Post Graduate Programme in Management

REPORT ON THE CASE

We Googled You
Submitted to

PROF. MADHUSHRI SHRIVASTAVA

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

WRITTEN ANALYSIS AND COMMUNICATION

By

SECTION -E
PARTICIPANT
SHASHWAT KUMAR SINGH 2013PGP369

DATE: 7 FEBRUARY -2014

Written Analysis and Communication

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 7th Feb, 2014 Prof. Madhushri Shrivastava Department of Communication Indian Institute of Management Indore Indore -453556 Subject: Report Submission of case We Googled You Respected Madam, I have prepared the report on the case we Googled You as requested by you in the last WAC session dated February 4, 2014 as per the guidelines. My recommendation is that Fred should hire Mimi in the strategic team and look after Chinas operation from offshore. Kindly evaluate the report and provide us with the review and feedback. Yours Sincerely, Shashwat Singh, 2013PGP39, Section E PGP1, Indian Institute of Management Indore Indore-453556

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Written Analysis and Communication

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Fred is in search of a potential candidate to lead the expansion plans of Hathaway Jones in China. He meets Mimi and gets convinced almost immediately that she was the right fit for the job given her excellent credentials and familiarity with Chinese Culture. Upon background check, HR team discovered that her internet footprint could stall their expansion plan. Fred now faces the options to either hire or not hire or hire in strategy team. Upon carefully evaluating each option against the criterion of candidates competency and governments interference, we recommend that Fred should hire her in strategy team and coordinate the activities from offshore, with a contingency plan in hand.

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Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Situation Analysis.............................................................................................................................. 1 The Options ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Criteria for Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 2 Evaluation of Options ....................................................................................................................... 2 The Recommendation ...................................................................................................................... 2 Action Plan.......................................................................................................................................... 2 Contingency Plan ............................................................................................................................... 3

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1. Situation Analysis
Hathaway Joness CEO Fred was contacted by his friend who wanted Fred to meet with his daughter, Mimi and evaluate her as a team member in their plan to expand into China. The company planned to expand to Chinese market not only because of the excellent growth rate of Chinas luxury goods market (70%) but also because companys image was getting old and the preference of youth had shifted to Affordable clothing with more flair. Fred discovered that she was a very successful and sophisticated Berkley graduate, who was bi lingual and completely qualified for the position. She had successfully steered the launch of two brands in the past and was well aware of the Chinese culture and changing trend of the Chinese markets and had some wonderful ideas about utilizing Chinese archetypes to establish the companys brand. In the next step of hiring process, the VP of HR, Virginia did some routine internet background check only to discover that Mimi was involved in a protest against WTO. Another piece of article featured her protesting Chinas treatment of a dissident journalist. Now this piece of information made Virginia think about the implications of hiring Mimi for Chinese operation provided the Chinese governments zero tolerance for any protest against their policy or actions. Virginia discussed the issue with Fred and made him aware that the legal team was studying the implication of hiring/not hiring a candidate based on internet search discoveries.

The Problem
Against this backdrop, Fred had to decide whether or not to hire Mimi for their Chinas operation. He had to contemplate upon the opportunity cost of not hiring Mimi vis--vis hiring a talented candidate having baggage from past.

2. The Options
The feasible options that Fred could consider are : a. HIRE MIMI FOR CHINAS OPERATION: Be optimistic and hire Mimi hoping that Chinas government would overlook the issue. b. DO NOT HIRE: Go by the advice of Virginia and his wife and do not hire her. c. ASSESS HER AGAINST A FRESH POOL OF CANDIDATES: Ask the HR team to generate a fresh pool of suitable candidates and evaluate Mimi against them. d. HIRE HER IN STRATEGY TEAM IN US: Hire her and put her in strategy team in Philadelphia and coordinate the Chinas operation from offshore till politically favorable conditions emerge in China.

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3. Criteria for Evaluation

The criteria that should be used for evaluation of the alternatives from Freds perspective could be: a. Impact on growth of business in China b. Positive attributes of the candidate c. Interference of Chinese Government

4. Evaluation of Options
The above mentioned alternatives could be evaluated against the criteria as follows: a. The first alternative would possibly have a positive impact on the growth of business in china given the competence of Mimi. But that would be the situation only till the Chinese government will not have discovered her past or they choose to neglect her past actions. b. The second alternative might have a negative impact on the growth plan in China since it might be difficult for Fred to find a complete package like Mimi. Also their competitors would gain advantage by employing her. c. The impact of third alternative depends on the quality of candidate pool generated by the HR department. d. The fourth alternative would fare well against all of the above mentioned criterion.
Table 1: Evaluation of Options

Alternative 1 Alternative 2 Alternative 3 Alternative 4

Positive Impact on Growth of business in China Yes No Maybe Yes

Positive Interference of Chinese attributes of the Government Candidate Yes Maybe Maybe Yes Yes Maybe Not Maybe Not No

5. The Recommendation
On the basis of foregoing analysis, it appears that Alternative 4 would lead to a win-win situation for the Hathaway Jones and Fred.

6. Action Plan
Fred should follow the following sequence of steps:

Written Analysis and Communication

a. Make her an offer for joining in strategic team in US. b. Explain the reason for not placing her in China. c. Ask her to take help of Internet service professionals who are expert in removing the dirt from Internet. d. She could gain the favour of Chinese government by writing positive articles about Chinese policies and governance. e. Wait for political situation to become liberal.

7. Contingency Plan
The contingency plan for Fred would be to keep hunting for a candidate who would be as good as Mimi, if not better since it is highly likely that Mimi might quit her job as she wouldnt get to lead the Chinas team that she aspired for. (1010 words)