MGT425 exam 2

31. Succession Planning

Concerns the careful selection of talented employees for calculated grooming and eventual replacement of senior managers who leave the MNC because of retirement, reassignment, or for other reasons.

72. Training Philosophies: Factual, Analytical, and Experiential

Factual: Readings, Lectures, Videos, (Low, Passive) Analytical: Case Studies, Cultural Assimilators (Middle) Experiential: Simulators, Field Trips, Role Plays (High, Participative)

69. Principles of Adult Learning

Familiarity: Relating the new training to the participants previous experience or what they already know Pragmatic or Problem-Centered: Meaningful in addressing relevant problems or fulfilling real needs as perceived by the participants Personal Influence and control: The participants perceive that they have involvement and frequent meaningful interaction with the trainer and the fellow participants. Values of Mutual trust and Respect, Openness and Honesty: All involved ni the training have something to share and contribute are worthy of respect and trust. This respect and trust are based on expectations of openness and the honesty in all of the interactions of the training between trainer and participants and amount all participants.

70. Steps in the Systems Approach to Training

Phase 1: Conduct needs assessment Phase 2: Develop training objectives Phase 3: Design and develop training Phase 4: Test and Revise training Prototype Phase 5: Implement Training Phase 6: Evaluate Training

22. Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication

Synchronous - occurring at the same time ■ Verbal and nonverbal cues help regulate the flow of conversation, facilitate turn in taking in discussion, provide immediate feedback and convey subtle meaning. Basically you get more opportunities to receive and give feedback Asynchronous - not occurring at the same time ■ Being more productive in different time zones; ie. my partner in Europe can work on our project while I sleep and vice versa

51. Cultural Distance

The collective degree of differences or overall and "foreignness" that we notice between our culture and the country we are visiting.

64. Pre-Departure Training

The immediate goal of cross-cultural orientation is to help an international assignee learn the basics (e.g. currency, public transportation, working hours) to comfortably live and work in the host country.

77. The "Four Ts" for Fostering International Professional Competencies

Transfer: provides greatest opportunity for employee development Training: sharing explicit knowledge, most formal, Ex.( change management, managing virtual teams) Travel: provides exposure and experience-based knowledge about foreign cultures and behavioral norms. Teams: include cross functional teams, independent virtual teams, can help with tacit knowledge and global leadership competencies.

57. Cross-Cultural Differences in Work Values

influence how attractive a firm (and its perceived recruitment message) is perceived to be within any given culture because what individuals want from an employer may vary across cultures.

34. Selection

involves gathering appropriate information and deciding from among those candidates who to choose to fill the work demand.

62. Training and Developing Cultural Agility

significant peer-to-peer contact with a person or people from a different culture ● an opportunity or opportunities to question one's own assumptions and to realize the cultural limits of one's knowledge base or behaviors. International assignments increase cultural agility through high-level contact with people from different cultures.Greater participation in these high contact cross-cultural leadership development experiences allows individuals to improve their ability to reproduce culturally appropriate skills and behaviors.

52. Reliability

the degree to which a selection device produces dependable or consistent results over time. ● Approaches for demonstrating reliability include: ○ Test-Retest: every time you take the test you should have the same results. ○ Inter-Rater Agreement: multiple people come to the same conclusion

39. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

when a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true, due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to come true. In other words, an expectation about a subject, such as a person or event, can affect our behavior towards that subject, which causes the expectation to be realized.

50. Selection Criteria for Foreign Assignments

● Technical Competency ● Adaptability and Openness to Experience ● Self-Reliance and Independence ● Communication Skills ● Motivation for Assignment ● Family Circumstances ● Physical Health And the most important selection criteria depend on the nature of the international assignment. An extended assignment that will feature considerable interaction with a foreign workforce whose culture is very different from that of the expatriate (for example, one with high cultural distance) might point to important selection criteria such as a candidate's local language fluency, ability to adjust, and ability to relate in a sensitive way with other cultures.

6. Criteria of Sustainable Competitive Advantage

● Valuable, Rare, Difficult to Imitate, and Non-Substitutional

13. Developing Global Leadership Mind Set and Competencies

13. Developing Global Leadership Mind Set and Competencies ● Captures the ability to take a global rather than country-specific view of business and people, and to apply this perspective to a specific country, taking its culture into account ● it demands the capability of managers who can "think and act both globally and locally" ● critical to develop managers and an effective global leader requires a combination of 3 competency clusters: ○ (1) Business Acumen ○ (2) Relationship Management ○ (3) Personal Effectiveness ● Understanding a different culture is critical in managing people with different values and norms, culture specific leadership not only tends to overemphasize the role of culture but also limits leaders in their effectiveness to a specific country - countries differ ● Global Talent 2021 listed new competencies that will be in high demand in the next 5-10 years ○ Ex: digital skills, agile thinking, interpersonal skills, global operation ability ● Global leaders should be able to demonstrate inspiration and integrity to their subordinates, and to make intuitive decisions and dynamic approaches in the face of uncertainty

33. Recruitment:

: involves considering both internal and external sources to provide viable candidates to fill a given work demand.

