Chapter 11

Question 1

Canada’s workforce diversity also produces a wide range of HR-related challenges, including:

Answer 1

> including the integration and accommodation of an increased number of older workers and employees with disabilities,

> diverse gender identities, and aspects related to ethnic and cultural differences among employees.

Question 2

HR managers of organizations operating across Canada are faced with a complex provincial and federal employment legislation framework - what does this mean?

Answer 2

> When crossing national borders, Canadian HR managers encounter additional host-country employment legislation, and in the case of a European Union member state being the host country, employment laws and regulations of the host country and the European Union.

> This wide range of home and host-country employment legislation represents a key challenge to HR managers and the development and implementation of employment policies, processes, and practices in Canadian organizations operating internationally.

Question 3

What are emerging markets?

Answer 3

> a local economy with a relatively high economic growth rate

Question 4

. In particular, countries with emerging markets such as Pakistan and Turkey offer international business opportunities, but can be fraught with what?

Answer 4

> terrorist activities

Question 5

Sophisticated HR support structures in areas of employee security and safety include:

Answer 5

> risk assessment processes,

> precautionary actions and procedures,

> and contingency planning are critical aspects in ensuring that employees and their families deployed in dangerous or troublesome parts of the world always return home safely.

Question 6

What does strategic international HR planning involve?

Answer 6

> Strategic international HR planning typically involves projecting global competence supply,

> forecasting global competence needs,

> and developing a blueprint to establish global competence pools within companies so that the supply of global managers worldwide will be sufficient to coincide with the multinational corporation (MNC)’s global strategies.

Question 7

What are themes under managing expatriates?

Answer 7

> Expatriate roles and support
Managing a global career
Culture adjustment

Question 8

What are themes under International
human capital?

Answer 8

> Building international human capital capabilities
Transferring knowledge

Question 9

What are themes associated with International HR Policies and Practices

Answer 9

> Greater focus on how to transfer HR practices and policies globally

Question 10

Moreover, international HR planning needs to fit with what two factors?

Answer 10

> Moreover, international HR planning needs to fit with both the internal factors, such as a firm’s strategies, competencies, and existing HR systems, and the external factors, including local economic, political, social, cultural, legal, and HR systems.

Question 11

Studies show that MNCs globalize HR practices issues such as:

Answer 11

> pay systems, management development, or employee benefits.

Question 12

With other issues, such as wage determination, hours of work, forms of job contract, and redundancy procedures that are subject to local laws and convention, MNCs tend to do what instead of globalizing?

Answer 12

> MNCs tend to follow the local practices, although the extent to which SIHRM practices fit with the local environment or with home headquarters varies from company to company and from country to country

Question 13

What is strategic international HRM?

Answer 13

> Therefore, strategic international HRM is defined as “human resource management issues, functions, and policies and practices that result from the strategic activities of multinational enterprises and that impact the international concerns and goals of those enterprises”

Question 14

Organizations applying a domestic strategy become international by doing what? What “step” is this in becoming international?

Answer 14

> become international by exporting goods abroad as a means of seeking new markets, focusing on domestic markets, and exporting their products without altering the products for foreign markets.

> Because this is an initial step of going international and there is no subsidiary in foreign countries, there is very little demand for the HR department to alter its existing domestic HR practices.

Question 15

As the firm develops expertise in the international market and as the foreign market grows in importance for the success of the organization - what is set up and what does this reflect? What does management do at this stage?

Answer 15

> a subsidiary is typically set up, reflecting a multidomestic strategy

> Management at this stage realizes that there are “many good ways” to do business and that cultural sensitivity is important to be successful in the local market.

Question 16

What is an Adaptive IHRM approach? When is this adopted?

Answer 16

> HRM systems for foreign subsidiaries that will be consistent with the local economic, political, and legal environment.

> adopted when implementing a subsidiary

Question 17

Following an adaptive IHRM approach, what usually happens? What is an advantage to this step?

