...2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter you should be able to •• describe the basic characteristics of culture and explain how cultural dimensions can be used in global HRM, •• describe how the institutions of society can shape HRM policies and procedures, •• discuss the possibility of the convergence of HRM across countries, •• explain how the heritage of state socialism continues to influence the context of HRM in transition economies, and •• discuss the effects of cultural and institutional context on the HRM role and on employee expectations. 23 24 ESSENTIALS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Springtime in Paris As she savored the last bite of her croissant, Martha Pereaux, HR director for C3 Technologies, thought about how she would approach her latest “cross-cultural collision,” as she had come to think of them. In the year since she had moved to Paris from Houston, there had been many, but none quite as bizarre as this one. Martha had taken the big promotion to head up the HR division of the joint venture between Houston-based SuperChem and the French company. C3 developed technology for the oil industry, primarily new types of concrete that formed the barrier wall for offshore oil and gas wells. The joint venture was meant to take on the likes of the giant Schlumberger on its own turf and compete with them for valuable technical staff. Everyone said she was the perfect choice, having grown up in a bilingual family in Canada...
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...Int. J. of Human Resource Management 18:1 January 2007 147– 158 HRM practices in Egypt: the influence of national context? Mike Leat and Ghada El-Kot Abstract In this paper we present the findings of a study which collected data on a range of HRM practices normally used in 58 Egyptian organizations operating in Egypt. The range of practices is concerned with job descriptions, recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, performance appraisal and employment security. We examine and discuss these practices in the Egyptian context. The dimensions of the Egyptian environment which we examine include: the socio-cultural context, Islam, the vocational education and training system and elements of the economic and legal environment. The practices and approaches being used by the sample organizations appear to be the product of both culture bound and culture free influences. The main contributions of the study are that it provides much needed information on the HRM practices and approaches being adopted by Egyptian-owned organizations in the early part of the 21st century and provides support for the influence of national context on the HRM practices pursued by indigenous organizations. Keywords Egypt; HRM practices; Islam; institutional context; culture. Introduction: HRM practices and national context Against a background of the increasing internationalization of business, globalization of markets and cross-national activity by multinational...
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...reason why cultural differences mandate different management practices. It is believed that Human Resource Management (HRM) practices are the most vulnerable to the cultural differences having significant implications for the appropriateness and design. International HRM has proposed that cultural differences result in varying individual preferences and perceptions that give shape to organizational behavior along with work motivation; conflicts; communications; defining goals; work-orientation; rewarding and performance appraisal, management styles and decision making. Some of the economic theories have also realized the significance of culture in giving shape to behaviors of institutions and individuals. It has been proposed that other than formal, the context of informal institution influences governance structures which coordinate the individual actions taking place within the firms. The significance of studying cultural differences with respect to HRM policies and practices in relevant practices and literature is twofold. Rising cultural diversity due to internationalization of global economy indicates that the global organizations are the most challenging context for implementation and designing of the integrated and unusual HRM practices and policies which address the cross-cultural concerns. Cultural differences on the other hand are significant for studying HRM practices and policies within a comparative context. It has been argued that the concept of HRM is supported...
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...e a r t I C Le 647 Interaction Effects of Globalization and Institutional Forces on International HRM Practice: Illuminating the ConvergenceDivergence Debate By Yongsun Paik Irene Hau-Siu Chow Charles M. Vance In the face of globalization, scholars continue to debate about whether a convergence in human resources practices will prevail, or a trend of divergence perspective will persist. Building on institution theory, this article helps to explicate this debate by examining how globalization may interact with different dimensions of local institutional forces to lead to convergence, divergence, or crossvergence Correspondence to: Yongsun Paik, PhD, Professor of International Business & Management, Department of Management, Hilton Center for Business, Loyola Marymount university, One LMu Dr., Los angeles, Ca 90045-2659, 310.338.7402 (phone), 310.338.3000 (fax), yspaik@lmu.edu. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • DOI: 10.1002/tie.20440 648 f e a t u r e a r tI C l e in international HRM practices for enhanced performance. We also present useful propositions for guiding future empirical research and theory development on the interaction between globalization and different forms of local institutional forces, which in turn influence the formation of successful international HRM practices. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int r o d u c t i o n N otwithstanding the current worldwide economic...
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...examining the HRM issues, problems, strategies, policies and practices which firms pursue in relation to the internationalization of their business. Schuler et al (2009) similarly recently positioned the different views that have existed about the nature of IHRM. IHRM encompasses: ‘. . . the worldwide management of people in the multinational enterprise’ (Poole, 1990; p1) ‘. . . human resource management in an international environment . . . problems created in an MNC performing business in more than one country, rather than those posed by working for a foreign firm at home or by employing foreign employees in the local firm’ (Briscoe and Schuler, 2004; p1) ‘. . .how MNCs manage their geographically dispersed workforce in order to leverage their HR resources for both local and global competitive advantage’ (Scullion, 2005; p5) ‘. . . a branch of management studies that investigates the design of and effects of organizational human resource practices in cross-cultural contexts’ (Peltonen, 2006; p523) ‘. . . all issues related to the management of people in an international context [including] human resource issues facing MNCs in different parts of their organizations [and] comparative analyses of HRM in different countries’ (Stahl and Björkman, 2006; p1) ‘. . . complex relationship between globalization, national systems and companies [which provides us with] three distinct “levels of analysis” for interpreting and understanding HRM strategies and practices [the globalization...
