International HRM: Case Study on LI WEI & Thomas Mueller Development

This case study focuses on Thomas Mueller, a general manager at Bombardier Transport in Shanghai, and his decision on selecting a local successor, Mr. Li Wei. The case explores Mueller's role, including communication, department management, and client relations. It highlights the qualities needed in a successor, such as company knowledge, experience, and client interaction skills. The case analyzes Li Wei's strengths and weaknesses, including his familiarity with the company, team management, and contract negotiation skills, while also addressing his communication skills and limited involvement with Western clients. The study proposes learning activities for Li Wei, such as expanding his scope, challenging relationships, and improving his presentation skills. It also outlines his development goals, emphasizing the 70:20:10 rule for on-the-job experience, personal relationships, and training. The case concludes by suggesting that Li Wei take over Mueller's role, given his experience and potential, while also emphasizing the need for further development in key areas. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of succession planning and personal development in an international context.

Personal development of LI WEI
&
Thomas Mueller

THE JOURNEY OF THOMAS MUELLER
FROM SHANGHAI TO EUROPE

THOMAS MUELLER’S JOURNEY
Thomas Mueller is a general manager at Bombardier
transport.
He has been working in this company for the past 10
years.
He reports to the Head of Global Commodity
Management in Germany.
Mueller was assigned his role at the Shanghai office to
regulate and implement Key Performance Indicator for
the Shanghai office(Simkova and Konecny 2014).
He was assigned for 3 years in China out of which he
has already served two and a half year.
Now before moving back to Europe, he wants
somebody to take over his place.
The candidate he has in mind is Mr.Li Wei, his right
hand man at Shanghai.
There were some problem with Wei’s performance so

ROLE OF A GENERAL
MANAGER
Communicating
with the employees.
Making sure that
every department at
the office runs
smoothly.
 Manage
international clients.
 Delegating
administrative
responsibilities like
payroll, accounting,
paperwork
(Verboncu and
Zeininger).

SUGGESTIONS TO THOMAS MUELLER
TO HELP HIM IDENTIFY HIS LOCAL
SUCCESSOR
 The first thing that Mueller needs to keep in mind while
identifying his local successor his to hire someone who has
knowledge about the company’s work.
Secondly, he should hire someone who has worked in the company
for a few years and knows the demands of the job.
 Thirdly, the person who will be the new general manager should
know how to deal with international clients as the company
frequently does business with them.
 Forth, the person should be familiar with the existing clients of
the company, as he/she would have to0 deal with them from the
first day of their job.
Fifth, the person should know a little of the local language, as on a
daily basis he/she needs to interact with locals.
Sixth, the person should at least have 5 to 6 years of experience as
the post is of general manager (Kulkarni, Lengnick and Martinez).

THE MAIN CONTENDER
FOR MUELLER’S POSITION
JOURNEY
OF
Mr.LI WEI
Mr.Li Wei has been
Mueller’s right-hand man
for the two and a half years.
He is the prime contender
for Mueller’s position as he
is most familiar with the
job.
Mueller reviewed his
performance and there
were some positives as well
negatives in his
performance.
Although he is the main
contender but there is still
some doubt because of his

Positives & Negatives of Mr. Li Wei
Positives Negatives
 Wei has been working in the
office from the beginning of the
company, so he is familiar with
the people of the office, he
knows the work in detail.
 Wei is very thorough with his
team & he used to take bi-weekly
reports of the employees and
handed it over to his superior.
 Wei has negotiated contract with
the new supplier and has gotten
their products at a price which
is 15% lower than any product
on the market.
 The company has a lot of Western
clients and there is a significant gap
in Wei’s involvement in this area.
 The communication skills of Wei is
not up to the mark. Many of his co-
workers complain that his
presentations are not as graphic as
it is supposed to be. Additionally,
his English is a little weak so its
difficult for him to communicate
(Deming 2017).
 Wei focuses in energy in the past
status quo of the company, he need
to fall in line with the future
development.

Learning
Activities
For
Li Wei
EXPANDING SCOPE
 Wei should work with people from
different generations, that will help him
exchange ideas with the new generation.
He will get updates about handling social
media which has become a part and
parcel of today’s businessCHALLENGING
RELATIONSHIP
Wei should be assigned to
collaborate with people
from different
departments that will help
him exchange ideas with
new people and also learn
new activities of the
company.
 Wei shout start taking on
international clients on a
daily basis, that will help
him improve his
communication skills as
well has teach him how to
handle people from
different countries.
PERSUADING &
TEACHING
 Wei should prepare more
presentations for the
manager, such as decision
making charts and
company’s new client list.
 He should work with the
new employees, train and
brainstorm ideas with
them, this will help him
improve his skills
(Jehanzeb and Bashir
2013).

DEVELOPMENT
GOALS
OF
LI WEI
As a right hand ,am of Thomas Mueller Wei
has done his duties, although Mueller’s
evaluation of his performance is not extra-
ordinary but he was successful in doing his
duties.
Li Wei should take on
Mueller’s position after
him. He has proven his
capabilities and should be
given a chance. He has a
lot of experience and he
will be the perfect
manager of the company
In the near future he
should be assigned more
departments to handle
and deal with the
premium clients of the
company.

70:20:10 Rule
Of
Li Wei’s Personal Development
70 % (Scott and
Ferguson 2016)
On Job Experience
Li Wei should work with
international clients
more, it will improve his
knowledge about the
company’s development.
 Li Wei should prepare
regular presentations
for his manager.
 Li Wei should
collaborate with people
from different
departments and try and
learn new things about
the company.
 He should take over
Thomas Mueller’s role
as he is next in line and
is most experienced
20%
Personal
Relationships
• Li Wei should work
with people of all
generations so that
he stays updated
about social media
and other new
innovations.
• He should handle
new clients so that
he can make as
place for himself in
the company’s
future.
10%
Training
 Li Wei should get
involved with the
training and
development of new
employees, it will
help him expand his
role in the company
and also help him
interact with new
talent
 He should himself
get some training in
the area of social
media as it is a part
and parcel of
business today.

THANK
YOU

REFERENCES
Deming, D.J., 2017. The growing importance of social skills in the labor
market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(4), pp.1593-1640.
Jehanzeb, K. and Bashir, N.A., 2013. Training and development program
and its benefits to employee and organization: A conceptual
study. European Journal of business and management, 5(2).
Kulkarni, M., Lengnick-Hall, M.L. and Martinez, P.G., 2015.
Overqualification, mismatched qualification, and hiring decisions:
Perceptions of employers. Personnel Review, 44(4), pp.529-549.
Scott, S. and Ferguson, O., 2016. New perspectives on 70: 20: 10. A
GoodPractice.
ŠIMKOVÁ, I. and KONEČNÝ, V., 2014. Key performance indicators in
logistics and road transport.
Verboncu, I. and Zeininger, L., 2015. The Manager and the Managerial
Tools: Job Description. Review of International Comparative
Management/Revista de Management Comparat International, 16(5).