Assume you are the top HR manager for a large international firm. The head of your company’s operation in Japan has just resigned to take a job with another firm. You must decide on a replacement as quickly as possible. Look at the four candidates below. List each one’s strengths and weaknesses and then rank them in order of preferences with a brief explanation of why the deserve each rank. Remember job specific as well as cultural specific factors.
1) Jack Henderson: a senior vice president based in your Chicago headquarters. Jack has a long and distinguished career with your firm, is well regarded by everyone, and plans to retire in three years. He has never worked outside the US but is strongly and visibly lobbying for the job in Japan. Because you and your spouse socialize with Jack and his wife outside of work, you know she doesn’t want to move from Chicago.
2) Takeo Takahashi: is the number two manager in your Japanese operation, although he has served in that role for only 3 months. He was born and raised in Japan. After attending college in the US, he returned to Japan and went to work for your firm. Takeo is considered an emerging star in the company but is also relatively young and inexperienced. Your CEO prefers to appoint someone for the Japanese position with at least 15 years of experience and Takeo only has 8. He was being groomed to eventually take over the operation, but the just-departed top executive had been expected to serve until he reached retirement age in another 7 years.
3) Jane Yamaguchi: a Hawaiian born manager currently heading up a major division for your company in the US. She was a dual economics and Asian studies major at the University of Hawaii. For the last several years she has been studying the Japanese market and has become a true expert on that country. She enjoys traveling and spends as much time in Asia as possible. You know she would be very interested in this job if it were offered, although you are concerned that her husband and two high school aged children may not share her enthusiasm about living in Japan. In addition, you worry that if she is not offered a new challenge soon, she might start looking for another position.
4) Jacques Moine: is your most experienced international manager. Originally from France, Jacques has held senior management positions in your firm’s operations in Germany, Spain, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico. Moine appears to be quite satisfied with his current posting in Mexico. Because that operation is both stable and efficient, it likely could be run with someone with less experience.