Answer 17

> Following an adaptive IHRM approach, a local executive is usually hired to take charge of the subsidiaries’ HR management.

> The advantage of this method is that the local HR manager for the subsidiaries is familiar with local issues, and there is no language barrier between the HR manager, local partners, and employees.

Question 18

What is HRM sensitive to?

Answer 18

> HRM is very sensitive to local legal and economic systems, compared to other business functions, such as finance and manufacturing, HRM has mostly adhered to local practices in many MNCs

Question 19

What is a multinational strategy?

Answer 19

> Standardizing the products and services around the world to gain efficiency.

Question 20

What is the exportive IHRM approach?

Answer 20

> Transferring home HRM systems to foreign subsidiaries without modifying or adapting to the local environment.

Question 21

Following the company’s multinational business strategy, what happens to business strategies?

Answer 21

> Following the company’s multinational business strategy, HR systems will be standardized across its subsidiaries all over the world

Question 22

What is the advantage to the exportive strategy? What is the disadvantage?

Answer 22

> The advantage of this approach is that the HR managers at headquarters have a tried-and-true HR system and can readily implement it efficiently in subsidiaries in other countries.

> The disadvantage is that the local environment will not have been considered in the HR system, and the fit with the local system will be missing, which might cause problems for the subsidiaries’ management.

Question 23

Companies adopting a global strategy are striving to do what? How is it done?

Answer 23

> are striving to introduce culturally sensitive products with the least amount of cost.

> To accomplish this, resources and materials within regional branches are reallocated globally to make quality products at the lowest cost. A home country perspective is taken by the company management at this stage.

Question 24

What is the Integrative IHRM approach?

Answer 24

> Combining home HR practices with local practices and selecting the most qualified people for the appropriate positions no matter where these candidates come from.

Question 25

What does the integrative approach normally go along with?

Answer 25

> this approach usually goes along with the global strategy and is recommended for the purpose of mutual learning between headquarters and subsidiaries.

Question 26

What is the challenge with the integrative approach?

Answer 26

> The challenge of using this approach is that the HR managers at headquarters need to have a global perspective, be culturally sensitive, and be able to strategically move HR resources around the subsidiaries and headquarters

Question 27

Do companies need to do practice one ihrm strategy at a time?

Answer 27

> Companies may not practise one of the above corporate strategies exclusively at any one time; rather, they might simultaneously implement the four strategies for different products at the same time.

Question 28

What kind of fits do each of the IHRM strategies have and which is the best recommended?

Answer 28

> the adaptive approach has the highest external fit, > the exportive approach has the highest internal fit, > and the integrative approach has the maximum fit both internally and externally. > The integrative approach is highly recommended, because, as mentioned above, both internal factors and external factors are important to successfully implement corporate international strategies.

Question 29

The global expansion of organizations particularly influences the management of what?

Answer 29

> HRM

Question 30

When considering workforce planning from an international perspective, what is added to the supply and demand equation?

Answer 30

> the country of origin of the employee becomes a new category to consider in the demand and supply equation.

Question 31

What are the two types of international assignments?

Answer 31

1) Strategic control. This category of assignment is intended to retain the ­culture, structure, and decision processes of the home-country firm. 2) Transfer of knowledge and skills. As described earlier in the Life Time Athletic example, the firm uses this type of assignment to bring necessary skills to the host-country firm.

Question 32

The research on expatriate assignments demonstrates that the costs associated with long-term expatriate assignments can be significant - on what terms?

Answer 32

> not only in terms of financial costs to the organization, but also in terms of career and family costs to the employee

Question 33

The following types of arrangements represent a continuum that ranges from frequent visitors to the host-country location to becoming a permanent employee in the host location.

Answer 33

1) Virtual Global Assignment 2) Frequent Flyers 3) International Commuters 4) Short-term assignment 5) expatriate assignment 6) expatriate Diversity 7) Permanent Transfer

Question 34

What does the virtual global assignment involve?

