A host-country manager has an expatriate employee with a suspected alcohol problem. Most of the time, the expatriate is either late for work or does not show up. This employee also makes unwelcome phone calls to colleagues at unacceptable times regarding non-job-related matters. The best course of action for the manager is to:

The manager's primary responsibility is to address observable, job-related performance issues, such as tardiness and absenteeism, regardless of the suspected cause. Documenting these issues creates a factual record and initiates a formal performance management process. This approach is professional, legally defensible, and focuses on the impact on the business. If the documented performance issues persist despite intervention, repatriation becomes a necessary and justifiable step. This method avoids making a medical diagnosis, which the manager is not qualified to do, and respects the employee's privacy while upholding organizational standards.

B. Confronting an employee about a suspected medical condition like alcoholism is inappropriate and legally risky for a manager.
C. Immediate termination is an extreme step; a performance improvement process is standard practice, especially for a high-investment expatriate.
D. The behaviors directly impact work (absenteeism) and the work environment (calls to colleagues), so taking no action is negligent.

1. Briscoe, D. R., Schuler, R. S., & Tarique, I. (2012). International Human Resource Management: Policies and Practices for Multinational Enterprises (4th ed.). Routledge. In Chapter 8, the text discusses managing expatriate performance, emphasizing the need to base evaluations on clear, job-related criteria and to follow established performance management procedures before considering repatriation (pp. 258-261).

2. Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D., Sr. (2017). International Human Resource Management (7th ed.). Cengage Learning. Chapter 6 discusses expatriate failure and performance management, highlighting that performance issues must be handled through formal processes, with repatriation as a final step if performance does not improve (pp. 170-174).