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while still adhering to corporate policies and procedures. They were solely responsible for meeting annual performance targets and subject to regular monitoring. This management structure aimed to enable quick decision-making without constant referrals to headquarters. However, in response to Van de Zende's vision, business unit leaders must now adjust their reporting and communication methods with the headquarters, which many find very challenging.

POG Azerbaijan is a business unit attracted by the oil and gas deposits in the Caspian Sea, which are similar to those in the USA and the North Sea. It has been involved in offshore exploration in Azerbaijan for ten years but has recently started production due to political uncertainty and complicated government relations. Building offshore platforms and export pipelines requires a ?10 billion investment, which is crucial for POG's long-term future. Currently, POG Azerbaijan has around one thousand employees. While the company has started making a profit, its CEO, Dr Rachel Woodhouse, understands that maintaining continuous growth and meeting yearly targets requires a strategy plan aligned with Van de Zende's vision and the development needs of POG Azerbaijan. In this strategy plan, Dr Woodhouse needs to urgently address the following challenges.

The company's goal is to double its workforce in the next five years in order to meet its production target. Dr Woodhouse has a vision of increasing the local workforce from 40% to 90%, although she has doubts about achieving this objective. Recruiting skilled engineers and geosciences specialists in different areas will be difficult, despite the company's annual recruitment program for graduates and trainees. Active efforts are also required for recruiting in drilling, commercial, health, safety and environment, public

relations, and human resources.

In an interview for the company magazine, Dr Woodhouse discussed POG Azerbaijan's approach. Instead of relying on experienced expatriates to handle the entire job, the company is focused on recruiting and developing national employees who can eventually manage the operation. At present, 40 Azeri employees are undergoing technical training at POG's development center in the Netherlands. Dr Woodhouse emphasized the importance of hiring local employees who understand the local environment and know how to get things done as it saves costs compared to bringing in expatriates. Additionally, POG believes in recruiting top-quality staff for planning, building, and operating platforms and pipelines. However, a concern arises from the fact that Azeri standards for health and safety are currently below international standards despite significant investment in training by the company. This is deemed unacceptable by POG due to its presence in a highly dangerous industry that often garners media attention.

Recruitment and selection are crucial processes aimed at hiring the most qualified workforce in Azerbaijan. Although corporate HR policies and procedures are translated and supposed to be followed, it is common for expatriate and local managers to disregard the issue of favoritism and networking when selecting candidates. To counteract this, Group HR has strengthened the assessment centre process for the Azerbaijani operation, which includes standardized psychometric testing to ensure a consistent selection process globally.

However, doubts have been raised by the local HR services manager regarding the selection process. The ongoing evaluation of the process has questioned the effectiveness of using westernised tests to select national candidates. Furthermore, candidates have voiced their lack of confidence in a process they perceive

as impersonal and unfamiliar, which contradicts the more conventional face-to-face recruitment methods they are accustomed to.

The "learning organization" advocated by van der Zende is strongly supported by Group HR in Amsterdam, particularly in its investment in the Learning and Development (L&D) division of its Azerbaijani subsidiary. Dr. Sammy Wonderland, a Dutch expatriate, leads a team of five local staff members in Azerbaijan.

L & D's main responsibility is to offer comprehensive training for new technician grade personnel, lasting six months. The selection process considers technical expertise and previous experience with national oil companies, if possible. L & D conducts three annual training and development programs with a total of 120 participants. With POG’s Azerbaijani operations expanding as planned, there will be a need to train 600 individuals over the next five years. This training program covers specialized modules on various technical subjects like health and safety standards and company procedures. Additionally, English language instruction is provided daily throughout the entire six-month duration. It should be noted that expatriates are not required to learn either Azeri or Russian languages spoken locally.

The current training and development needs are overwhelming the existing L Team. Dr. Woodhouse realizes that an immediate solution is necessary to address both present and future training requirements.

POG, an international company, values diversity and multi-cultures in its global workforce. This is also the case in Azerbaijan, where Azeri employees work alongside expatriates. In order to promote POG's corporate culture and facilitate effective communication and teamwork, the L&D Team provides a 'Communication and Teamwork' module to all Azeri employees. While long-serving Azeri colleagues have embraced the POG 'mindset' and therefore tend

to criticize their newer co-workers for their hesitation to do the same, trainees find certain aspects of this module unfamiliar. These trainees inherently mistrust western multinational corporations, unlike their Azeri peers who have been with POG for several years.

In communication skills, trainees are encouraged to adopt behavior consistent with the open and questioning culture of POG. They learn to overcome the fear of asking questions, raising issues with their managers, and learning from their mistakes. However, trainees have found these lessons to be challenging, and trainers initially struggled to engage them actively. In the local society, asking questions is seen as admitting ignorance and losing face. Similarly, raising issues with managers is met with resistance due to a deference to authority and fear of damaging relationships. Learning from mistakes is difficult as it requires admitting responsibility for errors.

Moreover, Group HR acknowledges that Azerbaijan, as a collectivist society, is suitable for "teamwork" and that skills training in this aspect should be straightforward. Nevertheless, trainers have encountered challenges due to Azerbaijan's emphasis on social status. Group HR strives to promote teamwork founded on shared responsibility and equal standing; however, in Azerbaijan, team members are esteemed for their hierarchical position. Consequently, teams in Azerbaijan inherently function with the understanding of inequality.

The initial delivery of the ‘Communication and Team Working’ module has been conducted by a visiting British academic, who is considered an 'expert' by the trainees. He collaborates with a local L ; D officer, a highly qualified but young female, with the aim of eventually transferring the training delivery to her. However, this transition is proving to be impossible. The trainees

have a strong aversion towards being addressed by the female officer as Azeri male oil workers find it offensive to receive advice or instructions from a local woman. Additionally, the head of the L ; D team is hesitant to cause any disruptions.

The company's future success during a period of significant growth relies heavily on its human resources. This case study highlights immediate HR issues, specifically concerning the integration between Group HR and the HR function in Azerbaijan. It is crucial to adopt Amsterdam's high commitment approach to staff management and resolve the current situation in Azerbaijan.