Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER 15
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
15-1
15-2
Describe how companies select and train human resources in a global labor market. 5. Discuss challenges related to compensating employees from other countries. 6. Explain how employers prepare managers for international assignments and for their return home.
4.
15-3
15-4
As companies in the United States and Britain cut software jobs and outsource to other countries in order to drive down costs, countries such as India continue to see employment rise.
15-5
Global activities are simplified and encouraged by trade agreements among nations. As these trends and arrangements encourage international trade, they increase and change demands on human resource management. Organizations need employees who understand the customers and suppliers in foreign countries. Organizations need to understand the laws and customs that apply to employees in other countries.
15-6
15-7
When organizations operate overseas, they hire a combination of parent-country nationals, host-country nationals, or thirdcountry nationals.
15-8
15-9
15-10
Hans works for a company whos headquartered in France and has foreign operations in Germany, only. Hans is a citizen of the Netherlands. Which of the following is most likely true?
a) Hans works for a domestic company and is from the parent country. b) Hans works for a multinational company and is from the host country. c) Hans works for a global company and is from a third country. d) Hans works for an international company and is from a third country.
15-11
Decisions that are the outcome of a transnational HRM system balance uniformity with flexibility.
15-12
Culture
Global HRM
15-13
Culture
Culture a communitys set of shared assumptions about how the world works and what ideals are worth striving for. Culture can greatly affect a countrys laws. Culture influences what people value, so it affects peoples economic systems and efforts to invest in education. Culture often determines the effectiveness of various HRM practices.
15-14
Culture
Cultural
(continued)
characteristics influence the ways members of an organization behave toward one another as well as their attitudes toward various HRM practices. Cultures strongly influence the appropriateness of HRM practices. Cultural differences can affect how people communicate and how they coordinate their activities.
15-15
5. Long-term/Short-term Orientation
In Taiwan, a country that is high in collectivism, coworkers consider themselves more as group members instead of individuals.
15-17
Culture
(continued)
For expatriate assignments, organizations may need to conduct an extensive selection process to identify individuals who can adapt to new environments.
15-18
15-19
Economic System
The economic system provides many of the incentives or disincentives for developing the value of the labor force. In developed countries with great wealth, labor costs are relatively high. This impacts compensation and staffing practices. Income tax differences between countries make pay structures more complicated when they cross national boundaries.
15-20
Political-Legal System
The countrys laws often dictate the requirements for HRM practices: training, compensation, hiring, firing, and layoffs. An organization that expands internationally must gain expertise in the host countrys legal requirements and ways of dealing with its legal system. Organizations will hire one or more hostcountry nationals to help in the process.
15-21
15-22
5.
6.
Competency in the employees area of expertise Ability to communicate verbally and nonverbally in the foreign country Flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, and sensitivity to cultural differences Motivation to succeed and enjoyment of challenges Willingness to learn about the foreign countrys culture, language, and customs Support from family members
15-23
Qualities associated with success in foreign assignments are the ability to communicate in the foreign country, flexibility, enjoying a challenging situation, and support from family members.
15-24
15-25
Rachel, an expatriate working in Japan is feeling very uncomfortable in her surroundings. She often feels as if she has said the wrong thing. Rachel is most likely in which emotional stage of expatriation:
a) b) c) d) Honeymoon Culture shock Learning Adjustment
15-26
Training and development programs should be effective for all participating employees, regardless of their country of origin. When organizations hire employees to work in a foreign country or transfer them to another country, the employer needs to provide the employees with training in how to handle the challenges associated with working in a foreign country.
15-27
15-28
Employees from a high-power distance culture would feel most comfortable in a training class that:
a) Involved several group activities with classmates b) The teacher was the expert and responded definitively to all questions c) The teacher acted as a facilitator of group discussion d) None of the above
15-29
Know your goals clarify what overseas training is supposed to achieve. Consider international differences among trainees when developing the training plan. Keep an eye on quality overseas trainers should meet the same quality standards as training at headquarters. Be clear about standards for confidentiality and intellectual property. Know the local laws that affect training programs.
15-30
Foreign Assignments
Would you consider taking a foreign assignment for a 6 months to 1 year duration?
A = Yes B = No
Before you took on a foreign assignment, what would you want to know?
15-31
Cross-Cultural Preparation
This is training to prepare employees and their family members for an assignment in a foreign country. The training covers all three phases of an international assignment:
1. Preparation for departure 2. The assignment itself 3. Preparation for the return home
15-32
When establishing performance management methods in other countries, organizations have to consider:
Legal requirements Local business practices National cultures
15-33
Should pay levels and differences reflect what workers are used to in their own countries? Should pay levels and differences reflect the earnings of colleagues in the country of the facility, or earnings at the company headquarters?
15-34
15-35
15-36
15-37
15-38
managers need technical competence in the area of operations. In addition, many other skills are necessary to be successful in an overseas assignment:
Ability to maintain a positive self-image and feeling of well-being Ability to foster relationships with hostcountry nationals Ability to perceive and evaluate the host countrys environment accurately
15-39
Adaptability
Career Planning
Family Considerations
Financial
15-40
Pre-assignment site visit Job orientation Country orientation Culture orientation Language training Compensation / benefits / taxes counseling
Housing counseling Health care / schools / shopping / recreation counseling Counseling by returning expatriates Local sponsorship from host country
15-41
15-42
Compensating Expatriates
Balance sheet approach this approach adjusts the managers compensation so that it gives the manager the same standard of living as in the home country plus extra pay for the inconvenience of locating overseas. This approach involves an effort by the global organization to ensure that its expatriates are made whole.
15-43
15-44
15-45
Compensating Expatriates
(continued)
After setting the total pay, the organization divides this amount into the four components of the total pay package:
1. 2. 3. 4. Base salary Tax equalization allowance Benefits Allowances
15-46
15-47
Repatriation the process of preparing expatriates to return home from foreign assignment.
1. Communication: the expatriate receives information and recognizes changes at home while abroad 2. Validation: giving the expatriate recognition for the overseas service when this person returns home.
15-48
Summary
More and more companies are entering international markets by exporting and operating foreign facilities. Organizations therefore need employees who understand customers and suppliers in other countries. They need to understand local laws and customs and be able to adapt their plans to local situations. To do this organizations may hire a combination of parent-country, host-country, and third-country nationals.
15-49
Summary
(continued)
The most important influence is the culture of each market its set of shared assumptions about how the world works and what ideals are worth striving for.
15-50
Summary
Another influence on international HRM is the foreign countrys political-legal system. A countrys economic system, as well as the governments involvement in the economy, is a strong factor determining HRM practices. HR planning involves decisions about where and how many employees are needed for each international facility. Most foreign operations positions are filled with host-country nationals.
15-51
Summary
(continued)
Foreign positions are also filled with parent-country and third-country nationals. Pay structures can differ substantially among countries in terms of pay level and the relative worth of jobs. Laws may dictate differences in benefits packages, and the value of benefits will differ if a country requires them or makes them a government service.
15-52
Summary
(continued)
The organization must prepare the manager selected for an overseas assignment. Cross-cultural training for the assignment as well as preparation for repatriation after the assignment are critical success factors. Communication of changes at home and validation of a job well done abroad help the expatriate through the repatriation process.
15-53