Factors Which May Determine the Approach of an International HR Department to their Management of Overseas Operations

Factors Which May Determine the Approach of an International HR Department to their Management of Overseas OperationsNumerous factors influence the kind of approach an international company utilize in management of HR in its global subsidiaries. Some of these factors, include, legal structure, political system, economic system, education and cultural orientation. According to ___, these factors are more likely to determine the kind of strategies that are utilized in management of Human resources among the subsidiaries of the company.

nA research by ________ noted that cultural differences in the global markets affect the kind of strategies embraced by an international company in the management of HR. The researcher argued that different communities have diverse cultural orientations such as assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, insights and perceptions. Understanding culture of host country is important for staff working in a subsidiary because it affect the value of the people. In addition, culture affect the effectiveness and effeciences of HR management behaviors and practices. Most importantly, culture normally affect other critical factors such as local laws and regulations.

nPeople express their culture differently depending on their home country or geographical location. The world has a wide range of customs and culture which affect the management of staff. Therefore, multinational companies entering a new country or region are likely to offend or bemuse people because of their diverse cultural background in the process of human resource management on the international level. Moreover, culture affects the HR strategy used by a firm since it influences workers values and beliefs towards a certain brand.

nCompanies cannot rely on one HR strategy across the world because of the differences in ethical and cultural establishments. In this case, a firm need to adapt to regional or national culture in the process of international HR management. Inability to consider cultural differences across the globe would affect success of staff management (West, Ford and Ibrahim 2015, p.71). Cultural attitudes and values differ in various regions and countries. Therefore, a company should localize its approaches used to supervise its employees. Localizations mean that a firm should understand the language, attitudes, values, symbols and colours in every market before setting up a HR management strategy. In this regard, based on the challenges posed by cultural differences, HR managers in international companies should identify appropriate strategies to deal with people. Through these strategies they will be able to design appropriate and effective HR management practices.

nThe level of skills and education also affect the kind of approaches that are used in international management of employees. Different nations have varied level to which domestic workforce engage individuals with appropriate skills and education. Moreover, according to _____, opportunities for education depends on a particular nation. In most cases, developed nations invest more on education as compared to less developed nations. the level of skilled labor in a certain country influence the degree to which multinational corporation intends to work there.

nAccording to _______, the qualification requirements of the current world are changing. Therefore, workers are required to posses a wide range of skills to work in international companies. Research indicates that most employees in poor countries lack adequate skills to handle contemporary HR demands. Furthermore, there is a gap in the skills possessed by workers and actually what is required in different parts of the world. Therefore, international HR management is forced to use different kind of approaches to ensure that the company succeed in its subsidiaries. _____ noted that there is a huge challenge in education systems across the world since there is no standardization. Therefore, this contribute to huge disparities in the labor force of many regions and countries in terms of their academic qualifications and skills. An international company that is able to understand these disparities will have a chance to make sound decisions when designing HR management approaches. Various scholars argued that HR department of international organization should collaborate with its stakeholders in order to understand the level of education of its employees in a particular country. Consequently, it will be able to hire staff with capacity to perform their operations effectively.

nLegal and political structure

nThe legal and political structure can greatly affect the multinational companys choice of human resource management. Countries across the globe have differences in terms of their regulations, laws and policies related to labour force. In most country, the laws and policies of a nation normally determine the standards for numerous human resource management strategies. Therefore, a international company should be able to design different approaches when dealing with workers compensation, layoffs, trainings, firing and hiring. _________ argued that in most cases, the labour policies and laws normally depend on its cultural orientation as well as norms. Therefore, certain approaches should be applied in different subsidiaries based on the countrys labour legislations.

nMoreover, the political structure stability and characteristics changes from one nation to another. In most countries such the US, the political system is comparatively stable as compared to certain African states. In addition, the legal structure in this country is well-organized hence, an international company is aable to develop a HR management strategy that is based on consistent political structure. Most notably, although elective government officials such as senators, governors and president are likely to change, business operations are not easily affected. Nonetheless, in most developing countries such as in Africa and Asia, the political structures are easily unsettled especially during elections. Similarly, some governments in these regions are easily dethroned via political establishments such as mass actions and coup détat from the military. Other nations are administers by despots and dictotars who applied excessive force and even violate the set labor laws and regulations. Therefore, they can force an international company to hire unqualified workers, or compensate unreasonable salaries without following due procedures. In addition, international Human resource managers are forced to give bribes in certain parts of the world where corruption levels are high. In this regard, this affect the design and application of HR approaches in some subsidiaries because they normally turn out to be unenforceable.

nApproaches embraced by HR managers is dependent on labor policies and regulation in many countries. for instance, in most nations in western Europe, labor policies dealing with hiring and workers unions, affect the ability of an international company to fire some its employees. In this case, firing of workers in these countries is costly because they require huge compensations. Therefore, an international company should adopt different HR approaches when minimizing the number of staff in western parts of Europe. Furthermore, multinational company has to adopt different Human resource strategies depending labor law dealing with gender and racial discriminations. In some nations, ethical and religious systems differences affect the acceptable HR practices.

nIn this regard, these factors show that it is important for international human resource managers to understand the legal establishments and political structure of a country before labour approaches are selected and enacted.

nEconomic issues

nInternational human resource managers should pay close attention on economic issues in various countries across the world because they affect use of certain HR approaches. In addition, all nations, have diverse systems of the economy. For instance, some countries are capitalists while others are communists. In this respect, countries such as China and North Korea use communist systems in their economy. However, in the recent past, regimes in these countries have tried to use a mixed system in their economy. In this regard, a multinational company should try to use approaches that are consistent with the countrys economy structures in terms of hiring, management, firing and compensation.

nOn the other hand, the level of economic growth affect the type of approaches used in international HR management. For instance, an organization can use different approaches with regard to staff management in third world and developed nations. in poor countries, the government want more direct foreign investors aiming to provide more employment opportunities to its ever-increasing population. Therefore, multinational company can use cheaper rates when hiring its employees in these countries. However, in nations such as UK, the US and Japan, the approaches used should cater for higher cost of labour. Nonetheless, an international company use expected profits returns to determine the type of approaches used in HR management. In addition, economic factors such as currency fluctuations determined the type of approaches used in human resource management.

nAdditionally, nations with weaker economies have no capacity to upgrade, maintain and invest in expensive infrastrucrutures such as telecommunications, schools, electric power, railway and roads that are required by international companies. Therefore, lack of modern infrastructure may deter some staff to work in certain overseas. Economic issues also affect the ability of local staff to use certain machines and equipment which affect the type of approach used in these countries. Moreover, the cost of living in different parts of the world affect the HR approaches used. For instance, when the cost of living increases, the cost of labor also raises this forces a company to adopt different approaches in management of staff.