Human Resource Management: Flextronics Company - Case Study Example

Human resource management By Student’s Name Code+ course name Instructor’s Name University Name City, State Date Human resource management Introduction Flextronics is a manufacturing company that specializes in the manufacturing of electronics. The company that was established in 1969 currently conducts its operations in thirty countries across three continents. In addition, the company has a total workforce of approximately 162,000, while at the same time boasting of commendable revenue worth US$ 27.6 in 2008. The company has taken advantage of areas that present low production costs such as Brazil, China, and Hungary. The company has ventured into seven markets which are infrastructure, consumer digital device, automotive, telemedicine gadgets and aerospace devices. The company has managed to establish new firms with the new firms facing start-up challenges such as inadequate workforce regarding technique. On the other hand, the existing stations have been producing wonderful results. The current size of the company faces challenges in specific areas of management such as diversity management, culture management, international performance management training and development. Having opened branches in many different countries, Flextronics has to engage people from different cultures thus exhibiting high diversity. In addition, the company has to conduct training and development as a way of enhancing the performance of its personnel. Human resource management is a broad field that many successful organizations have considered to invest in. Research has established that an organization that manages its human resource well stands a greater chance of enhancing performance. This paper will look at the practice of human resource management with specific interest in Flextronics Company. The areas within HRM to be discussed include diversity management, culture, international performance management, training, and development. Diversity management Diversity management is one of the most sensitive tasks for multinational companies such as the Flextronics. Flextronics has managed to establish branches across 33 countries in 3 continents which are evidence enough that the company has to accommodate people from different backgrounds[DMa06]. Diversity may not only exist as a result of the difference in geographical location but also at a personal level. Different people have different, capabilities points of view as well as beliefs, which makes them diverse. Diversity management is a sensitive topic that most organization might overlook yet it requires a keen approach. Organizations that manage their diversity well have a higher chance of attaining their business goals as compared to organizations that overlook this practice. According to Olsen and Martins (2014), the primary goal of diversity management is to enhance employee performance for the benefit of the organization. The process involves the creation of a conducive environment that acknowledges the existing diversity and encourages contribution from the existing diversity. In diversity management, an organization ensures that differences defined regarding heritage, traditions, style, backgrounds and views are equally recognized and acknowledged. Research has established that the more the diversity within an organization, the more gains the organization stands to benefit. Flextronics has opened branches in over 30 countries around the globe. The company stands a chance to receive a wide range of inputs from all these branches. The inputs are likely to vary due to the existing diversity, which is an advantage to the organization as it can make strategic decisions basing on the inputs. Diversity within the workforce helps the organization to enhance creativity and nurture new business ideas or models. It implies that the company that acknowledges ideas is open to innovation, which gives it a competitive edge. It would be challenging for a company that aims to compete globally while at the same time overlooking diversity [Mic10]. Not all ideas developed from the central management apply to all parts of the world. Equally, not all decision made at a single business unit may apply to all the employees within the organization. The best approach to diversity management is to consider the bottom-up approach where employees suggest what they want and the organization complies with the suggestion considered to be beneficial[USN06]. It is important for large organizations such as Flextronics to understand the existing diversity within its workforces. For the case of Flextronics, it may be established that diversity issues may arise at the different managerial levels as well as the shop-floor. Most organizations have been implicit in defining their approaches to diversity management, and Flextronics has not been different. A model has to be established to ensure that the definition of diversity management. The model is recommended to include norms, codes and other factors considered as critical to the organization. Such practices must be established as part of the organizational culture in a way that the both the employees and management are conversant. Managing culture According to Angouri and Glynos (2009), management of culture is an n essential undertaking for any organization as it helps in the acquisition and retention of the best talent. An organization that acknowledges cultural diversity is in the best position to realize growth. An established company like the one in thecae has to maintain a good reputation when it comes to management of culture. Many people working for the company possibly come from different cultural background, which implies that the company must acknowledge cultural diversity. HR management has the unique role of managing culture. In managing culture, a company stands to benefit in several ways. Organizational culture has been identified as a representation of organizational values, principles, and beliefs that all members associate with. Factors such as organizational values, goals and visions are closely attached to the organizational culture. Organizational culture can also be understood in a different perspective where an organization establishes an internal culture[Chr06]. This type of culture is independent of the various cultures of the individuals working for the organization. An organization can establish a culture that aims at achieving its goals and objectives. For instance, an organization can establish a culture that defines how internal and external goals are achieved. Also, an organization can develop a culture that defines how people relate within the organization both at the same level or different levels. The company in question is a large company that has established culture, which has ensured growth for all the time it has been in existence. In the establishment of organizational culture, most organizations develop a system that links the cultures to the primary goals of the organization. According to the lecture notes provided by Cavanagh, culture can be viewed from three different perspectives[Jul09]. The three views include the positivist view, interpretive views, and the critical view. In the positivist view, culture is identified alongside its values. The perspective compels links to be established to law and regularities associated with culture. In addition, culture from this point of view has to do with instrumental knowledge and prediction. The second perspective, the view interpretive researchers attempt to establish the meaning of culture. Culture provides an organization with an opportunity to define social constructs within as well as the cognitive processes. The third perspective, which is the critical point of view attempts to provide an in-depth perspective of cultures such as domination and inequality. For instance, cultural orientation of some organization might have adequate symptoms of gender biases. It is a negative image once such information gets to the critics. The issue of power relations and inequalities are very sensitive to a given organization as it may affect the working relations in a specific area. For instance, when Flextronics intends to open a branch in a place where power relations are defined by the local cultural perspectives, the company will have to adopt such a culture. In situations where