Cross-cultural management & HRM - Research Paper Example

?Cross-Cultural Management & (HRM) Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 National and Organisational Culture: Complexities of Managinga Diverse Workforce 5 Designing Management Development Programme to Raise Awareness of Cross-Cultural Issues 7 Human Resource (HR) Factors and Issues Regarding International Business 10 Conclusion 14 14 References 15 Bibliography 18 Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) entails a set of organisational activities which is designed for effectively supervising and controlling human resources in the organisation to achieve the desired goals. The functional characteristics of the HRM in terms of internal factors consist of workforce planning, selecting, hiring, prologue and direction, skills management, training and development, individual administration, performance evaluation, managing promotions and terminating among others (Wilkinson, 2009). On the other hand, global human resources management involves worldwide human management not just the management of the people throughout the country. With regard to international context, International Human Resource Management (IHRM) can be distinguished as the set of performance based activities the organisational human resources at the global level. It is quite significant for achieving the organisational objectives as well as obtaining competitive progression ahead of the competitors at national and international level. The functions of the IHRM are characteristically quite same excluding additional activities i.e. global skills management and expatriate management among others. The human resource field appears to be witnessing a steady advancement and uneven transformations, where different companies may be experiencing different phases of evolution by researching on the various factors (Laurent, 2006). IHRM is concerned about managing the human capital in the international level at multinational companies (MNC). It is especially requisite to manage three types of employees’ i.e. domestic employees, host country employees as well as employees of the different countries. For this reason, it is a vital challenge for the human resource manager to handle the diversity effectively along with efficiently. This is because it is effectively related with the productivity of the organisation when working collectively with the people of different cultures. According to Bernard Baruch stated regarding cross cultural communication that “We did not all come over on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat” (Hord & et. al., 2009). In accordance with today’s working culture for the effective implementation of globalization it is rapidly becoming enormous, as the business environment has expanded to the various geographical locations. Therefore, it is a major challenge for the HR managers of the MNCs to understand the cultural aspects of the different countries and geographical locations to promote the business and expand the market share, along with interacting and collaborating across boundaries using global communication technologies (Self, n.d.). However, there are also enormous positive aspects of cross-cultural diversity in the organisation because it considers creativity along with innovation as well as provides various advantages which include helping an organisation to enter in the international arena. Diversity among the team also is very helpful to improve elasticity and ensure quick response to any kind of challenges. A company with a diverse workforce can better serve and compete in the assorted market exceptionally beyond their imagination. Nevertheless, managing cross cultural elements in the organisation is very challenging, for this reason there is requirement to established open communication among all, supporting ongoing training and monitoring the various programmes to achieve the organisational targets (Crowe& Hogan, 2007). Therefore, the objective of the essay is to discuss the topic of measuring process in terms of workforce diversity taking care of national as well as organisational cultural aspects and designing a management development programme to raise awareness of cross-cultural issues in the global context. The cross-cultural management and its affects of HRM will be focused on the United States culture and multicultural business scenario. National and Organisational Culture: Complexities of Managing a Diverse Workforce On the notion of cross-cultural management, Kawar (2012) stated that “Cross cultural management explains the behaviour of people in organisations around the world and shows people how to work in organisations with employees and client populations from many different cultures” (Kawar , 2012). The importance of cross-cultural management lies in the increasing co-operations amid companies of the different countries primarily due to globalisation, but at times difficulties can arise in these aspects for the existence of different cultural backgrounds. With the increasing movement of the global business by the multinational organisations, recruiting employees across nationwide boundaries comes into strong consideration. The impact of cross cultural assortment in the organisation is reflected by the basic behaviours, values and beliefs of the employee which takes into account how people think and perform in the different cultures (Kawar, 2012). On the other hand, national culture also can affect in terms of technology transfer, managerial attitudes, managerial ideology and even government-business relationships (Mejia & Palich, 1997). The pattern of the organisational culture is based on the fundamental assumptions that are developed by a group as it becomes capable to cope up with the various problems of external adoption and internal integrations. There are certain vital factors regarding the aspect of managing diversity among the various cultures in the organisation. For this reason, many organisations of the USA communicate with real example and life training to teach the employees regarding to the methods to handle various situations arriving due to cultural differences. The organisation can use the following cross-cultural training techniques: Firstly, environmental briefings should be rendered concerning providing information about history, geography, climate, governmental policies including rules and regulations and economical condition among others. Secondly, orientation in organisational culture is designed for the employees belonging to diverse culture to bring into light value system and culture of the host country. It defines the relation among an individual, organisation as well as with the society. In this regard, the term ‘value system’ depicts certain moral values of the employees as well as organisation comprising respecting people, being fair and ethical, taking care of the environment and remaining customer centric among others. Thirdly, cultural assimilation is a technique that is designed to represent the employees of the one culture with the attitudes, behaviour and requirements of the customers of another country. Fourthly, language training is quite vital for communicating with the