Amex Petroleum Case study

1. )1)
Amex, Hungary
Amex Petroleum is an oil company. It has established projects in
Hungary. 10 to 14 gas stations should establish in unspecified time.
These gas stations may be obtained by purchasing of existing stations,
building new ones and negotiating franchise agreements with current
owners. The mission has been given to Michael Thomas, an expatriate
working at Amex. He has to go to Budapest, Hungary for 4 months. He
shall establish gas stations, renovate Amex offices in Hungary and hire
staff personnel. Thomas hired 16 employees, 4 quit within 3 days on the
job. 6 were let go for being absent. He made interviews with personnel
who didn’t have the drive or initiative to be successful.
He met Zoltan Kodaly, a Hungarian businessman, who owns 3 gas
stations. Kodaly's daughter, Annia, has to translate the conversation
between them. Thomas rushed himself to discuss business with Kodaly.
He had difficulty delegating work. He didn’t care about the gas
employees and said at least 15 workers have to be let go. Kodaly didn’t
like this. However, Thomas failed to complete his assignments.
Unfortunately, Thomas has another problem related to the new tanks of
the first station he had purchased for Amex. The customs hold them at
the border. Further, he his office was in a mess and one station was in
control instead of three. He had only one- third of his staff. The main
headquarter sent him a message asking about the work status, he had
nothing to tell. He postponed his answer for the next day hoping to have
updates at work.

2. )2)
Questions and Answers:
- What are the issues confronting Thomas in this case?
1-Economics
2- High unemployment
3- Cultural differences
4- Security
- How well is Thomas dealing with these issues?
1- Economics: The inflation has be higher to 32% leads to at the time
only one out of every five Hungarian families owned a car. He only
rented that the percentage of car owners will be higher .
2- High unemployment and low motivation: Thomas met employees
at Hungary who exhibit a lack of motivation. He had difficulty
delegating the business, and failed to complete his work in
punctually
3- Cultural differences: Thomas has a lack of business etiquette
while meeting Zoltan Kodaly such as punctuality and relationship
building prior to the discussion of business.
4- Security: Thomas didn't put personnel and safety risks into In
priority. It will create a big difficulty of the completion of
international enterprises.
- What suggestions do you have for Thomas in managing this
project?
a- Thomas should focus on regions with high concentrations of
car traffic, and establish a high presence.
b- Thomas should hire a business consultant to assure that he is
performing related to the Hungarian standards, and would
teach him how do his Hungarian team successfully.
c- Thomas should review the case of the over-staffed
employees ,and should transfer them to the area of business
instead of keeping them away from work.

3. )3)
d- Thomas should join an area that offers medical and security
advice, crisis support, IE: an organization that manages the
health and security of expatriates. (SOS)
e- Thomas should receive training from Amex before Shari
involved in such enterprises.