Answer 34

> This type of global worker uses web-based personal interactions in lieu of in-person international interactions through a process referred to as virtual global mobility

Question 35

Virtual global mobility has several distinct advantages over an in-person international assignment, including:

Answer 35

> the opportunity to remain in one's own home community, > increased flexibility for the organization, > and obvious cost savings. > Virtual global mobility provides distinct advantages for companies with global operations. > It can be especially useful for short-term and occasional international business travellers.

Question 36

What are the disadvantages of virtual global mobility?

Answer 36

> include dealing with differences in time zones with co-workers, > weaker interpersonal relationships with co-workers, > and possibly lower co-worker trust > the two primary roles for international assignments (strategic control, and the transfer of knowledge and skills) still require many of the human capital capabilities that are associated with expatriate assignments.

Question 37

While virtual global mobility may have many clear advantages, it is a better solution for certain types of expatriate workers than others - provide some examples:

Answer 37

> virtual global mobility may play an important role in keeping regular communication between home-country office staff and host-country national employees, but it would be less effective at transferring firm specific knowledge.

Question 38

What is involved in the frequent flyer assignment?

Answer 38

> This type of assignment is for the employee who takes more than the occasional business trip. While the employee may make frequent trips to the host country, he or she does not relocate to that country

Question 39

What is involved in international commute?

Answer 39

> International commuters work in the host country but continue to live in the home country > Rather than uprooting the entire family, these commuters travel on a weekly or multi-day basis, and travel home for the weekend or for longer periods of time off work.

Question 40

What are the downsides to international commute?

Answer 40

> this type of travel comes with its own set of consequences ranging from jet lag and fewer opportunities for physical exercise and a healthy diet, to an increased sense of isolation and loneliness

Question 41

What is a short-term assignment?

Answer 41

> This type of assignment describes any relocation assignment lasting less than a year > The employee lives in the host country, and may or may not bring her or his family for the duration of the assignment.

Question 42

What is an Expatriate Assignment?

Answer 42

> This is one of the more familiar forms of international assignment, where the employee is relocated for a period of time usually in excess of a year > Because of the long-term nature of the assignment, employees are usually accompanied by their spouse and children, and plan to work in the host country for three to five years. > These types of long-term assignments are becoming less popular, as companies appear to be replacing assignments lasting more than one year with shorter-term assignments lasting six months or less

Question 43

As diversity, equity, and inclusion become more focal areas of interest in HRM in general. what an be said about Expatriate Diversity?

Answer 43

> the study of expatriate diversity is lagging behind other areas in the field of HRM.

Question 44

What do studies say about Expatriates?

Answer 44

> Studies show that expatriates are more often men than women, but beyond that there is little agreement around how to define a non-traditional expatriate

Question 45

What are non-traditional expatriates?

Answer 45

> Non-traditional expatriates can include expatriates with disabilities, female expatriates, single expatriates, split-family expatriates, or LGBT expatriates, to name a few

Question 46

What is permanent transfer?

Answer 46

> The final type of international assignment is when the employee is permanently moved from the home country to the host country

Question 47

Workforce planning in an international context is not all that different from planning in a local context. Planners must:

Answer 47

> Planners must forecast the demand for human capital as well as the supply of human capital, calculate the gap, and put HR practices in place to ensure that the firm has an adequate supply of human capital to operate.

Question 48

Larry Indovina, chief people officer at Top Hat, shares key lessons in determining human capital demand and supply when growing a company internationally:

Answer 48

1) Make use of social networks. 2) Build trust within your networks and with employees. 3) Listen to local partners and potential acquisitions. (they may know more than you do!) 4) Pay attention to culture. 5) Keep communicating

Question 49

Forecasting the demand for labour in an international setting presents unique challenges. The first major challenge is to:

Answer 49

> The first major challenge is to develop an understanding of the labour marke

Question 50

When expanding into an existing market, a firm often does what?

