International Human Resource Management Processes - Coursework Example

International Human Resource Management Name: Institution: Human Resource Management is the practice of dealing with all the issues and things that directly affect the workers working for a specific organization (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). International human resource management on the other hand is such dealings when performed in an international corporation (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). Human resource management deals with allocation of duties to workers, training workers, recruitment of new workers, rewarding workers, performance appraisal, looking into workers welfare and retrenchment of workers. International human resource management enables avoid cultural risks, avoid regional disparities, reduce the risk of international human resource, and manage diversities in human capital. In international human resource management, the human manager deals with three types of workers: home country employees who belong to the home country of the firm, host country employees who belong to the country in which the subsidiary firm is located. The third are country employees who are those that are from neither the host country nor the home country but work in either the subsidiary firm or the headquarters. An international firm has many facts that it faces (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). It faces different political organizations in the different countries they have firms running. The company has to ensure that they run smoothly with all the governments they have firms running in (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). They face different religious backgrounds and beliefs. The company has to ensure that they are in line with the beliefs and participate in supporting the religion in that country (Gannon, Roper & Doherty, 2010). This helps market their products and gain favour from the locals hence making more sales of their products. The manager should also exhibit a set of qualities that will make him to be fit for the position. He should have a vast knowledge in the field of worldwide business (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). He should have studied international business and understands well all the operations surrounding it. He should be able to adjust and adapt to different cultures quickly and easily (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). This is because he will be travelling in the different countries and interacting with the workers from the different countries and cultures. He should show equality in dealing with the different workers from the different cultures and countries (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). The manager should also try to use cross-cultural skills daily. This should enable him to harness and show a big level of cultural synergy (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). He should also be in a position to work with many different types of people without a problem. This shows that he should be an open-minded person who is free to mingle with the different people he encounters (Tayeb, 2005). Many issues exist in the society today that enables international human resources management to be a success (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). There has been a rise in global competition, which makes local companies to look for new areas to lounge their business to fit in society. There has been a rise in mergers, acquisitions and alliances, which makes it possible to merge firms that are in different countries hence international human resource management (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). Advancements in technology have also facilitated adequate monitoring of the different firms from a single point. There is also quick passage of information from one firm to the other in case there is need for quick referencing (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). Organizations also take reforms and reconstruct how they operate hence coming up with branches in other countries. There are many challenges in international human resource management. They may include things like high failure of expatriation and repatriation. The workers taken from one country to work in another may fail to cooperate as required. In this case, they should be counselled to understand how to conduct themselves so that work can continue without problems. They can also fail to adapt to the culture and religious beliefs of the country they have gone to work in (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). Conflicts arising because of the language used by the different people from the different countries and cultures can also be a big hindrance to job continuation. The workers from one country may not be in a position to understand those from the other country (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). In such a case, the manager is supposed to design the job schedules such that the different groups have separate sessions to work so that work can continue without issues. There are also barriers that lock out women in international human resource management (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). Managers should know that women can also come in handy in continuing day-to-day activities in a firm and should not be locked out. There are also difficulties in identifying the right people who can work effectively in such an environment (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). The manager is to be keen in assigning duties and those hosen are to be given guidelines on how to carry out the task at hand so that there are no flaws when the job in over. The different labour laws in the different countries also presents challenges to international human resource management. In such a case, the managers are to plan themselves such that different rules operate in their different firms in the respective countries (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). Their rules and operations are not to be in conflict with those of the country they are operating in. Different political atmospheres in the different countries are also a challenge to international human resource management (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). To add to these factors, the different religious believes in the different countries also causes challenges to the managers. The different educational levels achieved in different countries and different social organizations in the different countries cause challenges to the managers (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). To