Austral Group SAA: Human Resource Integration in the Traditional Fishing Industry

In June 2021, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Peruvian-based Austral Group S.A.A. (Austral), one of the six largest producers and traders in marine-based foods and ingredients in the Republic of Peru, was concerned about two major ongoing challenges: gender equality and cross-generation employees. In May 2006, Austral merged with and became a subsidiary of Austevoll Seafood ASA (Austevoll), the world-leading Norwegian conglomerate in the fishery and seafood industry. After the merger, Austral improved its foundations of human resources (HR). The newly merged entity built a common organizational culture and created a bond to engage workers in its new culture. In 2007, the company introduced a 10-year plan to drive structural changes in human resource management (HRM). The CEO’s current issue is how to overcome the two outstanding challenges to move the company forward and make it sustainable for the future.