International and Comparative Human Resource Management - Essay Example

? INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT by + submission Introduction Potential strategic problems facing Human Resource Managers operating in multi-national companies can be analysed by focusing on, for example, the Morale Welfare and Recreation, abbreviated as MWR, is a network that works to support and enhance the leisure activities and services to be used by soldiers. These could either be the active, reserve, or the guard. It is also designed to be of help to their families, the military retirees, civilian employees, and other participants that could be deemed eligible. In the United States, each branch of the armed forces has a branch of MRW. Recreation and personnel are provided by MWR with a discount. The services that are normally provided by this body tend to vary from base to base, but some of the common services include bowling centres, pools, fitness centres restaurants, golf courses, catering, conference centres, as well as programs for single sailors, providing notable events, movies, video games, and access to Internet (Hochschild 1983, p.74). Of late, this welfare has been seen to provide accredited family child care, youth and other schools aged services. This paper will be discussing the managerial aspect of the Morale Welfare and Recreation. It will look into some of the aspects related to management which include diversity management, ethical, social, and legal responsibilities, international business, the general planning and strategic planning, organizing work, and synergism. This will thus give us clear understanding of this company. It will also clear the way on how good it is working in order to ensure its development, as well as that of the programs served by MWR. It would be most crucial to understand the management aspect in order to understand how it works. Understanding management Management is a form of work which deals with the way an organization organizes its resources and departments in order to provide services or produce goods. Some of the resources used by a company are its employees, money and other equipment. Management will thus require managers to get involved in some of the basic activities that call for getting the best out of the company. These activities include organizing, planning, staffing, leading, and controlling. Management can sometimes turn out to be complex if all the essential rules are not followed to the letter. This is because management calls for making the best decision, communicating well with people that matter in the management process, giving work assignments, delegating, training people, and appraising the employees, based on the job they are doing (Bateman & Snell 2010, p. 74). The following are the various aspects of management. Diversity management When it comes to management, the diversity aspect is always inevitable. In a workplace setting of any company, the aspect of diversity will always be seen in respect to age, gender, race, religion, and other factors. Diversity management is thus a strategy intended to promote a positive environment in the workplace. In most cases, diversity management would be initiated by human resource management professionals and managed by the head of departments and supervisors. MWR, being a program that is intended to serve everybody eligible, irrespective of the differences that may abound, has to include diversity management in its management process. In MWR, the diversity management aspect is based on the idea that diversity is a way that shows the alternative ways of thinking, perceiving, and acting, thus enriching the overall life of the military community and their families (MWR). Diversity in this organization will thus be seen as a way of getting creativity and innovation to the next level. This will act as a way through which the whole aspect of competitive advantage can be achieved, helping in the future developments. The military is made up of individuals of various religious affiliations, ages, sexual orientations, races, and so on. In this regard, diversity management would benefit this organization in making sure that all the aspects related to this diversity are being managed to become an asset instead of a liability for the organization (Demand Media Inc, 1999, p.1). Ethical, Social, and Legal Responsibilities There has been much questioning of organizations in regard to legal, social and ethical responsibilities, especially in the recent past. There has been more transparency in companies with the advent of technology and the help of media. However, due to this development, there has been increased readiness to believe everything that these media say regarding a company, especially the negative information. This has thus put many companies in a fix, making them move swiftly in order to contain this situation. The only way that can be used by companies in this case is keeping an upstanding moral ground. MWR, being a national organization looking at the welfare of the military personal and their families, has to value legal, social, and ethical responsibility, in order to make sure that the entire military fraternity is protected against failings that may come as a result of failure to follow these responsibilities (Rue, Leslie and Lloyd 27). Taking into consideration the fact that all companies are subject to legal responsibilities and thus are required to follow the law, MWR has to familiarize itself with the external factors that are seen to govern the industry that MWR operates in (MWR). On the other hand, the organization also has to look into the social responsibility aspect with keen interest, taking into consideration the fact that MWR is a welfare organization. In the process of providing its services, they ought to meet some of the basic social responsibility requirements, in order to be respectable in the eyes of the public. MWR, however, has been able to thrive well when it comes to social responsibility (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p.53). This