Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

MANAGING A GLOBAL WORKFORCE, focuses on the role of the HR professional in…

- - - - Guidelines to Enhance Global Assignment Success, step
        1.View assignments as a process, not an activity.
        
        Recognize and consider all dimensions of the assignment experience
        
        Conduct thorough and professional assessments of candidates.
        
        Establish and maintain realistic expectations.
        
        Provide training.
        
        Provide appropriate health and safety support.
        
        Provide well-planned, ongoing training and support.
        
        Plan, prepare for, and support repatriation with the same care as expatriation.
        
        Address problems quickly, thoroughly, and responsively.
      - Schell and Solomon’s Management Knowledge Guidelines
        Managers should know as much as possible about:
        
        The country or countries to which they are sending assignees.
        
        Essential developmental assignments and experiences.
        
        The specific job function and assignment objectives and what effects the assignment location will have on these factors.
        
        The process of cross-cultural adjustment to anticipate the feelings the assignee may experience.
        
        Cultural dimensions and the effect these dimensions have on the way different cultures look at life.
        
        Potential problem areas associated with the assignment.
      - Checklist for Effective Assignment Management
        
        Use additional selection criteria (beyond fluency in the host language and technical skills). Evaluate assignment candidates as well on key traits such as flexibility and adaptability.
        
        Make cultural adaptability training for assignee and spouse part of the selection process.
        
        Mandate cross-cultural training for assignees and their families to reduce the risk of failed assignments, to manage expectations, and to facilitate adjustment and performance.
        
        Ensure that the international assignment policy is clear and specific.
        
        Begin repatriation planning and succession management before the assignee leaves the home country and continue it at least one full year before the end of the assignment.
        
        Maintain a point of contact for assignees while on assignment.
        
        Provide repatriation integration training for the assignee and family.
        
        Use experientially derived pre- and on-arrival international assignment orientation programs for all inbound employees who are visiting headquarters as well as for all outbound employees visiting international operations.
        
        Create policies, counseling, and management systems that span the process from pre-departure planning through on-site management to completion and repatriation.
        
        During the international assignment, develop and implement ongoing programs that foster and retain intercultural competencies and global knowledge management practices.
        
        Begin post-assignment debriefing before the assignee returns from the assignment and immediately upon return. Use debriefing information to establish a database of relevant learning.
        
        Link social responsibility and ethics. Develop programs that foster ethical conduct and support of the local community. Tie ethical values directly to accountability in practice.
        
        Comply with applicable labor standards, laws, and regulations that affect the business in different parts of the world, including national and extraterritorial laws.
  - - - Redeployment does not always involve repatriation. An assignee’s next assignment can be back in the home country, in a different global location, or in a new location or new position in the current host country.
        :green_cross:Repatriated employees have a critical role to play in global organizations
        :red_cross: assignees may go through an adjustment cycle that is very similar to the one they experienced upon their initial arrival in the host country
        :check: Org should provide
        
        Adequate notice that the assignment is ending.
        
        A clear repatriation plan.
        
        Assurance that the skills and experience the assignee acquired during the assignment will be used effectively in his or her new assignment.
        
        Repatriation support services (which may range from mentoring and counseling to logistical support and compensation and benefit adjustments).
      - Repatriation
        involves reintegrating the employee back into the home country after an international assignment. It includes adjustment to the new job and readjustment to the home culture and conditions (including any potential reverse culture shock).
- - - - ETHNOCENTRIC
        
        Headquarters maintains tight control over subsidiaries, who are expected to follow the strategic pattern, values, policies, and practices expressed by headquarters.
        
        There is “one best way.”
        
        Management will usually share a common ethnic background, different from the ethnic make-up of subsidiaries
      - POLYCENTRIC
        
        Subsidiaries are allowed a large measure of independence as long as they are profitable.
        
        They may plot their own paths based on the business and cultural contexts of their countries.
        
        There are “many best ways.”
      - REGIOCENTRIC
        
        Subsidiaries are grouped into regions (such as Europe, North America, or Asia-Pacific).
        
        Strategic coordination is high within the region but not as high between the region and headquarters.
      - GEOCENTRIC
        
        Subsidiaries are neither satellites taking orders nor independent bodies setting their own course. Headquarters and subsidiaries are participants in a network, each contributing its unique expertise.
        