76. Pillars of a Global-Mind Set

Business Acumen: The working understanding of effective principles and practices of functional disciplines as well as broader strategic management knowledge for conducting business in international settings; often involving both external business environment savvy and internal MNC organizational savvy. Paradox Management: An appreciation and ability to make effective decisions within the uncertainties and complexities of global business, often involving paradoxes and contradictions, such as smaller business entities being able to wield more power than larger entities or managing the ongoing tensions of thinking on a global scale yet being responsive to local concerns and demands. Self-Management: The ability to monitor, care for, adapt, and renew oneself to maintain strength and the vitality amid the ongoing demands of rapid change, uncertainty, complexity, and otherwise stressful working conditions of international business ; often involving planning for achieve balance in intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social realms of life. Cultural Acumen: An appreciation and interest in other cultures as well as sensitivity to and flexibility in dealing with cross-cultural differences in various settings, including working in and managing multicultural teams in international business.

25. Third Country Nationals (TCNs)

Citizens of a third country outside of MNC's home or host country; my PNC is U.S. my HCN is Japan and I hire someone from China

24. Host Country Nationals (HCNs)

Citizens or residents of a country that "hosts" or provides local property and facilities for MNC operations abroad.

54. Selection Best Practices

Extroversion,Agreeableness, Conscientiousness,Emotional Stability,Openness or Intellect ● Use a variety of selection criteria ● Avoid just using language skills/barriers as a factor ● Invest time to have a reliable and valid selection process ● Use appropriate sources of data ● Avoid bias ● Use a large-enough sample size ● Be consistent ● Follow rules/regulations ● Be ethical ● Use appropriate selection tools to assess and measure relevant selection criteria ● Selection tools must be reliable and the selection process must be valid

27. Foreign Executives in Local Organizations (FELOs)

FELOs are hired with the expectation that their familiarity and experience with international business will help the local firms learn new approaches and practices to enable them to catch up with and even surpass their international competitors in the local domestic market. ■ Good for companies to gain knowledge and technical expertise ■ They neglect the softer skills and may not easily build trusting working relationships, cross-cultural understanding, and more flexible global mindset.

37. Nepotism

the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

80. HCN Training Needs and Considerations

Operative Level: ■ New employee orientation ■ Entry job skills ■ Parent company predominant language ■ Expatriate and home country cross-cultural awareness Supervisory and Middle Management: ■ Supervisions and technical operations management ■ Home country cross-cultural awareness ■ Expatriate coaching ■ Liaison role between parent company expatriates and lower level HCN Upper Management: ■ Advanced technical systems operations ■ business level subsidiary strategy ■ Parent company (MNC) strategy ■ Parent Company (MNC) culture

71. Levels of Training

Organizational Level: organizational performance objectives, available resources, changes in supportive changes in rewards or culture systems Work Operations Level: Job design, supervision, potential support obstacles. Individual Level: Trainee language skills, technical and basic skills, cultural influences

29. Major Forms of Contingent or Non-Standard Employees:

Part-Time Employees ■ Works fewer hours than in a country's normal workweek on an ongoing basis Temporary Employees ■ Increased in demand (see #28 on why) Employee Leasing ■ A company might transfer all employees, a large part of the employees or sometimes only the employees of a separate facility or site to the payroll of an employee-leasing firm; basically an outside company takes care of your people. Contracted Services ■ Specialized tasks, usually non-recurring nature requires high level of independence, professional judgment, discretion, and skill (consultant, special services firms) Outsourced Services ■ Company contracts with an external organization to provide the ongoing, full managerial responsibility over a specific function

28. Reasons for the Growth of the Contingent Labor Sector

Promoting company flexibility ■ They are used on an economical "as needed" basis, allowing the company to relatively easily adjust up or down the number of workers employed and their working hours based on work demand and economic conditions. Supply factors ■ A large sector of the external labor force may be available to work only on a part-time basis such as women who are expected to take care of childcare. Screening factors ■ They work a smaller number of hours which allows management to sample their work performance before making a long-term commitment of giving them the job. Technological change ■ Significant changes in technology leads to : 1. outsourcing or reassigning work outside of the company to those specializing in new technology expertise 2. automation of work and robotics that typically reduce the number of needed employees 3. rapid changes that demand flexibility and diminish the need for long-term employment commitments Employment Legislation and Deregulation ■ Too much money is spent on "full-time" or regular employees. It's cheaper to use contingent workers. Worldwide growth in numbers of small businesses ■ Small businesses are outsourcing functions such as security, payroll, marketing research and staffing because they do not have the capacity. Changes in employer-employee relationships and expectations ■ Employees are considered more as free agents who are not committed to one organization because of the changing landscape - downsizing,global competition and reduction of employment costs. Changes in employee personal-life needs and lifestyle preferences ■ More flexible work arrangements provided by contingent employment. ■ Also an increase in temporary work so that they don't feel committed long-term with one employer.

