Question

AstraZeneca is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in London, the company has 59,000...

AstraZeneca is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in London, the company has 59,000 employees around the world. Some 21.8% percent are in the United States, 32.9 percent in Europe, and 18.1 percent in China. The company is active in more than 100 nations and had sales in excess of $23 billion for 2016. A key strategic imperative for this multinational is to build a talented global workforce, led by managers who have a global perspective and are comfortable moving around the world, interacting with people from other cultures, and doing business in different nations. It is not easy.

To help build international bench strength, the company moves managers to another country for up to three years. Such assignments are not cheap; the company estimates that it can cost two to four times an employee’s annual salary to cover expenses. Expenses can include a child’s school tuition, tax equalization, cultural training, and subsidized housing. Because of this expense, AstraZeneca focuses its international assignments only on its most promising, “high-potential” employees—those who are scheduled for advancement and leadership positions within the company. In every case, the human resource staff will assess whether the investment in a person is worth making. Simply posting an employee to a foreign country is not enough. To get promoted, employees must also learn to work in international teams and to manage across borders. If a person is judged to lack the capability to do this, he or she will not get a foreign posting. If the employee fails to do this effectively when on the posting, advancement prospects will be reduced.

To ease the transition to another country, AstraZeneca offers employees and their spouses help with moving, locating schools for children, learning a language, and understanding cultural differences. The company also offers repatriation training for employees coming home after extended postings abroad. It does this because experience has shown that many expatriates and their families have problems readjusting to their old life after extended time in a different culture.

Another problem that the human resource function at AstraZeneca has to grapple with is how to raise the talent base of employees in emerging markets where AstraZeneca has been making big investments in recent years. An example is China, where until recently, there was very little in the way of professional management education (this is now changing rapidly). In 2003, the company had a little more than 1,000 employees in China. By 2017, there were more than 10,0000 employees in China. AstraZeneca has been trying to raise the skill level of key Chinese employees as fast as possible.

With regard to key Chinese managerial talent, the company has been sending them abroad to get exposure to other cultures and to acculturate them into the way in which AstraZeneca does business. It wants them to understand what it is like to be part of a global business. Each expatriate will have a host-country line manager assigned to him or her, as well as a home-country line manager who monitors the expatriate’s progress. After a period, the majority of them return to China, where the most successful are targeted for future leadership positions within the Chinese subsidiary. The most talented, however, may go beyond this and, ultimately, move into senior management positions at the corporate level.

AstraZeneca has also been working hard to increase the diversity of its global workforce. The company believes that diversity fuels innovation, emphasizing that teams need people who don’t all think the same, and who approach challenges differently. Women comprise half of the company’s global workforce, comprise 30 percent of the board of directors, and occupy 43 percent of all senior roles in the company. In 2016, the company piloted a European Women as Leaders program to support the accelerated development of high-potential women. As of 2017, this program is being offered globally. The company is also trying to ensure that employees from fast-growing emerging markets are promoted into leadership positions. In 2016, 14.5 percent of managers who reported to the senior leadership team had a country of origin that was an emerging market or Japan, up from 5 percent in 2012.

5.) What do you think about AstraZeneca’s efforts to increase employee diversity? How might this benefit the company?

Homework Answers

Answer #1

PLEASE LIKE THIS ANSWER, IT HELPS ME A LOT. THANK YOU!!!

What do you think about AstraZeneca’s efforts to increase employee diversity? How might this benefit the company?

I definitely agree with your notion of creativity ignited by diversity. There is great awareness as workers face difficulties and barriers as going outside. Managers will improve partnerships and create successful brainstorms and team building opportunities from all backgrounds. This integrates the workers and provides an effective working atmosphere. It is also important to ensure that AstraZeneca can completely adapt to the international climate into which it is introduced

PLEASE LIKE THIS ANSWER, IT HELPS ME A LOT. THANK YOU!!!

Know the answer?
Your Answer:

Post as a guest

Your Name:

What's your source?

Earn Coins

Coins can be redeemed for fabulous gifts.