Answer 50

> a firm often joins an existing supply chain that brings value to its customers. > It will also need to partner with an existing telecom provider to be able to connect its products to a cellular network.

Question 51

The Conference Board has identified four major areas of focus for workforce planning in an international context

Answer 51

> Understanding and interpreting local labour market data > Issues relating to external human capital demand and supply > The environment > Flexible labour practices

Question 52

A reliance on foreign government labour statistics can be problematic for business planning - why?

Answer 52

> as the assumptions around how data is collected, > what jobs are included in job categories, what skills levels represent in terms of applicable skills, > or other grouping assumptions could lead to costly mistakes in forecast estimates of human capital demand or supply. > Governments may also be interested in encouraging foreign investment, and may therefore be biased toward presenting their country’s labour market to the rest of the world in the most favourable manner possible

Question 53

As a result, the safest strategy for making determinations about foreign labour markets is to do what?

Answer 53

> is to use several sources of information, > examine the assumptions used to compile the data, > make use of trusted networks that have experience in the foreign market, > and send a company representative to get first-hand experience with the industry and the labour pool.

Question 54

Deciding where to locate a business in a foreign country is determined by:

Answer 54

> the availability of the necessary resources and the proximity to customers.

Question 55

The mix of home and host-country employees will be determined by:

Answer 55

> be determined by the balance between the strategic needs of the firm, > the availability of host-country human capital, > and the costs associated with providing home-country employees when host-country human capital is not available.

Question 56

Flexible labour strategies include:

Answer 56

> Flexible labour strategies include the types of working relationships the firm can have with its employees, such as telecommuting, flexible work hours, job sharing, part-time, contract, and other arrangements.

Question 57

In the domestic context, one of the key strategic decisions in recruitment is internal recruitment versus external recruitment. This two-option decision has a three-option parallel in the international domain and includes recruitment opportunities such as:

Answer 57

> home-country nationals (HCNs), parent-country nationals (PCNs), and third-country nationals (TCNs)

Question 58

What are home-country nationals (HCNs)?

Answer 58

> HCNs are individuals from the subsidiary country who know the foreign cultural environment well.

Question 59

What are parent-country nationals (PCNs)?

Answer 59

> PCNs are individuals from headquarters who are highly familiar with the firm’s products and services, as well as with its corporate culture.

Question 60

What are TCNS?

Answer 60

> TCNs are individuals from a third country who have intensive international experience and know the corporate culture from previous working experience with the corporate branches in the third country.

Question 61

What are the advantages, disadvantages and the SIHRM associated with PCNS?

Answer 61

A: Well versed in company’s needs and norms D: Potential unfamiliarity with the cultural norms of the host country (including norms of supervision) D: Possible blocking of HCNs’ career progression within the firm D: Considerable costs of relocating abroad SIHRM: Strong exportive SIHRM approach

Question 62

What are the advantages, disadvantages and the SIHRM associated with HCNS?

Answer 62

A: Familiarity with the host-country culture D: Limited familiarity with firm’s own operations D: PCNs at headquarters may lack sufficient understanding of the subsidiary’s needs, and corporate strategy for the subsidiary may suffer as a result SHIRM: Strong adaptive SIHRM approach

Question 63

What are the advantages, disadvantages and the SIHRM associated with TCNS?

Answer 63

A: Greater familiarity with the host-country culture than PCNs (if, that is, the TCNs come from a proximal nation) but loyalty will be to the firm (rather than to the host country per se) A: Relocation costs lower than for PCNs A: Enhanced career development opportunities by allowing employees from the various subsidiaries to move to other subsidiaries A: Improved understanding of the subsidiaries’ needs by the corporation and vice versa through greater interaction between TCNs positioned in regional or corporate headquarters and PCNs D: Some cross-cultural preparation may still be required D: Potentially suffering from a lack of knowledge of the corporate culture D: Use of TCNs is often part of a strategy that entails the use of employees from many nationalities (including HCNs and PCNs), increasing the overhead for expatriate relocation across the entire firm considerably D: Using TCNs to the exclusion of HCNs may create the same problem of blocked career advancement that occurs when PCNs are used in this manner SHIRM: Mixture of exportive and adoptive SIHRM approach

Question 64

Many factors relating to successful cross-cultural adjustment have been identified in the literature, including :

Answer 64

> cultural knowledge, stress-management skills, conflict resolution skills, communication skills, and cognitive flexibility

Question 65

What are the three dimensions of cross-cultural competencies?

