Quality Compliance at the Hawthorn Arms

This paper explores the situation of Alistair Mackay, a recently appointed Director of Personnel Development for Trianon, an avionics firm.  Trianon has just entered a joint-venture agreement with a government-backed Hungarian firm.  Mackay’s job is to recommend someone for the position of  Quality Compliance Manager (Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2008).  He can choose out of an applicant pool of three candidates.
1) All three candidates appear to be highly qualified for the job.  Sinead Marrian-McGuire’s understanding of Trianon’s concerns and strategic issues could be a valuable asset to the company.  Similarly, Marie Erten-Loiseau’s 13 years of aeronautical experience in France and Germany could be an important gain in this international agreement.  However, considering that Trianon is doing this deal in the hopes of gaining favor in the eyes of the government, the most highly qualified applicant would be someone who has good connections.  For this reason, Janos Gabor is the perfect candidate for Alistair to pick.  Gabor’s family is well connected with important government officials, especially within ministerial bureaucracies.  The network that Gabor brings into this deal is simply invaluable.

2) Because Genadry’s instructions are fairly vague, it is difficult to ascertain a specific recruitment process we could use to find an appropriate applicant.  However, based on the motives Trianon had for entering the joint venture agreement, we can assume several requirements.  First, the candidate would have to be able to work well with people.  Considering that this is an international deal involving several companies and the government, a quality-compliance manager would need to be able to resolve issues and mediate disagreements between parties.  Second, the candidate would need to have a good technical background to be able to make informed decisions.  Third, and final, the candidate would have to have the best interests of Trianon at heart.  Janos Gabor encompasses all three of these qualities.  He is well connected, which makes him good with people.  He has a “good background in the production of cathode ray tube and display systems technologies,” (Dowling et al,. 2008) and he has worked at Trianon for four years, making him a loyal and reliable employee.
3) In large-scale joint venture agreements such as this one, it is imperative that HR staff be intimately involved in finalization.  Since deals like this often involve interpersonal relations, it is important that Human Resources have a hand in monitoring and assisting those relationships.  It is not enough to simply have technically knowledgeable people at hand; the company should utilize the services of those who are interpersonally knowledgeable as well.