74. Standards for Evaluating Training: Reactions, Learning, Behavior, and Results

Reactions- Surveys, Like or dislike program Learning- Pre and Post Test Behavior- Display a given or learned behavior in a situation Results- Hit actually metric goal/ ROI reached or impacted

23. Parent Country Nationals (PCNs)

Residents of the "parent" or home country where primary company headquarters is located

26. Self-Initiated Expatriates (SIEs)

SIE's go abroad due to the perceived value of international work experience for their long-term personal and professional development. They take charge of their own career rather than wait for an organization to give them an assignment.

30. Concerns with and Best Practices for Using Contingent Workers

Stay up to date on your skills to make you more marketable Treat well and pay higher wages so that people will be more loyal to your company Be upfront about if you are giving them opportunities to be permanent employees Ensure that they are involved and an important part of the organization Be transparent with them Benefits you may be able to offer Rewards, goals, incentives to motivate higher performance Maintain communication End on a positive note If you are using outsource production, make sure you are doing audits on who does those operations (surprise inspections), health and safety standards - will give you a bad reputation/ it is your responsibility

63. Categories of Global Assignments

Technical/Functional- Technical and functional assignees generally are the most common global assignees in a typical transnational organization and represent almost all functional areas within the organization. Functional assignees are placed in international assignments whenever a technical expertise may be lacking in the host country and they are needed to fill a skill gap. Developmental/High Potential- sending employees to another country to develop global competencies as a part of the respective employee's overall career development plan, usually in the context of leadership development. These programs are often rotational - with one of the rotations being in another country. While on this type of assignment, the worker's goal is to develop professional, technical, and intercultural competencies. Strategic/Executive- usually filled by senior leaders (directors, vice presidents, general managers) who are being developed for progressively higher-level executive positions. They are also sent to fill specific needs in the organization, which may be entering new markets, managing joint ventures, running a function within a foreign subsidiary,

17. Work Demand

Work demand - leads directly to decisions regarding work organization and design, such as breaking down larger business performance plans and goals into specific coordinated and integrated tasks, responsibilities, and jobs for people to perform.

60. Training and Development

combined to signify the set of activities used by firms to develop the competencies of their employees. The objective of both training and development in firms operating globally is to foster learning among employees and develop their competencies so they, in turn, can enhance the organization's global competitiveness and effectiveness.

46. Personality Tests

differential effects of culture are particularly problematic in the use of personality tests. The subtle interaction between language and culture make it hard to discern if test results are due to national cultural differences otr individual candidate characteristics.

59. Frame-of-Reference Training

facilitates the ability for diverse raters to make reliable assessments by training on how to interpret behaviors through a common behavioral lens.

48. Assessment Center Techniques

generally seen as one of the most robust and valid selection techniques. But their often culture-bound assumptions about "appropriate" candidate behavior in one country might not effectively translate elsewhere.

55. Competencies

human resource context, are often defined as the combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics needed for an individual to successfully perform a task, job, or assignment or succeed, generally, in a given job, role, or position ● Strategic and Global Issues in Employee Attraction and Recruitment ● Strategic and Global Issues in Selection ● Strategic and Global Issues in Training and Development

32. Staffing

involves actively filling jobs in a timely fashion with appropriately qualified individuals from inside or outside the MNC, wherever they may be found in the relevant recruitment area and consistent with the MNC's strategy.

58. Cross-Cultural Conceptual Equivalence

occurs when constructs have similar meanings across cultures and is necessary for comparisons of candidates to be meaningful. Customer service orientation, for example, may translate into "complete attention to customers' needs" in Japan where anticipating needs is important. In Italy, however, where shopkeepers with exquisite taste are highly valued, customer service may mean "providing honest feedback."

36. International Joint Ventures

staffing decisions are essential to the success of the operation and often have implications and relate to issues around potential cross-cultural conflict, control, and temporary vs. permanent (one-way) staffing assignments. ● Although cross-cultural differences can lead to disruptive and wasteful conflict in IJVs, and analysis of high-performing IJVs with multinational management teams indicates that cultural diversity does not necessarily lead to poor performance. There is evidence that this diversity might even contribute to a competitive advantage by providing a broader range of perspectives for managing the IJV within such complex economic and cultural systems. Negative outcomes of cultural differences among IJV employees (including within the IJV management team) can be minimized and even avoided where staffing decisions focus more on expertise and interpersonal skills in filling IJV management responsibilities and less on the ability to exert traditional power and control. ● We note that to retain active and direct control of foreign IJV operations and still have leaders who are very familiar with the local market, many MNCs now hire local talent and train them in company strategy, culture, and procedures for a significant period, either locally in the host country or as inpatriates at MNC headquarters, then place these prepared host country managers in key leadership positions back in the local host country IJV. ● Where foreign partner PCNs are used, they should expect to remain with the IJV without a clear expectation of return to the parent company, or that their future career with the parent organization is directly dependent on their success with the IJV. Or they might be used more for the purpose of developing future IJV leadership talent and serving as a temporary source of knowledge transfer and for filling critical technical knowledge gaps. ● Where foreign partner PCN staffing of the IJV leadership is perceived as essential, such as when HCNs lack technical knowledge and managerial expertise needed for successful IJV strategy implementation, these difficulties facing foreign partner PCN staffing can be surmounted by a clear demonstration by top management for their commitment to the success of the IJV and the PCNs assigned there.