Answer 65

1) Self-maintenance competencies, which refer to the capability to ­substitute sources of reinforcement when necessary and deal with alienation and isolation 2) Relationship competencies, which refer to the capability to develop and ­maintain relationships with home-country nationals (HCNs) 3) Perceptual competencies, which refer to the capacity to understand why foreigners behave the way they do, to make correct attributions about the reasons or causes of HCNs’ behaviour, and to correct those attributions when they prove incorrect

Question 66

A capable global manager should be able to:

Answer 66

> should be able to work in different countries to successfully implement his or her headquarters’ strategies. > this is an integrative approach.

Question 67

Knowledge of the types of unions that exist in a country (i.e., the union structure) and the rate of unionization in that country can be critical to international HR managers. This is because:

Answer 67

> This is because union activities can influence the HR practices that may be implemented and how implementation may proceed.

Question 68

At least four types of unions can be identified:

Answer 68

> industrial, craft, conglomerate, and general > Industrial unions represent all grades of employees in an industry; > craft unions are based on skilled occupations across industries; > conglomerate unions represent members in more than one industry; > and general unions are open to all employees in the country

Question 69

For example, Canada’s union structure is:

Answer 69

> s industrial, craft, and conglomerate

Question 70

In addition to the diversity in types of unions, nations vary in their rates of unionization. In 2020 what were the unionization rates for the US, JAPAN, GERMANY AND CANADA? Where are the highest rates?

Answer 70

> In 2020, the U.S. unionization rate was at 10.3 percent; Japan’s rate was 16.8 percent, Germany’s was 16.3 percent, and Canada’s was 29.4 percent. > Some of the highest rates of unionization exist in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden (65 percent) and Denmark (67 percent)

Question 71

For North America as a whole, the declining union density throughout the past decades has been caused by:

Answer 71

> institutional weakness (absence of sectoral employers’ associations and comprehensive wage bargaining structures), [and] decentralization and fragmentation of union organizations and industrial relations

Question 72

The reasons for Canada’s higher union density in comparison to the United States have been:

Answer 72

> "the larger size of the public sector in Canada . . . and the more positive public sentiment towards unionization"

Question 73

The well-being of expatriates and their families in the local country depends largely on what?

Answer 73

> depends largely on how well they were prepared for the global assignment.

Question 74

What is a critical role in the pre-assignment process?

Answer 74

> Cross-cultural training (CCT) for global managers and their accompanying relatives plays a crucial role in this pre-assignment process.

Question 75

Studies have consistently found that cross-cultural training positively influences what for expertiates?

Answer 75

> influences expatriate self-development, interpersonal skills, and cross-cultural perception

Question 76

Aside from the economic pressures and challenges, reasons for the limited investment in CCT could be due to:

Answer 76

> be a lack of coordination with HR planning activities. > Many firms select their expatriates too quickly, which precludes a lengthy training process.

Question 77

A study of the human capital requirements that expatriates require in order to be successful in a host country suggests that four competency areas are important areas for expatriate training and development - what are the 4?

Answer 77

1) Cultural competence 2) Interpersonal competence 3) Intrapersonal competence 4) Global business competence

Question 78

What are Indicators of cultural competence?

Answer 78

> Motivation and positive attitudes toward intercultural values and situations

Question 79

What are Indicators of interpersonal competence?

Answer 79

> Networking, relationship-building, empathy, and diplomacy skills

Question 80

What are indicators of intrapersonal competence?

