Relevance of International Human Resource Management

Relevance of International Human Resource Management The study of International Human Resource Management is fine if you are going to work in a large Multinational Enterprise, but has no relevance for individuals who are going to work in small firms. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons and appropriate examples to support your answer. This paper sets out to show that the study of international human resource management is of benefit to individuals who are going to work in small firms whether in a management or worker capacity . It is noted that a â€Å"small firm† may or may not be multinational and for the purpose of this discussion it is assumed that the inference is that they are not. This paper will demonstrate that through showing that an appreciation of different approaches to work there can be benefits for the individual employee and the manager. Further benefits will be seen through demonstrating that strict adherence to accepted national customs and culture can have a negative effect on business success. There will also be a discussion on how individuals and businesses need to be aware of the increasingly multicultural nature of the British workforce. To open this debate it is necessary to define what is meant by the term â€Å"international human resource management†. Investigation into the term suggests that the emphasis lies on how to operate the human resource management function in multinational businesses and that it is concerned with the similarities and differences of managing in different countries and how to integrate a business culture across international boundaries. However, it is found that little attention is given to the fact that the UK has an increasingly multinational workforce and whilst they may be subject to the systems, procedures and laws of the UK, they way they think and operate is strongly affected by their personal national culture which may vary significantly to that of the UK. The BBC reports that â€Å"(a) record 582,000 people came to live in the UK from elsewhere in the world in 2004, according to government expertsâ€Å" (BBC 2005, p. not given). They further suggest that this influx is necessary to help the UK economy grow as the majority of these migrants have come to the country to work. The Times newspaper supports this in reporting that â€Å"Britain needed workers for 600,000 vacancies, including low-paid jobs that were often difficult to fillâ€Å" and goes on to say that â€Å"(e)mployers are aggressively recruiting staff from other countries† (Nugent et al 2004, page not given). They also found that 96% of these migrants were employed in full time work (Nugent et al 2004). This shows that the UK workforce is becoming increasingly multinational and diverse. The main arguments for the increase in awareness of international human resource management would seem to stress the pressures on managers working in multinational businesses. As an example of this, Trompenaars et al tell us that â€Å"(i)nternational managers have it tough. They must operate on a number of different premises at any one time. These premises arise from their culture of origin, the culture in which they are working and the culture of the organisation which employs them† (Trompenaars et al 1997, p. 3). However, the writer would argue that the same challenges also face those working in a solely UK based business as they become increasingly likely to be working with and for colleagues who originate from countries other than the UK and have different cultural expectations. To be able to ensure that the working relationship between groups is a productive and positive one, each individual would benefit from an understanding of some aspects of international human resou rce management especially in the area of culture where attitudes towards leadership, motivation, and pay and recognition may vary. A further benefit of awareness of different human resource management practices may be the realisation that UK based businesses may be able to adopt positive aspects of other countries work practices and cultures. Mullins (2005) states, there are benefits to be found in a business looking at how it’s national culture may be limiting their ability to be strategically competitive. He continues by citing Trompenaars who felt that his own work â€Å"helped managers to structure their experiences and provided insights for them and their organisations into the real source of problems faced when managing across cultures or dealing with diversity† (Trompenaars 1999, p. 31. cited in Mullins 2005, p. 43). Against the argument for individuals who are going to work in a small firm studying international human resource management is the range of areas such a topic covers. International human resource managers need to have an appreciation of the laws and policies of the countries their employer operates in and whilst this may of interest to a UK employee, it is not an area they would automatically be able to influence or change. This brings us to the questions of whether rather than international human resource management, what we are discussing is the management of diversity both from the point of view of a manager who supervises the work of a multicultural workforce or the case of an individual worker whose colleagues originate from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Brooks supports this point and states that â€Å"(d)ifferences in national culture may have a bearing on how organisations deal with each other and also on behaviour within organisations which comprise a mix of nationalities† (Brooks 2003, p. 264). Francesco and Gold say that â€Å"managers must develop organizational systems that are flexible enough to take into account the meaning of work and the relative value of rewards within the range of cultures where they operate† (Francesco et al 1998, p. 144) and whilst when saying this, they meant it to be applied to multinational organisations, the same can be said to be true of those working in a multicultural environment nationally based. Mullins agrees with this in saying that â€Å"there are a number of very good reasons why we could usefully understand cultural differences (and similarity) at work, based on new awareness contributing to our own effectiveness and moreover to the accomplishment of organisational goals† (Mullins 2005, p. 44). He goes on to say that â€Å"there could therefore be advantages of cross-cultural awareness which include: increased self-awareness; sensitivity to difference; questioning our own assumptions and knowledge; lessening ignorance , prejudice and hatred† (Mullins 2005, p. 44). As an example, a manager with a predominantly British cultural background may need to adapt their motivational techniques for individuals from cultures where recognition through praise is more highly regarded than a financial bonus. From the writers own experience, a common UK practice of publicising individual performance levels was found to be highly demotivating and a source of unease amongst a predominantly Asian workforce. Adler suggests there are inbuilt dangers where multi-cultural teams operate â€Å"(m)istrust including stereotyping; miscommunication with potential for reduced accuracy and resultant stress; process difficulties, that is failure to agree when agreement is needed or even what constitutes agreement when arriving at decisions† (Adler 1997, cited in Mullins 2005, p. 44). To overcome these potential issues, there must be an understanding and appreciation of the human resource management systems of other cultures as these will influence the work expectations and practices of the workforce. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) see the embracing if diversity as being crucial. They say that â€Å"(t)oday, many organisations are out-thinking and outperforming their competitors by using diversity as a strategy for ensuring long-term success and advantageâ€Å" (CIPD date not known page not given). They support his view by adding that â€Å"(i)n the face of changing demographics, a narrowing talent pool and an increasingly global marketplace, nurturing the creativity, innovation and hidden potential of organisations is vital† (CIPD date not known page not given). A further aspect to be considered is the legal requirement for companies to embrace diversity in their workforce. Since the 1970s there has been an increasing amount of legislation in the UK relating to pay equality and sex and racial discrimination. However, a CIPD survey found that 68% of respondents gave â€Å"legal pressures† as the key driver for diversity in their business (CIPD 2006, p. 3) suggesting rather than an appreciation of the business benefits of embracing diversity, the importance placed on these issues is due more to a fear of the negative publicity and costs associated with legal action as a result of discrimination. The concept of international human resource management has been seen to be mainly the concern of individuals who are to intend to operate across geographical boundaries. It has been demonstrated however that there are many aspects of the subject that are not only applicable to those intending to work for a small firm, but could also benefit them in being able to encourage cultural diversity and adopt good practice from other countries. The increasingly multi national workforce in the UK and the introduction of legislation relating to diversity means that employers and employees must have an awareness of the areas of international human resource management that relate to understanding and embracing cultural differences. References and bibliography. Adler, N.J. (2001). International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. California, USA: South-Western College Publishing. BBC. (2005). Record immigration levels to UK. Accessed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4359756.stm on 7/03/2007. Brooks, I. (2003). Organisational Behaviour: Individuals Groups and Organisations. 2nd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall FT. CIPD. (date not known).The Psychology of Diversity. Accessed at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/CMSTraining/Psychology+of+Management/Psychology+of+Management/PCD.htm on 7/03/2007. CIPD (2002). New research shows international HR managers create global culture. Accessed at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/_articles/20092002135000.htm?IsSrchRes=1 on 9/02/2007. CIPD. (2003). HR’s Contribution to International Mergers and Acquisitions. London: CIPD. CIPD. (2006). Diversity in Business: How Much Progress have Employers Made. First Findings. London: CIPD. Francesco, A. M. Gold, B. A. (1998). International Organizational Behavior: Texts, Readings, Cases and Skills. Harlow: Prentice Hall FT Lucas, R. Lupton, B. Mathieson, H. (2007). Human Resources Management in an International Context. London: CIPD. Markides, C. Geroski, P.(2003). â€Å"Colonizers and consolidators: the two cultures of corporate strategy† in Strategy and Business. Fall Vol 32 p 46-55. Mullins, L.J. (2005). Management and Organisational Behaviour. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Nugent, H. Tendler, S. Patty, A. (2004). Foreign workers snap up the jobs that Britons on benefit reject. Times newspaper. November 11, 2004. Trompenaars, F. Hampden-Turner, C. (1997). Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd. Trompenaars, F. (1999). Trans-Culture Competence. People Management, 22nd April, p. 31. Trompenaars, F. Hampden-Turner, C. (2004). Managing People Across Cultures. Oxford: Capstone Publishing Ltd.

