NYCs International Human Resources Management - Case Study Example

Management Name: Course: Tutor: Date: International human resources management Human resource management is defined by organizational activities undertaken in effectively utilizing its human resource facilities in order to increase the firms’ production level. Some of the activities of this department include staffing, development and training, labour relations, human resource planning, performance management, benefits and compensation. International human resource management refers to the interplay of dimensions relating to human resource activities, country of operation, and types of employees. The existing difference between domestic and international HRM is that one deals with only one country boundary while the other is linked to multiple country boundaries across the globe respectively. Many failures experienced by international organizations in their operations arena are their poor management of human resources. International HRM should give focus to workforce diversification in order to promote its activities and thus, be able to benefit from the operations being undertaken by the organization. Management of diversification is easily achieved through the establishment of various modifications in their departments. In its quest to employ employees from different national categories and operating in different countries, international HRM will be forced to put into consideration many factors to be able to promote co-operation from the target environment. Through this, they will attract more customers including potential customers. It is advisable for human resource management of international organizations to incorporate the culture, values, beliefs and attitudes of the people of that particular country. They should be able to discourage discrimination activities in order to attract and promote their activities across the country and globe. International organizations will be able to succeed if only they recruit and select qualified employees and members of the executive board. This will enable them manage and distribute available resources in a just and fair manner in order to achieve organizational success in their daily operations. Lance and Mary decided to use values and organizational and managerial systems appropriate for the Brazilian operations because they knew it would attract customers. Their move aimed at increasing productivity and profits in the organization which it managed to achieve. Organizational behavior (OB) is a term that has been related to the study of individuals and group dynamics in an organization, plus the nature of that organization. The behavior of the organization should ensure that it bears in mind the concerns and ideas of the population and target market. OB is a subject that is gaining popularity because people are becoming diverse in relation to their backgrounds and cultural values since they have to effectively and efficiently work together in meeting organizational goals and objectives (Ashraf, p. 155). NYC, Lance and Mary were able to consider the organizational behavior when it came to operating in Brazil so as to develop competencies in foreseeing how the workers are likely to behave with each other. The nature and dimension of national culture is an important factor to be considered when choosing the country of operation. Organization behavior of new corporations should aim to meet the needs and demands of the market segment in order to expand their operations. Objectivity, replicability, and sustainability are some of the factors considered when selecting national culture (Ashraf, p. 156). National culture is an important factor to consider during organization behavior and international human resource management as it gives way to improvement and shaping of ideas and hence, sharing of ideas is encouraged within the organization. Strategic organization of plans and ideas in an organization helps in curbing arising customer problems and thus, gives room for expansion and implementation of new programs and systems (Hitt et al 2006, p. 100). Culture in the business environment should be given maximum consideration when it comes to the behavior of the organization because it will be the leading tool for their employees both in the executive and subordinate level. By giving consideration to the culture of the population, the business operations of NYC were geared towards satisfying the needs of their customers and respecting their traditions and beliefs. The organization will be able to blend in and accommodate the country’s styles, characteristics and way of living. The new NYC in Brazil being an international branch of the parent NYC organization in New York is bound to change its management structures to assimilate the nature and dimension of Brazilian culture, but they should do so diligently. Organization structures are vital for the smooth running of organizations and therefore, they should employ competent individuals who bear in mind the welfare of their employees. Mary was chosen to head the new branch in Brazil. Organization structures of international organizations need individuals who are close to the employees so that they can represent their needs. NYC should have chosen Mary for a transitional period whereby when all the structures have been set up, a local Brazilian manager could take over hence ensuring the growth of the company. Changing in management should be strategically placed and employees should be given the chance and opportunity to contribute to the affairs of the organization. A strong organization structure in international organizations is the foundation of their success. Employees need to respect their leaders in order to perform