women are culturally ranked below men, it will be challenging to hand authority of a branch to a lady since the performance might be affected. However, it does not imply that the company will be obliged to maintain the culture as changes may gradually be proposed and amended in a way that the people approve. For the case of Flextronics, it was established that several cultural issues emerged as a result of establishing branches across different cultural settings. For instance, issues emerged after the company resorted to offering certificates to individuals who had completed a training module. The certificates had been acknowledged in most parts of Eastern Europe as well as the US and were regarded as an achievement. The situation is proof that a practice which has been successful in one region cannot be directly transferred to another region as it may go against the cultural norms of the regions. It is also evident that external cultural perspectives have away into the internal cultural orientation. For instance, in the places where the certificates have been less appreciated, it is evident that such notions emerge from the regional perspective rather than the organizational perspective. It implies that Flextronics has to conduct a broad research on the best cultural practice of appraising its personnel. The company must not transfer the practice used in Western Europe to the United States and vice versa. International performance management training and development Global performance management is a common practice for organizations that have established branches in different parts of the world[Len13]. Flextronics has established branches in over 30 countries, a situation that has forced its managerial structure to change. The company has to involve a complex managerial structure characterized by intercultural inclusion. The concept of international performance management may not greatly vary from area specific performance management. Common features in global performance management include assessment of the inputs of employees and forms to be used. In managing global performance, immediate supervision, use of divisional heads and the establishment of corporate offices is mandatory[Pet08]. Flextronics cannot only manage all its entire operations at in a central office. Several offices are close to the areas of operation to help in the managerial functions, which have to remain answerable to Flextronics’ central office. Another role of international performance management is to carry out annual evaluations as well as bi-annual evaluation. In addition, traits have to be evaluated at an international level alongside behaviors and outcomes. The findings from management must be able to present managers with reliable sources for making informed decisions concerning rewards and penalties (Carbery, Cross, 2008). Flextronics’ HR department has the mandate to ensure that all its operations are running smoothly and contributing towards the company’s main goal. The company has a headquarter at Vienna that responsible for the regions of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The CEE region has an HR executive director who directly works with the branches in the region to ensure that all the employees are in the best position to contribute to quality. The HR has also managed to establish a routine training program that aims at enhancing the productivity (Chaunda, 2012). Other factors may not have been highlighted in the global performance management of Flextronics. Global performance management can be viewed from a cultural perspective where the HR manager acknowledges the existing cultural differences. The HR managers have to understand that specific patterns tobe used in management are shaped by culture[Sta12]. It implies that a system used by HR in Eastern Europe may not be directly applicable to Western Europe. A similar case relating to the issuance of training certificates has already been presented in this paper. In case Flextronics HR team decides to adopt an HR management approach used in Eastern Europe for managing Western Europe, the system has high chances of failing. The HR team has to conduct research on the performance management approaches to be used at every station. Some cultures strongly hold that payment comes after hard work and that gifts are a sign of laziness thus issuing such tokens might be misinterpreted. The HR team must value cultural diversity within and across all its branches as this will ensure the best approach to performance management. Global performance management can also be approached basing on the business system perspective. Flextronics has a business goal which has been used to define the business system as well as perspectives. Using this approach, HR managers can opt to adopt a management pattern that has proven to be instrumental in the success of the business (Chaunda, 2012). However, Flextronics can only adopt such a model if proven that the model does not stand against cultural norms. A model that goes against the cultural perspective of the human resource has higher chances of failing. Alternatively, the Flextronics can opt to integrate the business system perspective to the cultural perspective[Agn14]. In this practice, it is important for the HR team to understand that they face two levels of competition. The first level is the local level where the company competes with competitors in the specific countries in which it operates. The second level is the global level where the company competes with major companies across the globe. It implies that the HR practice at the lower level must be well established to guarantee success at the global level. In case the HR fails to manage human resources at a lower level, the entire organization may fail in its quest to compete at the global level. International performance management entails assisting employees at all the levels institutionalized by the organization an aims to improve competence. It is also necessary to recognize both organizational and individual perspectives as they play a greater part in the global performance. Companies that conduct international performance management must adopt a culturally defined approach to recognizingperformance of the employees. Slavic et al. (2014) have identified three primary goals of international performance management. They include; provision of feedback and as well as decisions; playing a part in the global organizational performance and; creating and maintaining a firm and integrative corporate culture. According to Olaniyan and Ojo (2008), training and development of employees is an important approach to enhancing international performance. Through training and development has been adopted by Flextronics as a means of enhancing the perfomance of its managers as well as other employees. The capacity and confidence of employees has been established to greatly increase after training and development[Raj11]. Conclusion The functions of HR in any organization are very critical in determining the ability and competence of the employees to contribute towards the performance of the organization. Complexity in this form of management magnifies as an organization grows to venture into the global scenes. As an organization like Flextronics grows and opens branches in over 30 countries. It stands to face challenges regarding accommodating culture, managing diversity and managing global HR performance. This paper has been keen on three concepts of Hr management which are diversity management, culture, international performance management, training, and development. It has been establishedthat global perspectives must consider the inputs of the local perspectives. For instance, organizational culture must consider the culture of the individual workforce on ground. The same applies to management of diversity, international performance, training and development Bibliography Angouri, J., & Glynos, J., 2009. Managing Cultural Difference and Struggle in the context of the Multinational Corporate Workplace: Solution or Symptom? . Retrieved from Working Paper in Ideology Paper Analysis No. 26: https://www.essex.ac.uk/idaworld/paper261209.pdf Barak, M. E., 2010. Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace. London: SAGE. Beardsell, J., 2009. Managing culture as critical success factor in outsourcing. 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