        There is essentially “a team way,” transcending national borders.
  - - - New markets: When domestic market opportunities are exhausted, organizations look overseas for new customers and opportunities.
      - Cost pressures and competition:Globalization has become a way to cut costs and maintain profitability—for example, through offshoring for labor or to move production closer to markets.
      - Natural resources and talent supply: Sometimes it is more economical to relocate operations closer to new sources of necessary resources
      - Government policies: Relocation may be due to burdensome laws or regulations or may exploit opportunities only available in other markets/regions
      - Trade agreements: When foreign competitors gain access to domestic markets, local firms are compelled to expand their markets elsewhere
      - Globalized supply chain: Organizations might discover that following a client or customer overseas makes more business sense than maintaining domestic or existing production/facilities
    - - Government policies: National policies that promote economic expansion (for example, China’s “Going Out” policy)—could include tax incentives, special financing terms, or investor risk insulation.
      - Strategic control: A multinational presence can give an organization greater control over its business (production, branding, sector consolidation, etc.).
      - Trade agreements: These agreements can open markets and promote workforce mobility; they can also lower risks by enforcing laws, regulations, and treaties (for example, intellectual property protections).
  - - - People. A focus on alignment helps to ensure that decisions made locally reflect the global perspective.
        Assignees, employees who work outside their home countries, have traditionally played a significant role in carrying the message and focus from headquarters into the organization’s global locations.
      - Processes. Standardized processes, supported by technology that enables communication and transparency, support organizational control over strategic parts of the value chain.
      - Performance. Performance targets and rewards are defined from a global perspective.
      - Culture. Shared visions and values prepare members of the organization to make everyday decisions in a manner that is consistent with a global identity.
    - - MARKET
        
        Homogeneity of customer needs
        
        Availability of global distribution networks
        
        Opportunities for shared marketing
      - COST
        
        Economies of scale
        
        Transportation costs
        
        R&D costs
        
        Transferable technology advantages
      - GOVERNMENTAL
        
        Trade policies
        
        Technical standards and requirements
        
        Regulatory climates
      - COMPETITIVE
        
        Extent and methods of globalization by industry competitors
    - - TRANSNATIONAL globalization structure = HIGH GI + HIGH LR
        The firm locates its value chain activities in the most advantageous geographic locations. Subsidiaries are allowed to adapt global products and services to local markets. Best practices and knowledge are shared throughout the organization.
        :check: strong link between HR & subsidiaries & among subsidiaries
      - GLOBAL = HIGH GI + LOW LR
        The firm views the world as a single global market and offers global products that have little or no national variation or that have been designed with customizable elements. Strategy, ideas, and processes emanate from headquarters.
        :check: Strong links between HQ & subsidiaries
      - INTERNATIONAL = LOW GI + LOW LR
        A firm exports a product or service to foreign countries. The company may open production facilities or service centers, but the product/service, processes, and strategy are developed in the home country.
        :check: Weak links between HQ & dependent subsidiaries
      - MULTIDOMESTIC = LOW GI + HIGH LR
        The organization is a decentralized portfolio of subsidiaries. Goals and strategies are developed locally because of competitive demands. Knowledge is shared on a local rather than global level.
        :check: Weak links between HR & autonomous subsidiaries
    - - Upstream and Downstream Strategies by Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique
        
        UPSTREAM
        
        Decisions are made at the organization’s headquarters level.
        
        Decisions apply to strategy and coordination and focus on standardization of processes and integration of resources
        :check: Strategies for:. Workforce alignment, Organizational development, Sharing of knowledge and experience
        
        DOWNSTREAM
        
        Decisions are made at the local level.
        
        Decisions aim at adapting strategic goals and plans to local realities—in other words, local responsiveness.
        :check: Strategies for: Agreements with local workforce groups,Adjustments to standard policies on working conditions to reflect local cultural practices (for example, holidays and break times), Adjustments based on local legal requirements
      - Identity Alignment and Process Alignment by Kyle Lundby and :!:A key point of the identity/process distinction is that a given organization can have a diverse identity alignment but an integrated process alignment, or vice versa
        
        IDENTIFY ALIGNMENT
        Extent to which:
        
        Diversity is embraced in management of people, products/services, and branding.
        
        Differences among locations are embraced.
        
        Product/service offerings and brand identity may be adjusted to accommodate local cultures.
        :warning: CHALLENGES
        
        Unless corporate brand is well-established, localized offerings may dilute brand.
        
        Local approaches may diffuse core identity.
        
