Dilemma: We are going to do business in Mexico
A British company, Systemtech, makes and sells laboratory equipment to two main regions: Europe and North America. Systemtech is now going to enter a new export market in Mexico. Sales in Mexico are small at the moment, but the company
expects a big increase in the next 2 years and it hopes to expand further into South
American countries, such as Brazil and Argentina in the next 5 years. Systemtech has 2 export managers for the main regions:
George Jones (North America) and Linda McCain (Europe)
Now, someone has to take responsibility for exports to Mexico. Is it better to give
the extra responsibility to George Jones or to Linda McCain? Or, maybe the company needs to find a third export manager to take the extra responsibility?
The extra responsibility means travelling to Mexico (and in the future, to countries in South America) several times a year and building good relationships with customers there. Mexico shares a border with the United States (US), and in terms of geography, could be part of the North American region. But the culture of Mexico is very different from the culture of the US. In many ways, the culture of Mexico is more similar to the culture of Spain, in Europe.
You are management team at Systemtech and you have to decide. Think about the following:
q
o What abilities and experience do George and Linda have? 0 How much time does each of them have for new responsibilities? 0 Are they ready to increase the amount of travel abroad?