Leadership and HR Strategy: Fresha Export's Mexico Expansion Report

This report analyzes Fresha Export, a New Zealand-based export manufacturing company, and its planned expansion into Mexico. The report examines the company's current democratic leadership style and its effectiveness in New Zealand's cultural context. It then assesses the challenges Fresha Export might face in Mexico, considering cultural differences, corruption, and ethical concerns like child labor. The report argues for the adoption of a situational leadership approach in Mexico, emphasizing the need to adapt to local conditions and employee expectations. The report also discusses the application of McGregor's Theory X and Y to motivate employees. Finally, a communication plan is proposed, including an integrated platform with language options to overcome potential linguistic barriers and ensure effective communication within the expanding organization. The report provides valuable insights into leadership, culture, and communication strategies for international business expansion, with a focus on human resource management challenges and solutions.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Leadership and Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Organizational leadership is a great component which determines the functionality of a
company. If a company has effective leaders to set direction for the company, a company will be
able to reach newer heights. The strengths of the employees and the firms will be channelized
into the best of the abilities possessed by the company for achieving success. The leadership in
the company is very crucial to lay the strategies and objectives which are to be followed by the
company and motivate stakeholders associated with the company towards positive goals and
understanding of the job roles. Every organization requires a quality management of the system
to run smoothly which can be ensured with the help of organizational leadership which integrates
recruitment process, communication, team building, training and development which is essential
for the company to foster an effective culture for the company.
Organizational communication plays a great role in an organization as it is the key
element which allow employees to be interrelated in the setting in which they can achieve
common as well individual goals. Communication within an organization is highly susceptible to
the culture and context of the company, in which employees are interdependent as they
communicate with each other verbally, non-verbally and through mediated channels.
Communication allow the employs to understand what is expected of them and accomplish
responsibilities, roles and tasks. The paper would focus on the leadership, culture and
communication of Fresha Export, which is located in New Zealand and intends to expand in
Mexico.
Discussion
Strategies

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Fresha Export is one of the most specialized supplier of the best food products from New
Zealand to the Pacific and Asia (Fresha.co.nz., 2020). The leadership which is followed by
Fresha Export, in New Zealand is democratic in nature. The company has specialized in the
process of distributing food products to different countries especially in the Asia Pacific region.
It has established itself as a proven specialist in the domain. The company was establishes in the
year 1983 which aimed to initially focus on the export of food products on the Pacific, which has
grown in the years that followed with future plans of expansion in countries like Mexico
(Fresha.co.nz., 2020). The company is based in New Zealand which has made it accustomed to
the culture and demography of the country, as it is specific to the location.
However, the company has also been subjected to differing demography, marker as well
as culture in other countries and geographic locations across the world where it has expanded
over the years. Fresha Export is also most likely to face differences if they wish to expand in
countries like Mexico as there exists dissimilarities of culture, societal expectations and
responses. Fresha Export should be able to accommodate the differences in order to make the
venture a successful one in the market.
Leadership
Fresha Export has followed a democratic structure of leadership which has allowed it to
cross the milestones and flourish as an export manufacturing company in New Zealand. It has
been adequately effective for the company to be able to integrate staffs with experience and
skills to make the company established in the market. As Democratic Leadership is a
participative style of management, it has been operative in New Zealand as they have been able
to incorporate relevant ideas which has encouraged them to be able to share thoughts and ideas
which has provided ample opportunities for the growth of the company as well as facilitate

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
coordination and mutual interest in the pathway of success (Khan etal., 2015). The guidance for
the roles and responsibilities are accessible by the employees whereas, it is also controlled by the
management itself. The values which are given importance to, in this type of leadership style is
affirmation of the followers and collaboration of the workers (Eken, Özturgut & Craven, 2014).
Team engagement is encouraged while all the members are honored and acknowledged which
makes people offer inputs in the form of solutions and creative elements to projects and team
works.
Culture and Leadership
In the context of New Zealand, this style is more effective in the process of decision
making and problem solving as it makes way for advancements and personal growth opening up
avenues for participation and consideration of different ideas. New Zealand is a culturally rich
country even though the country is small. The culture reflects the style of the Indigenous Maori
which has its significant culture of accents, arts language and so on, of all people in New
Zealand. The culture of the country is unique as because of their love for art, culture sports and
outdoors. It is a multicultural country which is not only identified with the help of these cultures
solely, but with other qualities such as friendliness, self-reliance, invention and individuality
(Ramos & Yannakakis). Thus, the population of the location is diverse in nature which is evident
and felt even in case of organizations as people from diverse cultures and speaking different
languages take part in an organization and its decision making process.
In such an environment, democratic leadership is effective in nature as there are multiple
cultures which are found within an organization as democratic leadership makes the leader
possess decision making powers after the process of participation in which everyone is heard
(Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). The leader facilitates opportunity for the members to

