Chapter 10
Developing a
Global Management Cadre
PowerPoint by
Kristopher Blanchard
North Central University
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-1
Introduction
To maximize long term retention and use of
international cadre through career management so
that the company can develop a top management
team with global experience
To develop effective global management teams
To understand, value, and promote the role of
women and minorities in international management
in order to maximize those underutilized resources
To maximize the benefits of an increasingly diverse
workforce in various locations around the world
To work with the host country labor relations system
to effect strategic implementation and employee
productivity.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-2
Preparation Adaptation, and
Repatriation
Effective HRM ends with the successful
repatriation of the executive into company
headquarters
Companies must prepare to minimize the potential
effects of reverse culture shock
Ineffective repatriation practices are clear – few
managers will be willing to take international
assignments
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-3
Preparation Adaptation, and
Repatriation
A mentor program to monitor the expatriate’s
career path while abroad and upon repatriation
As an alternative to the mentor program, the
establishment of a special organizational unit for
the purposes of career planning and continuing
guidance for the expatriate
A system of supplying information and
maintaining contacts with the expatriate so that he
or she may continue to feel a part of the home
organization.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-4
The Role of the Expatriate
Spouse
We began to realize that the entire effectiveness of the
assignment could be compromised by ignoring the
spouse.
—Steve Ford, Corporation Relocations, Hewlett-Packard
Research on 321 American expatriate spouses
shows effective cross-cultural adjustment is more
likely
– When the firms seek the spouse’s opinion about the
international assignment
– When the spouse initiates his/her own pre-departure
training
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-5
Expatriate Career Management
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-6
Slide 10-6, Support services provide timely help
for the manager and, therefore, are part of the
effective management of an overseas
assignment. The overall transition process
experienced by the company’s international
management cadre over time. It comprises three
phases of transition and adjustment that must be
managed for successful socialization to a new culture
and resocialization back to the old culture: (1) the exit
transition from the home country, the success of
which will be determined largely by the quality of
preparation the expatriate has received; (2) the entry
transition to the host country, in which successful
acculturation (or early exit) will depend largely on
monitoring and support; and (3) the entry transition
back to the home country or to a new host
country, in which the level of reverse culture
shock and the ease of re-acculturation will
depend on previous stages of preparation and
support
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-7
In the international assignment, both the
manager and the company benefit from
the enhanced skills and experience
gained by the expatriate. Many
returning executives report an
improvement in their managerial skills
and self-confidence. Some of these
acquired skills, as reported by Adler,
include the following shown on slide 109.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-8
Developing a Global Management
Cadre
Managerial Skills, not Technical Skills –
learning how to deal with a wide range of
people
Tolerance for Ambiguity
Multiple Perspectives – learning to
understand situations from the perspective
of local employees and businesspeople
Ability to Work with and Manage Others –
learning patience and tolerance
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-9
Global Management Teams
describes collections of
managers from several
countries who must rely on
group collaboration if each
member is to experience the
optimum of success and goal
achievement. An example?
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-10
Global Management Teams
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-11
As shown slides 10-11, when a firm responds
to its global environment with a global
strategy and then organizes with a networked
“glocal” structure, various types of crossborder teams are necessary for global
integration and local differentiation. These
include teams between and among
headquarters and subsidiaries, transnational
project teams, often operating on a “virtual”
basis, and teams coordinating alliances
outside the organization. In joint ventures, in
particular, multicultural teams work at all
levels of strategic planning and
implementation, as well as on the production
and assembly floor.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-12
Virtual Transnational Teams
Virtual groups, whose members interact
through computer-mediated
communication systems, are linked
together across time, space, and
organizational boundaries
Virtual global teams are horizontal
networked structure, with people around
the world conducting meetings and
exchanging information via the Internet,
enabling the organization to capitalize on
24 hour productivity
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-13
Operational Challenges for Global Virtual Teams
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-14
The ability to develop and lead effective
transnational teams (whether they
interact “virtually”, or physically, or, as is
most often the case, a mixture of both)
is essential in light of the increasing
proliferation of foreign subsidiaries, joint
ventures, and other transnational
alliances. Slide 10-16 highlights some
suggestions to determine if the team is
successful
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-15
Managing Transnational Teams
Do members work together with a common purpose? Is this
purpose something that is spelled out and felt by all to be
worth fighting for?
Has the team developed a common language or procedure?
Does it have a common way of doing things, a process for
holding meetings?
Does the team build on what works, learning to identify the
positive actions before being overwhelmed by the negatives?
Does the team attempt to spell out things within the limits of
the cultural differences involved, delimiting the mystery level
by directness and openness regardless of the cultural origins
of participants?
Do the members recognize the impact of their own cultural
programming on individual and group behavior? Do they deal
with, not avoid, their differences in order to create synergy?
Does the team have fun?
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-16
Managing Transnational Teams
Cultivate a culture of trust: One way to do
this is by scheduling face-to-face meetings
early on
Rotating meeting locations
Rotating and diffusing team leadership
Linking rewards to team performance
Build social networks among managers
from different countries
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-17
The Role of Women in International
Management
Avoid assuming that a female executive
will fail because of the way she will be
received or because of problems
experienced by female spouses
Avoid assuming that a woman will not want
to go overseas
Give female managers every chance to
succeed by giving them the titles, status,
and recognition appropriate to the position –
as well as sufficient time to be effective.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-18
Management Focus: Japan’s Neglected
Resource: Female Workers
When Yuko Suzuki, a Japanese woman, went into business
for herself, she found that customers only pretended to listen
to her. She was often asked by potential customers about her
boss, so she hired a man to go along with her on sales calls.
Having a man by her side helped Yuko increase sales.
