Competencies Required to Manage One Aspect of International Personnel and Development - Coursework Example

Critically evaluate the competencies required to manage one aspect of international personnel and development, as demonstrated within your groups skills presentation – the issue of training 1. Introduction One of the most important requirements for the success of organizational activities in the global market is the development of effective human resources practices; employees play a key role in the realization of organizational plans; without their support the business initiatives are likely to be led to a failure. For this reason, the identification of the characteristics of successful human resources management polices has been set as a priority for firms operating in the modern market; in cases of firms that operate in the international marketplace the importance of HRM is increased since the obstacles that appear in the development of effective HRM policies can be many. Current paper focuses on the examination of the challenges that HR managers have to face in regard to their firms’ international personnel; emphasis is given to the training problems developed in firms operating globally. 2. Training as part of the international human resources management In order to identify and evaluate the aspects of training as part of the international personnel development it is necessary to refer to the issues that are likely to appear in regard to the HRM of organizations that operate in the international market; at the next level, these issues can be analyzed by referring to their influence on training in the context of the international business operations. The literature published on the specific issue will be used as appropriate in order to support the relevant assumptions and recommendations. One of the key problem for firms operating in the international market is the cultural differences between the country of origin and the host market; when training programs are to be introduced in a business unit that is based abroad, the local ethics and culture need to be taken into consideration otherwise, the chances for the success of these programs are going to be eliminated. Another issue is the level of educational background of the people that are going to participate in a firm’s international training program – this is an issue occurring mostly when the country of origin is a developed country and the firm’s branch, in which the specific training program will be introduced, is in a developing country – where the chances for expertise on specific professional skills are limited. At the next level, the resources available in the host country – country in which the training program will be developed – need to be taken into consideration; the term resources in the above case is related with the following factors: a) the educational and professional background of employees who will participate in the specific training scheme, b) the funds available for the realization of the relevant training project – each firm is expected to set specific margins as of the budget available for the development of its international training program and c) the technology available in the host market. Briggs et al. (1982) examined the HRM training programs developed by 10 firms that operate internationally; their research revealed that firms that have expanded their activities globally are likely to use specific criteria when developing their training programs; the 10 firms participated in the relevant research had developed training programs that included the following 10 elements: ‘(1) Linguistic variables, (2) Individual Identity and Status, (3) Historical and Political Climates of the Host Culture, (4) Social Values and Structure, (5) Economic Trends and Conditions, (6) Technological Language Vocabularies, (7) Nonverbal Cues and Signals, (8) Family Orientations and Traditions, (9) Managerial Skills, and (10) Company Objectives and Policies’ (Briggs et al., 1982, p.341). In accordance with the above study, the elements of international training programs need to be specific – alterations are possible in case that specific organizational needs have to be addressed. From a similar point of view, Gorman et al. (2009, p.1336) refer to the characteristics of effective training schemes in the context of multinational organizations; in accordance with above researchers each firm that operates globally should choose the training scheme that would be most appropriate for its operational units operating abroad; the case of frame-of-reference training is mentioned as an indicative example of effective training scheme for organizations operating globally. The development of effective HRM policies in relation to a firm’s international operational units is considered to be extremely important for firms that are interested in stabilizing their position in the international market. This issue is highlighted by Harvey (1997) who notes that International HRM needs to refer to a series of issues including the ‘selecting and training employees for assignments in foreign countries and the training of foreign managers to become effective managers in the domestic environment’ (Harvey, 1997, p.393); in other words, International HRM involves in the training and development not only of employees at low – medium level of organizational hierarchy but also of employees at high levels of the organizational hierarchy – i.e. supervising managers and even directors of the international business units. As noted above, the cultural differences between the host market and the market of origin need to be taken into consideration when developing International HRM schemes. In this context, these schemes are expected to have specific format, or else to focus on particular organizational goals. Therefore, the evaluation of the effectiveness of these schemes will be based on their ability to meet specific requirements. In accordance with Hall et al. (1989, p.183) ‘the lower the level of perceived ethnocentrism, the more likely MNCs are to offer training that provides cultural awareness and personal flexibility’ Regarding this issue, Honeycutt et al. (1999) note that International HRM schemes are more likely to focus to the increase of the employees’ sales skills; the above view is based on the fact that ‘global firms are more market-oriented in their training focus and devote significantly more time to sales training’ (Honeycutt et al., 1999, p.627); of course, the improvement of the employees’ sales skills is not the exclusive target of international training programs; however, the achievement of the specific target is often considered as a decisive criterion in order to decide on the effectiveness of such a scheme. Thornton et al. (2009, p.169) note that the responses of employees participating in international training schemes need to be recorded and appropriately evaluated; in this way, appropriate suggestions on the improvement of these schemes could be made – if required; in any case, international training schemes are expected to take a specific period of time in order to achieve the targets set by their planners; when these schemes have been used by the particular firm in the past the chances for failures – even of minor importance – are many. The ability of the employees to perform well under specific conditions is of high importance for the success of international training schemes; as noted above, employees have a significant role in the achievement of business goals and the realization of business plans; in this context, the active participation and the positive perception of employees to a specific international training scheme is important for the success of this scheme. The above issue is highlighted in the study of Gani et al. (2009); the above researchers note that ‘the relationship between cross-cultural training (CCT) effectiveness and adjustment is mediated by an increase in self-efficacy’ (Gani et al., 2009, p.277). Additional criteria in regard to a firm’s international training programs could be set in accordance with the organizational culture (Briscoe et al., 2004, p.18), the position of the firm in the international market (Landis et al., 2004, p.23), the HRM framework of the specific organization – referring to the HRM policies used by the firm in its national market (Stahl et al., 2006, p.54), the resources available (Mathis et al., 2007, p.47) and the level of resistance expected in regard to the suggested programs – referring to the level at which a specific international training program is expected to be welcomed by the employees – participants (Dowling et al., 2008, p.91). 3. Conclusion The development of international training programs is an important part of a firm’s international strategy; the study of the literature has proved that firms that operate in the global market are likely to face difficulties when trying to develop International HRM schemes. Training is the most important part of these schemes; the terms under which a specific international training program is characterized as successful can be differentiated across organizations – in the context described above; in any case, it has been proved that the success of international training schemes is depended not only on the relevant decisions of a firm’s strategic planners but also on the willingness of participants – employees to participate actively in the specific schemes. Through the years, different priorities are likely to set in regard to the content of international training schemes; however, there are aims, like the increase of employees’ sales skills, that are likely to remain a key part of these schemes. The firm’s HRM planners decide on the objectives and the framework in which international training programs are developed; however, the skills, the culture and the perceptions of employees-participants need to be taken into consideration in order for the success of these schemes to be secured. (words: 1502) References/ Bibliography Adler, N., Gundersen, A., 2008. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. Cengage Learning Attia, A., Honeycutt, E., Jantan, A., 2008. Global sales training: In search of antecedent, mediating, and consequence variables. Industrial Marketing Management, Volume 37, Issue 2, pp. 181-190 Briggs, N., Harwood, G., 1982.Training personnel in multinational businesses: An inoculation approach. 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