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
contribute their opinions and choices in the course, after which the leader has the final call to
arrive at the decision (Eken, Özturgut & Craven, 2014). Democratic leadership can be practiced
in a stable environment and cultural setting as team work and coordination is the key factor to
practice this and yield productivity in such a setting. However, Democratic leadership also
allows people to act on their vested interests as they have ownership of projects which are
designated to the people. This is more time consuming as compared to the other styles, even
though, for Fresha Export as it has been of significance which has kept the staffs motivated with
the enabling factor of collective vision for the company.
Analysis
Fresha Exports is intending to expand their export manufacturing ventures to Mexico.
There are several cultures and divisions in the society among Mexicans. The northern part, which
is among the most commonly identified was previously sparsely populated until much later in the
20th century. Cities such Monterrey has been the native land for many indigenous population and
is considered to be one of the frontier of culture. However, the southern part of Mexico is one of
the poorest part which is characterized because of its heritage of strong indigenousness. There
are prominent cultural identities based on localities and provinces which are stark based on the
stereotypes which consists of several Indian groups which makes it diverse and require effective
leadership style (French, 2015). The nation was exposed to the forces of colonialism which has
affected the culture and society immensely. The level of bilingualism is quite high while there
are sixty two indigenous languages approximately, which is spoken.
This cultural diversity can oppose resistance to the expansion which is intended by
Fresha exports, if the same kind of leadership and management is aimed to be practiced in the
setting of Mexico. The leadership and management which have been possible and effective in

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
New Zealand was based on the cultural intricacies which were specific to that context. However,
the employee expectation, expertise and culture might be different from the one which has been
accommodated and dealt with by Fresha Exports in New Zealand.
Due to the coexistence of cross culture within an organizational setting, there can be
conflicts because of the differing cultures, opinions and choices (Warren, 2017). If two or more
cultures come into contact, there are chances of struggles in the process of communication
because of ethnic, racial, gender social and individual identities. Cross cultural conflicts can be
restrictive for the operation of the company which might pose limitation in its functionality and
hinder it from achieving success (Saeed, Almas, Anis-ul-Haq & Niazi, 2014). Therefore, Fresha
Exports should be able to adapt and develop a different strategy of exhibiting leadership.
Situational Leadership will be best suited in such a setting as Mexico, which is different from
New Zealand, which is the country of origin for the organization.
The culture of the country plays a very important role as it is necessary to adapt to the
societal expectations, demography and societal practices. According to the Corruption Index of
2018 (Transparency.org., 2020). New Zealand ranks 2nd in the list of the index put forward by
Transparency.org. On the contrary, Mexico ranks 138 (Transparency.org., 2020). This disparity
might pose great limitations and challenges to Fresha Exports to establish the business. Sourcing
raw materials might be difficult because of high corruption rates which Fresha Export has not
faced earlier in New Zealand. Mexico also is reputed to have high child labor rate. Most of the
children who drop out from school are engaged in child labor which amounts to an estimate of
651,000 children (Aljazeera.com., 2020). It is second highest in Latin America after Colombia.
Child labor is also high in New Zealand as 27% of the kids live under income poverty who do
not have poor childhood and are prone to child labor (Unicef.org.nz., 2020).