        PROCESS ALIGNMENT
        Extent to which underlying operations such as IT, finance, or HR integrate across locations.
        :warning: CHALLENGES: Businesses built through acquisitions often have separate processes; tendency is for each unit to operate independently and retain many of its original practices.
  - - - Common reasons for offshoring include
        :green_cross:Lower costs
        :green_cross:Closer proximity to necessary production resources
        :green_cross: More favorable economic climate for corporate taxation
        :green_cross:Financial incentives
        :green_cross:Other by Paula Caligiuri, David Lepak, and Jaime Bonache
        
        Access to talent.
        
        Round-the-clock shifts. Having offshore shifts operating 24 hours a day can improve efficiency and reduce costs of operations
        
        Follow the sun. By taking advantage of time zone differences, work can proceed on a given project without interruption
      - :warning: RISK & CHALLENGES
        
        Cultural differences.
        
        Distance issues (for example, different time zones and getting remote teams to work together).
        
        High turnover rates.
        
        Problems in quality control.
        
        Technical degrees that do not reliably indicate actual technical skills.
        
        Language issues.
        
        Intellectual property loss.
        
        Impaired productivity due to political instability.
        
        Loss of reputation from unethical behavior or practices of local management.
    - - Cost and quality
        
        Wage structure relative to other options
        
        Tax structure
        
        Real estate
        
        Infrastructure (examples include telecommunications networks, transportation, energy)
      - Sociopolitical environment
        
        Government receptivity, amount of regulation
        
        Ethical environment of political and business communities
        
        Quality of life
        
        Accessibility
      - Risk levels
        
        Political and labor unrest
        
        Natural disasters
        
        IT security
        
        Personal and property security, intellectual property rights
        
        Economic stability, including fluctuations in currency exchange value- Regulatory stability
      - Talent pool
        
        Language and cultural differences
        
        Size of labor force with required skills
        
        Size of offshore sector and share of exports
        
        Availability of vendors for specific services, such as IT
    - - IMMIGRATION
        
        Stay connected. HR professionals should ensure that they keep abreast of any news, changes, and developments in immigration and global employment regulations
        
        Track employees. It is important for all organizations to have a system for tracking their employees’ immigration status and their location
        
        Conduct self-audits. HR should commit to periodically auditing its own processes and practices and also examining the experience of employees who are working with visas, are overseas, and so forth
        
        Consider legal advice. In some circumstances, immigration law might be opaque
      - GLOBAL JOB CLASSFICATIONS
        
        HR professionals will have to become familiar with global job classifications and implement a job-leveling scale for their organization
        
        Understanding global job classifications allows HR professionals to more clearly identify the relative value of a job position in the organization, regardless of where the work is done or local conventions
        
        HR can use industry-recognized job classifications or grades, or it might create its own depending on the nature of the work that the organization does.
      - BUSINESS TRAVEL
        
        Organization’s travel risk management plan include
        
        Communication. The plan should include procedures for communicating the necessary contents of the plan and procedures to all relevant stakeholders
        
        Legal considerations. The plan should include information on the legal considerations related to business travel
        
        Duty of care. The plan should include details relating to duty-of-care provisions
        
        Compliance checks. The plan should include checks to ensure that the traveling employee is adhering to the organization’s travel policies, visa obligations, and local laws
        
        Travel reviews. The plan should include post-travel reviews to confirm that travel policies and requirements were followed and also to assess whether the employee was provided with appropriate and relevant resources and information
        
        Travel orientation to employee
        
        Logistics. The employee will need to be informed about any visa and passport requirements for the trip and will possibly need to fill out some paperwork
        
        Medical. The employee should be provided with information related to medical and travel insurance coverage, relevant medical information (hospital locations, emergency phone numbers), and local and organizational contacts if an emergency should arise
        
        Security. In some situations, the employee will need to be briefed on the local political situation, environmental considerations (extreme weather, cold or hot climates), and what this might mean for their trip and safety
        
        Expectations. HR should make it clear to employees how they are expected to comport themselves on their trip
      - COE
        
        Managing and improving policies and procedures related to management of compensation (payroll, salary planning, incentives, etc.).
        
        Managing and improving employee personal and financial welfare (for example, leaves of absence, vacation allowance, health services, income protection, and retirement planning)
        
        Managing and improving labor relations to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and respectfully (for example, ensuring that policies comply with local, national, and international laws and regulations).
        
        Managing and improving employee development, training, engagement, and retention policies and procedures.