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Case Study: Wolfgang’s Balancing Act: Rewarding HEALTHCARE Executives In A Dispersed

Yet Integrated Firm

Summer 2015

Wolfgang Hansen is new to the Healthcare organization with the title of HR manager.

Healthcare has given Hansen the task of revising HR policies and strategies as well as the global

payment system. Healthcare, one of the largest European pharmaceutical companies based in

Germany, recognizes a gap in their organization. Healthcare is experiencing expansion which

calls for revitalized HR strategies. Current business processes at Healthcare have local origins.

Healthcare now wants to visit the ideas behind globally integrating business operations and

moderating local responsibilities. Hansen’s current assignment is to design HR practices

utilizing the theories of standardization and localization for the Healthcare organization.

Wolfgang Hansen baru di organisasi Healthcare dengan gelar manajer SDM. Perawatan

kesehatan telah memberi Hansen tugas merevisi kebijakan dan strategi SDM serta sistem

pembayaran global. Perawatan kesehatan, salah satu perusahaan farmasi Eropa terbesar yang

berbasis di Jerman, mengakui celah dalam organisasi mereka. Perawatan kesehatan mengalami

ekspansi yang membutuhkan strategi SDM yang direvitalisasi. Proses bisnis saat ini di

Healthcare memiliki asal-usul lokal. Perawatan kesehatan sekarang ingin mengunjungi gagasan

di balik operasi bisnis yang terintegrasi secara global dan memoderasi tanggung jawab lokal.

Penugasan Hansen saat ini adalah untuk merancang praktik SDM menggunakan teori

standardisasi dan lokalisasi untuk organisasi Healthcare.

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Questions Block A

1. Should he move some of the existing pay elements across the T account in Figure 2,

shifting them from globally standardized to locally customized?

Global Consistency: Standard Long-term Incentives/Fringe Benefits
Localization: Compensation Elements (variable pay vs fixed pay)/Short-term

Incentives/Individual and Group Performance/Cultural Currency Bases

2. Should he add or delete some existing practices form the T-Account?
I believe additions and subtractions are not necessary. Hansen needs to smooth

generalities with empirical based research.

3. Should he change the weights or emphases (percentages) of existing elements of the pay

system?
Compensation strategies are necessary to enhance the slope in weighing the influence of

the strategy for the overall compensation package. An increase or decrease of

approximately 30%-35% can be determined by the cultural situation and dependent on

the maturity of the tenure per employee.

1. Haruskah dia memindahkan beberapa elemen pembayaran yang ada di akun T pada Gambar 2,

memindahkannya dari standar global ke penyesuaian lokal?

Konsistensi Global: Insentif / Manfaat Frekuensi Jangka Panjang Standar
Lokalisasi: Elemen Kompensasi (pembayaran variabel vs pembayaran tetap) / Insentif Jangka

Pendek / Individu dan Kinerja Grup / Basis Mata Uang Budaya

2. Haruskah dia menambahkan atau menghapus beberapa praktik yang ada membentuk Akun-T?
Saya percaya penambahan dan pengurangan tidak diperlukan. Hansen perlu memuluskan

generalitas dengan penelitian berbasis empiris.

3. Haruskah dia mengubah bobot atau penekanan (persentase) elemen-elemen yang ada dari

sistem pembayaran?
Strategi kompensasi diperlukan untuk meningkatkan kemiringan dalam menimbang pengaruh

strategi untuk paket kompensasi keseluruhan. Peningkatan atau penurunan sekitar 30% -35%

dapat ditentukan oleh situasi budaya dan tergantung pada kematangan masa kerja per karyawan.
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Questions Block B

1. How can the firm communicate to the geographically dispersed executives the need to

acquire and maintain those management competencies that have been defined in the

competency set (in folder three)?

Business related competencies: achievement orientation/innovation and change/ decision

making
People related competencies: team leadership/capability development/relationship

building/impact and influence

Personal competencies: business understanding/ analytical thinking/ self-development

and awareness
Communication: HQ communications with HR managers in cultural subsidiaries
2. Would a purely competency-based pay system be somehow more flexible?
 No accountability for enriched local values.
 Beneficial for cultures of individualism and competiveness with benefits of

increased output of productivity.

3. But then again, what about the standardization Healthcare has just achieved through

standardizing the job description across units?

Standardizing expectations does not ensure a raise in productivity. Methods proposed

may be unrealistic for ineffective because of cultural differentiation.

4. How would he take these three competency categories and use them to develop a series

of measurable, behavioral indicators to be used to assess an executive’s contributions to

Healthcare? In what sense should these new behavioral indicators be customized to

local (regional) contexts? How can Wolfgang go about this process to ensure a balance

of organizational standardization and local revelance?

Business Related: achievement oriented/ innovation and change/ decision making
 Completes tasks and assignments with feedback
 Exudes the organizations goals and visions
 Seeks, evaluates and implements alternative and

complementary solutions to increase productivity

People Related: leadership/ capability development/ relationship building

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 Respect and Empathy for co-horts

 Builds and maintains effective working

relationships with co-horts

 Actively responsive to feedback
 Motivates and enhances co-horts toward specific

goals increasing productivity and the bottom line

Personal Related: business comprehension/ analytical thinking/ self-development and

awareness

 Comprehends and applies Healthcare policies and

procedures
 Willingness to absorb a variety of knowledge and

skillsets
 Determines and understands the impact and

implementation of decisions for procedural

outcomes
 Utilizes skill set and experience to determine details

which influence organizational priorities and set

goals

Creation of Balance: All three competencies will be customized to cultural contexts.

Conclusion:

Hansen has a job to do utilizing his education and skill set to create a balance in developing

global compensation policies. Hansen’s smarts reveal that global compensation cannot be solely

standardized because of cultural definitions, local laws, political climates, and economic

standards. Hansen also knows that application of competencies is achievable with a marriage of
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standardization and localization under the organizational umbrella as long as he can gain the trust

of the managers. Hansen has the self-awareness and skill set to accomplish the goals in front of

him.

Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle Sr, A. D. (2013). International Human Resource
Management. Canada: Cengage Learning EMEA.