Answer 80

> Confidence, resilience, and tolerance for ambiguity

Question 81

What are indicators of Global business competence?

Answer 81

> Understanding the host country business environment, ability to adapt to local business practices, ability to share knowledge across international business settings

Question 82

What is involved in training planning?

Answer 82

> Assess and evaluate the needs of training for every selected potential global manager. > Clarify the purpose and goals of training that are relevant and applicable to global managers’ daily ­activities. > Plan and design the training programs to meet training goals

Question 83

What should training content cover for CCT?

Answer 83

> Training content. Training can cover many areas depending on the needs of individual managers, ranging from technical training and managerial training to interpersonal skills training and cultural training.

Question 84

Typically, cultural training involves the following aspects:

Answer 84

(1) area studies programs that include environmental briefings and cultural orientations; (2) culture assimilators—essentially multiple-choice questions about cultural characteristics; (3) language training (Figure 11.12); (4) sensitivity training (which could include role-playing exercises and behavioural modelling videos designed to raise awareness of cultural differences in behaviour); and (5) field experiences, such as visits to the restaurants of the target nationality or actual visits to the host country itself.

Question 85

What are some training approaches that have been used? (name three methods)

Answer 85

Several training approaches have been used in reality, ranging from (1) an information-giving approach (such as lecture-based area briefings), to (2) behavioural modelling videos or case studies that offer vicarious learning, to (3) the most experiential forms > These three methods should be encompassed in the training plan according to the training needs. > An information-giving approach will increase the knowledge competency of the global managers; the other two approaches will increase the trainees’ other skills, such as interpersonal and analytical skills.

Question 86

Global experience has been found to be the best way to help employees gain what?

Answer 86

> global competence

Question 87

What is repatriation?

Answer 87

> Repatriation usually means that the PCNs, TCNs, or even HCNs (working in headquarters as part of a career development plan) finish their overseas assignment and come back to their home headquarters or home subsidiaries.

Question 88

Is cross-cultural adjustment a u-curve process? If not, what is it instead?

Answer 88

> cross-cultural adjustment process is not just a U-curve process > but rather a W-curve process, with the last “V” of the “W” happening in the form of reverse culture shock on return to the home country

Question 89

It has been argued that reverse culture shock upon repatriation leads to several serious consequences for the employee and the organization. name 4:

Answer 89

1) Prior to the return home, the employee may become anxious at the thought of having no appropriate position to return to; this anxiety can affect productivity abroad and work adjustment shortly after repatriation 2) The employee may become dissatisfied with his or her standard of living upon return, having become accustomed to the special status that accompanied the expatriate position 3) Co-workers may not be interested in hearing about the repatriate’s experiences; lots of things have gone on in their own lives over the last few years, and they’ve had their own preoccupations and focus 4) The repatriate’s job may not make as much use of internationally acquired KSAOs as it could

Question 90

According to surveys, about 25 percent of repatriates left the company within the first year. Explanations for repatriate turnover included:

Answer 90

1) “Most expatriates leave to pursue other expatriate assignments that they view as beneficial to their careers.” 2) “Expatriates anticipate a lack of attractive positions to return to in the home country and seek out better opportunities outside their company.”

Question 91

Two issues are of great importance for the long-term career development of global managers. What are they?

Answer 91

1) The first is to regard the international assignment as merely one step in an overall career development plan. 2) The second is to ensure that the next step (i.e., the candidate’s subsequent assignment) makes good use of the KSAOs developed internationally, as these will serve as a source of competitive advantage for the firm.

Question 92

There are a number of ways to incorporate KSAOs acquired internationally into the repatriates’ subsequent career development. name some:

Answer 92

> The repatriate could serve as a mentor or formal trainer to future expatriates or provide input into the CCT process by recounting critical incidents experienced abroad > Alternatively (or as well), the repatriate can apply his or her understanding of the subordinate’s needs by eventually serving as a long-distance supervisor for other expatriates.