Read the case study given below and answer ALL the questions.

Staffing Challenge at Kensington Hotels Plc

Kensington Hotels Plc owns more than 30 hotels throughout the United Kingdom. They recently acquired a small hotel chain headquartered in France.

Kensington's chief executive decided that half of the new hotels in France would be retained and rebranded as part of the Kensington Hotels Group; the other half will be sold.

This will support Kensington's strategic objective of growing the organisation slowly to make sure that new ventures are well supported and opened on time and on budget.

Kensington's hotels are considered budget accommodation; they are functional, clean and reasonably priced. Most guests stay for one to three nights and area combination of business and leisure travellers.

The hotels are typically situated in downtown locations that are easily accessible by mass transit. Tourists are attracted to these hotels in popular visitor destinations where the many local attractions mean that they will not be spending much time in their hotel rooms.

The organisation has decided to transfer some of their existing UK based managers to France to lead the changeover of the new hotels and then manage them after they are re-opened.

If this new overseas venture is successful, Kensington may decide to acquire other small hotel groups in other European countries.

The organisation would like to own 60 hotels in the next five years. Their 10 year plan is to own 120 hotels across Europe. This is an ambitious target, so it is important that the organisation finds an effective strategy to operate successfully in other countries.

The following table provides an overview of the potential candidates who are presently working in the UK chain:

	Profile and Work Experience
Manager A	Age: 29; joined the organisation at 18 years Worked for Kensington for over 10 years Five of these years were in a management position Has never travelled abroad for business or leisure Is concerned about not knowing very much about French culture and the way the hotels are managed in France
Manager B	Age: 55; worked for Kensington for 22 years Joined as a hotel cleaner and worked through the ranks to management Regularly visits Asia for vacations but has not travelled to Europe (s concerned that he is used to having a close support network in UK and that might not be possible due to the various locations of the French hotels
Manager C	Age: 38; joined Kensington six months ago Has six years experience working in a restaurant and previous management experience in another large hotel group. Is concerned that his family may find it difficult to settle in France Is very interested to learn about new cultures
Manager D	Age: 23; joined Kensington two years ago Completed a one year internship in a French hotel after college Understands some basic French and js keen to master the language Is concerned about how the French staff will react to having a young English manager
Manager E	Age: 40; joined Kensington 14 years ago Promoted to management position two years ago Has six years working experience in a tourist information centre Is concerned about his communication and lack of IT skills

Adapted from: International HRM Case Study, Robson, F.L. Society for Human Resource Management,

2008

Question 1

Determine the staffing approach used by Kensington Hotels and provide reasons why the management has chosen this approach.

(20 marks)

Question 2

Discuss the FIVE (5) factors that should to be considered in the selection of expatriates to work in the French hotels.

(20 marks)