1. Knowledge Transfer

top managers believe that the effectiveness of transferring human knowledge, best practices, expertise and critical capabilities is the most important factor

73. Cultural Assimilators

•A programmed learning technique that is designed to expose members of one culture to some of the basic attitudes, customs and values of another culture. •Most assimilators require the trainee to read a short episode of a cultural encounter and to choose an interpretation of what has happened and why. •The purpose is to teach individuals to see situations from the perspective of the members of the other culture.

18. External Environment Scanning for HR Planning

○ Labor Market Conditions and Characteristics ■ Limited labor supply, looks for opportunities and potential problems ○ Governments and Other Labor Interest Organizations ■ May seek to lower the number of foreign workers ○ Global Competition ■ A company's success depends on the people who they employ ○ Cross-National Cooperation and Conflict

47. Behavioral vs Situational Interviews

● Behavioral: based on the strong evidence that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, this approach requires the candidate to describe specific experiences in the past in which he/she demonstrated an important job-related behavior. ● Situational: require the candidate to describe how he/she would solve a particular problem relevant to the job.

75. Training Transfer

● Clear commitment/support from leaders and top management ● local organizational cultural support ● when target skills would be used at work ● Practice of new skills ● leaders plan work around new skills learned

67. Domains of Learning:

● Cognitive- Knowledge, awareness and understanding ● Affective- deals with emotions, feelings, values, beliefs, attitudes and expectations ● Psychomotor- new physical skills

68. CASE Model Levels of Learning- from low to high complexity

● Comprehend a message, rule or Principle ● Analyze a problem situation and break it up for an effective examination of the most important parts of the situation ● Synthesize or reassemble the parts of the problem situation to form a clear total picture or diagnosis of a solution or set of alternative solutions to the problem. ● Evaluate the most appropriate action to take or the decision that would yield the greatest value

65. Work-Life Balance and Support Practices

● Cross-cultural training for families ● In-country support ● Career assistance ● Accompanying partner support ● General work- life assistance

19. Factors Influencing Global Work Design

● Cultural Adaptation Considerations in Work Design ○ High power distance, individual vs. collective, religion ● Regulatory Influence on Work Design ○ How work is organized and carried out; breaks and prayer times, hours of operation ● Labor Market Skill Levels ○ Depends on their knowledge, and educational level, complexity vs. simplicity ● Available Technology and Infrastructure ○ What technology is available to help efficiency ● Personal Accommodation Needs ○ Individual employee needs

61. Cross-Cultural Differences in Training

● Determining the content of training. ● Determining the methods for training delivery. ● Integrating training and development.

12. Human Resource Orientations

● Ethnocentric ○ it is believed that the home country HQ way of doing business is superior or at least preferable to any approach followed outside the home country ○ to ensure that the HQ way of conducting business is followed, the ethnocentric orientation relies heavily on assigning expatriates or parent country nationals (PCNs) to foreign operations ● Polycentric ○ to more effectively track and respond to market-specific needs, decision making is decentralized and foreign affiliates are granted much greater autonomy ○ use host country nationals (HCNs) to help eliminate language barriers and avoid adjustment problems ● Geocentric ○ relies on the assumption that the most qualified and well-trained candidates are sought to occupy important management positions within both corporate headquarters and foreign subsidiaries, regardless of nationality ○ utilizes PCNs, HCNs or third country nationals (TCNs) ● Regiocentric ○ expands the candidate pool by seeking people from within a specific region ○ appealing because it allows and promotes the interaction between executives transferred to RHQs from subsidiaries in the region and multinational home country nationals posted to the RHQs ● Organizational Fit between Strategy, Structure and Human Resource Management Approach

2. Explicit Knowledge versus Tacit Knowledge

● Explicit Knowledge ○ can be codified (expressed in words and numbers) and easily shared in the form of written communications in digital or hard copy formats (office memos, operations and procedure manuals) ○ information that can be easily captured in the form of texts, tables or diagrams; no gray area and no real room for error ● Tacit Knowledge ○ implicit knowledge; is not easily visible and expressible, making it difficult to share or communicate with others ○ consists of "knowing how" or learned skills that result from personal experience, that is learning by doing; "practical expertise" ○ information that is intuitive and difficult to articulate or codify in writing

