A Report on

We Goggled You

Submitted To:

Prof. Abha Chatterjee

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course Written Analysis and Communication

By:

Amit Kujur 2013PGP033 Section F

On

7th February 2014

Letter of Transmittal

To Prof. Madhushri Shrivastava Indian Institute of Management Indore Madhya Pradesh, India Date: 7 February, 2014 Dear Madam, As instructed by you on, I have analysed the case study: "We Googled you" and have formulated a report with recommendations to deal with the current situation. The detailed analysis is presented in the following report. I hope you find this report satisfactory.

Yours Sincerely, Amit Kujur 2013PGP033 Section F Indian Institute of Management Indore

Executive Summary

Table of Contents
Situation Analysis ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Problem Statement .................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. The Options .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Criteria for Evaluation .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Evaluation of Options............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. The Recommendation .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Action Plan ............................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Situation Analysis
Fred Westen, the CEO of Hathaway Jones a luxury apparel is facing a conflict situation regarding recruitment of Mimi Brewster. The case focuses on Fred and his choice to interview and hire, Mimi Brewster, an old friends daughter. She is a very successful and sophisticated Berkley graduate, who is bi lingual and completely qualified for the position to expand the Philadelphia based Hathaway Jones to China. She came across as confident and smart girl who impressed Fred in the first interaction itself by her business insights and by talking about her plans to create womans fashion fantasy by using Chinese archetypes. After the interaction, Fred informed Virginia about her. She was the vice president of human resources and proceeded to do a routine Internet background check. What she found was that Mimi had taken part in a non-violent but vocal protest group that helped mobilize campaigns against the World Trade Organization and had protested outside Chinas consulate against Chinas treatment of a dissident journalist. She expressed her concerns about hiring such a candidate, as it could be detrimental to their reputation as well as their expansion plans. While heading out for dinner in the city, Fred discussed about the situation of Mimi with Martha and was confused about hiring Mimi as there were sins of everyone out on the internet. Martha replied that sooner or later, someone would come up with the information and his China`s plans would be derailed. Now Fred has to make a decision whether it is feasible to hire her or not.

Problem Statement
Fred Westen now faces the decision on weather or not he should hire Mimi for the position because on one hand, she is fit for the job because of her creative, pragmatic and insightful disposition along with her knowledge of the local market but on the other hand she has had past episodes of rebellion against Chinese government which may deter their expansion plans.

Options
1. 2. 3. 4. Hire Mimi Brewster Reject Mimi after consulting with the Legal department Offer Mimi a consulting role on Hathaway Jones china expansion plan Discuss the issue with Mimi in the presence of the Legal department

Criteria for evaluation:

1. Expansion of Hathaway Jones in China 2. Avoidance of any legal disputes 3. Reputation of the Company

Evaluation of Options
1. If Fred hires Mimi then he would be hiring a well-qualified and experienced candidate for the job and thus would be able to leverage her expertise of the local market. Running a background google search without the candidates permission could raise legal disputes from Mimis side. Further, it is also possible that her past episodes which involved staging a protest against the functioning of the Chinese government hamper the companys reputation as well as their expansion plans
2. If Fred rejects Mimi and she come to know that it is solely based on a background

Google search which informed them about her staging protests against the World Trade Organization and Chinas treatment of a dissident journalist then she may file a legal suit against the company which may tarnish the companys reputation. At the same time, the company shall loose a valuable candidate and thus would not be able to leverage her expertise 3. If Fred decides to tweak the work profile in a way that the job would require Mimi to work actively from the US and not be actively involved in the front end roles in China would avoid the chances of portraying the company in a bad light. Having Mimi as an employee would also support the expansion plans in China. It would also avoid any legal disputes as Mimi will be on board. However, it is also possible that Mimi may be looking for a job profile which would allow her to lead the expansion team. In such a scenario this adjustment may not work 4. If Fred decides to discuss the issue with Mimi in the presence of the legal department, thereby allowing her to explain her side of the story, it would ensure that even if she is not selected she would not file a legal suit against the company. Thus, the companys reputation would not be hampered. Further, if Fred and the Legal department find that her part in the protests was not substantial and thus would not hamper the companys expansion plan then hiring her would prove advantageous. This would allow them to minimize the risk and ensure that their expansion plan is a success

Recommendations
Basis the evaluation of options mentioned above, the most viable option is to discuss the issue with Mimi Brewster and then decide if she should be hired or not. If the discussion shows that she had a pivotal role in the protests and thus hiring her would tarnish the companys reputation and expansion plan, then Fred should start looking for another desirous candidate to replace her as soon as possible.

Action Plan
Fred should follow the following action plan : 1. Inform the legal department about the issue at hand 2. Fix a meeting with Mimi to discuss her role in the protests. This discussion should be held in the presence of a representative from the Legal department 3. Decide on whether it is feasible to hire Mimi or not 4. If he decides not to her Mimi Brewster then he should collaborate with Virginia and try and find a suitable replacement