1) You are from Corporate Headquarters. As the member of HR department, you are responsible for managing international assignments. You are to present a 10 minute summary of key aspects of expatriate selection to regional meeting of subsidiary managers, none of whom have any experience in HR or in selecting expatriates. Corporate objective is to use intra-regional international assignments for cross-border project teamwork between their different operations within the region. What aspects of expatriate selection must you highlight in your presentation?
2) Explain major difference in Going Rate and Balance Sheet approaches to international compensation. Why it is significant for multination firms to understand compensation practices of other countries?
Section-B
Case Study
Case: Challenges for IHRM
Globalization is here to stay and companies in mature state of growth in home markets are constantly looking for new growth opportunities in new markets. Innovation and technology are making it increasingly essential for corporations to expand internationally if they are to survive in today’s economy. Recent credit crunch is the very good example of how integrated global markets have become. This because the financial disasters suffered by companies like Lehman Brothers and AIG affected markets in Europe and other parts of the world. Success of Nikkei in Japan is closely tied to performance of Wall Street. Therefore Lehman Brothers’ problems in America affected jobs in the UK and other markets. HR managers require to be strategically placed to anticipate how to deal with job losses, changing macro economic trends and shifts in operational strategies and business objectives.
Training programs which enable workers to develop and adapt to changing KSAs should be instituted by learning and development team within a global context. Also, ongoing conversations with labor unions would enable corporations to avoid negative public relations exposure must the economic depression worsen. Technology must be used to foster cooperative competition internally, so that organizations are more agile in anticipating market demands and new market opportunities. Conversely, technology can be the undoing of collaboration since it can foster internal competition and “turfism”, if workers perceive their jobs would be outsourced to cheaper labor in overseas markets. Global HR must communicate such initiatives to forestall any rumors in this regard.
The recent US presidential election is a clear indicator of global changes. The president elect is a clear case for diversity of ideas and change of the prevailing order. This is most poignant because a cross-section of US society, irrespective of race and national origin unanimously voted for a minority to represent our interests across the globe. US president oversees the world’s most powerful and largest economy [hence he is the CEO of the largest corporation in the world]. This is because liberal democracy is representative of free market policies which dictate the operations of MNCs across the globe. Weisman (2008) reports “Mr. Obama should cement support in Red States he flipped and Blue States he struggled in, placate liberal activists and minority groups whose electoral boost was crucial, and form a government that”. Obama has met with Hilary Clinton [who represents progress for women in the work place], in reference to the possible role in his cabinet. He has also repeatedly made a case for multilateralism in dealing with global governments. If this does not make a case for Global HR, I am not sure what does.
Case Questions:
1) In light of recent global economic crisis, examine the challenges you foresee for International Human Resource Management in future?
2) Under the situation identified in the case, discuss the cultural imperatives for International Human Resource Management. Justify your answer with appropriate examples.