20. Major Forms of International Work Arrangements

● Extensive Travel ○ May not have enough time, can be costly. ○ Can be affected by work-life balance ● Short-Term Foreign Assignments ○ Many want to have a longer foreign assignment because of work life balance ● Expatriate Assignments ○ Sending an individual on extended international assignments to foreign operations/headquarters ● Inpatriate Assignments ○ A work assignment featuring the transfer of foreign managers and other professionals from their host country to global or regional headquarters on a long-term or permanent basis ● Virtual Expatriate Assignments ○ They travel to foreign operations for a short amount of time for direct interaction then use virtual tools to communicate ● Global Virtual Teams ○ Responsible for formulating and/or implementing decisions that are important to their organization' strategy ○ Use a substantial amount of communications technology

56. Cross-Cultural Differences in Selection

● Firms have the option to try to have a common set of selection practices, replicating, for example, the parent company's system across all foreign subsidiaries ● Another option would be for a firm to design different employee selection systems locally or regionally. ● A third option would be some hybrid between a local and a global (or centrally controlled) solution, perhaps a common selection system developed with global input or an employee selection system that has a common structure with local adaptation.

49. Factors Impacting Selection Criteria for Foreign Assignments

● Job Novelty ● Cultural Distance ● Degree of Interaction with Locals ● Length of Stay ● Level of International Experience ● Government Policies ● Competitive Strategy / HRM Orientation

78. Dimensions of Assignment Toughness

● Job: the degree to which the work in new foreign assignment is similar to past work in which the expatriate has been engaged. Does the new job require different working conditions, equipment, or legal or union restrictions. ● Cultural: Also referred to as cultural distance ● Communication: relates to the difficulty and amount of frequency of communication involved with HCNs and in the foreign environment Degree of Interaction With Locals: How much you interact with in business and local life. Or how often.

79. Special Considerations for Training for Female Expatriates

● Local Norms and values regarding women: Provide info on local norms , attitudes towards women. Strategies that might offset issues. ● Attitudes Regarding Expatriate Women vs HCN: Expatriate are not help to the same gender role expectations as are women from local culture ● Behaviors to Avoid: Training on behaviors that should be clearly avoided ● Networking with Successful Female Expatriates: arrange for connections and contacts with female managers

35. Factors Affecting Global Staffing:

● MNC Business Strategy: ○ Staffing should seek to fit and reinforce the strategic direction and priorities of the MNC. ○ This impact is especially made through the recruitment and selection of key MNC leaders who have a major influence in formulating MNC competitive strategy, and through the selection and placement of middle managers throughout the MNC who have a vital role in implementing and carrying out the strategic direction of the firm. ● Stage of International Development: ○ Staffing decisions at each of these stages of internationalization can differ significantly due to the unique work demands of each stage. ○ At the simple export stage a firm is likely interested in obtaining the contracted services of an export agent and eventually a sales firm or independent sales representatives to promote product distribution. ○ At the more advanced level, firms are often greatly interested in transferring company knowledge and technical expertise to foreign wholly owned subsidiaries, as well as coordinating with headquarters and controlling foreign operations to ensure consistency with parent company policies and procedures. MNCs frequently accomplish these knowledge transfer and control purposes through PCNs assigned to these operations. ○ At the stage of integrated global enterprise, the firm has a large assortment of internal talent to consider for staffing domestic and global operations. The MNC at this stage recruits and selects candidates based on a determination of the best talent available and representing the highest return on staffing investment, regardless of national boundaries. Often at this stage we now see experienced HCNs replacing PCNs in managing foreign operations. ● Specific Foreign Market Experience: ○ Multinational firms that have little experience with a specific foreign market are likely to staff these new foreign operations to a significant degree with local management that is very familiar with the specific market. ○ This staff may be local HCN managers who have been instrumental in the planning for this new market entry, or TCNs, perhaps from a neighboring country, who have considerable experience and expertise with the local market. ● Host Government Restrictions and Incentives: Host governments, in following their traditional safeguarding responsibility on behalf of their working citizens, often require MNCs to demonstrate that HCNs are not available to fill certain managerial or technical professional positions before they grant entry visas and work permits to PCNs and TCNs selected by the MNC. ● Socio-Cultural Considerations: ○ General Social Norms: factors such as gender, age, consanguinity (family ties), or previous friendships may be expedient in other cultures. ○ Women and International Staffing: ● A common misperception held by predominantly male managers who may provide input on or directly make expatriate assignment decisions is that women have less interest than men in obtaining international work experience in the form of an expatriate assignment. In fact, a persuasive indication of women's interest in gaining international work experience for personal and professional career development is their high representation and even tendency to lead men in self-initiated expatriation rather than face the company-controlled glass ceiling of the traditional assigned expatriate route. Due to this common misperception, women may be less likely to be considered for foreign assignments unless they are assertive in making their interest in international work experience clearly known by management. ● Other major reasons given by managers for selecting men over women for foreign expatriate assignments typically have fallen into the category of business necessity-- to avoid costly failure and to promote and optimize the competitive viability of business operations abroad. However,a majority of women on expatriate assignments allegedly claim that their international assignments were successful. ● Mounting evidence suggests that women may actually adapt better than men in cross-cultural business situations. Steinberg noted that a major benefit of being a woman in overseas business is high visibility. When competing for the attention of a foreign executive in obtaining a desired business deal, a sole female sales representative will have the advantage of being remembered among the otherwise homogeneous male sales representative competition. ● It has even been suggested that females also may benefit from a positive self-fulfilling prophesy or halo effect held by the foreign businesspersons who expect that the female expatriate is is extremely capable and talented because she was able to overcome all of the gender-biased obstacles that were presumed to be placed in her way back home. ● Various studies also have pointed out to women's advantage in social skills, which are of great value in building trusting relationships with employees and customers in the international marketplace, including good listening skills, a less direct and confrontational communication approach, and emphasis on cooperation over competition. ● Plans for Individual and Organization Development: immediate staffing decisions can also be influenced by longer-range goals and objectives of the firm related to individual employee development or the development of the organization's capability as a whole. ● Situational Factors Influencing Staffing Decisions: Important situational determinants of international staffing decisions include the nature and duration of the task or work assignment itself, the financial resources of the MNC available for staffing, the availability of qualified and willing candidates, and economic trends and conditions.

