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Managing People in

International Context

Hard and 'Soft approaches taken within

Western Organizations both reflect an inherent

cultural concept that perceives human beingin

Organizations as ameans to end

Hard Perspective- reflectingutilitarian instrumentalism

which sees people as a resource to achieving the ends

of the organizationSoft Perspectivewhich sees people as avalued assets

capable of development, providinginputs

through participation & informed choice

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Locus of Human Value

Locus ofvalue or the worth attributed to persons

in a work organization is oriented towards those

persons in themselves rather than towards

organizational objectives as appropriate ends

Eg-Chinese business organization where f amilial

relations are important both internationally and

personal connections or networking in businessdealings(payment by seniority)

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Implications for Human

Resource Management

Eg:- Japanese firms show a higher

commitment to people & community welfare

by retaining employee through economic

downturn

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Towards a Conceptual

Approach to Managing people

Internationally

Eg- High failure rate of joint venture in China due to lack oforganizational learning,

lack of developingappropriately flexible organizational forms & work practices

Give rise to acontractualrelationship with employeewho provides his time in

exchange for wages

Give rise to acontractualrelationship with employeewho provides his time in

exchange for wages

Instrumental

CulturalPerspective

Give rise to an obligatoryrelationship ofcommitment

amongmembers of thecorporation

Give rise to an obligatoryrelationship ofcommitment

amongmembers of thecorporation

Humanistic

CulturalPerspective

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Swedish Cultural & People

Management Low in Power distance which means that

organizations tend not be hierarchical

High in Individualism (by Hofstede), low in

uncertainty avoidance

According to Gannon & Associates(1994)

Swedes are unemotionally practical, believing

that problems can be solved rationally through

the application of reason

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The Multicultural Model

It is built to understand cultural differences, rather

than trying to smooth them override them

Eg:- IBMstrong corporate culture & wide culture

variation across nations

Hofstede (1980) focuses on value system of

national cultures represented by 4 dimension:-

Power distance- inequalities among peopleUncertainty avoidance- preference for structured v/s unstructured

situation

Individualism- actingas individuals or part ofcohesive groups

Masculinity- Distinguishes hard and soft value

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Adapting the Organization

Culture

Gannon & Associates (1994) outline 3 main

facets of Swedishculture

Love of nature:- develop as an industrial nation,emphasis on engineering such as

Volvo,Saab,Ericson

Individualism through self-development - Qualityof life is important, 5 weeks holiday & 27 sick

days/year > 5(US average)

Equality same service t o every body

like Health services ensions

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Spanish Culture & Work

values Medium power distance but higher than

Sweden, less individualistic than Sweden

Very high on uncertainty avoidance(work in

same organization formany years)

High rate of FDI

IKEA entered in Spain & instillingits character &

culture Right people is regarded is one of the key of

preserving IKEA culture

Awareness is created throughintroductoryro rammes for new workers throu h IKEA seminars

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Adaptin th rganizational

ultur

Approach s to adapting th local needs 1st way to

recruit a Spanish HR managerand others are:-

Running ultur al Seminars todiscusseveryone theirexperienceopinion

Development programme toensure the

retention of talent within thecompany

Annual training plans includeno.ofoff-the job

training

Flexible salary structure toattract & retain

competent employee

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French Culture & People

Management

French is a Catholic country, which explains the

distrust of the business world, and the attachment

to the rural community, particularly in the south

Roussillon & Bournis(1997) outline the main

feature of French management :- Excessive importance of the elitist education systems (guarantee top posts

for young graduates) Highly responsible posts given str aight away to young graduates from

prestigious schools

An emphasis on the theoretical, with young executives in consultancy

position with conceptualizing responsibility rather than in an oper ational

capacity

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American Model of People

ManagementAmerican culture celebrates the high-achieving and denigrates

failure

75% of American being extrovert and Technology play a key

role in competitive specialization

Nationalism is highly celebrated & belief that anything can be

achieved by individual

Innovative wor k systems designed to increase productivity,

reduce costs & improve quality

New human resources pr actices implemented in wor k process

design

Individuals can also be trained in these competences

where they have a deficiency

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Japanese People

Management

(a)Lifetime employment

(b)Seniority- based pay and promotion

(c)In- house trade unions

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BritishModel

Learning Organization is a concept ofaction learning developed

in Britain.

The main features of Br itish management culture can be

summarized as follows A value of personal psychological privacy;

Friendliness and sincerity

Orderliness, patience and seeing a task through;

Well def ined status and roles; Love ofhumor, often as a device t o lighten the occasion;

Social control based on persuasion and appeal to sense of

guilt in transgressing social norms

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European Model of People

Managemento European organizations oper ate with restricted

autonomy: constrained at the European union level

and at the national level by culture and legislation, at

the organizational level by patterns of ownership

o Culture andLegislation:

Regulation of recruitment, dismissal and employment

contracts generally;

Legislative requirements on pay;

Formalization of educational certification;

Public funding of labormarket programmes;

More state intervention in the economy

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Patterns of ownership: Public ownership in still

generally more prevalent in European

countries than the US, and patterns of privateownership are different, including major

companies in southern Europe

Trade union involvement and consultativearrangement: American HRM has been

regarded as anti-union, yet in most European

countries union membership is high.

Employment involvement: This is common

place in European countries, with workers

councils required by the law in some countries.

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International

Context

Including European

Union

National context

Including: Culture

Political

/legislative

Economical,social

International context

HRM strategyIntegration

Development to line

Employment policies

Environmental policies

Reward policies

Work systems etc.

HRM context

Selection

PerformanceAppraisal

Reward

Development

Industrial relations

Communication etc

National HRM context

Education/trainingLabormarkets

Trade unions

Industrial relations etc.

Brewster European Model of HRM

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Chinese Model of eople

Manage entIn 1978, Chinese govern ent announced an open-door

policy and began econo ic reforms aimed at moving the

country fr om a centrally planned economy to a market

economy. PerformanceAppraisal

Performance appraisal for blue collar worker was used

less fr equently. It was informal and subjective process.

Emphasized on behaviorand attitudes subject to leadershipevaluation

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Chinese workvalues

o Hofstede in 1980 dr aws on data from Hong

Kong and Taiwan to describe Chinese

characteristics.o Its likely that such value dimensions as

Collectivism Individualism

Power Distance Uncertainty avoidance

Masculinity femininity and long term-short term

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Indian People Management

The present day mixed economy of India had

evolved through a series of policy

formulations and legislation aimed atrestrictive practices and protectionist

measures & f inally to the new economic

policy announced in July 1991

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Culture & Indian Managers

Despite the value difference among managers in the

five countries Australia, Japan, Korea, India and USA

and value diversity within each country, there is

common pattern of tr anslation of values intobehaviors across the countries. The implications of

values of Indian managers are:

Indian managers are more responsive to the human &

bureaucratic consequences of theiractions; They are more influenced by positions and approaches

which utilize philosophical and moral justifications;

They are more responsive to internal reward & controls

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