PCTE GROUP OF INSTITUTES

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

COURSE MODULE
Course Instructor: Manpreet Mann
Instructor Code: MK
Course Name: International HRM
Course Code: MBA 967
Email: manpreet@pcte.in.edu

Why Study the course of International HRM ?

Managing across cultures not a new phenomenon, but it is more important now than ever before. For Centuries travellers, traders, explorers,
conquerors, colonizers, knowledge seekers (students and scholars), job seekers, asylum seekers, and employees, and managers of
international organizations have travelled across borders and they have had to come with the terms and demands of living in different
societies and experiencing new cultures.
They had to manage themselves and manage others, when necessary, in tougher and more hostile environments than today. Many empires
were built on part of their efficient management of resources across cultures. One main reason of their demise/failure was conflict resulting
from misunderstanding or not cross-cultural differences.

COURSE OUTCOME

“To be able to Manage cross cultural changes across different countries and be able to do business with
Organisations/Clients/Partners/Colleagues belonging to different Cultures and Countries’’

1. To understand the real and exact meaning of culture.

2. Learn how people from different cultures behave differently in different business scenarios.
3. Impact of cultural differences on companies and products and business development.
4. To enable an individual to adapt and respond to various cultural changes.
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The course structure

UNIT- I

 Introduction to cross cultural management

 Understanding Culture
 Culture dimensions.
 Significance and impact of cross culture on organizations
 Role of culture in Strategic Decision- Making.
 Influence of National Culture on Organizational Culture
 Shift in Culture: significance of shift in Culture
 Influence of economic factors and foreign intervention on shifts in local cultures
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UNIT-II

 Comparing Culture: Cultural and behavioural differences in different countries

 Models for comparing culture-
o Hofstede
o Edward T Hall Study
o GLOBE, Kluchohm
o Stoodbeck ,
 Cultural Adaptation through Sensitivity Training
 Political, Legal, Economic, Ecological, Technological challenges Facing Business and their Management.

UNIT- III

 Cross Cultural Human Resources Management – Staffing and Training for Global Operations
 Global Staffing Choices – Expatriates or Local Managers
 Dynamics of Cross-Cultural leadership
 Managing and motivating multi culture Teams
 Cross –cultural Negotiation & Decision making
 Culture and Dispute
 Resolution of Conflicts and Disputes in cross culture context
 Negotiations across culture
 Cross –culture Negotiation Process with two illustrations from multi-cultural context {India-Europe / India –US
setting, for instance}
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UNIT- IV

 Cross-culture ethics:
 Ethics values across cultures and Ethics dilemma,
 Overview of culture and management in Asia
 (India, China and Japan), (US. and Europe).

The course break-up

Session Lecture Topic Case Videos Class Test Work

No Studies
Week 1 1 Introductory Lecture
2 A brief about the subject
3 Introduction to cross cultural management
4 Understanding Culture Video on culture:
TED TALK BY
SSABBA SAFDAR
5 Culture Dimensions Class test 1
Week2 6 Significance and impact of cross culture on
organizations

7 Significance and impact of cross culture on

organizations
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8 Role of culture in Strategic Decision making

9 Role of culture in Strategic Decision making

10 Influence of National Culture on Organizational
Culture
Week 3 11 Influence of National Culture on Organizational Comparison of
Culture different states in
India and
difference in work
cultures and how
nationalism plays
a role at country
level.
12 Shift in Culture: significance of shift in Culture Examples of
international
working
standards.
13 Shift in Culture: significance of shift in Culture Videos

A case study on
14 Influence of economic factors and foreign Saudi Arabia and
intervention on shifts in local cultures how to do
business in SA.

15 Influence of economic factors and foreign d/o

intervention on shifts in local cultures

Week 4 16 Comparing Culture: Cultural and behavioural

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differences in different countries

17 Model for comparing culture- Hofstede All the models will

be covered by
showing videos
and examples
18 Model for comparing culture- Edward T Hall
Study

19 Model for comparing culture- GLOBE,

Kluchohm

20 Model for comparing culture- Stoodbeck

Week 5 21 Cultural Adaptation through Sensitivity Training Case study from
managing across
cultures book by
Pearson.
22 Cultural Adaptation through Sensitivity Training A video on
training .
23 Political, Legal, Economic, Ecological,
Technological challenges Facing Business and
their Management.