10. Competitive Strategies of Multinational Corporations:

● Global Cost Leadership ○ a firm's competitive position in one country is significantly influenced by its position in other countries. A firm integrates its activities worldwide to capture and benefit from linkages and synergies among countries, thereby gaining a competitive advantage ○ cost structure is a low as possible, you need tight control and it may be difficult to manage and ensure that all parts show up where they need to ● Multidomestic ○ the firm's strategy adapts to meet the particular conditions of each local market, the extent and direction of the adaptation may differ significantly from one local market to another. Under such conditions, regional and/or country managers in each area are provided with substantial autonomy to adapt strategies of the home country ○ product is different in every location based upon consumer preference, giving the consumer what they want ○ Disadvantages - it can be costly determining what to offer, have to get the culture awareness and knowledge, giving up economy of scales ● Transnational ○ Firms adopt a transnational strategy to meet the seemingly conflicting challenges of high pressures for both cost reductions and local responsiveness. Emphasizes global learning - flow of skills and product offerings should flow not only from HQ to the foreign subsidiary but also from the foreign subsidiary to HQ. ○ Disadvantage - in theory it sounds great but it is difficult to implement, can be difficult to manage the process, and lacks the competitive advantage of the previous strategies ● Regional ○ a trade off between global strategy and multidomestic strategy; do not need to modify for every single country, rather by large regions (N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia)

8. Global versus Multidomestic Industries

● Global Industry ○ are characterized by convergence of consumer preference and technical standards ○ more standardization, ex: cement industry, semiconductor chip, commercial aircraft, and commodities ○ there aren't differences in consumer preferences or taste based upon geography; can offer one version of the product to satisfy consumers throughout the world ● Multidomestic Industry ○ characterized by differing consumer tastes and preferences and diverse product standards across national markets ○ ex: food, clothing

11. Organizational Structures

● Global Product Division ○ Established when global integration are significant and local differences are minor. All functional activities tend to be controlled by a product group ○ Input from overseas local subsidiaries is often discouraged ○ local autonomy is very limited ● Global Area Division ○ adopted when local adaptation of the firm's products and services is critical to its business success. The extent and direction of the adaptation might differ significantly from one local market to another ● Global Transnational Division ○ a matrix divisional structure that has 4 major components ■ (1) both local managers overseas and HQ managers at home share a global perspective ■ (2) the relationship between the two is balanced and without one dominating the other ■ (3) there exists a frequent and extensive two-way flow of ideas, information, resources and personnel between the two locations ■ (4) significant linkages are established across the various operating units and with HQ ○ frequent communication and coordination between product and area division are essential to ensure enlightenment; otherwise the goals will be inconsistent

7. Business-Level Strategy

● Indicates how an organization chooses to compete in a particular market to gain a competitive advantage over competitors ● creates differences between the firm's position relative to its rivals by performing activities differently or by performing different activities ● can achieve competitive advantage through a cost leadership strategy or differentiation