solve issues with educational levels, the company should have well killed workers from the more educated country who should be moved to the different countries where their skill is needed (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). They should also offer training to the workers form the country with poor educational standards so that they can be productive in the way the company desires. In human resource management, there is what we call fit. Fit is a term used to asses and give a general view of how a firm and its policies are congruent with the new culture and the new people residing in the new country (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). There are two types of fit. Internal fit deals with ensuring that the policies of a company facilitate the work values and motivation of employees (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). External fit deals with the degree to which human resource management matches with the organizations operation (Shen et al., 2009). There are also discrepancies in the way the workers are rewarded in terms of allowances between host and home country workers. This can be seen in terms of housing allowances, cost of living allowances, tax equalizations, performance based incentive, base salary and education allowances (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). The firm should come up with fixed rates of the allowances with regard to the cost of living in the different countries they have their firms running (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). Finding competent managers for the exercise is also a big challenge to firms. Such international firms’ need a manager that has at least experience of living in the countries that the firms are located (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). He should be knowledgeable in many aspects of business to be able to be on the alert for any need to change their ways of operating. Relocation of workers can also be an issue in the host country (Takeda & Helms, 2010). Relocating workers from their country to a host country for a job can be tricky as some may claim to move with all their belongings while some may claim to move with all their family members (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). This issue needs to be looked at keenly before proposing to the workers for relocation. Both the inpats and the expats have a difficult time adapting to their new surroundings. To enhance international human resource management, there have been changes in the way management is done (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). The managers in such positions have now to encourage horizontal communication between the workers in the different firms in the respective countries as this ensures that all firms are at par in terms of technology and all emerging new trends (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). The managers are also to develop a global mindset in their employees to make it easier to assign duties to workers in the different countries that the firm operates. There is also an increase in the use of cross-border and virtual teams (Sengupta & Bhattacharya, 2007). This makes it easier to manage many tasks using the same team, which reduces costs to the firm. It also reduces the cost of training workers capable of doing the same job (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2008). There is also more weight on informal control mechanisms. There are also broader external influences to the working of the firms. This may include government regulations and ways of conduct (Harzing & Ruysseveldt, 2004). There are increased human resource activities like taxation and administrative services (Aswathappa & Dash, 2008). There is more involvement in an employee’s personal life to ensure that the spouses and children are doing well in their new country of residence. The firm is also exposed to more risks like expatriate failure and terrorism (McAfee, Glassman and Honeycutt, 2002). The managers are also to take into consideration that all individuals are diverse before posting them to their respective jobs. They need to consider any complains brought forward by an employee before deciding on his fate (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). They also need to understand the different impacts of different cultures and understand the current situation of customers, employees and stakeholders and to calculate and try to picture the expected state. All the decisions made should be such that not all the parties involved in the firm are affected negatively. The manager should also understand that people are both similar and different among a number of dimensions. Human resource managers are to practice equality in work without regard to race, age, minority, marital status and disability. Discrimination basing on any of the above can easily earn the firm a bad reputation. They are supposed to hire on merit and promote based on talent. References Aswathappa, K., & Dash, S. 2008. International human resource management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Pub. Dowling, P., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D. 2008. International human resource management . London : Thomson Learning. Gannon, J., Roper, A., & Doherty, L. 2010. The impact of hotel management contracting on IHRM practices: Understanding the bricks and brains split. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 22, no. 5, pp.638 – 658 Harzing, A.-W., & Ruysseveldt, J.V. 2004. International human resource management. London: SAGE Publ. McAfee, R., Glassman, M., and Honeycutt, E. 2002. The effects of culture and human resource management policies on supply chain management strategy. Journal of Business Logistics, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 1-18 Muratbekova-Touron, M. 2008. From an ethnocentric to a geocentric approach to IHRM: The case of a French multinational company. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 15, no. 4, pp.335 – 352 Perkins, S. J., & Shortland, S. M. 2006. Strategic international human resource management . London ; Philadelphia : Kogan Page. Sengupta, N., & Bhattacharya, M. S. 2007. International human resource management. New Delhi: Excel Books. Shen, J., Chanda, A., D’Netto, B., and Monga, M. 2009. Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 235-251 Takeda, M., & Helms, H. 2010. Globally sustainable management: a dynamic model of IHRM learning and control. Learning Organization, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.133 – 148 Tayeb, M. 2005. International human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More