is because of the services that it has been providing to all those related to the military. They were seen making several donations and conducting other welfare activities, especially to the families of those in the military, but also to the community as a whole. Throughout the process of planning, every organization ought to think about the aspect of setting guidelines that would ensure that the company is run according to some set codes of ethical conduct. In this regard, the ethical conduct would be reflecting the conduct of the company, its employees and the stakeholders. Key similarities and differences in national and International HRM practices International human resources are more complex since there are more activities involved than the domestic HRM. There is also need for broader perspective when studying international HRM. There is more involvement of employees’ personal lives, wider external influence and risk exposure in international HRM than in domestic one (International HRM 2012, p.12). Moreover, there are emphasised changes in the level of workforce mix while the locals vary. Despite the differences, highlighted above, it is necessary to note that both domestic and international HRM practices have certain similarities. They follow similar steps in recognising values and cultures of the surrounding community in which their businesses operate. Moreover, both of them rely on the home country’s market for their production. In essence, both of them abide by the legal requirements of a country in which they operate. International business Taking into consideration the globalization of businesses, it would be necessary for any serious organization to consider taking its business beyond borders. In management, this is seen as international business. Globalization of an organization would make it have international appeal and, as a result, get to taste the various regions in regard to how good they would be able to operate under various markets. MWR, apart from the fact that it initially was targeted on the military personnel in the US, sees the need to go beyond borders. In doing so, it would be facilitating their services of providing the best for the navy personnel and their families in terms of fitness activities, youth programs, child developments, and more (Hughes 2006, p. 87). Taking into consideration the welfare of our sailors, this corporation has thus found the need to extend its services to other areas, including Mid–Atlantic, Southeast, Europe, Asia, as well as other regions. It has helped in getting a worldwide approach, and thus MWR can be labelled a multinational corporation. It is crucial to point out in this case that international business is an area that would need to be considered by any company or organization that seeks global appeal. This will apply especially if its services would be beneficial to the population of the region that it would extend to. The sailors are known to operate in many countries. This means that there is a need for MWR to go international in order to make sure that it addresses the needs of the navy in those countries (Fineman 2006, p.77). General planning and strategic planning It is very important for any company to have its vision and mission. This would be used to ensure that the company or organization remains on course to the set targets and objectives. In this regard, general planning and strategic management would work to ensure that these factors are in place and that they are well within the set limits (Haslam 2010, p.1 18). Strategic management would be dealing with the emergent issues. These are normally addressed by the managers. In most cases, it would involve resource utilization in the organization, in order to enhance its performance in the internal environment (Edgar 2004, p.94). In an organization which deals with welfare issues, such as MWR, it would be necessary to make sure that strategic management is put into place to ensure that the internal environment of the organization is in order. This would be successful if the organization would set goals and deadlines for their fulfilment. This would need to be an ongoing process of doing an evaluation of the business and the industry that the corporation is seen to be operating in. The strategies that would be put in place would need regular assessment in order to ensure that they are successful (Greene & Kirton 2005, p.67). General planning, in this case, would come in on the virtue of the fact that management would always call for some form of planning. MWR has always been running well in the countries is involved. This is due to the fact that it has well structured general planning, ensuring that the strategic management of the company is done successfully (Hughes 2006, p. 162). Organizing Work and Synergism The aspect of work organization can sometimes be a daunting task. Considering this, it is vital for any organization to come with the best way that would ensure that there is no work overload. This would be possible through synergism. In any organizational setting, a cohesive group is always stronger than the sum of its parts. Synergy aspect would thus be enabling a group to outperform the sum of its individual members. An effective group would be looking for the points where they disagreed, as well as those that may cause conflicts, at the early stages. Through this, they would be able to come to a quick common view, and make use of simple decision making methods to come to a common understanding. The best thing about groups is the fact that they can be used to come up with creative and innovative solutions to problems (Crossan, Vera & Nanjad 2008, p.672) Staffing When it comes to the managerial functions, staffing is one of the fundamental aspects. This is because it would mean using the organizational structure in order to come up with an effective selection of the staff that would perform best in helping the organization achieve its set objectives within a given period of time. Combined with organizing, planning and controlling, staffing play a