Lecture 13 Flashcards
National culture impacts the way human resource is managed in various areas:
Selection process of manpower
Training process
Socialization of employees
The performance and efficiency of manpower
Evaluation and control of manpower
In Europe, beyond the national culture, the following factors have an impact on the way human resource management strategy is managed and constructed:
Existing government policy (changeable)
Labor union role in HRM policy
Work councils
Employment policy, practice and tradition (long-term)
US approaches manpower management with an emphasis on doing oriented cultural behavior
The market perceives HR as capital and raw material
As long as immigration continues to flow in, such policy is likely to continue
European culture approaches manpower strategy is based on being oriented cultural behavior
Societies expect sociological approach to manpower policy
As Europe is moving towards a united regions (EU), its traditional emphasis on being activity is under revision due to the unrestricted immigration of highly educated manpower from the former East European countries and currently receiving huge number of immigration form Middle East countries
European human resource policy, in the future, may look like the current policy in the US
When K-mart opened its branch in Czech Republic, the US training of marketers style emphasized
“smiling when greeting customers.”
Ikea’s hiring practice emphasizes on not to be __ is very different than that of US, thus Ikea preaches, humility, modesty and respect.
“flashy when greeting customes,” status oriented, but “straightforward”
Both management styles are founded on different principles, but both would need
flexibility should they seek acceptance in the domestic respective markets.
Both British and Japanese look for __ manager”. Both HRM policies anticipate that young managers will have problem of being accepted by senior employees
“matured-age
Firms and governments, in both countries, when hiring individuals for higher managerial position, recruiters might emphasize on the manager’s
school background.
Spanish higher level of management policy favors education with an emphasis on
economics and law contents
Spanish human resource management policy prefers managers, who have a background of humanist background
French companies are inclined to hire from the French Grande Ecoles with an emphasis on
militaristic technical education.
most high government and industry management positions in France are filled by a very tight elitist group.
The Germans prefer individuals with technical background to be placed in
high level of management positions
Japanese HRM
Corporations bid for graduates from
famous schools
Japanese HRM
Graduates from “neglected” schools and women offer a
competitive advantage to foreign firms (they focus on right people from right school, so foreign companies use the “leftover manpower” that is approachable)
Japanese HRM
foreign female managers are expected to have less barriers in
the Japanese HR hiring process as they are seen primarily as foreigners
Chinese hiring practice of managers
Hiring has to be through the process of:
Foreign enterprise cooperative office
Local labor bureau
Personal connection of the employee
Multinational firms when hiring managers, might need to pay attention to:
the perception of societies on their school system
how to incorporate those values with the headquarters’ strategy
how to take advantage of the domestic company’s “blind spot” (to hire the graduates from the “forgotten schools”).
Lessons for Foreign Companies:
graduates from non-elite schools are much cheaper
such graduates are more approachable and likeable by the common man
these graduates can attract more customers
The successful manager of a foreign affiliate must be able to operate efficiently in one culture and explain operations in that culture to executives in another culture.
Sources of such manager can be:
The home country
The host country
A third country
The country in which an international company (IC) has its worldwide headquarters is called the
home country.
Employees who are citizens of the home country are called
home country nationals.
A foreign subsidiary often cannot find suitable host country personnel for
management jobs.
Home country citizens are used abroad to
broaden their experience to become high-level managers at headquarters.
Some firms want at least __ in their foreign subsidiaries.
one home country manager
Subsidiaries within the international company are often located in
countries other than the home country.
Host country managers can be:
Cheaper than home country nationals
They can neutralize tensions that can arise between a foreign firm and the local people/government officials
Useful in penetrating local markets
Disadvantage of hiring local managers
Local managers are often unfamiliar with the home country of the international company (IC) and with its policies and practices.
The best of the local managers may be pirated away by local firms or other IC subsidiaries.
There can be a conflict of loyalty between the host country and the employer.
Third country nationals
An employee who is a citizen of neither the home nor the host country.
An employer should not count on cost savings in using third country nationals.
Salaries for these employees may be higher than what American companies are paying at comparable position levels.
Home Country Nationals (people from the head quarter):
If a country feels that it probably will send home countries abroad,
it will frequently encourage them to study the language and culture of the country to which they are going.
A large problem that has plagued employers is caused by the families of executives transferred overseas.
Host Country Nationals Hired in Home Country
Multinationals try to solve the business technique problem by hiring host country students on their graduation from home country business schools.
Brain-drain is sometime controversial
Reverse Brain Drain is a possibility
The number of host country citizens graduating from home country universities is limited. Therefore, multinationals must
recruit locally for their management positions.
Advantages of hiring third country nationals
Third country nationals may accept lower wages and benefits than will employees from the home country.
They may also come from a culture similar to that of the host country.
As multinationals increasingly take the geocentric view toward promoting, there is likely to be evidence of increased use of
third country nationals
As multinationals increasingly take the geocentric view toward promoting, there is likely to be evidence of increased use of
third country nationals
Extra care should be taken not to inspire conflicts, in case that, the third country national is
unwelcome
Sources of training
Geocentric
Related to hiring and promoting employees on the basis of ability and experience without considering race of citizenship.
Expatriate
A person living outside of his or her country of citizenship.
Nine out of ten expatriates’ failures are
family-related.
Unhappy spouses are the biggest reason for employees asking to
go home early.
The company will be losing a “million-dollar corporate-training investment” in order to
train expatriate’s family members.
The English speakers are stuck in a language trap:
The English language has become the lingua franca of the world.
English is everybody’s second language.
There is culture context misunderstand between cultures.
