training and development of international staff

Training and Development of International Staff

-with reference to Japan, China, South Koreaand Singapore

Presented By:VIRDA AZMISubject: Global Human Resource ManagementM.A. (HRM) Final SemesterDept of Social WorkJamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Need for T&D

• MNCs increasingly use expatriates on short-term and long-term international job assignments for a variety of purposes, such as:

• to acquire and transfer knowledge,• to manage a foreign subsidiary, • to fill a staffing need, • to maintain communication, • coordination and control between subsidiaries and corporate

headquarters, • and to develop global leadership competence

• An expatriate’s success in the host country is largely determined by

his or her cross-cultural adjustment to the host country

• Expatriates who are not prepared to confront the challenges (e.g., to

cope with culture shock) find it difficult to adjust and hence, perform

poorly.

• Thus, improving cross-cultural adjustment has been the focus of

many international HR interventions.

• Since cross-cultural adjustment can be facilitated if the expatriate has

an awareness of the norms and behaviors that are appropriate in the

host country, many MNCs offer cross-cultural training (CCT) to teach

their expatriates the host country’s appropriate norms and behaviors.

Cross-Cultural Training

• Cross-cultural training is defined as any planned intervention

designed to increase the knowledge and skills of expatriates to live

and work effectively and achieve general life satisfaction in an

unfamiliar host culture

• CCT has been advocated as a means of facilitating effective cross-

cultural interactions and cross-cultural adjustment

• In the early 1980s, only 32% of MNCs offered CCT. Almost 20 years

later, the 1998 Global Relocation Trends Survey Report indicates that

70% of the 177 MNCs surveyed provide CCT of at least one day’s

duration

• Cross-cultural training effectiveness is reflected by the cognitive,

affective, and behavioral changes that occur during the CCT event.

• In order to improve the effectiveness of CCT programs, or to

maximize the change that occurs during training, it is important to

follow a systematic approach to designing effective CCT programs.

• The process for designing effective CCT programs consists of five distinct phases:

1. Identify the type of global assignment for which CCT is needed.2. Determine the specific cross-cultural training needs.3. Establish the goals and measures for determining training

effectiveness.4. Develop and deliver the CCT program.5. Evaluate whether the CCT program was effective.

PHASE 1 – IDENTIFY THE TYPE OF GLOBAL ASSIGNMENT

• Caligiuri describes a classification of global assignments into four categories:

1. Technical2. Functional/tactical3. Developmental/high potential4. Strategic/executive

PHASE 2 – CONDUCT A CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS

• A cross-cultural training needs analysis is conducted across three levels:

1. The organizational level, to determine the organizational context for CCT

2. The individual (or expatriate) level, to determine any special needs that have to be addressed in CCT for a given person; and

3. The assignment level, to determine the cross-cultural knowledge and skills required to effectively complete the given assignment.

PHASE 3 – ESTABLISH CCT GOALS AND MEASURES

• Cross-cultural training goals should be stated in detailed and measurable terms.

• Detailed and measurable training goals help develop appropriate outcomes for training evaluation.

• Short-term CCT goals can bring about cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes

• The long-term goal of many CCT programs is to improve the rate of cross-cultural adjustment.

• Improving cross-cultural adjustment is important for all expatriates and would generalize across assignments.

• Likewise, improved success on the global assignment may be another generalized long-term goal with the specific dimensions, of course, being job specific.

PHASE 4 – DEVELOP AND DELIVER THE CCT PROGRAM

• This phase involves determining the specific instructional content needed in order to achieve the stated goal, the methods to deliver the instructional content, and the sequencing of the training sessions.

PHASE 5 – EVALUATE CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING

• The evaluation process involves establishing measures of effectiveness (criteria), and developing research designs to determine what changes (e.g. cognitive, affective, and behavioral) have occurred during the training.

• Criteria must be established for both evaluation of short-term, and long-term goals.

• The appropriate evaluation criteria should also be assessed prior to the delivery of CCT to provide some type of comparison bases for post-training assessment. In addition evaluation strategies need to be developed during phase 3, that is, the decision on how to evaluate CCT’s short-term and long-term goals needs to be made at the same time as these goals are established.

Country Management Style

Business Structures

Teams Communication Styles

Women at workplace

Japan •information flow from the bottomto the top•senior management having a largely supervisory approach•The key task for a Japanese manager is to provide the environment in which the group can flourish.

• The concept of life-time employment is a myth.•Hierarchically organized companies•Group orientation and team working.•hierarchy is based on consensus and co-operation

• group-oriented teams•direct confrontation is avoided.•group members must be seen to be modest and humble.•The group is a life-defining set of relationships.

• what one says does not will not be what he actually means•body language is very minimal•Emotionless and higly formal behaviour.•It is rare for any reaction or emotion to be visible.

•there remains a strong unspoken discrimination towards women in the workplace.•expected to perform lower grade tasks and to leave employment upon marriage or the birth of children.

China •management style tends towards the directive•Manager –Subordinate is a mutually beneficial two-way relationship.

•highly hierarchical•operational structures, chains of command, management style etc. tend to be hierarchical

• consensus-oriented•individual needs and desires being sublimated to the greater good of the whole.

•Saying 'no' causes both embarrassment and loss of face •very limited amount of visual body language

•Officially, women have the same rights as men in the workplace•Women are found in reasonably senior roles in large Chinese organizations


Business Structures


Women at workplace

South Korea

•leadership is hierarchical and paternalistic

•consensus decision-making in certain situations•work and private are not separated

•Centralisation and vertical hierarchy•informal structures exist within the organization giving rise to internal power mechanisms

•Group orientation

•loyal team players in ideal situations

•vagueness of meaning:•'no' = poor etiquette •'yes‘ ='I have heard you‘ , not always agreeing.•Slouching/overly expressive body gestures can be disconcerting.

•women work as secretaries or in poorly paid assembly line positions•Not treated at par with men


Business Structures


Women at workplace

Singapore •Managers tend to be older •Managers delegate decisions to their teams and expect it to be respected•Performance culture

•Traditional, family-run businesses are common•Hierarchical structure•Centralized decision making

•Group oriented•Decisions are team ones and therefore success or failure is also team oriented

•English is widely used •'no' is a difficult word •Disagreement can affect the harmony thus 'no' becomes, 'Yes, but it might be difficult' •Humor is best avoided•Formal Style

•women have have achieved much in the business arena•expected to keep a very professional, almost distant relationship with male colleagues•Eye contact should be minimal and proper distances observed


Business Structures


Women at workplace

training and development of international staff

Education