is the lack of preparation to understand the culture and meet the people working for him. To initially start reconciling this problem, take a two-week break for Donaldson and his family to return to America. While in America he can partake in a language class as well as learn the language. If Donaldson decides to return to America he should be offered a position with Bill Loun because he thinks so fondly of him.
This issue could have been completely avoided however, if Argos had taken the time to prepare Donaldson for this his new position. I have mentioned it above, but learning the culture and being able to work fluidly with a new group of people is essential to being an expatriate. Argos should have at least forced Donaldson to learn the language of the new place he was visiting. If they had at least paid for his language classes he would have had no way to say no. On top of that they should have communicated what the culture was like in Europe. The best ways to make connections, and the mindset of workers in Europe. Something that Argos needs to work on is the policy for recruiting and preparing expatriates. After going through this case, it is clear they do not have a concrete plan, and with that they cannot be successful. For any firm operating in a foreign territory they should be mindful of all the things that are required to prepare.
Starting with choosing someone that is ready to operate in a foreign country. This person must be ready to step out of their comfort zone and they cannot have things weighing them down: things like families can have a very negative impact on performance. When interviewing candidates make sure they are aware of the stressors that come with the job. When someone has been narrowed down and chosen, they need to prepare that person for what is to come. Teaching classes on the culture and the way that a foreign country function will save the headache later down the road. Along with that providing the expatriate, personal that they can ask questions to. These people should also be bilingual so if there is any translation necessary they can do it. While this is a nice utility, there should also be some language training provided to the person going abroad. With this preparation, the people in a foreign country will appreciate the work put in and be more open to working for this person.
In Argos case, there were many things done poorly, and they did not find out until the last minute. If they had prepared in the initial stages they would have avoided this headache. Expatriates are a very vital person to international management so not cutting corners will ensure success. Donaldson did cut corners and it left them in not ideal situation. If they do take the next steps forward, and don’t cut corners they can still revive the situation.