International Human Resource Management - Apple and FCA - Case Study Example

International Human Resource Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 Overview of both Companies 3 Current Human Resource Management Practices 4 Recruitment 4 Training and Development 5 Performance and Leadership Management 6 Appraisal 6 Talent management 7 Gender equality 7 Differences in the HR Practices of both the Companies 8 Conclusion 9 Reference List 10 Introduction International human resource management (IHRM) is related to the management of human resource troubles of multinational companies in the foreign subsidiaries or more generally, with the HRM issues which are related with several stages of globalisation process. It is a vigorous as well as emergent intellectual subject having connections with a range of disciplines including global business, economics, communications, approach, public policy and political science (Harzing and Pinnington, 2014). In a competitive world, effective exploitation of the human resources is very essential and the main task of each company is to recognize, employ and channel capable human resources in their operations of business for improving functional efficiency and productivity. International management of human resources includes all the management choices that influence the relationship among the organization and the employees. It means performing all these actions across countries, traditions, as well as institutional contexts (Thomas and Lazarova, 2013). It states that companies recruit those workers who are actually prepared to be occupied in professions that cross global boarders as well as need them to work and reside in other states also (Rasmussen, Mylonas and Beck, 2012). The main objective of this paper is to consider whether international companies of dissimilar nationalities vary in the way they manage human resources issues globally. In order to answer this question, research will be done on whether there is an evidence of differences in the international management of human resources among the multinational or global companies of dissimilar nations. Overview of both Companies Apple Inc. was incorporated in the year 1976 and is regarded as one of the most accepted brands in terms of Smartphone. It has 284 retail stores spanning ten diverse countries (Terrell, 2008). Apple Inc. is the top innovator in the technology related to mobile device. The loyalty of customer combined with growing closed ecosystem is one of the strengths of the company. The company has adopted the marketing campaign to advertise its handset through several advertising method which indicates the simplicity of use of product. It offers wide range of products including personal computers, peripherals, mobile phones, and portable music devices, etc (Terrell, 2008). Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is an international company as well as the 7th biggest automaker of the world. It operates mainly through two major subsidiaries i.e. Fiat Group Automobiles (now known as FCA Italy) and Chrysler LLC (now known as FCA US (Fcagroup, 2014a). FCA is engaged in the industrial activities through various companies situated in 40 nations as well as has commercial associations with the customers in 150 countries. The company designs, manufactures, engineers, and also sells light commercial means of transport, passengers cars, production systems, and components worldwide (Fcagroup, 2014a). FCA is very much concerned with the leadership aspect and they view leadership in terms of privilege and noble calling. It is something which enhances the lives of people. The company is formed on the beliefs of leading change and leading people (Fcagroup, 2014b). The company embrace and savour competition and also constantly make efforts for the best. Delivering on their promises is essential to their objective of being a reliable and credible organisation (Fcagroup, 2014b). Current Human Resource Management Practices This section will lay emphasis on the fact that how the approaches of HRM taken by two different multinational companies of two different nations differ from one another. Recruitment Apple Inc. employs people which are having computer based proficiency. Highly selective process of recruitment is considered to engage the best people who fit in a good way to the culture of organization despite their skills. Preference is given on Organizational appropriateness than job appropriateness. At Apple Inc. selection and recruitment process is regarded as a short process, where organizational suitability of the prospective employees is determined through verbal interview (Pferrer and Veiga, 1999). The employees of Apple Inc. are from different background. It also promotes diversity within the company. FCA also recruits workers from diverse group of candidates which helps the company to bring more qualified people. However, FCA does not give more emphasis on the computer proficiency because it requires personnel who are skilled in making car parts and components. More preference is given on job appropriateness (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006). Diversified labour force is the positive feature of the corporate culture of this company. Diversity is very essential to the workforce because diverse employees in the company will aid to drive economic development as well as to capture more share of the market. An inclusive and diverse staff helps the company to avoid the turnover cost of the workforce. Diversity fosters more innovative and creative employees. Bringing together staff with dissimilar backgrounds, understandings and qualifications is a solution to efficient trouble solving on the work (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006). Training and Development Apple Inc. has extremely well organised training and growth/development program. The employees are the key advantages for the company, particularly in the department of research and development and also in the marketing department (Apple, 2012). Effective programs of training and development are a vital component of the learning environment which can improve the ability of the company to retain and draw staff with the competencies and skills required to accomplish outcomes for the firm’s benefit. Training as well as developing current and new employee to fill up fresh roles and do job in different manners will be an important part in the attempts of Apple Inc. to meet their transformation challenges (Apple, 2012). To help make change, managers of Apple Inc. communicate directly with employees in order to educate them about the new skills as well as raise consciousness of their privileges. The company believes that discovering and correcting the problems or difficulties is not