Human Resource Practices in Multinational Companies - Essay Example

Human Resources: HR250 Individual Written Assignment Introduction The company in North American business unit which Chalon was assigned was facing several challenges such as; the company was trailing competitors in terms of aftermarket business and the sales were declining leading to poor financial results for a consecutive period of time. Michelin hired Chalon to lead this division in North America, it had several plants and approximately 4,000 employees were under his management. Before he accepted the position Chalon Knew the challenges he was going to encounter. He was supposed to revive the sales and marketing teams by having them devotedly support the new sales strategy by even appeasing the existing clients. Chalon had a track record of motivating personnel and he was reported to have a very firm focus from his previous work experience in Europe. The employees complained about the leadership of Oliver Chalon as a person and the manner in which he interacted with the employees. It could be also that Chalon was also stereotypical about the Americans, it is said that the French view Americans as arrogant and dominating. This made him to be forceful and fierce in implementing his strategies. The difficulties that Chalon is facing can be due to the root of intercultural differences that exist between American and French value systems. Some of the differences exist in the intercultural management scenario. In regard to context French are regarded as high context while the Americans are viewed as low context; high context is characterized by the fact that a place must be left for adoption and interpretation and that everything is in the relationship. The low context is characterized by situations whereby everything must be clear and everything is in contract. This can be the reason as to why Chalon was facing difficulties as the employees were working in the terms that are expressed in their contract as this is in American culture. Context thus makes Americans to view French as disorganized, insincere and not disciplined. Another factor that is under the intercultural management is time. The French are regarded as polychromic while Americans are monochromic. Polychromic is described by schedule independence while monochromic is described by the fact that precision is essential. This can be reflected by the problem that Chalon is facing as the employees who are the Americans and he was French will view him as not focused and dispersed. The root of Chalon’s problem could also be due to the existence of the stereotypes that exist between the French and the American. The employees could be so much influenced by these stereotypes that they viewed Chalon differently. It is said that Americans view the French as people who are rude and ungrateful, people who live in a bureaucratic socialist system, arrogant and conceited people who distant themselves making it difficult to meet. The employees at America considered him cold and distant despite the fact that he walked around the office and tried to talk to his subordinates informally. The American culture was intrusive as compared to the French culture. In his quest to know his employees by way of talking informally to them they asked him questions that he considered personal. The questions that he was asked were about his well about his wife and their newborn son. This type of culture was not in France as it was viewed as inappropriate, for this reason he will be viewed as cold and distant. This problem can be said to be as a result of lack of adequate cultural communication. It is the mandate of the manager or the management of company to make sure that there are open avenues for the people to communicate efficiently (hall & hall 1976). From the theory of Geert Hofstede under the dimension of large versus power distance it seems the employees had adopted ‘large power distance’ this is the extent to which the employees of an organization tends to admit that the power in the organization is distributed unequally. Oliver Chalon tried to implement his strategies by even considering stepping on the toes of some long time managers. This caused the rebellion of the employees in this unit in America as to them it was viewed as demoralizing. Their culture didn’t believe in the existence of large power distance. Another source of conflict can be viewed as a result of Chalon using fierceness, forcefulness, acting heroic, and been in too much quest for fulfillment. He could instead have used antics such as modesty, enable relationships with the employees, nurture and care for the employees. It Can be said that he used too much masculinity approach in his leadership as a general manager which didn’t work well for the Americans instead he could have used femininity approach and to some extent the works would be appeased and motivated. Oliver Chalon was also too much demanding, he had instituted a monthly performance review for the sales team. He was so strict that anytime an employee presented information that he viewed as below the employees’ capabilities he referred him back to start all over again and prepare an in-depth analysis. Chalon believed that a leader who demands a lot from his people is the leader who would achieve the greatest results. This philosophy that he strongly believed in could not work in a cultural environment of America as evident from the resistance he faced. That could not be a very major problem but Chalon went further and didn’t acknowledge any positive or great result. This to the American employees was so much demoralizing and that led to their rebellious. The use of straightforward critic that Chalon used against his employees was not so pacifying; they found it demoralizing, the use of less straightforward criticism could perhaps be embraced by the employees and minimize the conflict between him as a leader and the employees. Oliver Chalon is facing difficulties as he tries to implement a new strategy because of these factors. He is from France and now he is working in North America, these are two different nations and it is with no doubt that there is existence of cross-national dissimilarities. As a cross-culture consultant I would prepare my one-to-one meeting with Chalon after I have researched on the difficulties he is facing as a French leader handling Americans who have different culture. It will be my obligation to coach and mentor Chalon in the cross-culture situation he is facing. i would mentor Chalon by taking him through the five cultural dimensions that are based on professor Geert Hofstede (1967), explaining the different countries’ cultures. The five dimensions are; power distance index, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance index and long term orientation. Power distance index This is closely associated with centralization of power, leadership and decision making in companies. A company that will tend to use high power distance, subordinates and employees will rely so much on their leaders. This can be said to be what Chalon had adopted and this made him to only come up with decisions alone. The employees’ suggestions were only left with the employees as they viewed him blunt and this is what I would advise him to change. Individualism Chalon can be said to engage himself in a more collectivist approach. he was keen to see to it that his unit in north America raised to glory. This could not really work as America is an individualistic state and the people didn’t work in groups which could not bring success. I would strongly advice Chalon to integrate his strategy with an individualistic approach. When individualistic approach is used attributes such as confidence, independence and creativity will be achieved. Masculinity Chalon admits that he was tough; this makes him to be considered as using masculinity approach. He was so assertive and focused on so much material success. This approach tends not to work and it would be for the good interests if Chalon could be minimize this and be soft and nurturing as this might motivate the employees. Uncertainty Avoidance index As a cross-culture consultant I can say given the situation of the Chalon he had a high index of uncertainty avoidance index while the employees had low uncertainty index level. This led to existence of some problems such as the employees will be so much tied down to rules, the manger would see them as idlers and the employees have no up-towards mobility. The advice I would give him is on how to come up with a strategy that would reduce this gap. Long term v short term orientation There was a short time that Chalon was expected to change things around this included to turn this around within two years. This is a short time and that’s why frustrations are befalling him. Oliver Chalon should also attend cross-culture training as he lacked the knowledge of cross culture. It is important for Chalon to know that one of the objectives of cross-cultural management is to enhance interaction. The cross-cultural management core competencies include participative competencies, interactive translation, experience and values, cross-cultural networking and cultural knowledge (holden 2002). These are the competencies that Chalon didn’t have and this was what was killing the team spirit at his unit in North America. Conclusion Despite the fact that Chalon was fluent in English and had two decades of experience in a global working environment he didn’t match this skill to handle the division in North America. These are not enough but it can be said that culture is an indispensable feature in handling a company. The norms and beliefs that exist between in the country should be understood for an effective outcome. Bibliography Holden, N. J., 2002. Cross-cultural management: A knowledge management perspective. London: Prentice Hall. Brewster Chris, 2002. Human resource practices in multinational companies, in Handbook of Cross-Cultural Management, p.126 Fantini, A. E., 2000. A central concern: Developing intercultural competence. Adapted in part from a ―Report by the Intercultural Communicative Competence Task Force,‖ World Learning, Brattleboro, VT, USA, 1994. Holden, N. J. and Glisby, M. 2010. Creating knowledge advantage: the tacit dimensions of international competition and cooperation. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press. Goleman, D, 2004. What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review, January 2004; pp 1-12 (Reprint R04001H) Wang, C. 2009. Cross-Cultural Management Brainstorm. Modern Economic Information, vol. 15, p. 1-2 Read More