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...Changing HRM Landscape Changing HRM Landscape Table of Contents 1) Introduction2 2) The theoretical and changing HRM landscape2 Insight of HRM history for modern practitioners 3 3) Significance of HR best practices and organisational behaviour (OB) tools within a MNC 3 4) Assumptions underpinning the way in which HR best practices are being propagated within a MNC, particularly in different cross-cultural environments. 5 5) The influence of culture on HR best practices………………………………………………………. 5 6) Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 7) References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) has brought profound change and debate to how employees are seen within an organisation. A review of HRM history with a look at relevant theories being propagated today for a better understanding of the HRM context with insights to the HR Practitioner moving forward. This is followed by a breakdown of the HR best practice, recruitment and selection and its challenges for MNCs. The accompanying OB tools are reviewed to see how MNCs would be able to best address talent acquisition. Assumptions are then looked at underpinning the way in which HR best practices are being propagated within a MNC, particularly in different cross-cultural environments with focus on MNC originating from emerging economies. Finally the influence of culture on HR Best Practice with OB solutions is reviewed. ...
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...2013 Handling HR issues in Greece In the ever-changing business climate, utilization of global human resources continues. Whether a multinational corporation or a global corporation, cultural complexities play a dominant part in the handling of HR issues. Cultural differences are a factor in the determination of an organization’s fit within the foreign culture and as such, must be closely examined to succeed in the international business market. According to Myloni et al. (2003), “HRM practices are grounded in cultural beliefs that reflect the basic assumptions and values of the national culture in which organizations are embedded.” (Myloni, Harzing, & Mirza, 2003, p. 7) Professor Geert Hofstede‘s 1984 cultural dimensions research established four dimensions of national culture: power distance, individualism versus collectivism, avoidance of uncertainty, and masculinity. The fifth dimension of long-term versus short-term orientation was later added. (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.) These dimensions represent cultural differences between countries and exhibit how culture influences work behavior and the effectiveness of HRM policies and procedures. Utilizing Hofstede’s cultural dimensions information, this paper will examine how HR issues might be handled in Greece. The first cultural dimension, power distance, refers to the emphasis placed upon human inequality and the attitude of the culture towards those inequalities. Greece has a high power distance score, which means...
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...mobility of labor, established by a career concept that transcends national borders and organizational groups and the emergence of virtual collaboration on international projects requires companies to develop new skills in their employees to be effective in the complexity of today's contexts. The workforces are people, and as we are human, we are all different from various points of view. This paper aims to answer the question: “Is culture really all that International Human Resource Manager is about?” I’ve analyzed the differences between HRM and IHRM based on the concept of diversity, characteristics that influence both topics but in a different way. After this, the next stop is to define IHRM and the concept of culture to reach the conclusion that managing cultural differences in an international team is the major challenge to IHRM. Due to the movement of employees between foreign subsidiaries and headquarters and between foreign locales, HRM professionals are likely to find themselves working on international assignments. Managers working in their home countries but employed by a local subsidiary of a foreign MNE, will have to integrate a local culture and organizational culture into the local operation. The different communication styles, worker motivation philosophies, and organizational structures and frequent lack of understanding of the host country...
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...Management Practices: A Case Study of South Asian Countries Rafique Ahmed Khan Faculty of Management Science Bahria University Karachi, Pakistan Mohammad Khasro Miah School of Business North South University Dhaka, Bangladesh Amir Manzoor Faculty of Management Science Bahria University Karachi, Pakistan ABSTRACT Purpose: The central point of this study was to demonstrate the similarity and difference of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices amongst the countries in South Asia. Through this paper, an in-depth study was undertaken to evaluate the validity of existing HRM practices in South Asian (SA) countries. An effort was made to examine the influences from the economic emergence in South Asia, force of colonization, historical panorama, cultural similarities and dissimilarities, legal, economic and political factors causing the change.. Methodology/Sampling: The study is based on secondary data collected through extensive research on present and past literature available on the topic. Findings: HRM is in a reforming process towards the development of organizational transformation in South Asia. In addition, contextual and contingency factors are determining the outcome of restructuring HRM practices in South Asia, identified as FDI, foreign MNCs’ influence, and bilateral relations among the SAARC members. Practical Implications: Due to cultural impediments, organizations are finding it difficult to implement modern HRM practices in true letter...
