SMM 232
International Human Resource
Management
Module
Introduction
Introductions
Module Tutors
Roger Bull
Dr Abdullah Sheikh
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Introductions
Introduce yourself, briefly:
Your name
Where you are from
Previous education
Work experience
Future career aspirations
Why this particular MBA programme
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Today
• Why study Human Resource Management?
• What is International Human Resource Management
• Introduction to the Module
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Issues to be covered
Learning outcomes
Lectures and seminars – case studies and presentations
Module handbooks
Assessment
Reading
Expectations
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Why look at HRM?
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In any business venture, the management of people is
central to success – and poor leadership and people
management can condemn a venture to failure.
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This can occur at the ‘micro’ level of a work team –
and at the ‘macro’ level of business strategy.
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Some examples.
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Authority in the Clouds
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‘Micro-HRM failures’ Problems in teams
AIR SAFETY
‘Regions with high accident rates share similar cultural values, such as
power distance — the inability of subordinates to question the actions of
superiors and recommend alternative actions — and uncertainty
avoidance, which emphasizes rigid adherence to rules and procedures
that reduces the directness and bluntness of communication. Direct and
rapid communication is often essential if accidents are to be avoided.’
‘In virtually every organization, the ability to create effective relationships
is essential. The same is true in the cockpit of an airplane. During critical
moments, effective communication can mean the difference between life
and death. You can avoid accidents most of the time if you have a flight
crew whose members can talk to one another and whose voices are
listened to.’
Source: James Schulz, ‘Hear what they’re saying: the influence of culture on
cockpit communication’ (www.odu.edu/ao/instadv/quest/cockpitcommun.html)
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Explanations?
Pilots often have military training
What is the impact of that on communications in teams?
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Explanations
‘… emphasis on rules, order, strict time limits and a preference for finding a
single correct answer to any problem. …subordinates are unlikely to
question or challenge their superiors, even if they are aware of situationcritical information that senior pilots are not.’
This raises strategic issues for management
1.
Cultural differences between countries can be relevant.
•
‘Power distance’ and ‘uncertainty avoidance’ are concepts used to
analyse different national cultures.
2.
Training of managers and what counts as good leadership varies
• Concepts of leadership vary .
3.
Is there a single correct answer to any problem?
• The ability to accept different points of view – based on evidence –
can be vital in developing sound policies. International managers
need to be able to tolerate ambiguity and difference.
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Money can’t buy me love
‘Macro-HRM strategic failures’
Mergers and acquisitions
In 2000, Deutsche Bank wanted to buy Dresdner Bank – two of Germany’s
largest banks.
The plan had implications for Dresdner’s British workforce, based in the
City of London. It involved either selling off Dresdner’s London-based
investment bank – Kleinwort Benson – or incorporating it into Deutsche.
One key asset was the skilled workforce at Kleinwort Benson – its ‘human
resources’: many of these were highly-paid investment bankers, who had
a lot of freedom to make deals, and were paid large annual bonuses.
The proposal led to an exodus of talent from Kleinwort Benson – on such
a scale that the merger was abandoned, despite the creation of a large
fund to offer cash to those who stayed. The German newspaper
Handelsblatt commented:
‘Top management had neither foreseen this development, nor
were they able to influence it’.
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Explanations?
•
London-based staff did not want to be swallowed up into what
they saw as a ‘large German bureaucracy’.
•
Concerns that culture of entrepreneurship – and big bonuses –
might be negatively affected by the takeover.
Strategic issues:
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Organisational culture and national culture not considered in
planning the acquisition
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Payment systems and management style vary internationally
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Retention (HR) issues considered too late in the acquisition
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Failure to anticipate how employees perceived the change
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Deutsche Bank’s business strategy could not be fulfilled
because they had not developed an international people
strategy.
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Main areas of HRM
HR’s central concerns are:
Procurement
That is, the recruitment of employees - or acquisition of staff through
purchase of a business – and their assignment to a role, their
orientation, development and training.