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Critique
Situational Leadership is the type in which the leaders who set vision and objectives for
the employees to follow to achieve common goals for the company to flourish in a different
geographic setting (McCleskey, 2014). This leadership is very effective for the need of the
company and the environment in which the company is set. It allows the company to be
adaptable and balance according to the needs of the entire organization, teams and individual
employees. The team members are allowed to grow according to their own motivation as well as
made to understand the objectives of the company, which are to be aligned with one another
(McCleskey, 2014). The two basic levels which are followed in situational leadership behavior
are Management and Support.
The leader plays role such as lead and allow to take part in the decision making process
and motivate employees according to their responsibilities and responses (Kim, 2017). The
leader supervises and monitors performances and contributions made by the employees to the
organization and provide valuable feedbacks, which allow them to grow. The leader also
delegates tasks and explain the responsibilities (Kim, 2017). Therefore, in Fresha Export, the
leaders should be able to adapt and learn to accommodate the changes which they might be
facing in Mexico due to the differences of culture and circumstances as compared to that of New
Zealand. This will prove to be efficient to manage cross culture communication and job
expectation of the employees in Mexico.
Fresha Exports can also apply the theory of McGregor X and Y as they refer to styles of
management which include Authoritarian in Theory X and Participative in Theory Y (Bass,
2015). The theory states that the management can make use of two types of style to ensure
motivation among employees. It can either be done by micromanaging using the authoritarian

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
style because of the lack of motivation among employees or use the participative style of
management with the employees who are self-motivated and take pride in the work that they do.
If there is resistance among employees regarding the job, this theory can be used to ensure
motivation and enable the entire team to be productive despite the conflicts and resistances.
Communication Plan
Goals Activity Person
Responsible
Time Required Rationale
Integrated
platform for
communication
with language
options
Develop a
Software/ Portal/
Mobile
Application for
the employees to
be connected.
IT Department
of the Company
1 month This would be
effective to
facilitate
opportunity for
communication
among
employees even
though there are
linguistic
barriers, as there
will be language
and translation
options which
will ease down
the process of
communication

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
even if there are
limitations.
Bilingualism and
Multilingualism
Training
Programs can be
conducted
among the
employees to
help them learn
popular
languages.
Human
Resource
Management
Team
1 month These training
programs will
ensure that the
employees do
not have
problem to
communicate
among one
another.
Conflicts in
cross cultural
settings arise due
to the
differences and
varying
understanding of
the job roles and
responsibilities.
The programs
will serve
opportunities to

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
learn languages
which are
spoken by other
employees
which will allow
better
communication.
Positivity will be
ensured from
such initiatives.
Recommendation
1. Fresha Export should aim to recruit employees from various cultures which would ensure
that diverse ideas and inputs are brought to the company and help it flourish in a setting
other than New Zealand.
2. Fresha Export is used to practicing democratic style of leadership in the company in New
Zealand which has allowed it to grow and expand the business in various parts of the
world. However, if they practice Situational Leadership, they will be able to retain the
best participation of all employees and accommodate various cultures within the
organization without it being a burden or restricting force for the company (Meier, 2016).
3. Fresha Export should implement theory of McGregor X and Y in their company to
motivate the employees differently based on their participation, performance and

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
responses. This will ensure that the teams are able to maintain balance and achieve the
goals which are set for the company.
Conclusion
Fresha Export has come a long way for offering unique experiences despite logistic
challenges and diversity. Over eight years, the primary aim was to capitalize market in the
Pacific. The company is committed to achieve more and facilitate critical link between
customers and the valued suppliers in the market. The company will be able to excel in
Mexico by practicing Situational Leadership and applying McGregor X and Y Theory to
maintain balance in the company by motivating their employees.

LEADERSHIP AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
References
Aljazeera.com. (2020). Child labour in Mexico. Retrieved 17 January 2020, from
https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefield/2016/08/child-labour-
mexico-160820085130210.html
Bass, B. M. (2015). Theory X and Y. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-1.
Eken, İ., Özturgut, O., & Craven, A. E. (2014). Leadership Styles and Cultural
Intelligence. Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, 11(3).
French, R. (2015). Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers.
Fresha.co.nz. (2020). Fresha Export. Retrieved 13 January 2020, from https://www.fresha.co.nz/
Khan, M. S., Khan, I., Qureshi, Q. A., Ismail, H. M., Rauf, H., Latif, A., & Tahir, M. (2015). The
styles of leadership: A critical review. Public Policy and Administration Research, 5(3),
87-92.
Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-cultural adaptation. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
Communication.
McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and
leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117.
Meier, D. (2016). Situational Leadership Theory as a Foundation for a Blended Learning
Framework. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(10), 25-30.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T. S., & Swamy, D. R. (2014). Leadership styles. Advances in
management, 7(2), 57.