24 Political, Legal, Economic, Ecological,

Technological challenges Facing Business and
their Management.
25 Political, Legal, Economic, Ecological,
Technological challenges Facing Business and
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DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

their Management.
Week 6 26 Cross Cultural Human Resources Management Policies of
– Staffing and Training for Global Operations recruitments of
different
organisations
national /
international.
27 Cross Cultural Human Resources Management d/o
– Staffing and Training for Global Operations

28 Staffing Choices – Expatriates or Local Studying articles

Managers regarding
expatriates and
problem faced by
them.
29 Dynamics of Cross-Cultural leadership Indra Nooyi is the
best stated
example
30 Dynamics of Cross-Cultural leadership
31 Managing and motivating multi culture Teams Indra Nooyi and
Chanda Kocher

Week 7
32 Managing and motivating multi culture Teams

33 Cross –cultural Negotiation & Decision making Tata group

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acquiring Jaguar
34 Cross –cultural Negotiation & Decision making

35 Culture and Dispute France (burka)and

Saudi Arabia
(driving cars
women)
Week 8 36 Resolution of Conflicts and Disputes in cross
culture context

37 Resolution of Conflicts and Disputes in cross

culture context

38 Cross Cultural Ethics

39
Ethic values across cultures and ethic dilemma

40 Overview of culture and management in Asia.

Week 9 41 India Read about

Indian Culture
and compare it
with the other
countries in Asia
42 China Read about China
Culture and
compare it with
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the other
countries in Asia
43 Japan Read about Japan
Culture and
compare it with
the other
countries in Asia
44 USA and Europe
45 REVISION

Course Evaluation Criteria

TOTAL MARKS BREAKUP
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Maximum Marks = 100

INTERNAL
ASSESMENT
40%
EXTERNAL
ASSESMENT
60%

INTERNAL ASSESMENT BREAK UP

Presentation: 20 marks
Mid Semester Exams: 60 marks
Hourly Tests:20
Projects:20
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Class Tests
Participation Marks

Class Room Policies

 Minimum 75% attendance is compulsory for every student in the class

 Students can enter the class and get their attendance marked till the teacher is taking attendance. After that students will be allowed to sit in
the class but no attendance will be given.
 No compensation or extra lectures will be taken at the end of the semester to complete the attendance
 In case of emergency students must get the leave approved from the instructor before going on leave.
 Using of a Mobile Phone is STRICTLY not allowed. If any student is found using one in class, the mobile phone will be confiscated and will be
returned at the will of the teacher. The teacher will not be responsible for loss or damage; therefore, it is advisable not to use it in class.
 Missing out on a presentation will lead to failing the internals of this subject.
 There should be a clear flow of information between the students and the course in charge therefore every student should be a part of the
official WhatsApp group, if any sort of information is missed it is the students’ responsibility to update him/her self.
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ARTICLE 1:

Organizational Culture and National Culture: What’s the Difference and why does it Matter?

Based on the research of Dr. Geert Hofstede, there are differences between national and organizational cultures. For global companies, it is
important to understand both in order to impact organizational performance.

In a webinar conducted for ITAP International, Dr. Geert Hofstede discussed “Integrating Corporate Practices and National Cultural Values.”
The topic is highly relevant to organizations operating in a volatile global economic environment. While economic turmoil creates challenges
and failures, it also creates opportunities as evidenced in a large number of mergers and takeovers: Doosan and Bobcat, Lloyds and HBOS,
Barclays and Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Wachovia. The list is long. Many of these names have strong national brand identity. They are
goliaths with offices in many economic centers around the world. How should they integrate to become one organization? At least part of the
key to success in this area lies in the lessons shared by Dr. Hofstede.

Our national culture relates to our deeply held values regarding, for example, good vs. evil, normal vs. abnormal, safe vs. dangerous, and rational
vs. irrational. National cultural values are learned early, held deeply and change slowly over the course of generations.