Management
That is, payment (reward or compensation), performance management,
monitoring and enhancement of health and safety, and employee
relations: their rights as employees.
‘Outprocessing’
That is, under what circumstances they leave an organisation
(retirement, dismissal, ‘retrenchment’, downsizing, sale (divestiture) of
the business.
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What is international HRM?
“The HRM issues and problems arising from the
internationalisation of business, and the HRM strategies, policies
and practices which firms pursue in response to the
internationalisation of business” (Scullion & Linehan, 2005:4)
“We define the field of IHRM broadly to cover all issues related to
the management of people in an international context. Hence our
definition of IHRM covers a wide range of human resource issues
facing MNCs in different parts of their organizations. Additionally
we include comparative analyses of HRM in different countries.”
(Stahl & Bjorkman, 2006, cited in Dowling et al. 2008:5)
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What is international HRM?
In the past, IHRM dealt mainly with four areas of HRM – all related to
expatriates (Welch, 1994).
1.
Recruitment and selection of international employees
(expatriates)
2. Training and development of expatriates.
3.
Reward (compensation) for expatriates.
4.
Repatriation of expatriates.
Iles, cited in Mabey et al. (1995) added to this:
1.
Managing multicultural teams and diversity
2.
Managing performance.
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What is international HRM?
Hendry (1995) offered a more strategic perspective. IHRM deals with:
1. Management and development of expatriates
2. The internationalisation of management.
3. The internationalisation of the whole organisation – developing
awareness of cross-cultural and cross-national interactions in
international businesses (and other organisations).
More recent approaches have looked at the internationalisation of firms –
and its HRM consequences: for example, how to manage geographicallydispersed workforces to gain competitive advantage.
Evans et.al. (2010) focus on the ‘global challenge’ for companies –
especially in the fields of knowledge management, global leadership
development, and managing change in an international context, of which
one of the biggest changes is becoming an effective international player.
Finally, Lane et.al. (2006) stress the complexity of international
management – and see IHRM as both a part of, and solution to, this
complexity. In particular, they focus on the need to develop international
leadership competences.
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What is international HRM?
“………….two major trajectories…..are apparent in IHRM.
“The international trajectory may be referred to as the study of human
resource policies and practices in multinational enterprises. This
involves strategic considerations in formulating policies (e.g.
recruitment, training and reward) affecting the staffing of headquarters
and subsidiaries in international enterprises. A central focus of this
approach has been on expatriation.
“The comparative trajectory refers to the investigation of embodied
contexts, policies and practices in specific national and regional
domains. This might be referred to as the ‘National Geographic’
perspective as it concerns ‘terrains’ of organizational and employment
structures and practices as conditioned by indigenous socio-political
and economic factors.”
Hollinshead, 2010
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Differences between HRM and IHRM
Firms often underestimate the complexity involved in managing
international activities – and building the ‘organisational
capabilities’ they need to undertake these.
What do you think might make international HRM more complex?
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Why study IHRM?
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Rapid corporate internationalisation has led to greater mobility and
diversity of staff – and a need to manage them in complex contexts.
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Good IHRM builds competitive advantage, helping firms implement
international strategies and integrate complex structures.
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Implementation of global strategies is highly dependent on availability
of capable international managers – shortages.
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Performance of expatriate employees continues to be a problem.
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The ability to ‘create, transfer and integrate knowledge across borders’
(Scullion & Linehan, 2005: 9) is a source of competitive advantage that
is dependent on mobility and cross-cultural teams.
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International growth often creates new ‘critical incidents’ – such as
mergers and acquisitions – that call for special HR skills.
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Module overview
The Module will look at:
• the implications for the management of people when
organisations operate outside their own boundaries
• introduction to key themes in HRM – with special reference
to their international application
• theories and models developed to address these issues.
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HR and internationalisation
• Internationalisation of business - HR implications and strategies
• Culture – its impact on HRM and management
• Transferring HR practices between countries and building a
capable international HR function.
• International leadership competences.
