Differences in Strategy between a National and International Human Resource Department - Assignment Example

Essay on Human Resources (HR) Table of Contents Discussion Question Differences in Strategy between a National and International HR Department Thestrategic differences between the functions of the human resource department at the national and international level can be effectively outlined as follows. Human Resources Departments in the International level in addition to performing human resources functions is required to help the employers in relocating to other international regions and also in rightly orienting them to perform in an effective fashion (Arthur, 2012). Further the international human resource department also focuses on the development of administrative services for different forms of expatriate staffs. The international human resources department is also required to manage the relationship with the host government and is also required to manage the translation serves for the foreign staffs (Albrecht, 2010). In terms of the compensation functions, the international human resources department is required to formulate different types of compensation levels for the staffs relating to home, foreign and also relating to emerging countries. On the contrary the domestic HR department is required to work on a single compensation program designed to fit the needs of the different workers. The international HR department is also required to address the social and economic needs of the expatriate staffs operating in the foreign country. Human resources functions at the international level are required to potentially evaluate and meet the personal and financial needs of the foreign staffs and employees operating in the foreign branches. Effective training and communication functions are required to be carried out in a regular fashion to make the expatriate staffs ready to handle problems and generate solutions in the foreign country (Armstrong, 2008). The international HR department is thereby required to formulate an effective human resource policy to rightly meet the different requirements of the foreign employees. With the gradual establishment of the company in the foreign region, the company branch focuses on recruiting the employees at the regional level than focusing on the recruiting of staffs from foreign regions. Thus potential amount of funds that is required to be employed for relocation, development and orientation and generation of compensation programs for foreign employees can be saved for enhancement of expertise of domestic workers (Bogardus, 2009). The human resources department at the international level are also required to potentially counter the emergence of effective risks relating to the growth of terrorism and also other fluctuations in the level of international exchange rates. The international human resource department is also required to generate potential mechanisms to deal with changes in the legislative and political system in the foreign region (Durai, 2010). Discussion Question 2 Scottish independence referendum The Scottish Independence Referendum contributed in helping Scotland to stay along with United Kingdom. The voters unanimously rejected the independence status of Scotland from United Kingdom. Votes relating to the independence referendum for Scotland were obtained from 32 different councils which reflected that the ‘no’ votes surpassed the ‘yes’ votes. The people of Scotland during 18th September, 2014 voted through the means of a referendum reflecting their interests to stay in United Kingdom. Moreover the Government of United Kingdom also desires Scotland to be an integral part of the country. The negative results relating to the Scotland Independence Referendum is to be observed as a blessing in disguise. Scotland being part of United Kingdom is observed to gain hold of potential benefits in the form of an effective geographical network and other infrastructural base. It would also enhance the cost of the region relating to the requirement of developing a new currency system and also for requiring Scotland to gain a new registration to the European Union. Further Scotland being a part of United Kingdom tends to reflect an effective Diaspora in terms of a unique culture and social heritage that contributes in attracting larger tourists (BBC News Scotland, 2014). A survey conducted on the tourists reflects that the event of Scottish Referendum would tend to have little impact on the tourism activities concerning Scotland. Foreign tourists visiting Scotland being interviewed prior to the announcement of the results concerning the Referendum stated that they would tend to visit Scotland irrespective of a positive or negative result. A section of the residents of Scotland were of the opinion that the independence of Scotland would contribute in the growth of tourism business in the region. The larger section of the Scottish people and also other of other areas in United Kingdom were however of the opinion that lack of independence status of Scotland would not affect the visits of tourists to the region. A larger section English tourist to Scotland reflected that the region gaining independency from United Kingdom would vehemently affect the tourism operations. Scotland being a part of United Kingdom gains adequate support in the form of links and connections to foster the tourism operations. Further an independence status of Scotland from United Kingdom is also anticipated to affect the travel insurance sector in terms of enhancing the costs of insurance while limiting its availability (Smith-Spark, 2014). Discussion Question 3 Hard and Soft HRM Hard HRM relates to the association of Human Resources Management policies and objectives with the strategic objectives of the business organization (Banfield and Kay, 2012). Owing to its increasing relation with the strategic objectives the same is observed as Strategic Human Resource Management. Soft HRM on the contrary focuses more on the interests of the employees than catering for the meeting of organizational needs. The Hard HRM tends to observe the people as idle in nature. It tends to focus on the synchronization of the resources to contribute in the meeting of the organizational objectives. Soft HRM on the other hand tends to understand the emotions, needs and interests of the people in the organization. The Hard HRM observes the employment of human resources as costs to the organization which requires to be aptly minimized. It thus contributes in the designing of motivational techniques to encourage the growth of greater productivity