their activities in an orderly manner. This will reduce conflicts among employees and therefore, the organization will be able to increase their levels of productivity. NYC being an international organization deals with global customers and therefore, their executive team needs to be up-to-date with the styles implemented by their management personnel. NYC’s human resource management need qualified and trained workers in their branches in order to compete with the global markets in the work environment. This can only be achieved through proper distribution of resources in the organization. NYC’s HR department should ensure that all workers are given the necessary training when it comes to technical and mechanical manpower in the organization. As in the case of the Dutch managers who had the best resume only managed to say little during the meeting, hence NYC’s should have ensured that the HR managers are objective and competitive with regards to their employees’ level of training. Research and development professionals in such development organization like NYC help by providing the HR personnel with information regarding technical advancements and developments in the global arena. It is imperative for NYC’s international workers to be well trained because they are dealing with clients from different cultures and backgrounds around the globe. Professionally trained and skilled workers employed at the branches of NYC Netherlands and Brazil will be able to market the products and services of the organizations. They will increase their customer base by acting in a professional manner and relate well with their customers. Their customer relations department should be ready at all times to serve the needs of their clients and solve problems that arise. It is evident from research carried out that; skilled workers in international organizations help the firm to be alert when it comes to their nature of business and the competitive aspect. The human resource management in international organizations ensures that their employees are trained and given extra mentoring on their work performance expectations. Multicultural diversity in such organizations is predominant and therefore, employees need to be fully aware of the customers they will be dealing with in order to meet their standards and expectations. The NYC managers can interact with managers of other international organizations with the aim of sharing ideas and information of how they manage and deal with their clients. This helps the image of NYC by being tactful in serving their customers professionally. International organizations represent the values and beliefs of many people around the globe by meeting their demand and needs. The number of local managers employed in international organizations should be greater than that of the international managers for example the NYC branch in Brazil should have more managers from the local area. This is because they will be the ones to interact and socialize with all their consumers in convincing them to buy their products and services. It is expected for NYC to give executive employment opportunities to members from the local community because they will be in a better position to negotiate business treaties with other businesses. Local managers of NYC will be helpful in interacting and persuading staff members to be compliant with the terms of employment when a problem arises. They are able to go to the grass roots and talk with the members of the community on the benefits and advantages associated with teaming and supporting the organization operations. They bring about change in the organization and encourage the executive members of the board to socialize and mingle with the community if they want their business to prosper. Communication barrier is one of the problems experienced by the managers during their meetings. Those who could speak the language became translators for the others. This made progress during meetings slow because they were not able to communicate with each other. Mary has supervised several other teams, but for this one, it was a problem to come together and become a unified team. For the Brazilians, they are too verbal, tactile and excessively competitive as compared to the other managers. They also come to meetings late and do not seem to agree to almost al ideas presented by the Dutch and USA managers. These problems are bringing down the progress and performance of workers because some of the managers are competitive while some are not. Contribution to discussions in meetings is expected of managers because they act as the eyes on the ground and report back to management for information sharing. However, for the Dutch managers, they are quite and contribute very little. This poses as a challenge to Mary because she cannot be able to pin point the problems affecting this group. As a result, their problems are not aired or resolved in time before it gets out of hand. Having such leaders in an organization is a threat to the welfare of both the employees and organization because ideas and opportunities present in the market are not exploited fully (Griffin & Moorhead 2009, p. 39-40) Mary will have to solve these problems first before going on with other matters of the organization. This will bring about increased cohesion and co-operation among employees and leaders. Motivation of the managers should be reviewed in order to establish the cause of all the problems arising. Dutch managers should be encouraged to speak out and air their views and opinions concerning the operations of the organization since they are shareholders. This will increase their productivity as well as their monthly allowances. Rewards and compensations are some of the incentives Mary