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.
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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
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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.
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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
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Expatriate Career Management
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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 is shown
in this slide. 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.These phases are (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
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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.
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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
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Global Management Teams
The term 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.
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Global Management Teams
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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.
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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
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Operational Challenges for Global
Virtual Teams
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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 16 highlights some
suggestions to determine if the team is
successful
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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?
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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
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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.
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Working within Local Labor
Relations
The term labor relations refers to 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Trends in Global Relations Systems
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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
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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
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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
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Looking Ahead
Chapter 11 – Motivating and Leading
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Motivating
Cross Cultural Research on Motivation
Leading
The Global Leader’s Role and Environment
Cross-cultural Research on Leadership
Contingency Leadership – The Culture Variable
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