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sidiary manager in the success of a multinational's localized strategy. In the HR realm, Vodafone is aware that subsidiary managers are demotivated by “perceptions of misfit, lack of procedural justice, weak execution, loss of personal control and cultural misunderstanding” (Birnik 2007). Managers encounter these problems when they are forcibly integrated into a foreign business logic; however, as Vodafone will follow a localized strategy predicated on giving MobiFine maximum control of its existing operations, we hope to sidestep these particular cross-border HR issues. Vodafone understands that MobiFine has already established an HR strategy, and we do not intend to tamper with it without reason.

MobiFine's managers will naturally have to work alongside Vodafone employees from outside Vietnam, but HR policy will sensitive our expatriates to the fact that Vodafone is maintaining the integrity of the local chain of authority and respecting the local culture. This is especially important because “the culture of foreign organizations seems an alien to Vietnamese staff as Vietnamese culture does to the newly arrived expatriate” (Ashwill & Diep 2005, p. 94).

Myloni, Harzing, and Mirza (2007, p. 2057) explain that four factors-a deliberate transfer of HR practices from a corporation's headquarters to its subsidiary, an “international competitive strategy, informal control, and the presence of expatriates-all succeed in grafting headquarters' culture on to the subsidiary. We will avoid each of these approaches because:

HR practice transfer: the acquisition of the controlling stake is being structured as a Turkey-type deal rather than a Japan-type deal for Vodafone. Accordingly, corporate HR will be removed from the strategy loop right at the beginning of the deal and informed that their role is tactical (to support the new employees) rather than strategic (to impose the Vodafone culture on the new employees).

International competitive strategy: admittedly, one of the purposes of our expansion into the Vietnamese market is to better position Vodafone for competition in the Chinese market. However, this does not mean that Vietnam is a corporate experiment. Rather, we wish to learn directly from our Vietnamese colleagues at MobiFine and apply this valuable knowledge to the entire region.

Informal control: In the late 1990s, American Rice attempted to change or challenge existing business processes in the Vietnamese rice industry and lost, as the company was unable to deal with the corruption and cut-throat nature of the status quo in Vietnam. This was a direct result of a control problem - i.e., American Rice attempted to govern an ungovernable set of business conditions. While the wireless business is obviously quite distant, we understand that we are buying a stake in MobiFone's proven success rather than attempting to change the stakes of the wireless marketplace in Vietnam. Our informal control of the company will be accordingly limited.

Expatriates: Vodafone realizes that, despite its strides over the past few decades, Vietnam can still be hostile to foreign interlopers. Expatriates will be instructed to keep a low profile, and eschew speaking to the press, making public comments, etc.

Marketing Strategy and Implementation:
Vodafone's Vietnamese marketing strategy will respond to the painful lessons Vodafone learned in another