INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
... Employees are promoted to senior positions in both headquarters and subsidiaries according to their abilities regardless of nationality and location. Most companies use expatriates only for such key positions as senior managers, high-level professionals, and technical specialists. Since expatriates tend to be very costly, it makes little financial sense to hire expatriates for positions that can be competently filled by foreign nationals. In addition, many countries require that a certain percentage of the work force be local citizens, with exceptions usually made for upper management. Selecting International Staffing appproaches As a senior HR manager in a MNC in China, to make a critical decision on international staffing in subsidiaries in the USA, Africa, Arab region and south-east Asia, firstly a comprehension on cultural diversity of these regions as well as in China for further analysis on which approaches was stated: In his original work Hofstede identified four key dimensions which impact on natural cultural differences. These are: Individualism/collectivism: This dimension reflects the extent to which individuals value self-determination as opposed to their behavior being determined by the collective will of a group or organization. China as well as south-east asia countries such as Singapore, Africa and Arab region belong to collectivism culture while USA belongs to individualism culture. Features are discribed as following: Collectivist Individualist Employees expect organisations to look after them like a family Involvement of individuals with organisations primarily calculated More frequent use of “we” More frequent use of “I” Employees can become very alienated if organisations dissatisfy them Employees do not extend their relationships outside work Organisations have a great influence on members’ well-being Organisations have a moderate influence on members’ well-being Employees expect organisations to defend their interests Employees are expected to defend their own interests Power-distance: At the core of this dimension lies the question of involvement in decision making. In low power-distance cultures, employees seek involvement and have a desire for a participative management style. At the other end of this scale, employees tend to work and behave in a particular way because they accept that they will be directed to do so by the hierarchy or the organization. China as well as south-east asia countries such as Malaysia, Africa and Arab region belong to high power distance culture while USA belongs to small power distance culture. Features are discribed as following: Small Power Distance Large Power Distance Less centralisation Greater centralisation Flatter organisation structures Tall pyramid type structure Smaller proportion of supervisory personnel Larger proportion of supervisory personnel Smaller wage differentials Large wage differentials Less status differences between white and blue-collar workers More status symbols of senior management Use of titles only relevant to the competence a person brings to the task Extensive use of titles to clarify status in the organisation White-collar jobs valued more than blue-collar jobs Uncertainty avoidance: This dimension is concerned with employees' tolerance of ambiguity or uncertainty in their working environment. In cultures which have high uncertainty avoidance, employees will look for clearly defined, formal rules and conventions governing their behavior. China as well as Arab region belong to strong Uncertainty Avoidance culture while USA, South Asia country such as Indonesia and West and East Africa belong to weak uncertainty avoidance culture. Features are discribed as following: Weak Uncertainty Avoidance Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Less structure of activities More structuring of activities Fewer written rules More unwritten rules More generalists skills Large numbers of specialists Higher tolerance of risk and uncertainty Low tolerance to risk and uncertainty Managers more involved in broader aspects of work Managers more involved in detail Managers more flexible in their ways Managers more task- orientated and consistent with their style Masculinity/femininity: This is possibly the most difficult dimension to use in an organization context. In practice, the difficulty is more to do with terminology and linguistics, in Hofstede's work the dimension related to values. In highly "masculine cultures" dominant values relate to assertiveness and material acquisition. In highly "feminine cultures" values focus on relationship among people, concern for others and quality of life. China as well as USA, South Africa and Arab region belong to Masculinity culture while South Asia country such as Thail and West and East Africa belong to Femininity culture. Features are discribed as following: Masculine Feminine Performance is what counts Quality of life is important You live in order to work You work in order to live Money and things are important People and environment are important Independence is the ideal Interdependence is the ideal Ambition provides the drive Service provides the motivation One admires the successful achiever One sympathises with the unfortunate From this brief illustration it is evident that in order to develop effective international management teams it is necessary to create an environment which both acknowledges and values cultural diversity and develops individuals' cultural awareness and sensitivity. Table III, drawing from Hofstede's work, provides one illustration of comparative cultural competitive strengths. Power distance Low Accept responsibility High Discipline Individual/collective Individual Management mobility Collective Employee commitment Uncertainty avoidance Low Innovation High Precision Masculine/feminine Masculine Efficiency Mass production Feminine Personal service Custom building Table III. Potential competitive advantages of different cultures International staffing approaches for a Chinese MNC’s subsidiaries in USA, Arab, Africa and South Asia China has a culture of strong uncertainty avoiance, Masculine, collectivism and high power distance. While entering an overseas market, Chinese companies comply strictly with the local legislation, employment and labor law of the hosting countries. The host country’s economic development and economic links with China determine to a great extent a Chinese MNC’s HR planning. Technology development affects the skill and competence of local employees and staff availability in host countries. Chinese MNCs pay great attention to cultural differences in the preparatory training of expatriates. However, cultural distance also causes reluctance among parent-country nationals (PCNs) to accept overseas assignments in some regions where there are cultures and styles of living they are not familiar with. Combining the culture features of the four countries and regions with mentioned above, staffing approaches can be staeted respectively as follows: USA has a culture of weak uncertainty avoidance, which allows more experiement with new ideas, so cultural and managerial diversity would be assimilated with out exclusive effect, attractive rewarding achievement in the geocentri approach could greatly motivate the staff in the subsidiaries. Again, due to small power distance dimension, respect for a manager is based on knowledge and skills, In a small power distance culture a manager’s decision would be challendeg on technical and functional ground a globally well-trained senior manager could be well respected and leading to better management. For ethnocentric approach certain disadvange would be indicated: Firstly, this approach would definitely bring high salary and relative cost due to the difference between...