major role in the development of an organization (Gill 2011, p. 63). It would call for the management of the employee schedules to make sure that their work is well coordinated. People are the most important resource for a company, and thus staffing management in necessary in order to make sure that the human resource benefits the company (Balogun 2006, p.37). Employee Training and Development The aim of any organization is to stay ahead of its competitors by continually improving their services. This can be done through employee training and development. These are the areas that are aimed at making the performance of individuals in the organization even better. In this regard, it would be necessary to take employees through the three main activities associated with this realm of management. These activities are education, training and development (Bolton 2004, p.319). As a result of the ever-increasing needs for the services of MWR, they have resolved to take their employees through a series of trainings and development projects in order to make sure that they perform according to the highest standards. Motivating Employees Motivation is one of the most important factors in any organization. Any manager who looks at the long-term objectives of the company would see the needs to motivate the employees. Successful motivation was proved to raise the productivity of a company significantly. When an employee is motivated, his output tends to rise, reflected in the overall performance of the organization. Motivation of employees through various means, including rewards, promotions, or simple motivational speeches that would raise the spirit of the employees and make them work harder (Anat 2011, p. 127) Leadership and management Leadership in an organization calls for the ability to be able to coordinate the activities of the organization in order to make sure that everything runs as it ought to be. Leadership determines how the company is being managed, as management requires a higher degree of leadership. Since MWR is a welfare organization providing services for the military, its management and leadership in most cases come from the military department (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe 2006, p.64). This is because managing an organization that deals with sailors would best be done by somebody who has experience in the field. He /she would then apply this experience to come up with the best management strategy possible. Managing Change In any organization, there inevitably comes a time when the objectives of the organization are not being met, or the organization is in need to get to more challenging tasks. This is the moment when change is imminent. Change in an organization can sometimes come with its own complexities and shortcomings, as much as it may be deemed fit for the company at that particular time. It would thus be necessary to make sure that good management is put in place to manage changes in the most effective way. The transition to the new method of administration would call for the best management techniques (Bartlett & Beamish 2011, p. 57). Appraising and rewarding An organization will always have vision and the objectives that it expects to meet in order to attain the vision. It would thus look into ways to facilitate their employees to get the best out of the company. One of these ways is employee appraisal and rewarding. This would involve ensuring that each employee performs his duties according to the expectations set by the company and rewarding the top performers in the organization. This is to encourage hard work and determination in the organization (Agarwal & Helfat 2009, p.264). The aspect of operations control is also seen as one of the factors that illustrate how organized a company is. This is the ability to take control of all the operations in the organization as a manager. It also includes being able to fully manage how the company runs its various departments. The operations aspect would thus require dedication and time in order to understand it fully from a manager standpoint. MWR has been in the forefront in making sure that all the operations in the various countries are fully controlled. This explains the reason why it has always maintained the highest rank when it comes to the management of its operations. Conclusions It is evident that MWR as an organization would substantially benefit from all the management processes that are being applied. The management skills and their application that I was able to grasp from this course have helped me to realize the various aspects of management that are essential for the prosperity of any organization. This is a hugely significant factor to me, taking into consideration the fact that management is my field of studies. Getting such relevant information has greatly increased my knowledge in this field. The management aspect in organizations is now clearer with the understanding of the factors that lead to success. Some of the most decisive factors, such as diversity management, social, ethical and legal responsibilities, international business, and more, have now become more understandable for me. References List Agarwal, R & Helfat, C 2009, ‘Strategic renewal of organizations’, Organization Science, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 281-293. Anat, D 2011, The Israeli experience of technical leadership: how to become technical leaders and increase your power and influence in the organization, CreateSpace Independent Publishers, New York. Balogun, J 2006, ‘Managing Change: steering a course between intended strategies and unanticipated outcomes, Long Range Planning, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 29-49. Bartlett, C & Beamish, P 2011, Transnational management: text, cases & readings in cross-border management, McGraw-Hill, London. Bateman, T & Snell, S 2010, Loose-leaf management: leading & collaborating in the competitive world, 9th ed., McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York. 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