The Problem with 6 Digits Dating

What started of as a noble act of saving some memory space turned out to be a quake, capable of trembling the world to its core. When maiden inventors set the year with two digits instead of four, little did they realize that by 1st January 2000 it would cause arithmetic delinquencies and confuses the entire system. For example, a bank transaction on the 25th of July 1997 would be recorded as 07/25/97. Many software add the value 1900 to the two digits code to calculate the actual year. A credit card charged on 1st of January 2000 would have to bear the interest of 99 years because the transaction date would read 01/01/00. This means the computers assume that the same transaction took place on 01/01/1900. Another major problem with six digits dating occurs when we tend to compare the pre and post – 2000 dates. For example, 01/09/99 and 01/01/00, when converted into a simple code they would read 990901 and 000101 respectively. Obviously 990901 is older than 000101, which in reality is not true. As the computers cannot process the current date as year 2000 marches in, it is also unable to calculate the leap year. All years divisible by 4 is considered as a leap year except for centuries. A century will be considered as a leap year only if it is divisible by 400. For example, 1996 is considered as a leap year because it is divisible by 4 (1996 4 = 499) wherelse 1997 is not (1997/4 = 499.25). On the hand the hand, 1900 is not a leap year for it is not divisible by 400 (1900/400=4.75). Year 2000 is a leap year for it is divisible by 400 (2000/400 = 5) (with reference to explanation from: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/RGO/leaflets/leapyear/leapyear.html). As we step into the year 2000, existing computers will not be able to differentiate the two digits year anymore. The â€Å"00† date field might be assumed as 1900 instead of 2000. Thus calculations that involve a date would provide wrong answers. On the 1st of January 2000, computers will define this day as 01/01/00 and regards the year as 1900, leaving us 99 years behind time. This will interrupt public services, bank transactions, loan interest calculations and many more, causing formidable loss of billions of dollars. Only a few systems could be spared from the Y2K and it has been estimated that there are 500 billion lines of application code worldwide, with some 85% of which needs to be corrected. Various reports stated that by the turn of the millennium, as much as 50% of all businesses which failed to address the year 2000 challenge would fall apart. Besides being deadly, expensive and extensive, the year 2000 problem affects hardware (BIOS, real-time clocks), embedded firmware, languages and compilers, operating systems, random number generators, database management systems, transaction-processing systems, banking systems, PBX, flight scheduling and any other system that deals with dates. Surfing the net would prove that the Y2K's awareness level is growing with more more sites dedicated to this problem. Managers and IT resources are becoming heavy-hearted thinking about their future as 31st December 1999 rolls in. Knowing that there is going to be an IT disaster does not help much especially when there are few resources to handle the problem. A rough estimation to create solutions for the Y2K issue concentrated on something like US $400 -600 billion dollars worldwide. An additional 200,000 COBOL programmers will also be required. Organizations are not the only ones that are going to suffer from the virulent millennium bug, it can be anyone, even a personal computer user.