41. Internal vs External Global Recruitment Methods

● Internal: ○ Job Posting: company newsletters, bulletins, and computerized intranet in-house communication systems can carry announcements of job openings for a foreign assignment or can be used in a foreign operation to support a local "promotion-from-within" policy. ○ Skills Inventories: many organizations have developed useful databases and inventories on both local and global levels that facilitate an internal search for employees with interest and requisite skills to fill an international assignment. ○ Internal Network Referrals: organizations typically use informal communications as a means to "spread the word" and identify possible internal candidates for promotion or transfer assignment. Through their contacts throughout the organization, managers often are able to learn of qualified individuals who have previously expressed an interest in the type of job opening available. ● External: ○ Advertising: direct advertising to the external public can reach a large number of potential applicants in a number of ways. Advertisements should be directed at reaching the intended audience. ○ Employee Referrals: employees are typically provided a financial reward/gift for referring a candidate who is eventually hired. This approach tends to be very effective in attracting qualified and loyal new employees similar to their successful internal company employees who have referred them. ○ Field Recruiting: many companies actively send professional internal recruiters out into the external environment in field recruiting activities, such as to domestic or international college career centers, company- or government-sponsored outplacement service centers, school- or local government-sponsored career fairs, or meetings of professional associations-- all places where potential candidates might seek employment opportunities. ○ Internships: arrangements where students may work on a part-time basis during a school year or full-time during a summer prior to graduation. Provides valuable experiential learning and resume-building experience for the student. ○ The Internet and Related Software: widespread availability and usefulness of the Internet and e-mail for resume and applicant data collection, as well as availability of integrated software tools for automated applicant data screening and analysis for screening purposes, companies are finding that the use of these new technologies can reduce costs and time needed to fill many positions. ○ Professional Recruitment Firms: these service providers can range from agencies that provide "temps" or employees that work for the company for a limited period to executive search firms which only assist with the external recruitment of senior executives.

40. Internal vs External Candidates:

● Internal: ○ Where effective human resource information systems (HRIS) are in use, qualified candidates are easier to identify and contact, representing significant savings in time and financial resources. ○ With an effective HRIS, the work performance background and developmental progress of potential candidates are readily available to enhance selection decision validity. ○ Promotion from within can have a significant boost on employee morale and motivation, increasing retention and productivity, both for the promoted candidate and for employees who see such an internal staffing practice as holding promise for their own career advancement within the firm. ○ Reduction in training and socialization time and costs are very possible because existing employees are likely to be much more aware of the unique organizational culture, priorities, procedures, and overall business practices than is a newcomer. ● External: ○ Bring fresh new ideas and viewpoints into the organization. ○ Reduce training costs where technically trained employees are recruited. ○ Provide additional greatly needed human resources, especially in times of growth, without overusing and overburdening existing internal staff. ○ Provide greater objectivity and flexibility in making critical decisions, without a history of past commitments, relationships, and expectations that can impede needed change.

45. Selection Tools

● Interviews ● Observation and Work Samples ○ Written Tests ○ Ability Tests ● Personality Tests ● Assessments ○ Role Plays ○ In-Basket Exercises: measures prioritization and organization ○ Leaderless Group Discussions

15. Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

● MNCs are increasingly adopting M&As as a growth strategy - it provides a high level of control while eliminating many of the performance and relational risks traditionally associated with strategic alliances ● However, it has been reported that 83% of M&As fail to deliver shareholder value and 53% actually destroy value - does not result in a successful growth strategy as often as expected ● identify the following three areas to help an M&A be successful: training, communication and autonomy ● HR professionals and general managers can help realize the value of an M&A deal by properly implementing effective HRM policies and practices that further the objectives of global talent management and overall strategy

9. Pressures for Cost Reductions vs Pressures for Local Responsiveness

● Pressure for Cost Reduction ○ requires that a firm try to minimize its unit costs. Attaining such a goal may necessitate that a firm base its productive activities at the most favorable low-cost location, wherever in the world that might be ● Pressure for Local Responsiveness ○ a firm differentiate its product offering and marketing strategy from country to country in an attempt to accommodate the diverse demands that arise from national differences in consumer tastes and preferences, business practices, distribution channels, competitive conditions, and government policies ● Competitive Strategies of Multinational Corporations

38. Best Practices Developing Female Expatriates:

● Provide awareness training countering the bias to relevant managers involved in possible expatriate selection, emphasizing that many women actually would welcome an international assignment, and that the dual management career challenges are similar to what would be faced with male expatriates. ● Create a system for identifying and keeping track of employees willing to take foreign assignments, with a concentrated effort to include potential female candidates in this database. This approach helps to organize and formalize the career planning and expatriate selection process, making it less random and prone to bias. ● Use successful female expatriates to encourage and recruit other women, providing seminars and encouraging networking interactions and mentoring relationships to talk about the pros and cons of foreign assignments and plan for upcoming opportunities. ● Be flexible about timing, providing a reasonable deadline for deciding whether to accept an assignment and being flexible about the starting date to accommodate possible child-care responsibilities that tend to fall more frequently on the mother. ● Provide employment assistance where possible for an accompanying male spouse, who might be feeling greater stress as a "trailing spouse" in the couple's new foreign experience.

