STAFFING

Staffing
Factors affecting approaches to staffing
General staffing policy on key positions at headquarters
and subsidiaries
Constraints placed by host government

H-1B workers may be employed temporarily in a specialty

occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished ability.
A specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical
application of a body of specialized knowledge along with at
least a bachelors degree or its equivalent. An H-1B alien may
work for any petitioning U.S. employer for a maximum period
of six years.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) bars
employers from hiring individuals who are not legally entitled
to work in the U.S. Employers must verify work eligibility by
completing Form I-9 along with required supporting
documents.
IRCA
also
prohibits
employers
from
discriminating in hiring, firing, recruiting, or referring on the
basis
of
national
origin
or
citizenship
status.

Beware..!!!!!!

What works at
home does not
necessarily
work abroad

A 4 day strike and pay rises of 10-15% were part of the cost
paid by a south Korean textile firm for an incident involving
one of the expatriate managers in its Vietnamese factory. A
Vietnamese worker was confronted by his south Korean
boss. Speaking in Korean, the manager yelled at him for
being in the wrong place in the factory. As he did not
understand her, the Vietnamese did not respond. The south
Korean manager kicked and slapped him as in south Korea
it is common for employers t0 scold or even beat employees
if they make a big mistake. Here though such behaviour
resulted in 10 of the Vietnamese co-workers retaliating in
kind. The manager was rushed to hospital and the workers
went on strike. The south Korean was subsequently
deported.

Approaches to staffing
Staff availability
Ethnocentric
Polycentric
Geocentric
Regiocentric

IBUS 618 Dr. Yang

Ethnocentric
Strategic decisions are made at headquarters;
Limited subsidiary autonomy;
Key positions in domestic and foreign operations
are held by headquarters personnel;
PCNs manage subsidiaries.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

To
ensure
new
subsidiary
complies
with overall corporate
objectives and policies
Has the required level
of competence
Assignments as control

Limits
the
promotion
opportunities of HCNs, leading
to reduced productivity and
increased turnover
Longer time for PCNs to adapt
to host countries, leading to
errors & poor decisions making
High cost

Polycentric
Each subsidiary is a distinct national entity with
some decision-making autonomy;
HCNs manage subsidiaries who are seldom
promoted to HQ positions;
PCNs rarely transferred to subsidiary positions.

Advantages:
Employment of HCNs eliminates language barriers,
avoids adaptation of PCNs, reduces the need for
cultural awareness training programs
Employment of HCNs allows a multinational company
to take a lower profile in sensitive political situations
Employment of HCNs is less expensive
Employment of HCNs gives continuity to the
management of foreign subsidiaries (lower turnover of
key managers)

Disadvantages:
Difficult to bridge the gap between HCN subsidiary
managers and PCN managers at headquarters
HCN managers have limited opportunities to gain
experience outside their own country
PCN managers have limited opportunities to gain
international experience
Resource allocation and strategic decision making will be
constrained when headquarter is filled only by PCNs who
have limited exposure to international assignment

 2012, July: Indian Information Technology companies

supported nearly 2.8 lakh jobs in America in the year 2011 by
way of foreign direct investment through acquisitions of IT
companies. India invested nearly $ 5 billion in foreign direct
investment. Top Indian IT companies like TATA, HCL
technologies India's fourth largest software export, Infosys and
Wipro stepped in United States to set up their subsidiaries and
recruited American nationals from colleges and experienced
professionals who had the local knowledge and domain
expertise. local employees have the requisite knowledge and
understanding of culture, people and were in a particular
region.