Religion and Irish Society Essay

Religion and Irish society Ireland has long been recognised as a country whose culture, laws and way of life are predominantly influenced by its heavy catholic ethos. The passing of both the civil partnerships bill and the divorce referendum, the growing number of non denominational ‘educate together’ schools and the ready availability of contraception in recent years are all excellent examples of how our country is evolving to become on a par with our international counterparts. There can be no argueing that our generation are growing up in a much more diverse and open minded society that that of our parents. However, the arguably oppressive values of the Catholic Church are still widely enforced and adhered to in many aspects of our society. At the tender age of four it is thus that as a child living in Ireland, one would be enrolled into a catholic national school. With educate together schools only dotted around the country, making up on 58 of the 3300 primary schools; this is largely due to the fact that there is no other convinient or in fact possible option for parents. Having attended a catholic national school from 1996 until 2004, my experience of the teaching of religion was not one which explained to me the wide range of religions that prevail worldwide, or indeed the possibility of choosing not to follow one. Class masses and visits from the parish priest were regular. The control that the Catholic Church has over what is and isn’t taught in secondary school is however something I feel to be a more serious and pressing issue. It is only in recent years that health education classes have been allowed to address the issue of contraception with teens, an issue of the upmost importance concerning health. It is still required that teachers make it clear that the roman catholic church does not allow protected sex or sex prior to marriage. The divorce referendum which took place in Ireland in 1995 was subject to worldwide media coverage. Having been so famous for its rock solid catholic values, the idea that we would allow the religious sacrament of marriage to be reverted was one that not everyone could grasp. The rejection of this bill in the tenth amendment of the constitution in 1986 made this all the more controversial. This was not refined to outside of our borders either – with the bill passing by a miniscule margin of only 9,114 votes out of 1. 62 million cast, 50. 3% for versus 49. % against. The passing of this bill was enormous – a clear indication of just how many people were becoming increasingly comfortable with turning away from their catholic upbringing in favour of what they themselves considered to be a pro-people constitution. So whilst there can be no doubt that Ireland has come on in leaps and bounds in recent time, we still have a long way to if we are truly determined to instil an o pen mind upon this country, making sure that we allow our population to grow and develop in its own right, Independent from.

An Inside Look at Rwanda Essays - 1195 Words

Rwanda is one of the smaller countries in Africa located south of the equator in Central/ Eastern Africa. It has a number of lakes, the largest being Lake Kivu. Mountains cut through the majority of Central and Western Rwanda, its Eastern border, however consists of swamps, savannas and plains. Rwanda is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country is home to various cultures and languages such as Kinyarwanda (Bantu) and French. Although mostly recovered, the devastation of the 1994 genocide still plagues the country. This included the mass killings of Rwandans led by the political elite name Akazu. The Tutsi’s, one of the two major cultures in Rwanda, population was drastically affected by the†¦show more content†¦This lead to the Rwandan Civil War. The Civil War occurred from October 1st, 1990 to August 4th, 1993 between the government of President Juvenal Habyarimana and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) is the current ruling party in Rwanda led by president Paul Kagame, who took office in 2000. The Civil War ended with the signing of the Arusha Accords, which established a power-sharing government in which both parties shared equal power. This lead to the most apparent conflict in Rwanda was the Genocide of 1994 killing 20% of total population and 70% of the Tutsis. This was the beginning of the RPF taking the offensive once more. The genocide was planned out by a political elite named Akazu, who held high government occupations. (usaid.gov) The date of the Rwandan genocide was April 7th, 1994 to mid July. The perpetrators in the mass murder were the Rwandan army, the national police, government backed militias including Interhame and Impuzamungambi, and Hutu civilians. During this time some half a million to a million Rwandans in both the Tutsi and Hutu were mass murdered, wiping out 20% of the population. 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