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...The study of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) has focused mainly on the policies, practices and strategies of Human Resource practitioners in individual multinational firms. The goal of this special issue is to move beyond this narrow focus at the enterprise level and situate HRM within wider economic, organizational, political and institutional contexts. HRM differs across countries but to date the comparative literature has tended to focus on cultural issues. Research that systematically analyzes socio-economic, institutional and societal contexts and their impact on HRM remains underdeveloped and there is a significant opportunity for work which draws on theory from adjacent fields - e.g. the varieties of capitalism literature, theories of cross-national organization and research in comparative political studies and economic geography all offer potentially useful frameworks. Companies are socially embedded on different levels; local economies, regional districts, national institutions, international networks and transnational regulation are all aspects of the social, organizational and economic structures in which companies are situated. Despite the all-pervasive talk of globalization, the seasoned international business traveller will be acutely aware of differences in the ‘way of doing things’from country to country and from region to region. Such differences are seldom more apparent than in the field of organization and management. Not only will the...
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...HRM issues UK companies need to take into consideration when relocating their operations overseas. In answering this question you need to show an awareness of both the problems and the advantages HRM ISSUES WHICH UK COMPNAIES FACE WHEN RELOCATING TO OVERSEAS Introduction * With the growth of traditional business, the scope of HRM has also grown in recent years. * Every country is different in terms of political, ethnicity, monetary, multilingual and legal state. The companies has to face problems in global ventures, due to the lack of managing workforce among different ethnicity. * Most of the industries stake their growth plans on expanding globally, so for that they have to increase consistency for approaching the capabilities of talent management, leadership development and HR policies. At the same time the companies have to face issues when they are relocating to overseas. HRM ISSUES HR covers many various activities related to organizations employees; * Firstly HR will focus on staffing, as it is the basic need of the company. When relocating the business, HR has to consider whether staff members are the company employees or external contractors. * Training and recruiting employees, HR has to train employees to work in an international projects, they need to train technical skills to the employees such as cultural values, social customs, languages and reward system in the host country. * HR management also face the issues in managing the...
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... | |International HRM | | | | | |3/21/2011 | | | CONTENTS Terms of references 3 Methods of investigation 3 Findings 3 Conclusions 17 Recommendations 17 Reference 18 Bibliography 18 Words: 3517 1.0 Terms of reference In order to complete International HRM unit task, a formal report has been requested. The task is to carry out an investigation and undertake a role of Management Consultant to look into the issues influencing movement of new plant to other locations and consider HR strategy for Haelec. Following subjects: cultural differences, implementing practices within different cultures, explanation what are the difference between integration and...
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...knowledge on global human resource issues faced by international business, such as the staffing, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal and training and development along with compensations policies. This chapter will cover the following topics: Human resource management function International human resource management (IHRM) International HRM approaches IHRM policies and practices Work practice in an international context 8.2. Human resource management function HRM can be described as a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organizations. Te practice of Human Resource Management (HRM) is concerned with all aspects of how people are employed and managed in organizations. It covers activities such as: resourcing (human resource planning, recruitment and selection, and talent management); performance management; learning and development; reward management employee relations; employee well-being. Human resource management is important for various reasons. One of the most important reasons is that human resource management practices are associated with employee performance in the organization. Many research findings indicated that effective human resource management enables organization in achieving and sustaining competitive advantages. Similarly evidence shows that in effective or poor management of human resource leads to employee dissatisfaction and in turn leads to high absenteeism...
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...of Mississippi The theory, research, and practice of Human Resource Management (HRM) has evolved considerably over the past century, and experienced a major transformation in form and function primarily within the past two decades. Driven by a number of significant internal and external environmental forces, HRM has progressed from a largely maintenance function, with little if any bottom line impact, to what many scholars and practitioners today regard as the source of sustained competitive advantage for organizations operating in a global economy. In this 25th anniversary Yearly Review issue, we conduct a less comprehensive and more focused review of the field of HRM. In doing so, we attempt to articulate some key concepts and issues that can be productively integrated with HRM to provide some interesting and important directions for future work, and consider ways to bridge the gap between the science and practice of HRM. © 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. This 1999 Yearly Review marks the 25th anniversary of the Journal of Management, and indeed, over this quarter century, the organizational sciences have witnessed an evolution of this journal from start-up phase to its present status as one of the well-respected publications in the field. It is on this auspicious occasion that we take the opportunity to review the evolution, developments, and directions in the field of Human Resource Management (HRM). If we target the Direct all correspondence...
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...International HRM ‘Wolfgang’s Balancing Act’ Case Study Task 1 Cultural contingencies that shape employee behavior in Healthcare As the world becomes more interdependent, the business and the process of doing business are exposed to many, continuously changing dimensions, structures and opposing forces. In a global environment, culture is a critical factor whereby the process of advancing cultural intelligence and international cultural competence would be the deciding element for the success of managers and leaders especially those who perform human resource (HR) functions. Within the cultural context, common elements are to be found including shared and dynamic nature surrounding norms, values and beliefs which are expressed through different behaviors, artifacts and interactions. It is necessary then for HR managers like Wolfgang to fulfill profitable relationships vested on the capability to reconcile cultural dimensions of pay systems from the headquarters to subsidiaries. Within Healthcare, there are economic, political and cultural forces that are influencing the operation. As part of the external environment, there is the need forHealthcare to align national cultural values of thesubsidiaries with that of the organizational work culture. There are culturally indigenous and culturally alien practices within any organization that shape the actions and performance of the employees. Culture is considered as the lens through which motivation occurs. Motivations to do work...
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