Note: Please solve the case in your own words.

Course title: IHRM

Vour group comprises the top executive team of an Australian wine company that trades under the name of Yarra River Wines. The company is based in the Yarra Valley wine district in the hills outside Melbourne. It has its own vineyards, but also purchases grapes from selected Victorian vineyards to use in its blended varieties of cabernet, shiraz, merlot and grenache. The wine is sold under the labels of Yarra River for its blends and Yarra Estate for its shiraz and chardonnay. Like other companies in the Yarra Valley, it has a high-class restaurant attached to its winery that, along with winery tours and cellar door sales, attracts a constant flow of tourists. This is now forming an integral part of building domestic and international brand recognition. Since the late 1970s, the company has built up reasonable levels of export sales of premium red and white table wines to three international markets: the UK, Scandinavia and, recently, the USA. Buoyed by rising global sales and industry predictions for future growth, the Board has given approval to acquire an existing winery in southern France. The French acquisition is an important step for the company as it is the first foreign direct investment. Exporting through agents and distributors has been the company's mode of operation until this point. The French operation is a middle-level player in its home market, with limited sales to neighbouring EU countries. Pre-acquisition evaluation revealed an efficiently run operation, in the French context, with modest profit margins. To a certain extent, Yarra River Wines is a late starter, as its larger Australian competitors such as Orlando (Jacobs Creek) and BRL Hardy have been operating their own French wineries for several years. The renowned French champagne house Domaine Chandon has a successful operation in the Yarra Valley that produces sparkling and table wines, some of which are exported to France. However, Australian wine has gained a global recognition for quality wine, assisted by techno- logical improvements and aggressive marketing, and your company expects this to assist Yarra River Wines to 'ride the Australian wave' and gain market share in Continental Europe. The agenda for today's meeting is to decide on the staffing of the French acquisition. Control is paramount as the Board is especially cautious given the perceived and real risks the new venture presents. The top executive team is convinced there is room for improvement, particularly in terms of wine production techniques and marketing. However, the group recognizes that care must be taken with staffing decisions, given the potential for conflict between French and Australian management approaches and the need for sensitivity to local issues. The HR Director will present the meeting with an assessment of the curient management in the French acquisition, and provide a briefing document on PART IV CASES ANDEXERCISES French and EC cmployment laws, including retrenchment. Key positions to be considered are: Managing Director, Marketing Manager, Wine Technoloqist (a new position). Production Manager, Finance Manager and Human Resource Manager. In the time allocated, your group must decide on whether to use Australians (cither from inside or ourside the company), to retain the current French management tcam or to use a mixture of French and Australians. While you are free to make suppositions assumptions regarding the HR assessment of the current French management team, you must be prepared to justify these, and provide the rationale behind the decisions your group makes