| Course | BUS 495 International Business |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Cross-border management plan |
| Length | About 1,085 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 495 Module 8
Two Years in Queretaro: Preparing an Engineering Manager to Lead Across Borders, and Keeping the Plant Within the Law
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
BUS 495: International Business
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Two Years in Queretaro: Preparing an Engineering Manager to Lead Across Borders, and Keeping the Plant Within the Law
Lakeview Components, a composite maker of brake assemblies in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has operated a production plant in Queretaro, Mexico, for six years. To shorten development times and reduce costs, the company has decided to move product engineering for its light-truck brake assemblies to Queretaro and build a team of fourteen Mexican engineers there. It has asked Karen Whitfield, a senior engineering manager with eighteen years at the company, to lead the team for two years. Whitfield speaks limited Spanish and has never lived abroad. Her husband, a high school teacher, would accompany her. This paper uses research to plan her preparation and support, to transfer leadership to a local successor and to address the legal and ethical limits she will face.
Why Assignments Succeed or Fail
Black et al. (1991) integrated research on international adjustment into a model with three dimensions: adjustment to work, adjustment to interacting with host-country nationals and general adjustment to living conditions such as housing, food and transportation. They identified factors that act before departure, such as previous international experience, accurate expectations and careful selection, and factors after arrival, including the clarity and discretion of the job, the culture of the organization, social support and the adjustment of the spouse. Whitfield's job will be clear and her authority well defined, which supports work adjustment. Her limited Spanish and lack of experience abroad are risks for interaction and general adjustment, and her husband's adjustment is a further risk the model treats as important.
Building Cultural Intelligence
Earley and Ang (2003) describe cultural intelligence as a capability with several parts: knowledge about how cultures differ, the habit of thinking about one's own assumptions and checking them during interactions, the motivation to engage with people from other cultures and the ability to adjust behavior such as speech and gestures. Unlike personality, these parts can be developed. For Whitfield, training should go beyond facts about Mexico to practice in noticing when her expectations, for example about how openly engineers disagree with a manager in meetings, may not apply, and in asking rather than assuming.
The Preparation and Support Plan
The table sets out the plan from selection through the first year.
| Timing | Action | Responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Selection, month minus six | Interview Whitfield and her husband together about expectations and concerns | Human resources director |
| Months minus six to zero | Intensive Spanish, three sessions a week, continued after arrival | Whitfield, paid by company |
| Month minus four | One-week visit to Queretaro for both spouses, including housing and schools | Plant manager |
| Months minus three to minus one | Cultural intelligence training with a trainer experienced in Mexico | Human resources |
| Arrival, month one | Assign a cultural mentor, a senior Mexican manager outside her team | Plant manager |
| Months one to twelve | Monthly call with a home-office sponsor; career plan for her return | Vice president of engineering |
| Month six | Midyear review of adjustment, team progress and successor development | Sponsor and human resources |
Supporting the Family
Because spouse adjustment strongly influences whether expatriates stay and succeed, the company should treat Whitfield's husband as part of the assignment. Lakeview will pay for his Spanish lessons, help him seek a teaching position at one of Queretaro's international schools, connect him with other expatriate families through the plant's network and include him in the predeparture visit and training. The couple will have a company-paid trip home each year.
Planning for a Local Successor
The assignment's purpose is to build a strong local engineering team, not to create permanent dependence on an American manager. From her first month, Whitfield will work with a deputy, Luis Ramirez, an experienced engineer at the plant who has led production engineering projects. He will attend design reviews at headquarters, lead increasing portions of the team's work and take over as team leader at the end of the two years, with Whitfield returning to a defined role in Grand Rapids. Planning for her return also matters, since expatriates who return to unclear roles often leave the company.
Leading the Team Day to Day
Whitfield's daily leadership will also need adjustment. Her Michigan team was used to challenging her openly in design reviews, while some of her new engineers may at first be reluctant to contradict a senior manager from headquarters in front of colleagues. She plans to hold short one-on-one meetings each week, ask for written comments before design reviews and thank people publicly when they raise problems early. She will also learn which decisions her engineers expect her to make and which they expect to share. Ramirez, as her deputy, can tell her when a silence in a meeting signals agreement and when it signals concern.
The Law on Payments to Officials
Setting up an engineering center involves permits, import approvals for test equipment and customs clearance for prototypes, and these processes can be slow. Whitfield may be told that a small payment would speed things up. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1, prohibits U.S. companies and their employees from offering or paying anything of value to a foreign official to obtain or keep business or to secure an improper advantage. The law contains a narrow exception for facilitating payments made to speed routine, nondiscretionary government actions, such as processing paperwork that an applicant is already entitled to receive. Mexican law separately prohibits bribery of its own officials, and the line between a routine action and a discretionary one is often unclear.