sufficient. The training program which are designed by Apple Inc. are utilised to educate employees and suppliers about their rights, local laws, and occupational safety (Apple, 2012). Various opportunities are also provided to the workforce to gather proficiencies within the company. Opportunities for development and training include on-the-job guidance and internship. Internship with this company offers the actual learning experiences which led to potential careers in different fields (Pferrer and Veiga, 1999). For FCA, training is essential for personal growth and also for competitiveness as well as it assists individual to create a differentiation within the company. Whatever the company is doing to prepare the young manager or to develop the abilities of maintenance, technician for challenges of the global business, they are at all times result-oriented (Fcagroup, 2014c). Simulators, assistance on the work, web platforms, experts’ networks, and peer-to-peer training are some of the approaches which enable the growth of new talents while facing actual problems and assists in solving them. For this company, training and growth also means functioning towards goals and it offers an unremitting prospect to exchange ideas as well as engage with talented and experienced individuals, and experts around the world (Fcagroup, 2014c). Performance and Leadership Management The goals of Apple Inc. are communicated to its employees as soon as the organisational objectives are set. This is mutually discussed by managers and the essential steps are taken to accomplish such goals. The performance of each employee is measured based on the initiation and achievement of these goals. Based on their act, they are provided remuneration with incentives (Armstrong, 2009). The basic salaries of the employees are supplemented by challenging effort and broad or extensive benefits. The workers who make huge contribution towards the company are rewarded. The company financially rewards workers in the area of partnership which is related to the decision making (Armstrong, 2009). The process of leadership and performance management at FCA enables the assessment as well as channelling of organisational and individual results and behaviours and aptitudes of employees. It provides individuals with the responsibilities and engages them in their personal development (Fcagroup, 2014c). At the starting of year, every manager shares goals and possible growth initiatives with the employees in order to support their professional development. At the year end, each employee is judged on the basis of their performance, which means that how much they contributed in the achievement of the business objectives; and on the basis of leadership i.e. their capability to manage people, goal achievement, lead change, and perform as a group or team (Fcagroup, 2014c). Appraisal At Apple Inc. appraisal is an ongoing process and it involves giving feedback to appraiser as well as to them who are appraised. It serves as an opportunity for salary reviews, personal counselling and allotment of the merit payments. Employees are evaluated based on the tasks, objectives and results accomplished by them (Gupta and Arvind, 1993). The system of appraisal helps the managers of human resources to resolve any deficiency in particular skill. As a result, they undertake recruitment in order to reinstate such efficiency. Apple Inc. is recognized for appreciating as well as giving value to their employees. Rewards are offered to workers for enhanced performance. It is regarded as a best place to do a job for those who are obsessive about innovation (Gupta and Arvind, 1993). At FCA, on the completion of leadership and performance management process, the evaluation or appraisal procedure takes place, which puts the staff on the high grid. Each employee concentrates on attaining specific goals, therefore they review the objectives regularly in order to make certain a clear picture of their development. At the year end, the manager of the company meets with the employees to share the end results achieved (Fcagroup, 2014c) Talent management Almost every company requires improving idea capture, productivity, as well as need successful innovation. Apple Inc. offer free time to their employees to think and generate ideas, and to innovate. The option of flexible schedule provided by Apple Inc. permits staff to take their own decision as to where the efforts should be put so that it could give the best result. The company manage the talent of their employees by providing them enough training in the area of difficulty. The program of talent management assists to boost productivity. It helps to develop a means for recognising best practices and successfully spread them quickly throughout the company. The success of Apple Inc. is not the outcome of access towards great location, manufacturing capability, or special equipment, but rather access to best talent, superior leadership, and astonishing approaches in the direction of talent management (Macdailynews, 2015). In an automobile industry, which is considered as highly competitive, continuously changing and depends on dedicated technical expertise, the capability to employ the correct people to main roles is necessary. FCA has initiated a controlled process in order to recognise the talented employees and track their progress (Fcagroup, 2014c). The talent management programme of FCA has been expanded to all nations where this company is present and to entire business units at all the levels, to reinforce corporate culture as well as to guarantee each employee higher professional opportunity. The employees who are recognised on the basis of their importance in terms of leadership and performance and capability for growth, are judged by means of a process which entails every level i.e. from their supervisor to the top management (Fcagroup, 2014c). The main purpose of FCA’s talent management program is to identify people with great potential and encourage them to plan suitable development actions, in pursuing their occupation successfully, to build effectual succession plans, and to support internal growth which is based on the opportunities and needs of the company (Fcagroup, 2014c). Gender equality Apple Inc. is facing some issues relating to its gender equality practice. The company is giving less importance to support gender equality as they have employed approx 70% male employees and 30% female employees. Among the female staff, most of them are working in non-technical sector of business (Armstrong, 2009). In Contrary, FCA has established a procedure that ascertains that women and men are remunerated evenly for doing the similar work. Beyond equal compensation for equal effort, the procedure also ascertains that both