Introduction
Flex Limited is the local company that penetrates its sportswear image into the Italian market by merging with MasterSP. Creating a performance management plan is critical for the upcoming merger to address the differences between domestic and international human resource management (HRM) activities. One of the main steps is identifying performance criteria in terms of hard, soft, and contextual goals (Dowling et al., 2017). An example of a hard criterion includes a market share to be objective and quantifiable, so Flex Limited to obtain a positive difference between its total sales and the sales within the industry within one fiscal period. Soft criteria imply establishing appropriate interpersonal skills and transformational leadership, focusing on customer needs, and offering products from another country. Finally, contextual criteria are based on the fact that multinationals cannot maintain financial autonomy but hire subsidiary managers (Dowling et al., 2017). Thus, Flex Limited should use cultural values, technological differences, and social norms.
Discussion
The performance appraisal of employees should be conducted by immediate superiors who may be geographically distant from subsidiary managers. Therefore, the major supervisor in a group will be responsible for performance appraisal. Although it is normal for domestic organizations to follow a standardized performance appraisal form, the international context requires attention to cross-cultural competence, recognizing the worth of customized performance (Dowling et al., 2017). The supervisor could use a customized form for appraisal to ensure that every employee can share personal achievements within a new context.
The annual appraisal is a unique opportunity to identify the best practice and deal with a lack of experience in the international arena. It is recommended to organize such appraisal once a year to observe changes, analyze improvements, and consider shortages (Dowling et al., 2017). To ensure the appraisal does not become just an annual event, it is necessary to empower employees and make them choose an ad-hoc basis when they can discuss their performance in formal and informal ways, identify training needs, and recognize development opportunities on their own.
Considering the situation in which Richard finds himself in several months of ineffective collaboration, it is important to understand what steps to take to strengthen the relationship with his supervisor, Jean. One of the most obvious solutions is to elaborate the face-to-face communication with the supervisor. It is not bad to take the initiative and demonstrate enthusiasm in contacting the person, underlying the goals and worth of this contact. It is expected to manage time and prove the quality of communication without interruptions or molestation. Finally, Richard should learn the ethical conduct of a new country and understand why Jean does not respond to him immediately.
Another way to change the situation was the preference for a different approach at the beginning of these relationships. Richard could have addressed work ethic according to which Jean might be willing to work. There was a properly-identified work-life balance in the country, and it was necessary for foreigners not to disturb their colleagues outside the work. It could have been possible for Richard to make an official appointment at Jean’s office and get prepared for brief but meaningful communication. The involvement of the third party would have hardly been a beneficial approach in this scenario because it could have negatively affected Jean’s attitudes toward Richard and his ability to find solutions independently.
Conclusion
Finally, the question about the necessity for Richard to contact his supervisor in Toronto emerges. The answer might be positive, that it was important to take that step, but not immediately after the first problematic situation. Richard had to examine the situation with Jean on his own and clarify what prevented honest and effective communication. If no positive changes were observed with time, the supervisor in Toronto could become a meaningful arbitrate for Richard and Jean.
Reference
Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D. (2017). International human resource management (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.