HR Managers - Essay Example

Running Head: International HRM International HRM International HRM Introduction Due to globalization and extensive cultural exchange, people to people contact across the world has increased manifold. However, in the terms of business, this development has led to certain complications. Apparently, although the market seems to be insensitive towards the factor of human emotions, mass psychology has profound effect on business. Increased business activities between people from different countries, ethnicities, cultures, and demographics also have led to certain interpersonal complications. Particularly when big multinationals try to recruit employees locally in different countries, problems begin to surface. In this paper, the potential issues that are encountered by the HR managers during overseas operations will be discussed. Research Question Write a paper which critically evaluates potentials problems facing Human Resources Managers operating in multi-national companies? Discussion In order the evaluate the potential problems that are posed to arise in the way of managing an internal level ethnically and culturally diverse workforce, situational analysis appears to be a basic necessity. This situational analysis is aimed at evaluating the global business conditions that are responsible for creation of ethnically and culturally diverse workforces. So the first sub-topic in this discussion is that what are the importance and role of a multi national company (MNC) in the age of globalization? Traditionally, most of the functional MNCs had headquarters located either in USA or UK. Particularly after World War II, the US and UK companies embarked on a policy of consistent world wide expansion, especially in Europe following the implementation of politico-economic measures such as the Marshall Plan (Ferner et al, 2004). But after the break up of Soviet Union, situation changed dramatically. Developing countries and erstwhile communist states began shifting from a conservative socialist economic model towards a liberalist capitalist market framework. Therefore, just after little more than a decade of the fall of communism and decline of international Soviet financial aid, powerful corporations emerged in the developing economies too. In this way, the “new geography of FDI flows” came into being (UNCTAD, 2004). These FDI flows were not exclusively outflows or inflows. In fact, combinations of FDI outflow and inflow began to germinate between Western countries and Asia Pacific region as early as the 1980s when Japan, China, and Taiwan initiated industrial reforms (Glover and Wilkinson, 2007). In this way, it should be understood that today’s MNCs represent the zeal of the early phases of globalization which advocated for adoption of global standards and regulations worldwide. So every HR manager must learn the basics of the global code of business conduct and international labour standards. For example, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is tirelessly attempting to synchronize the conditions of doing business across the world. And the international policymakers have reserved enough room for accommodating local ambitions too. One of the local aspirations related to globalization is finding a job in an MNC catering to international standards of life and work. HR managers have to have a sound understanding of this issue related to public psychology and globalization. (Dana and Allen, 2008; Wright et al, 2005) Likewise, organizational behaviour is another major problem area that needs immediate discourse on intercultural workforce management. In contemporary multinational and intercultural business environments heavily doped by competition and challenges, comprehension of the intercultural dynamics of organizational behaviour (OB) is necessary on the part of the HR managers. Organizational behaviour is a multi-disciplinary field of research and human capital development, which covers various theoretical concepts from leadership to psychology (Avolio et al, 2009; Dana and Allen, 2008). Unfortunately, HR managers have less information and empirical data in these fields. Consequently, OB concepts can help HR managers to widen both subjective and objective knowledge of the working of an MNC in general. However, research topics in this sphere such as organizational change still remain an emerging field of study and call for practical management level commitment in synchronizing a multi-cultural workforce. (Alange and Steiber, 2009) Research projects aimed at studying MNC functions in the global world have identified dual aspect issues. One aspect of these issues concerns conformity with the legal framework and business paradigms of the home country where the FDI is coming from. The other aspect concerns the aspirations, expectations, and socio-political situation of the host country which is receiving the investment. (Rosenzweig and Nohria, 1994) Furthermore, country specific dynamics of socio-cultural behaviour are also very complex and pose serious challenge before the 21st century HR managers. Due to a historical course of cultural and business exchanges between USA, Europe, and Japan, these economies had managed to develop some common cultural standards, although there are still some issues regarding business etiquette (Maddux et al, 2012). With the advent of the growth engines like China and India, the situation has become far more complicated since business practices in these economies have remained less explored and understood (Ferner, 2009). With the amalgamation of the diverse regional economies into a complex world economy, global production and service related business activities have considerably increased and sophisticated. It is becoming progressively essential for an HR manager to develop an optimal echelon of empathy and knowledge preconditioned to multi-cultural exchange of ideas, comprehension, and arbitration (Okoro, 2012). In sum, socio-cultural characteristics of business etiquettes are another important issue in the way of HR managers who often disregard them or are not sufficiently trained in international level soft skills. Conclusion Close scrutiny of academic and business literature combined with contemporary research studies suggest that there are certain foci around which potential human resources related problems are supposed to emerge. Firstly, advent of new international players such as the Indian and Chinese MNCs require the HR managers all over the world to learn about these cultures and economies more deeply. Organizational behaviour also remains a controversial area, where the HR managers are still lacking enough empirical data to execute country specific plans for human resource development and recruitment. Next, randomization of HR practices poses another serious threat; HR managers must examine the socio-cultural conditions of both the country of origin and country of investment for a given MNC. Last but not least, business etiquette is an area of study where the new managers often face difficulty in formulating flexible yet standard codes of conduct. 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