the genders are equally treated in training, recruitment, and promotion. The company has also invented a policy that permits both women and men employees to balance their occupation with their private lives. This guideline guarantees that management of FCA supports pursuit of their staff for further learning to progress their careers that help the workforce in maintaining positive and strong relationship (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006). Differences in the HR Practices of both the Companies Apple Inc. employs people who are having computer based proficiency, and more preference is given on organizational appropriateness than job appropriateness (Pferrer and Veiga, 1999). On the contrary, FCA does not give more emphasis on the people who are having computer based proficiency and more preference is given on job appropriateness (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006). The difference in their recruitment process may occur because Apple Inc needs more software experts whereas, FCA requires personnel who are skilled in making car parts and components. The managers of Apple Inc. communicate directly with employees in order to educate them about the new skills as well as raise consciousness of their privileges. The training program which are designed by Apple Inc. are utilised to educate employees and suppliers about their rights, local laws, and occupational safety (Apple, 2012). FCA managers are involved in several good practices however they do not interact directly with workers in order to train them about the novel skills (Fcagroup, 2014c). This may happen because there might be not good communication process between the managers and the employees. At Apple Inc. the performance of each employee is measured based on the initiation and achievement of the goals, whereas, at FCA the employees’ performance is measured on various aspects, such as capability to handle people, goal accomplishment, lead change, and perform as a group or team (Fcagroup, 2014c). Apple Inc measure employee’s performance on the basis of limited factors as compared to FCA, because on the basis of this only they achieved enough success. At Apple Inc. the system of appraisal helps the managers of human resources to resolve any shortcoming in particular skill. Therefore, they undertake recruitment in order to reinstate such efficiency (Gupta and Arvind, 1993). On the other hand, FCA does not undertake recruitment to reinstate such efficiency (Fcagroup, 2014c). This may be due to the reason that they employ new talent every time. The talent management programme of FCA has been expanded to all nations where this company is present and to entire business units at all the levels, to reinforce corporate culture as well as to guarantee each employee higher professional opportunity. Apple Inc. talent management programme is not expanded to all countries (Macdailynews, 2015). It may be because Apple Inc. is already familiar with success in all fields. So, they may not feel the need of expanding their talent management programme to all countries. Apple Inc. does not give equal importance to male and female employees, whereas, FCA remunerates both male and female employees equally. Inequality at Apple Inc may occur because they might believe that male is more expert than female in the technical fields. Conclusion In the global context, management of human resources respond towards a complex and dynamic set of elements. It comprises of policies, practices and activities of attracting, developing, engaging, as well as retaining the workers that a company requires to accomplish its goals. With an increase in the activities of international business, many companies expect their workers to have knowledge of global workplace. It has been analysed that there are dissimilarities in the IHRM practices of both the companies from different countries. However, both are good in applying the approaches of management of human resource in their own way. The training program which are designed by Apple Inc. are utilised to educate employees and suppliers about their rights, local laws, and occupational safety. At FCA, the leadership and performance management process provides individuals with the responsibilities and engages them in their personal development. Rewarding employees on their merit is obvious in FCA as well as acknowledged standard at entire levels. Apple Inc. is facing some issues relating to its gender equality practice but apart from it, the company is applying other human resource practice in an efficient way. Reference List Apple, 2012. Supplier Responsibility. [online] Available at: < http://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/> [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Armstrong, M., 2009. Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice: Performance Management. London: Kogan Page Publisher. Fcagroup, 2014a. FCA: Our Business. [online] Available at: http://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/group/our_businesses/Pages/default.aspx.> [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Fcagroup, 2014b. FCA: Our Values. [online] Available at: < http://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/group/values/Pages/values.aspx> [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Fcagroup, 2014c. FCA: Career Opportunities. [online] Available at: http://www.fcagroup.com/en-US/careers/work/Pages/work.aspx.> [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Gupta, A.K. and Arvind, S., 1993. Managing human resources for innovation and creativity. Journal of Research Technology Management, 36(3) pp.21-28. Harzing, A.W. and Pinnington, A., 2014. International Human Resource Management. California: SAGE Publications. Macdailynews., 2015. Talent management lessons from Apple: A case study of the world’s most valuable firm. [online] Available at: < http://macdailynews.com/2011/09/12/talent-management-lessons-from-apple-a-case-study-of-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-valuable-firm/> [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Pferrer, J. and Veiga, J.F., 1999. Putting people first for organizational success. Journal of Academy of Management, 13(2), pp.37-48. Pilbeam, S. and Corbridge, M., 2006. People resourcing: Contemporary HRM in practice. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Rasmussen, R., Mylonas, A. and Beck, H., 2012. Investigating Business Communication and Technologies. Australia: Cambridge University Press. Terrell, E., 2008. Apple Computer, Inc. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 April 2015]. Thomas, D.C. and Lazarova, M.B., 2013. Essentials of International Human Resource Management: Managing People Globally. California: SAGE Publications. Read More