should introduce during the meetings in order to emphasis on punctuality and contribution during meetings. Increasing team performance is valuable to organizations because it brings about an added competitive advantage and hence, the profits, sales and customers of the organization increase. By recognizing that there lies a problem among her managers, Mary had taken the first step its curbing the spread. Identifying solutions to the problems shows that she is mindful of her employees’ welfare and wants the best for both the organization and them (Griffin & Moorhead 2009, p. 6-8) An International organization needs a workforce that is motivated in order to increase the productivity of the organization. By so doing, the employees will be improving their living conditions and also, that of their company. Motivation according to the work environment is a term defined as, the difference between what individuals are able to do and that which they will do. The needs’ existing within us is the basis of motivation in any international organization. There are a variety of theories that can be applied in any organization depending on their conditions and management levels. Achievement, responsibility, job nature, promotion prospects, and recognition are motivators used by managers in contributing to their employees’ morale and job satisfaction. It is vital for human resource management personnel of NYC Corporation to motivate their employees. NYC’s human resource managers needs to recruit and train their staff by use of team building activities, rewards (bonus) and other forms of motivation packages that satisfy individual personal goals. Long-term motivators should be used by NYC HRM because this will affect their global image towards their partners and potential customers who bring about, increased operational activities in the organization. Motivation is a factor that needs to be given priority by NYC in their daily operations since it will be a driving force that will ensure that the organization adapts to the changing business environment. The Brazilian managers should given a motivating factor to encourage them to come to meetings on time and also be able accept challenges and be open to new ideas. It is evident therefore that, motivation in the Brazilian branch should be considered and implemented in order to for them to have the same degree of commitment as the other branches and also ensure that human resource activities and practices are utilized appropriately. In motivation, another issue that arises is cultural differences experienced by the NYC managers in Brazil organization and HRM departments. Consequently, cultural difference is a factor that needs to be well accommodated by NYC because they have gone beyond their boundaries in order to trade and improve their standards of living. Therefore, cultural difference should be supported and examined by the human resource management during their planning processes. Cultural difference needs to be incorporated in all the branches of NYC Corporation because it will bring diversity in the workplace. Cultural differences in international organizations is expected due to having different employees from varied cultures in the country of operation and thus, human resource managers are appointed the task of ensuring that, all the beliefs, characteristics, and values of their employees are put into consideration. This will promote for the smooth running of business activities in international organizations and so, employees should be in a position to share their views and opinions concerning matters of work relations. Management should also bear in mind the leadership style since it will determine the motivational technique employed by the human resource personnel. Top executive personnel should give their employees a chance to share their cultural ideas. They should also promote cultural diversity in their organization by employing different cultures for the position of top level management. This will enable them share and report the needs and demands of the employees which needs to be incorporated in human resource management and planning methods. NYC human resource management also experienced differences in language and race as they entered into the global market. Employees of NYC branches come from diverse races and languages, but they come to the organization in search of work to be able to support their families and live better life. The managers of the branches of NYC Company are composed of different races and language, for example the Brazilian team that Mary headed was composed of the Americans, the Dutch and the Brazilians. During the meetings communication was a problem as not all the managers were able to communicate in one common language like English or Portuguese. Some of the Brazilian managers could not understand English and this lead to translators being introduced to the meeting and also having some of the Brazilian managers who understood English to translate to their counterparts who only spoke Portuguese. The Dutch and the Americans managers were not able to understand Portuguese language which is common in Brazil. Human resource management are departments dealing mostly with employees therefore, they bear in mind the race and language of their employees in order to represent them to the board of directors. This will come into play when it comes to planning of their budget and allocation of their resources. They will also be in a position to better explain and communicate to them in a language that is familiar to them. Race among the employees is important for NYC personnel because, it will help them design and produce products that well suite the needs and demands of the population at large. Language difference