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Proposal on influence of culture in international business
The importance of culture for international business
International human resource management and culture
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ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to indicate the impact of national culture on HRM policies and strategies. It is expected to address the question; if national culture is impacting on the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and polices. Looking at the definition of national culture from Hofstede (1980), we have a good understanding. Thus it helps us identify the influence it has within HRM strategies and policies in correlation with an organisation strategy towards its objectives.
This study shows that there are two aspects which national culture impacts upon HRM policies and strategies i.e. the positive and negative aspects. This therefore implies that yes, national culture influences HRM practises.
INTRODUCTION
Human resource practise basically evolved from the American society. Therefore management theories show the cultural environment which these theories have being imprinted. (Hofstede 1980, Laurent 1986).
Meanwhile, Hofstede stating that national culture distinguishes the members of one group from another thought having a unique characteristic. Basically human resource strategies and policies would differ in the manner of management at which they achieve their objectives in the global aspect varying from country to country. Culture has its own history, therefore it tends to have an effect towards certain views HRM may frown upon and at the same time undiscovered opportunities from HRM practises. The national culture in countries most especially developing countries, tend to have a positive effect on achieving an organisations objective. But at the same time shows a dual effect on HRM policies. These policies are implemented towards an organisations strategy t...
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...Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad? Organizational Dynamics, summer, AMACOM, A Division of American Management Association
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While there are many various global issues that affect the International Human Resource Management to run efficiently, there are two key concepts that play a major role in understanding how to approach them with cohesive and a well coherent strategy; they are the International Human Recourse Management Strategy and Understanding the Cultural Environment. In the International Resource Management strategy, many companies will do their research in finding companies that offer the following:
Triandis, H., & Wasti, S. (2008). Culture. In D. Stone, & E. Stone-Romeo, The influence of culture on human resource management processes and practices (pp. 1-24). Psychology Press
In the article, Cultural constraints in management theories, Geert Hofstede examines business management around the globe from a cultural perspective. He explains how he believes there are no universal practices when it comes to management and offers examples from the US, Germany, France, Japan, Holland, China and Russia. He demonstrates how business management theories and practices are very much subject to cultural norms and values and by understanding these differences, it can give managers an advantage in global business practices.
Noe, Raymond A., John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, and Patrick M. Wright. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010. Print.
In this paper we have chosen to explore Procter and Gamble (P&G), a multinational corporation which has lead the way in creating one of the best human resource management systems to date. By using P&G, we are seeking to provide an example of how current multinational companies make decisions to manage their human resources (HR) activities, in search of effective management of their HR costs and in search of professional HR management.
It seems that HRM is so crucial to the organization, for what it does has nearly covered all aspects of the business – from strategic planning to the training and development, but unfortunately, its importance has not been accepted by everyone. As proposed by Morton, C, Newall, A. & Sparkes, J. (2001) there are three different views of HR function within the...
Willy McCourt & Derek Elridge (2003), Global Human Resource Management, pp 311 - 315. Edward Elgar publishing.
...Harris, Sarah V. Moran (2011). Managing Cultural Differences, Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. 8th ed. UK: Elsevier Inc.. 10-25.
As a result, culture plays a vital role in expanding international business with its impacts from general strategic direction to details like logo.
This report examines Toyota's HRM practices in Japan and looks at how changes were made when setting up the European plant in the UK. Toyota were faced by the pressure to remain internationally consistent with their HRM practices, which include, employee commitment, employee integration with the organization, flexibility and adaptability and lastly quality. However there were local cultural forces which also needed to be taken into account.
It is a “pattern of beliefs, values and learned ways of coping with experience” (Brown 1994) that manifests itself into three layers: artefacts at the shallowest, values and beliefs in the middle and basic assumptions at the deepest. It is inseparable from the organisation that cannot be easily manipulated as it is fundamentally non-unitary and emergent. Finally, organisational culture is important as it is one of the main determinants as to whether a firm can enjoy superior financial and a comparative advantage over firms of differing cultures.
Fisher, C., Schoefeldt, L., & Shaw, J. (1996). Human resource management. (3rd Edition). Princeton, NJ: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Some of the business expert also suggested that cross- national differences are diminishing because the advancement of technology, including the day-to day activities of multinational corporations(Flora,Chiang&Birtch,Thomas,2006). This type of view point casts a doubt on how much of influence that national culture of a country wields on the multinational corporations especially in the management practices, and employee attitudes towards reward practices in particular. Geet Hofstede have distinguished national culture with four bi-polar dimensions: masculinity-feminity,individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. Hofstede view that cultural – influence attributes of a nation do exist and these distinctions will provide and organization with further understanding on how work related values and behavior are different between cultures. In the reward- system area, Hofstede give a useful view into how employee needs and reward preferences are likely to be vary in different cultures(Flora,Chiang&Birtch,Thomas,2006). When a culture of a country score high on masculinity-femininity, this suggests there are divisions of roles and values between genders. Its shows that masculinity cultures are emphazing assertiveness, achievement and material success, an interest in acquiring huge sum of money for financial gain and achieving material success are highly desirable. The view is very different in feminine driven culture. In feminine driven culture human relationship are more value. Their culture is center more around concern for others, supporting each other’s and good quality of life. An example are financial and power oriented rewards will be more preferred in Hong Kong, China than in Finland; where relationship -and
Cultural differences are more profound among foreign employees working within same multinational firms than those working for their native countries.cross-cultural management trains people to work in firms with employees and client population 's from several cultures(burke 1983).it describes organizational behavior within countries and seek to understand and improve the scope of domestic management 's and enhance international and multicultural interaction 's among employees.cultural diversity is a synergy that can improve efficiencies of a firm.therw are strategies that can be employed such as parochial,ethnocentric and synergistic .culture diversity brings organizational cultures which define how a firm operates.its made of values which are specific for a given country.it determines the present and future behaviours of members of a firm.the leaders create a vision or a philosophy and business strategy for the company.the employees then react and behave guided by the implemented philosophy.organizational culture directs the firm to derive goals, strategies and how to achieves the set goals .organisation culture dictates innovations, creativity,reward methods, communication channels, respect for others.according to the theory of competing value framework organisations can be grouped as a clan, adhocracy, hierarchy or a market.in clan type, leaders are facilitators, mentors and parents.it encourages cohesion and proper development human resources.in hierarchy type,
Miroshnik, V. (2002). Culture and international management: a review' The Journal of Management Development 21(7): 521-544