For these reasons, Lakeview's policy, like that of many companies, forbids facilitating payments altogether. Whitfield will be trained on the policy, will route any request for a payment to the company's legal department and will document official fees paid through proper channels with receipts. If a delay results, the company accepts it. This approach protects the company and its employees and avoids building a reputation that invites further requests.
Conclusion
Whitfield's assignment can succeed if the company prepares her and her husband for the adjustments research identifies, builds her cultural intelligence before and after arrival, supports the family and plans for a local successor from the start. Clear rules on payments to officials, stricter than the minimum the law allows, protect both the manager and the company. This learning example is not legal advice, and the company's counsel should review its compliance policy. Managed this way, the assignment will leave Lakeview with a capable engineering team in Queretaro and a manager who returns with skills the company can use.
References
Black, J. S., Mendenhall, M., & Oddou, G. (1991). Toward a comprehensive model of international adjustment: An integration of multiple theoretical perspectives. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 291-317. https://doi.org/10.2307/258863
Earley, P. C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Stanford University Press.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1 (1977).
BUS 495 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
The catalog entry for BUS 495 at Aspen includes managing people, operations and ethics across borders, so a last module paper often asks students to address leadership, human resources or ethics in an international setting. Use your classroom's Module 8 prompt for specifics; this example combines a management plan with an ethics section for one international assignment. Describe the assignment and why the company is sending someone abroad. Use research to explain what makes international assignments succeed or fail. Build a practical plan covering selection, preparation, arrival and ongoing support, including family where relevant. Address how knowledge will pass to local staff. Identify at least one ethical or legal issue specific to operating abroad and explain how the manager should handle it, citing the relevant rule.
Inside the BUS 495 Module 8 example
The paper starts with Lakeview Components' decision to move product engineering for its brake assemblies to its plant in Queretaro and to send senior engineer Karen Whitfield to lead the team. Black, Mendenhall and Oddou's Academy of Management Review model distinguishes work, interaction and general adjustment and the factors before and after departure that shape each. Earley and Ang's four parts of cultural intelligence suggest what training can build. A seven-row table lays out actions from selection to month twelve, such as language study, a visit with her husband, a cultural mentor and a midyear review. A section on family support follows research showing spouse adjustment matters. Succession planning names a Mexican engineer as deputy. The ethics section explains the FCPA's antibribery rules, its narrow exception for routine government action and the company's policy of refusing all facilitating payments.
Reading the BUS 495 Module 8 grading rubric
In a paper on managing abroad, the marks follow the research behind the plan, how practical the plan is, whether people besides the manager are considered and whether the ethics or law is stated accurately. This example relies on Black, Mendenhall and Oddou's model rather than general advice and turns its factors into specific actions. Earley and Ang's book on cultural intelligence explains what training can change. The table gives dates and owners for each step, which makes the plan checkable. Family support and succession are treated as part of success, not afterthoughts. The ethics section quotes no more of the statute than it needs, cites the FCPA by its section of the U.S. Code and explains the difference between the narrow legal exception and the company's stricter policy. The paper also states that it is not legal advice.
BUS 495 Module 8 help: mistakes that cost marks
A frequent gap in Module 8 papers is treating an international assignment as a relocation rather than a management challenge. Explain why assignments fail and design the plan around those reasons. Another is ignoring the family; spouses and children who struggle are a common reason assignments end early. Make the plan specific, with timing and responsibility for each step, rather than listing general goals such as cultural training. Include how the expatriate's knowledge will transfer to local staff, since the assignment should leave the local team stronger. For the ethics section, describe the law accurately and cite it, and avoid suggesting that small payments are acceptable because they are common. Where the law has narrow exceptions, explain why many companies choose stricter policies. Keep the tone respectful toward the host country throughout.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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BUS 495 Module 8 questions, answered
What does BUS 495 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's BUS 495 ends with managing across borders, so a paper on leading people, handling human resource issues or resolving an ethical problem in an international setting is typical. Follow your classroom prompt.
Why do international assignments fail?
Common reasons include poor adjustment to work and daily life, family difficulties, unclear goals and weak support from the home office, which is why preparation and ongoing support matter.
What is cultural intelligence?
Earley and Ang's term for a person's ability to function effectively across cultures, involving knowledge, thinking strategies, motivation and adapted behavior.
Where can I find a free BUS 495 Module 8 sample paper?
The complete paper appears above: an engineering manager preparing for two years in Queretaro, with an adjustment model, a preparation table, family and succession plans and an FCPA section.
Does the FCPA allow small payments to officials?
It contains a narrow exception for facilitating payments that speed routine, nondiscretionary government action, but many companies forbid them entirely because the line is hard to judge and local laws may prohibit them.