and performances of the employees. Hard HRM thus reflects a strategic face while the Soft HRM focuses on generating a social and humanitarian face (Köster, 2007). The Hard version of Human Resource Management owing to its organization centric aspect is considered to be more rationalistic and economically feasible method than the use of Soft HRM methods. Human resource strategies based on the aspect of Hard HRM mainly aim at generating greater competitive advantage to the organization in terms of increased control and reduced manpower cost. Soft version of HRM on the contrary reflects a humanitarian face of HRM which requires greater commitment of the managers to help in developing the potency and ability of employees. It focuses on the development of trust and collaboration among the organizational members relating to different levels in meeting of organizational objectives (Köster, 2007). My experience of working in a hotel reflects that policies relating to both Hard and Soft HRM become applicable in the sector. The hotel industry is observed to operate in a largely flexible environment subjected to changes in consumer demand relating tom tourism in a region. During my employment duration in the hotel, I noticed that owing to the growth of terrorism practices the number of tourists visiting the hotel got largely reduced. This affected the tourism and the hotel business in a potential fashion. With the slowing down of the footfalls in the hotel, the business reflected huge loss and also reduction in market share. The company management in the light of the above issue focused on cutting down the manpower costs of the concern. Reduction in the compensation levels and also the different amenities and benefits was incorporated. This reflected the implication of Hard HRM in the organization. On the other hand, the reduction in the number of customers to the hotel also required the company management to generate potential strategy in the form of training its staffs to generate effective customer services to the visitors. Effective investments and resource allocation was carried out to generate effective training to the staffs to help in enticing the visitors. This strategy implemented reflects the existence of Soft HRM. The generation of training aimed in enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the staffs to generate the right quality of customer service (Nickson, 2013) Discussion Question 4 National Culture The national culture of the region is evaluated based on four different grounds like the Power Distance, Individualism and Collectivism, Masculinity and Femininity and also in the term of Uncertainty Avoidance. The Power Distance parameter tends to evaluate the existence of Power Distances relating to a social and business organization. It thus reflects on the existence of hierarchical levels in the organization (Barber, 2008). Individualism and Collectivism phenomena reflects on the conducting of activities to help in meeting individual needs and wants as opposed to the Collectivist principle that aims to conduct duties to help in generating social and common good to all. Individualism culture also does not generate significance on the growth of team works. Collectivist culture requires the growth of team works to help in meeting business and organizational objectives. The cultural dimensions relating to the Masculinity and Feminity parameters reflect that individuals operating in a masculine culture tend to operate in an aggressive fashion to help in meeting of individual needs (Becker, Huselid and Ulrich, 2009). Moreover the masculine culture also reflects the conducting of tasks with an ambitious note. The Feminine culture on the other hand reflects the conducting of business and organizational tasks with an eye on generating common good to all. It does not reflect an ambitious culture but that which tends to honour existing traditions. Cultural frameworks relating to Uncertainty Avoidance reflect that people operating in a high uncertainty avoidance culture would tend to avoid from facing unforeseen contingencies (The Hofstede Centre, n.d.). Both the countries, United Kingdom and United States reflect a high score in the Power Distance parameter of 35 and 40 respectively. A high score in the aspect of Power Distance for two countries reflect of the existence of organizational hierarchy in the different business organizations. It reflects that business and company decisions are undertaken in a centralised fashion requiring the subordinates to abide by the decisions taken. The two countries United States and United Kingdom reflect existence of individualistic culture for scoring points 89 and 91 respectively. This reflects that the individuals tend to work for their individual growth and in meeting of own wants that requires the incorporation of needed incentives both financial and non-financial to boost the productivity of the employees. Relating to the dimension of Masculinity, United Kingdom tends to surpass United States through generating a score of 66 and 62 respectively. This reflects the interest of the employees to work in fulfilling their self ambitions rather than working for meeting the needs of their family members (Biles and Holmberg, 2007). Thus the organizations relating to the above regions can focus on generating individual insurance schemes as against group or family insurance schemes. In terms of Uncertainty Avoidance, United Kingdom tends to score low compared to United States. This reflects that new sets of HRM and other business policies can be rightly introduced in the organizations operating in United Kingdom. These new policies would tend to have lesser impacts on the working of the employees in United Kingdom based organizations (The Hofstede Centre , n.d.). References List BBC News Scotland, 2014. Scottish referendum: Scotland votes No to independence. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 14 October 2014]. Durai, P., 2010. Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Köster, M., 2007. Human Resource Management Versus Personnel Management. Germany : GRIN Verlag. Nickson, D., 2013. Human Resource Management for Hospitality, Tourism and Events. New York : Routledge. Smith-Spark, L., 2014. Scotlands vote on independence: What you need to know. [Online] Available at; [Accessed 14 October 2014]. The Hofstede Centre , n.d.. National cultural dimensions. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 14 October 2014]. The Hofstede Centre , n.d. United Kingdom in comparison with United States. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 14 October 2014]. Read More