clientele. Therefore, this training is required to teach and improve in terms of conventional language skills. Fifthly, the importance of the field experience is another factor to be taken into consideration. According to them, it is vital to give the first hand exposure to another culture (Chew & Debowski, 2008). Conversely, the impact of national culture on the human resource management is an imperative factor with regard to IHRM because it has a vital impact on the performance of the organisation. There are a lot of human resource policies which are successfully implemented and practised in one country but which may fail in another country. For example, ‘pay for performance scheme’ is very successful in the USA but it is either not in practise or successful in many of the other countries. Similarly, quality circle program is another crucial aspect that is practiced widely and very successful in Japan, but it has quite unsuccessful in the USA (Newman & Nollen, 1996). Another HRM policy i.e. life time employment plan is accepted in Japan but it is very unsuccessful as per the practise in the USA (Dowling & et. al., 2008). Therefore, to manage HRM efficiently and form desired organisational cultures in diverse countries, multinational organisations (MNCs) firstly need to understand the nature of differences, secondly they need to determine the degree to which HRM strategies and practices need to alter in foreign destination as per organisational culture and the culture of the host country (Dowling & et. al., 2008). Designing Management Development Programme to Raise Awareness of Cross-Cultural Issues With regard to define the term ‘cross-cultural human resource management’, it is prudent to explain the phrase separately, i.e. cross-cultural management and human resource management. In the first term cross-culture management, cross-culture easily can be understood literally that is one culture to another. This phenomenon was created largely due to globalisation, when one company desired to commence its business in a different country. Cross-culture may be created through language, religious, cultural background and behaviour among others (Laser, 2010). At times, it is observed that there are many multinational companies that cannot sustain in the global business due to a lack of cross-cultural competence. Cross-cultural distinctions exist among the employees for the diverse cultural backgrounds. As there is distinctiveness among cultures, thus the employees of the MNCs have to possess adapting capability to accept the changes. The members of the organisation i.e. employees, though conveniently can recognise the organisational culture by observing the various factors and through briefing of the HR managers but to understand the culture of exterior environment of the organization, it at times becomes quite difficult for the overseas employees. Therefore, it is important to define that how cultural competence is nurtured towards individual capability. For the adjustment in environmental along with contextual impediments skills, knowledge and attributes are very important to bridge the gap of cross-cultural issues. Before going to design any management process, it is very important to comprehend that in which geographical location the organisation is going to do business along with making appropriate marketing plan. To address this need, an organisation firstly needs to identify the cultural factors that are required to be employed as per business prospective in the proposed market for the better communication along with meeting the needs of the customers. The interactions between business communication and culture can be idealised from three perspectives (Guang & Trotter, 2012). Firstly, culture has an affect on the consumer behaviour regarding the acceptance of products and services. Secondly, culture affects the effectiveness of the advertisement. This is owing to the fact that advertisement is an important source as per the medium of communication which is strongly influenced by language. Moreover, the cultural and emotional touch with the advertising is vastly influenced by the buying habits and consumption style (Guang & Trotter, 2012). Thirdly, business communication also influences cultural borrowings and changes. For globalisation, the culture of domestic country is mingling with the global culture therefore the buying behaviour as well as tastes and preferences of the customers are rapidly altering. As a result, these factors are creating extreme challenges for the HR managers in the international level (Guang & Trotter, 2012). There are also various issues regarding cross-cultural aspects for the MNCs, which include firstly, culture impacts on markets on the basis of international versus domestic business communication. Secondly, standardisation versus adaption in the cross-cultural communication is a crucial factor. Thirdly, cross-cultural dimension of business communication research is another vital aspect. Fourthly, cross-cultural aspects as per business communication mix i.e. promotion, public relations, trade shows, sales and commercials. Fifthly, cross-cultural aspects of the business communication in the service sectors need to be determined. Sixthly, cross-cultural aspects of e-commerce and online marketing also play an essential role. Lastly, cross-cultural aspects about business communication regarding education and professional training also are crucial to be considered (Guang & Trotter, 2012). The demands of the solutions of cross cultural aspects are rapidly increase day-to-day for the mingling of national business with the international business. Therefore, various consultancies and organisations belonging to the diverse parts of the globe are effectively involving in varied researches to find out the solutions along with designing certain appropriate solutions. The solutions are described below: One of the vital solutions to reduce cross-cultural issues is to remove the communication barrier. This is because most of the misunderstandings occur from a lack of communication. Therefore, there is a need to provide training and help in creating an environment of cross-cultural communication with the native employees (Boxall, 1995). Addtionally, there is a need to learn about each other’s countries on the various aspects especially social, cultural and economical perspectives with the help of group talking Moreover, there should be mutual respect and open-minded attitude with proper understanding for increasing shared knowledge. This includes trying to learn from others instead of criticising (Boxall, 1995). There is also a requirement to celebrate holidays of the other cultures, because celebrating the festivals is a great way to learn about the other cultures (Boxall, 1995). Furthemore, it is imperative to treat people as individuals for identifying the gap of knowledge. This is because it is most important to identify and know properly about co-workers and their culture (Boxall, 1995). The management development programme regarding to raise awareness of cross-cultural issues is a key factor in the business communication. This is due to the fact that business communication engages