While 40 percent of Japanese women work, only about 9
percent hold managerial positions. A recent World Economic
Forum report ranks Japan 69th of 75 member countries
empowering women. Women in Japan are often hired only for
clerical and service positions. Despite Japan’s economic
troubles, women remain a neglected resource.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-19
Working within Local Labor Relations
Differences in economic, political, and legal
systems result in considerable variation in labor
relations systems across countries.
Labor relations - the process through which
managers and workers determine their workplace
relationship. This process may be through verbal
agreement and job descriptions, or through a
union written labor contract which has been
reached through negotiation in collective
bargaining between workers and managers.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-20
Working within Local Labor
Relations
The participation of labor in the affairs
of the firm, especially as this affects
performance and well-being
The role and impact of unions in the
relationship
Specific human resource policies in
terms of recruitment, training, and
compensation.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-21
Organized Labor Around the
World
Wage levels which are set by union contracts and
leave the foreign firm little flexibility to be
globally competitive
Limits on the ability of the foreign firm to vary
employment levels when necessary
Limitations on the global integration of operations
of the foreign firm because of incompatibility and
the potential for industrial conflict.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-22
1. In most countries, a single dominant industrial
relations system applies to almost all workers; but in
both Canada and the United States there are two
systems—one for the organized and one for the
unorganized.
2.The traditional trade union structures in Western
industrialized societies : industrial unions, representing
all grades of employees in a specific industry, and craft
unions, based on certain occupational skills. More
recently, the structure has been conglomerate unions,
representing members in several industries—for
example, the Metal Workers unions in Europe, which
cut across industries, and general unions, open to most
employees within a country.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-23
The system of union representation varies among
countries. In the United States most unions are
national and represent specific groups of workers—
for example, truck drivers or airline pilots—so a
company may have to deal with several different
national unions. A single U.S. firm—rather than an
association of firms representing a worker
classification—engages in its own negotiations. In
Japan, on the other hand, it is common for a union
to represent all workers in a company. In China, by
law, any firm with over 100 employees must open a
branch of the national union, however, the law is
frequently ignored.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-24
Industrial labor relations systems across countries can only be
understood in the context of the variables in their
environment and the sources of origins of unions. These
include government regulation of unions, economic and
unemployment factors, technological issues, and the
influence of religious organizations. Any of the basic
processes or concepts of labor unions, therefore, may vary
across countries, depending on where and how the parties have
their power and achieve their objectives, such as through
parliamentary action in Sweden. For example, collective
bargaining in the United States and Canada refers to
negotiations between a labor union local and management;
but in Europe collective bargaining takes place between the
employer’s organization and a trade union at the industry
level.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-25
The AFL-CIO is a federation of 78
labor unions represents some 13.6
million working men and women.
Through organizing, collective
bargaining and legislative/political
action, the unions of the AFL-CIO
work to advance and defend the rights
of working people everywhere.
http://www.aflcio.org/
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-26
Convergence Versus Divergence in Labor
Systems
Convergence in labor systems occurs as the
migration of management and workplace
practices around the world results in the
reduction of workplace disparities from one
country to another. This occurs primarily as
MNCs seek consistency and coordination
among their foreign subsidiaries, and as they
act as catalysts for change by “exporting”
new forms of work organization and
industrial relations practices. Learn about
world labor practices at LaborNet
www.labornet.org.
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-27
Trends in Global Relations Systems
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-28
Comparative Management in
Focus: Germany
Codetermination Law (mitbestimmung) –
refers to the participation of labor in the
management of the firm
– Mandates representation for unions and
salaried employees on the supervisory
boards of all companies with more than
2,000 employees and work councils of
employees at every work site
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-29
Comparative Management in
Focus: Germany
Union membership is voluntary with
one union for each major industry
Set the pay scale for about 90% of the
country’s workforce
Play an active role in hiring, firing,
training, and reassignment during
times of reorganization and change
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-30
Comparative Management in
Focus: Germany
Foreign companies operating in
Germany also have to be aware that
termination costs are very high
–Including severance pay,
retraining costs, time to find
another job
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-31
Management Focus: China Drafts Law to Empower
Unions and End Labor Abuse
China is planning on adopting new laws that provide
better protection for worker’s rights and ending the
abusive practices of some employers. While the laws
will apply to both domestic and international
companies, the emphasis will be on foreign companies
and their suppliers. The new laws are the result of an
increasing government concern over the growing
income disparity and civil unrest developing in the
country. The laws make it more difficult to fire poorly
performing employees and appear to some as a return
to China’s “iron rice bowl” mentality of the 1950s and
1960s. “
© 2006 Prentice
Hall
10-32
“This is really two steps backwards after three steps forward”
states Kenneth Tung, Asia-Pacific director of legal affairs at
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Hong Kong who is a
legal advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce in China.
With costs already rising in China, the new laws worry some
companies already doing business in China. They feel that the
country will begin to look less attractive as a place to do
business, and may cause the price of labor to rise by fifty
percent or more. Some feel that if current labor laws were to be
enforced, which often they are not, the problem of worker abuse
would be stopped. Some migrant workers complain that they are
sometimes not paid or that their pay is delayed. The new laws
would impose heavy fines, and the state-controlled union will be
given greater power, making it very difficult to fire an
employee. While the American Chamber of Commerce is
lobbying against the new laws, others, including the Global
Labor Strategies group, feel that new laws are needed and
represent only modest reform in Chinese labor law. 10-33
© 2006 Prentice Hall
Looking Ahead
Chapter 11 – Motivating and Leading
–
–
–
–
–
–
Motivating
Cross Cultural Research on Motivation
Leading
The Global Leader’s Role and Environment
Cross-cultural Research on Leadership
Contingency Leadership – The Culture
Variable
© 2006 Prentice Hall
10-34