International Human Resource Management - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... The HRM policies therefore ran into several bottlenecks caused by these prevailing differences which resulted in a review of some of the policies. Since there was still a need to maintain some kind of general standard of HRM policies that applied across the board, the idea of International HRM came up. This need was further enhanced by the process of globalization which enabled organizations to do business all over the globe, including in places they could not dream of reaching before (Beardwell & Claydon 13). This paper explores the extent to which standardization of HRM policies has taken place across the globe. This will be done by examining the contribution of globalization to HRM policy standardization, the comparison of two different regions of the globe to gauge the extent of this globalization and a projection into the future of HRM practices. Globalization and Standardization of Human Resource Management The management of employees at all levels in a multinational company or conglomerate is referred to as strategic human resource management [SHRM] (K’Obonyo & Dimba 3). ...
America is a liberal society that is fully focused on such things as human rights, open market policies, equal opportunities and gender equity among other things. The environment in Saudi Arabia is more religion oriented with a massive influence of Islam on day to day life. Issues such as equal opportunity and equity are just emerging but are not as important as the Islamic influence (K’Obonyo & Dimba 3). Consequently, successful human resource management policies in America may not work so successfully in Saudi Arabia. Emphasis on gender equity in the latter may raise more friction than it would in the former since certain roles are regarded as male roles that women cannot successfully handle. Attitudes are changing very slowly on the role of women as CEOs for example (Delery & Doty 802). SHRM therefore comes in to take into account such disparities in culture so as to enable effective and successful policy frameworks for human resources in diametrically different cultural environments. Policies are shaped according to the cultural environment rather that against them. In any case it is not the aim of businesses to change the prevailing political environment but to adapt as much as possible for the smooth running of the business and maximal output in terms of profitability (Delery & Doty 803). SHRM takes into account Cultural Value Dimensions. This term is used to refer to the empirical criteria used to determine the extent to which national cultures differ. There are four such dimensions: power distance paradigms, uncertainty avoidance mechanisms, individualism-collectivism factors and masculity-feminity issues (Hofstede 42). Power distance is the terminology for the extent to which the lower cadre ...Download file to see next pagesRead More