is a problem that brings about communication barriers, but for NYC the HRM should be prepared to tackle the problem by giving their employees basic language training. This training aims at giving them knowledge on how to communicate with their executive members in relating to the customers. He Brazilian managers could be given a basic training on English language in order to be able to communicate with other managers from other branches of NYC in other countries. Also the Mary and the other managers form America and Netherlands could take basic language skills in Portuguese for them to be able to interact well the Brazilian managers. Differences in language among the employees of international organizations like NYC helps in designing the product or service intended for the target market. This will be able to reduce the chances of NYC from wasting their resources in production and designing of products and services. Also future planning and allocation of resources by human resource will be simplified and effective. These two aspects are very significant for NYC since it gives them the consent and chance to be able to communicate and relate well with their employees in running their operations. NYC needs effective leaders for their organizations to be able to run their operations smoothly and professionally. Mary being a leader of the Brazilian branch should inspire the workers to have high teamwork levels in order to attain the goals and objectives of their New York Copiers company .Good leaders are those who work and study continually so as to improve their leadership skills. Leadership processes influence other members of their organization to accomplish their desired objective and hence, directs the organization in a cohesive and coherent way. Mary should apply her beliefs, ethics, values, skills, character and knowledge in her process of planning and allocating resources o various departments in the Brazilian branch. This will make the managers and employees want to achieve higher organizational goals. A good leadership skill is attributed to one having an honorable character and selfless service to the organization. Therefore, they need to be trustworthy people who are able to communicate their company’s vision to all their employees. Leadership principles in international organizations include them seeking responsibility and taking responsibility for their actions; proficient technically; decisions made should be sound and timely; be an example to their employees at all time; and workers should be informed among others. The four major factors associated to leadership of any organization include situation, leader, communication and follower. Successful international organizations have leaders who are able to set high standards and goals across their strategies, market leadership, plans, meetings and presentations, quality, reliability, and productivity spectrums. Leadership values reflect the NYC’s concern it has for its stakeholders (employees, investors, customers, and surrounding community) since they define the manner in how business will be conducted in the organization. The four basic leadership behaviors displayed in leaders include structural, political human resource, and symbolic frameworks. Leadership skills to be employed by NYC should be that of a team leader because the relationship and task performed by concerned members of the organization. Mary employed her leadership skills in managing the establishment of the NYC’s Brazilian branch Leadership is a process that entails challenges, inspiration of a shared vision, being able to enable others to act and model the way forward, and lastly, one should have a heart to encourage their workers. From the case study, we learn that organizational behavior is important for the increased performance of an organization. For NYC, its organizational behavior should reviewed in order to successfully establish branch operations in different countries, having learnt from the various challenges faced with the establishment of the Brazilian branch. Top executive members of NYC should be alert in order to solve arising problems and reduce losses in levels of productivity. Human attitudes and sentiments, technological and sociological forces that originate from outside the NYC organization are factors mentioned when analyzing organizational behavior. By using strategies applied in the contemporary society, leaders are at a better position of handling problems concerning organizational behavior in their organization. References: Ashraf, T Organizational behavior, Retrieved 2nd April, 2011 from < http://www.unesco.org/education/aladin/paldin/pdf/course02/unit_14.pdf> Britt, Henderson 1978. Psychological principles of marketing and consumer behavior, Lexington Books, New York. Duncan, JW Organizational Behavior, retrieved 2nd April, 2011 from < http://www.hrfolks.com/articles/orgn%20mgmt/organizational%20behavior.pdf> Flynn, Mathew Nov., 2007, “Between Sub-imperialism and Globalization: A Case Study in the Internationalization of Brazilian Capital.” Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 6. Retrieved 2nd April, 2011 from Griffin, RW & Moorhead, G 2009, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Cengage Learning, New York. Hitt, MA Miller, C & Colella CA 2006, Organizational behavior: a strategic approach, Wiley, New York. Schiffman, L & Kanuk, L, 1997, Consumer behavior, Prentice Hall, New York. Wagner, JA & Hollenbeck, JR 2009, Organizational Behavior: Securing Competitive Advantage, Taylor & Francis, New York. http://www.utas.edu.au/mgmt/wps/wps_files/99_01pap.pdf http://www.thehrsummit.com/newsletter_images/International%20HRM%20and%20Internationa l%20Assignees-%20Angela%20Hume%20%28.pdf Read More