communication in the organisation within varied levels including senior level management with the first-line management, the company with customers and the organisation with the government. Therefore, many researchers have dedicatedly worked on the International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and cross- cultural management. Regarding this Boxall, (1995) had analysed very evidently about the distinctions of comparative human resources management and international human resource management. Human Resource (HR) Factors and Issues Regarding International Business In the 21st century, due to the emergence of globalisation various companies have started to venture abroad for increasing market size and profitability. Therefore, they are meeting various kinds of problems regarding multicultural aspects. Multicultural HR related aspects that an organisation functioning in the US can face include human resource policies, work culture impact, relations with competitors as well as other organisations, along with ensuring a proper mix of varied cultural people among others. These factors are quite concerning as per the international context for the MNCs. A flourishing human resource tactic complements a company’s missions and goals especially for the industrial giants in the international perspective. However, in this aspect, there are no hard and fast rules which can be implemented in the international level of business because the business world is completely dynamic. There are various United Kingdom (UK) based companies which desiring to commence their business operations in the USA. Though the language of both the countries are same i.e. ’English’ but there are also enormous changes in terms of strategies, polices, processes as well as cultural aspects. Managing and developing the human resources in the global outlook is increasingly becoming a challenge particularly for the MNCs. The varied issues in the global HRM context include the following: Firstly, there is the existence of enormous variety as per the organisational model in the global context. The term organisational model has been used to define a broad conceptualisation as a format of the organisational structures, processes as well as strategies in the global context (ATTC, n.d.). Secondly, the issues of convergence as well as divergence are consequently vital factors in the international market of business because these factors are very coherently related with the government polices, rules and regulations, organisational factors as well as cultures among others (ATTC, n.d.). Thirdly, the problem of managing people with reference to managing cross-cultural impact is a critical aspect. The organisations especially MNCs have to compete with the growing diversity in their administrative and professional ranks, in countrywide and worldwide aspects. This problem occurs because the prevailing norms as well as practices followed by a person in his/her own country might clash with the norms and practices of co-workers brought up in dissimilar nations and civilisations (ATTC, n.d.). Fourthly, racial identity factor is unquestionably needed to be emphasized upon in this context because there has are certain racial groups that include Latin Americans, African Americans and Asian Americans among others who are most likely to judge their cultural surroundings in the communication process in the United States in contrast with European Americans. Thus, these factors might raise major challenges for a company to operate business in the US. Therefore, working as an international HR professional is very tough task as well as a challenging responsibility. This arena always desires proper analysis and research for sorting out of enormous cross-cultural problems which are already discussed above. In this context to sort out these problems, certain findings of the international human resource professionals are discussed in the following segment. Cultural awareness and understanding is a crucial factor as each nation of the world is distinct and unique in terms of language and tradition of culture. Thus, before designing the organisational strategies, first of all, there is a need to find out properly the cultural differences. Required analysis and learning is needed regarding what is happening in the nation and how the past as well as tradition influences the business. Besides, there is also a need to focus on the organisational culture including aspects such as performance appraisal system, holiday celebrations, organisational hierarchy and corporate social responsibilities among others. In this aspect, communication process as well as style is also an essential factor because communication not only relates to the factor of language by a certain extent, but it is the way of understanding the intention behind the words as well. Therefore, to understand the local culture as well as language and meet the desired behaviours within it initially MNCs can incorporate the process of joint venture with the local partners and gradually try to learn the different phenomenon (Kim, 1999). Moreover, adaptability is also an important factor concerning this arena of business. For example, the roles of labour union in the organisations of Europe and Latin America are largely different from the USA. In the US, The National Labour Relation Board (NLRB), has no independent power to implement their requirements, instead of that they can look for enforcements by the aid of a US Court of Appeals and the decisions of NLRB is most effective in the American labour practices (NLRB, n.d.). Thus, concern about this type of rules and regulations are very important factor in the international context of the business. Furthermore, curiosity about the various attributes is very important for the success in the context of international cross-cultural business operations. Therefore, there is a need to share thoughts and listen to others as much as possible in terms of the local colleagues for getting the experiences in the international context (ATTC, n.d.). Conclusion Human resource management is undoubtedly the most strategic as well as core approach for organisations because human resources are the most valuable assets for dealing with any kind of internal and external challenges. It is observed that cross-cultural management is one of the most challenging attributes amid varied HR functions in international business context. It is determined as one of the most concerning factors especially for the MNCs to obtain controlling power of market and maintain domination, along with minimising the cost and increasing the profitability, capturing global market share, developing and augmenting the technological power to increase the productivity as well as quality. Though the cross-cultural issues can be regarded as a big challenge for the MNCs to do business in the global market but it has also enormous positive consequences for the organisation. This is because it also immensely facilitates to accrue knowledge not only in the business perspective but also in terms of cultural as well as traditional context in relation to the various countries. 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