Appunti di strategic human resources management

3. Multinational: focuses on products becoming globalized to ensure that prices can be kept to a minimum as a form of competitive advantage. Price and lowering costs are key issues here; whereas cultural influences play a major part in the international phase global diversity

4. Global: focuses on quality and price and cost advantage. The product must be adapted to individual market tastes, styles, designs and specific niche markets in order to be successful. External and internal cultural sensitivity is imperative.

The different phases of the product life cycle each require a very different type of manager. Evans and Lorange discuss how a corporation operating in different markets and diverse sociocultural environments can effectively establish human resource policies, proposing 2 logics for

Developing HRM policy on an international scale: sociocultural logic and product-market logic.

1. Sociocultural logic: organizations operating in various geographic locations, cultures & regions take staff from differing cultural backgrounds and allocate them to different parts of the business leading to a diverse workforce. 2 strategies for managing such cultural diversity.

1. Global approach (coincides with ethnocentric approach): the organization's culture dominates, HRM practices are standardized → one approach for all, in terms of recruitment and selection, training and development and promotion.

2. Polycentric approach: responsibility for HRM practices is decentralized, often sitting with subsidiaries. Some guidelines directed from the central unit, but generally subsidiary sites are free to interpret HRM in a way that fits or suits their needs. Adaptation to the local culture and subsidiaries have even more scope and potential to take advantage of the market.

Integrative

1. Exogenous factors: concerned with the importance of interorganizational relationships and the benefits of these for trade. The exogenous factors have direct influence on the endogenous factors, including SHRM factors as well as IE concerns and goals.
2. Endogenous factors: include structure of the IE, entry modes and strategic influence, which in turn link to strategic HRM policies & practices. The four elements operate in an integral manner, influencing each other to provide an efficient operation. One notable aspect of this model is the effect of strategic HRM on organizational strategy, as this enhances achievement of goals and objectives.

Schuler and Tarique define IHRM models in terms of outcomes. The foundation for IHRM lies with one definitive objective for the multinational: to gain a competitive advantage through the management of its people and

Resources on a global scale.Budhwar and Sparrow developed a framework for examining cross-national HRM practice with3 main groups of factors: national factors, contingent variables and organizational strategies (→)1. National factors: national institutions, commercial sectors and vibrant business environments, which are influenced by national culture.2. Contingent variables: include age, size, nature, ownership & life cycle of organizations, stakeholders’ interests, HRM practices & trade union3. Organizational strategies: policies related to primary HRM functions and the maternal labour market (Porter)

FACTORS DETERMINING CROSS-NATIONAL HRM PRACTICES

The variables include three elements:

1. Contextual, such as the host country legal system;
2. Firm-specific, such as the type of industry and culture;
3. Situational, such as staff availability and localization issues.

The impact of a dynamic business environment can shape and change the format and direction of the HR function.

3 areas for examination:

1. The influence of factors such as culture and national institutions
2. The variables influencing HR policy and practices, such as the age, size and life cycles of the organization.
3. HR policy/HR strategy – the cost reduction, talent acquisition/improvement, defender strategies for example.

UNDERSTANDING THE IHRM POLICIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISE

An integrative model for studying IHRM at the enterprise level is focused on factors associated with IHRM policy and practice, such as contextual actors, e.g. the "Political, Economic, Social, Environmental and Legal" (PESTEL), or firm-specific factors such as international strategy, structure, culture, stage of internationalization, mode of internationalization, size, sector, reliance on international markets, top managers' perceptions, or ownership type.

• MNCs must consider different cultures and perspectives of leadership & working
• MNCs must work across varying locations and time

zones.- Decision of "when and where to be global"- 'Capture skills and expertise from different parts of the corporation and transfer the benefits'

Three variables influence the employee on a local level while working towards achieving the bigger picture on a global level.

1. Psychological contract: employees work more efficiently and offer greater loyalty to the multinational if they can identify with the organization, i.e. they will instinctively want to work at their best for the organization.
2. Supervisory support for the individual is important to an employee's motivation towards the organization.
3. Individual's perceived access to the hierarchy despite nationality/location is critical to organizational identification & psychological bonding.

In contrast to people-based localization, there are also arguments which consider that it depends on the product of the MNC as to whether the company needs to localize. Localization is considered in terms

of four elements:

1. Structure can be divided into factors such as the market competition for the product and demand for the product.
2. The environment include a consideration of local business practice and culture, and how this could be adopted into the organization.
3. The organization elements include a consideration of market penetration of the product, the experience of the MNC within the host countryand the understanding or ability to penetrate the local network.
4. Local government policies favourable to localization need to be considered.

COMPARATIVE HRM

Institutionalized and national business systems approaches to employee relations and national HRD

Institutional perspectives 'see firms and institutions as socially constituted, and reflecting national distinctiveness: dominant national institutions tend to be integrated and mutually reinforcing. As with cultural theories this takes the nation' or 'region' as the key unit of analysis, but focuses on a broader

Range of institutional factors; specific contexts promote distinctive forms of business and market organization. Institutionalist analyses focus on macro-level societal institutions, in particular those that govern 'access to critical resources, especially labour and capital'. But these approaches tend to identify just two institutional solutions to coordination, for example 'liberal market economies' versus 'coordinated market economies' or 'voluntarist' or 'interventionist'. A lot of countries (Italy) fit neither models. Other approaches such as:

• 'alliance capitalism', with both horizontal flexibility and vertical efficiency facilitated by the state, as in Japan;
• 'familial capitalism': strong horizontal linkages but a comparatively weak state with fragmented interests and weak planning, as in Taiwan.
• 'Dirigiste capitalism': emphasis on vertical integration and state leadership.