Chapter 11 Flashcards
IHRM
International Human Resource Management
Value of IHRM
- Identifying new international business opportunities.
- Facilitating adapting to changing conditions worldwide.
- Sharing innovation knowledge throughout the firm.
- Effectively coordinating subsidiary operations.
-Conducting successful cross-border acquisitions. - Maintaining a high-performing, committed overseas workforce.
Possible Additional/Unique Responsibilities
of IHRM professionals
- A wider variety of external variables that must be taken into account when making decisions
- Need to manage a wider and more diverse mix of employees
- A larger portfolio of human resource activities and functions
- More direct exposure to international risk issues
Effectively Managing Human Resources in Transition Economies - Strategies
Social Welfare Approach (e.g., used by some state-owned firms in China and Russia).
Cost-Containment Approach (e.g., used by U.S. firms with a cost-cutting mentality)
Invest-in-Employees Approach (e.g., used by Western firms with a high commitment philosophy)
Parent-Country Nationals (PCNs)
Employees who have citizenship in the country where the hiring firm is headquartered.
Expatriates (Expats)
A PCN who works overseas for an extended period.
Boomerangs
Employees who are hired or chosen to return to their home countries to work for the multinational.
Host-Country Nationals (HCNs)
Individuals from the country where a multinational has decided to set up a facility.
Third country nationals (TCNs)
Employees who are citizens of a country other than that of the foreign subsidiary where they work or the country where the parent firm is based.
International cadre
A talented group of managers who are sent to any country and successfully represent the firm’s values.
Permanent Expatriates
Employees who stay on at one or more foreign subsidiaries for an extended period of years.
inpatriates
Foreign employees working abroad who are brought to the home country where the parent firm is based to fill a temporary position at corporate headquarters for as long as a few years.
Factors Affecting International Staffing Options:
The firm’s international business strategy.
Integration of IHRM into the firm’s strategic decision-making process.
National cultural values of the parent firm.
Approaches to International Staffing
Geocentric Philosophy
Stresses ability and performance when selecting international staff, without regard to nationality.
Ethnocentric Philosophy
Is an approach in which headquarters makes all key decisions and foreign subsidiaries have little autonomy or input.
Polycentric Philosophy
Places human resource management control in the hands of the foreign subsidiary, although headquarters still makes broad strategic decisions.
Regiocentric Philosophy
Moves foreign employees from country to country in a particular region, rather than into headquarters positions.
Developing International Managers
Rotate promising managers through different foreign assignments over several years.
Identify and cultivate talent at local levels worldwide.
Recruit foreign students who want to work in their home country after graduation.
Focus on employees who are fluent in multiple languages, open to other cultures, and willing to tackle overseas assignments.
Use global training programs to bring high-potential managers from all over the world to work together on a variety of projects in a simulated environment.
Home-Country Culture Influences:
How an individual is assessed (what is considered about an individual’s values, background, and personal characteristics) during the selection process.
How successful training programs are when matched to the values and culture of the employees being trained.
Managing Equal Opportunity and Organizational Diversity in an International Context
Legal Requirements
It is illegal for U.S. firms to discriminate against U.S. citizens working abroad on the basis of color, sex, race, religion, or national origin.
U.S. firms can sidestep this requirement only if complying with U.S. law means a local law will be violated.
Cultural Differences
The American view that everyone deserves equal opportunity is a cultural value not viewed the same way everywhere.
Expatriates and the Consequences of Failure
Premature return, Waster relocation costs, waster preparation and support costs, other indirect costs, Ineffective performance, Turnover after repratiation.
Cross-National Diversity
Occurs in a corporate environment in which frequent interactions occur between parent-, host-, and third-country nationals.
Intranational Diversity
Occurs in a corporate environment in which frequent interactions occur between employees from a specific country who represent different races, ethnic groups, and so on.
Synergistic Multiculturalism
Involves being open to the positive aspects of all cultures and attempts to leverage cultural differences in ways that benefit the company.
Parochialism
Is an approach to managing cultural diversity in which the firm believes its way is the only way and cultural diversity is ignored.
Ethnocentrism
Is an approach to managing cultural diversity in which the firm believes its way is the best way and tries to smooth out differences across the firm by imposing corporate values.
Factors affecting expatriate selection.
Nature of the assignment.
Availability of appropriate training.
Assignment location.
Personal fit of the expatriate.
Selection of Expatriates
Interviews.
Personality and skills tests.
Performance on training exercises.
Review of past accomplishments.
Training for expatriates
Goals of Preparation/Training for Overseas Assignments
To help expatriates be effective in their assignments as quickly as possible.
To minimize adjustment difficulties that expatriates and their families face, in both their new environment and after they return.
Cultural Toughness
Is the extent to which a foreign culture is different from a person’s home environment, making adjustment more difficult in an expatriate context.
Trends in expatriate preparation
- Wider and Deeper Training Programs
- Continued Improvement in Training
- Self-Preparation and Training
- Involvement of Families
Returning Home: The Challenge of Repatriation
Repatriation Problems
Changes in home country and in expatriate’s values.
Changes in home office require major adjustments and new learning on return.
Difficulties in experiencing a new job after return.
Reorienting to living conditions in the home country.
Feeling unappreciated by the firm after performing well overseas.
Adjusting to a lower standard of living after returning home (no more pay premiums or fancy benefits).
