With significant operations around the world, Savannah Engineering, Inspection and Insurance Company (SEIIC) is truly a global company. Its most significant international operations are in the European Union (EU) countries and Asia. Growth in China has been particularly rapid over the last five years. Because of the highly technical nature of its business, SEIIC has had a difficult time getting the people with the right skills in the right places and then keeping their skills up to date. The company has worked hard at identifying and hiring local talent, but the efforts have not been entirely successful. To the extent that it can, it has tried to accommodate local needs in its HRM system. However, it has found it difficult to carry out some of its initiatives because of the different ways of working in different areas. It has been difficult for people who transfer from one area to another to deal with the different HRM policies and procedures.
As a part of the overall review of HRM operations, the company is interested in identifying key factors that differentiate its global and domestic operations and in understanding how it can develop a more global approach to HRM.