Methods for Selecting Employees for a Foreign Assignment

● Psychometric: general approach using personality tests argues that there are identifiable competencies associated with foreign assignment success and that the accurate measurement of these competencies can be used to identify and predict effective performers in international assignments. ● Experiential: ○ The first approach, which utilizes an assessment center technique (including in-basket exercises, relevant job assignments, and work simulation), places the candidate in various relevant situations and with common and critical tasks that he or she likely would face in the foreign assignment. ○ The second form of experiential approach, which requires more time and expense, is a foreign site preview visit, or familiarization trip. ○ A third form of the experiential approach for expatriate selection, developing an internal international cadre or talent pool, requires significant HR planning and a much longer time perspective than the other forms. ● Clinical Risk Assessment This third approach investigates candidate competencies and ability to adjust to the demands of the foreign assignment in addition to other factors affecting success beyond the expatriate, including the adaptability of the accompanying partner, dual-career difficulties, the nature of supporting structure in the foreign assignment, cultural distance and technical difficulty of the assignment, and accountabilities and responsibilities.

66. How Training Leads to Competitive Advantage

● Quality and Customer Satisfaction ● Decreasing cost ● Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management ● Global Alignment ● Building global talent

4. Types of Strategic Controls

● Strategic Control - to an MCNs ability to ensure that its various operating units around the world act in accordance with its overall policy in a systematic, coordinated and consistent manner ● Output Based ○ financial, quality and personnel performance measures ○ limitations when cultural distance is substantial between the home country of a MCN parent and the host country of its subsidiary ● Behavioral ○ The transfer of company human resources - managers and professionals in particular - between the units of MNC has become a major vehicle for exercising behavioral organization and instilling a consistent corporate culture and strategy throughout the entire organization ● Cultural ○ utilizes employees' internalization of and moral commitment to a firm's norms, values and objectives

44. General Principles and Practices of Employee Selection

● Triangulation: measure something from 3 different angles to achieve an accurate assessment. ● Focus on Job Relevance: the actual requirements of a job should guide all selection activities and decisions, and the results of the various assessments of a job candidate should be judged against those relevant job requirements. ● Investment in Developing Interviewing Skills: training on interviewing skills should cover different interviewing approaches and when they can be most effectively used, practices for conducting an effective interview, and what to avoid in an interviewing situation (interviewer domination, asking of questions unrelated to the job, and premature judgements of the candidate). ● Influence of Culture on Selection Measures: careful consideration should be made regarding the possible influence of cultural differences in affecting the results and conclusions of selection tests and other methods and measures for assessing candidate fit and qualifications. Ex: in the US, having a firm handshake and direct eye contact conveys confidence.

53. Validity:

● Validity is the degree to which the predictions about future job performance are supported by evidence. ● Approaches for demonstrating validity include: ○ Criterion-Related:(Quantitative Measure/Large Sample Size) is there a statistical significant correlation with on the job performance and the selection tool. Gold Standard ○ Content:( Job Analysis) What I have to do to get the job is overlapped with what I have to do on the job.(2nd Best) ○ Construct: Some sort of of personality that is needed for the importance of the job.(openness,extroversion ect..) (Best choice for overseas job)

42. Apprentice Programs

● Video: Apprenticeships Help Close the Skills Gap. So Why Are They in Decline? ○ Feel like you have to go to school/college in order to be successful ○ Some employers do not consider these schools to be credible (ITT Tech, DeVry, etc.) ○ Expensive ○ Waste of time/effort/money if the company cannot pay the apprentice the appropriate pay rate for the skills they learned ○ Blue-Collar type of career path ○ Unions ○ Retention concerns

14. Strategic Alliances

● are interfirm cooperative agreements aimed at achieving strategic objectives and competitive advantage for the alliance partners ● simplest form is a contractual arrangement: agreement over licensing, marketing, promotion and distribution, development and service ● most complex form is a joint venture, involving the long-term creation of a separate legal entity (generally a corporation) through which the business of the alliance is conducted ● advantageous in dealing with high environmental uncertainty and rapidly changing technological innovation, allowing companies to focus on their core competencies while sharing the total risk of a new venture with another party ● it is challenging to measure the risks and consequences

5. Core Competencies

● are resources and capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over its rival ● allow the firm to implement a value-creating strategy which other companies are unable to replicate or imitate ● a core competency can create a substantial source of competitive advantage if the core competency is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and non-substitutional

16. Global HR Planning

● plays a central role in this implementation phase in determining both what kinds of human work and tasks need to be carried out and who will do this work ● what can be considered part of the work demand; it leads directly to decisions regarding work organizations and designs ● who can be considered the supply; appropriate human resource of labor with specific skills to address the identified work demand Global Strategy → Work Demand → Labor Supply → Successful Implementation