Case Summary
UpTech Support is a medium size US company which develops software support systems. It has several subsidiaries which including Canada, France and Australia. Jessica Kellaway, vice president of International Operations and Steve Hegworth, Human Resource Director is facing a problem in salary decision. Pierre Lecruet is the logical choice to send to Australia to head the local operations but he demands better salary package from company rather than concentrating in improving company’s market position.
First of all, Pierre has problems in settling down his family as the expatriate contract stipulated minimum 2 years with the possibility of an extension. Pierre’s wife, Sabine has difficulties in resigning her own career and decided to move to Australia with kids after 6 months. It had been agreed that Pierre would be paid according to home base salary with usual bonus linked to performance in Euros. However, Pierre surprisingly found out that Australian base salary was higher than his.
After his family moved to Australia, he moved from a small flat into family sized house as Sydney’s house rental fees was high. His children also found difficulties operating in English school. Sabine then requested the company to pay for school fees and expenses as the cost of attending French lessons provided by organization Alliance Francoise is high. Therefore, Steve agreed to meet half of the fees.
Sabine also found out that other companies pay more benefits for expatriate spouses than Uptech Support. She then told Pierre that she needs another company car instead of using public transport or taxi. She also mentioned to Pierre that it would upgrade their living standard if given COLA-cost of living allowance.
In the end, Pierre sends another email to Steve regarding those requests. Steve groaned when he read the email that Pierre had sent and quickly got his assistant to find comparative data on salary levels between...