Not the answer you're looking for?
Ask your own homework help question
Similar Questions
One of the world’s largest hotel companies, Hilton Worldwide operates more than 3,700 hotels around the...
One of the world’s largest hotel companies, Hilton Worldwide operates more than 3,700 hotels around the globe. The company’s flagship brand, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, has more than 540 properties in 78 countries across six continents. In addition to Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Worldwide operates Waldorf Astoria, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton properties in China. With China’s tourism market—for domestic and international travel—expected to grow to triple the size of Japan’s by 2020, hotel companies such...
3 SECURING THE WORKFORCE Diversity management in X-tech, a Japanese organisation This case is intended to...
3 SECURING THE WORKFORCE Diversity management in X-tech, a Japanese organisation This case is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than as an illustration of the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The name of the company is disguised. INTRODUCTION In light of demographic concerns, in 2012, the Japanese government initiated an effort to change the work environment in order to secure the workforce of the future. Japan is world renowned for its...
2. SECURING THE WORKFORCE Diversity management in X-tech, a Japanese organisation This case is intended to...
2. SECURING THE WORKFORCE Diversity management in X-tech, a Japanese organisation This case is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than as an illustration of the effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The name of the company is disguised. INTRODUCTION In light of demographic concerns, in 2012, the Japanese government initiated an effort to change the work environment in order to secure the workforce of the future. Japan is world renowned for its...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is not limited to senior positions. Many companies are finding that their middle managers are not ready to move into upper management positions because their skills are weak or they lack experience. Succession planning involves identifying and tracking high-potential employees as they develop in their careers and work experiences. In some instances, interpersonal relationships such as mentoring and coaching help organizations identify key people and...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is not limited to senior positions. Many companies are finding that their middle managers are not ready to move into upper management positions because their skills are weak or they lack experience. Succession planning involves identifying and tracking high-potential employees as they develop in their careers and work experiences. In some instances, interpersonal relationships such as mentoring and coaching help organizations identify key people and...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is...
Succession Planning: Who's Next? Succession planning is a very important part of any organization—and it is not limited to senior positions. Many companies are finding that their middle managers are not ready to move into upper management positions because their skills are weak or they lack experience. Succession planning involves identifying and tracking high-potential employees as they develop in their careers and work experiences. In some instances, interpersonal relationships such as mentoring and coaching help organizations identify key people and...
Company X is one of the most successful and unique organizations in the film industry and,...
Company X is one of the most successful and unique organizations in the film industry and, perhaps, anywhere in the world. It has produced ten major movie hits, and they are all highly creative and computer-animated. The blockbuster movies include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredible, Cars, and Wall-E, to name a few. In fact, all of Company X's movies have been highly successful, which is a truly amazing accomplishment. Company X's success is due...
Read and research Boeing's case study. Give information to explain the case study in 4 slides...
Read and research Boeing's case study. Give information to explain the case study in 4 slides each slide will contain six words maximum. Boeing’s High-Flying Approach to HR Planning and Recruitment As the world’s biggest aerospace company, Boeing is well acquainted with the industry’s major human resource challenge: identifying, attracting, and keeping enough skilled workers. Across manufacturing, the demand for engineers is intense, but it is especially so in aerospace. Engineers flocked to aerospace companies during the space race, but...
Read the Chapter 10 Case Study "The People Focus: Human Resources at Alaska Airlines" and watch...
Read the Chapter 10 Case Study "The People Focus: Human Resources at Alaska Airlines" and watch the video, then write a summary of at least 300 words using the accompanying discussion questions to guide your essay written in APA style, with a reference page and a cover page. This is the discussion question Describe two of the worst jobs you know about. Why are they bad jobs? How would you redesign these jobs while improving productivity? CASE STUDY With thousands...
Gender Bias in the Executive Suite Worldwide The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) has described...
Gender Bias in the Executive Suite Worldwide The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) has described itself as "a quarterly survey of business leaders from across the globe … surveying 11,500 businesses in 40 economies across the globe on an annual basis." 1 According to the 2011 IBR, the Asia Pacific region had a higher percentage (27 percent) of female chief executive officers (CEOs) than Europe and North America. Japan is the only Asia Pacific region exception. The report further...