IBUS 618 Dr. Yang

14

Geocentric
A global approach - worldwide integration
View that each part of the organization makes a
unique contribution
Nationality is ignored in favor of ability
Best person for the job
Color of passport does not matter when it comes to
rewards, promotion and development

15

Advantages:

Disadvantage:

Ability of the firm to

develop an international
executive team
Overcomes
the
federation drawback of
the
polycentric
approach
Support
cooperation
and resource sharing
across units

Host government may use

immigration controls in
order to increase HCNs
employment
Expensive to implement
due to increased training
and relocation costs
Large numbers of PCNs,
HCNs, and TCNs need to
be sent across borders
Reduced independence of
subsidiary management

Geocentric Staffing Requirements

Regiocentric
Reflects a regional strategy and structure;
Regional autonomy in decision making;
Staff move within the designated region, rather
than globally;
They are not normally moved to the company
headquarters.

Advantages:
Allow interaction between
executives transferred to
regional headquarters from
subsidiaries in the region
and PCNs posted to the
regional headquarters
Provide some sensitivity to
local conditions
Help the firm to move from
a purely ethnocentric or
polycentric approach

Disadvantages:
Produce federalism at a
regional rather than a
country
basis
and
constrain the firm from
taking a global stance
Staffs
career
advancement still limited
to regional headquarters,
not the parent country
headquarters

Determinants of IHRM Approaches and

Activities

Reasons for International Assignments

Position filling,
Skills gap, launch of new endeavor, technology
transfer

Management development
Organizational development
Need for control, transfer of knowledge,
competence, procedures and practices into various
locations

Types of International Assignments

Short term: up to 3 months
Troubleshooting
Project supervision
A stopgap until a permanent arrangement is found

Extended: up to 1 year
May involve
assignments

similar

activities

Long term: from 1 to 5 years

The traditional expatriate assignment

as

short-term

Traditional
Filling position,
management development
12-36 months
Family joins the assignee
Formal selection
Advantages
Good relation, constant
monitoring

Disadvantages
Dual career options,
expensive, less flexibility

Short term
Skill transfer / problem
solving
6-12 months
Unaccompanied by family
Informal, little bureaucracy
Advantages
Flexibility, cost effectiveness

Disadvantages
Poor relationship, side effects,
work permit issues

Non-standard Assignments
Commuter assignments weekly or bi-weekly basis
Rotational assignments short period followed by
break in home country, oil rigs
Contractual assignments - R & D
Virtual assignments manage from home,
international assignment, heavy reliance on
communication technologies, frequent visits to host
country but..

The Role of an Expatriate

Agent of direct control Formal control, Direct
supervision
Agent of socialization Informal control, expected
behaviors
Network builder Developing social capital,
communication,
Boundary spanner representatives in host country,
bridge external-internal contexts
Language node familiar with host language
Transfer of competence and knowledge cross
fertilization of ideas, ability and motivation of
expatriate

The Role of Non-expatriates

People who travel internationally yet are not
considered expatriates as they do not relocate to
another country
IB travelers, Road warriors, Globetrotters,
Frequent fliers, Flexpatriates
Much of international business involves visits to
foreign locations
Sales staff attending trade fairs
Periodic visits to foreign operations

Contd
A Glamorous Life
International business travelers cite the positives as:
Excitement and thrills of conducting business deals
in foreign locations
Life style (top hotels, duty-free shopping, business
class travel)
General exotic nature

Contd
But a High Level of Stress!

Home and family issues

Work arrangements
Travel logistics
Health concerns
Host culture issues

Various Roles of Corporate HR

Centralized HR
Companies
Large well-resourced

HR departments
Key role: Managing all

high-grade management
positions worldwide

Decentralized HR
Companies
Small HR departments

Key role: Managing

corporate managers

Key activities: Planning

Key activities:

international assignments
and performance
management globally,
identifying high-potential
staff

Influencing operating
units to support
international
assignments, supporting
decentralized HR

Transition HR
Companies
Medium-sized HR

departments
Key role: Management

and development of senior

managers and expatriates

Key activities: Persuading

divisional managers to
release key staff using
informal and subtle
methods, strategic staffing.

Source: Based on H. Scullion and K. Starkey, in Search of the Changing Role of the Corporate Human Resource Function in the International
Firms, International Journal of Human Resource Management, V 11, N 6 (2000) pp. 1061-1081.

HANK
OU