• International staffing – management of expatriates
• Managing change – issues in an international context
• Mergers and acquisitions – example of a critical incident
• Ethics and codes of conduct in an international context
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The overall approach
• The Module aims to develop a range of skills – in line with guidelines
set by the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).
• In particular we want to develop:
• Awareness of business issues informed by research and good practice
– academic journals, consultants, case studies, business press.
• An ability to look at research with a critical perspective – that is, to
question its assumptions, its methods, and compare and contrast it
with alternative accounts.
• Capacity to apply research and models to real-life complex situations.
• A sense of the dilemmas facing organisations – and how to think about
these in an analytical way.
• The ability to communicate effectively – orally and in writing, using a
range of media.
• Strategic thinking – identify and analyse what is critical to an
organisation’s survival and success, and how to implement them.
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Learning outcomes
• The Module is structured in line with a set of ‘Learning
Outcomes’ – these were approved by the University and may
not be changed without a special procedure.
• They indicate how the overall aims of the MBA Programme and
QAA guidelines are translated into a set of objectives for
participants on this Module.
• Passing the Module means showing that you have achieved
the Learning Outcomes – as demonstrated by passing the
Assessments.
• In the Learning Outcomes set out in the Module Handbook,
there is an indication of the topics relevant to each outcome.
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Review learning outcomes
1. Analyse and evaluate the context of international business to the
management of people.
2. Evaluate the contribution of major schools of management to the
development of ideas in HRM.
3. Analyse & evaluate approaches to the effective performance of people at
work.
4. Through analysis contribute to the design of and development of
international organisations.
5. Evaluate the contribution of key human resource initiatives in effecting
change and enhanced performance in international organisations.
6. Contribute to the formation of an HR strategy relevant to an international
business.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of effective leadership.
8. Evaluate the main strategies used to effect change.
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Teaching and learning
Lectures
Lecture notes and course materials will be available on UEL Plus.
Lecture notes should be downloaded and printed.
Seminars
Case studies, class discussions of reading, student presentations. Some
time for reading and group work during the blocks.
Seminar materials usually provided or made available on UEL Plus.
Reading
Indicative reading in the Module Handbook – further and updated reading
made available on UEL Plus.
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Assessment
Two assignments for SM232 – one in IHRM, one in Project Management
IHRM Assignment
2,500 words
Issued to you in December – submission 7th January 2013
50% of the marks for the module
The overall pass-mark is 50% - averaged over both assignments
You must get at least 40% (‘threshold mark’)
on any individual element of assessment
If you fail to get 50% overall you must resit BOTH the IHRM and Project
Management assignments
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Learning how to learn – and the role
of evidence in management
• Emphasis on your own learning – in particular reading and
reflecting on what you read.
• Combining your own experience with models and theories
developed by researchers.
• Looking for evidence to support your analysis.
• Going ‘beyond the bullet point’.
See, Pfeffer, J and Sutton, R.I. (2006) ‘Evidence-based management’,
Harvard Business Review, January 2006. Available in the readings folder
on UEL Plus
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One best way?
‘For every complex problem there is an
answer that is clear, simple ….. and
wrong.’
Henry Louis Mencken
1880-1956
‘Sage of Baltimore’
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Questions?
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References
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Evans, P., Pucik, V, and Björkman, I. (2010) The Global Challenge: International human
resource management. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill
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Hendry, C. (1995) Human Resource Management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Hollinshead, G. (2010) International and Comparative Human Resource Management.
Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill
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Lane, H.W., Maznevski, M.L., Mendenhall, M.E., and McNett, J. (2006) Handbook of Global
Management: Aguide to managing complexity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
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Mabey, C., Iles, P., and Salaman, G. (1995) Strategic Human Resource Management.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
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Pfeffer, J and Sutton, R.I. (2006) ‘Evidence-based management’, Harvard Business Review,
January 2006.
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Scullion, H. and Linehan, M. (eds) (2005) International Human Resource Management: A
critical text. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
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Welch, D. (1994) ‘HRM Implications of Globalization’, Journal of General Management,
19(4): 52-68
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