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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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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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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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 wellbeing
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 ha 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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