Organizational culture, on the other hand, is comprised of broad guidelines which are rooted in organizational practices learned on the job.
Experts, including Dr. Hofstede, agree that changing organizational culture is difficult and takes time. What is often overlooked or at least
underestimated when two or more companies merge/integrate is how the underlying personal values of employees impact how they perceive the
corporate culture change efforts. A person can learn to adapt to processes and priorities, and a person can be persuaded to follow the exemplar
behaviors of leaders in an organization. But if these priorities and leadership traits go against the deeply held national cultural values of
employees, corporate values (processes and practices) will be undermined. What is appropriate in one national setting is wholly offensive in
another. What is rational in one national setting is wholly irrational in another. And, corporate culture never trumps national culture.
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The answer, then, lies not in abandoning efforts to unify organizations after a merger or cancelling efforts to build high performance culture, but
in overlaying and harmonizing local interpretations of corporate practices to cultural norms.

ITAP International works at the intersection of business and national cultural value differences. ITAP provides the following services for
organizations across borders:
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CASE STUDY 1:

Meaningful Changes Depend on ‘Culture Shifts’ Not Just Rules

Thomas Stoddard, a gay rights advocate in New York City, visited New Zealand in the 1990s before his death in 1997. Initially
impressed by the laws in New Zealand, which formally protected gay rights, Stoddard viewed New Zealand as the “promised land.”
Yet, despite formal laws, Stoddard noticed that gay people in New Zealand were more closeted and less outspoken than gay people
in New York City. While he believed that legislative change was more likely than litigation to create a deliberative space for a larger
public conversation, Stoddard quickly realized that “rule shifting” by legislation alone could not produce significant changes in
attitudes. Thus, he concluded, meaningful changes depend on “culture shifts,” not just changes in legal rules.

Stoddard’s distinction between “rule shifting” and “culture shift” mirrors the history of the African-American civil rights movement.
The integration of black people within the larger American society was not decided by any one political or judicial actor who
changed the rules. Significant social change did not occur immediately following the 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision that
“separate but equal is inherently unequal.” Nor was the integration of black people within the larger American society a sure thing
following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While these were critical and signal events,
what did change lives was the opportunity — made possible by legislative interventions, judicial decisions as well as executive
oversight — for those adversely affected by then-current injustices to participate actively in the civil rights movement.
As Thomas Stoddard recognized, it is the opportunity and the inducement for ordinary people to engage in public debate, to occupy
public spaces and to open those spaces for authentic interpersonal interactions that ultimately produce real culture shifting.
Stoddard emphasized the importance of “claiming spaces” for public deliberation, because opportunities for ongoing conversation
are a precursor to public acceptance of legal changes and their enforcement. For Stoddard, what prompts durable change is not
simply the opportunity for ordinary people to bear witness through the news media or through intimate conversations with family
and friends. Neither are civil rights entrenched in the culture by litigation or legislation by themselves. What prompts durable
change is what Stoddard called “culture shifts,” i.e., the opportunity for members of the public to bear witness, to deliberate and to
create a larger public conversation that brings the imagined future to life.
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CASE STUDY 2:

Why Fostering a Culture of ‘Companionate Love’ in the Workplace Matters?

For some employees, a typical day at the office might begin with a barrage of work-related questions from impatient colleagues who have been
awaiting their arrival. For others, it might start off with a series of cheerful greetings from co-workers, questions about how their family members are
doing or perhaps an offer to grab a quick cup of coffee before the daily work deluge begins.

According to Wharton management professor Sigal Barsade, there is reason to believe that the latter scenario — which illustrates what she refers to as
“companionate love” in the workplace — is not only more appealing, but also is vital to employee morale, teamwork and customer satisfaction.

Companionate love is shown “when colleagues who are together day in and day out, ask and care about each other’s work and even non-work issues,”
Barsade says. “They are careful of each other’s feelings. They show compassion when things don’t go well. And they also show affection and caring —
and that can be about bringing somebody a cup of coffee when you go get your own, or just listening when a co-worker needs to talk.”

To demonstrate the value of companionate love in the workplace, Barsade and co-author Olivia “Mandy” O’Neill, assistant professor of management at
George Mason University, performed a 16-month longitudinal study at a long-term health care facility involving 185 employees, 108 patients and 42 of
those patients’ family members. Barsade and O’Neill set out to measure the effect of companionate love on emotional and behavioral outcomes of
employees, as well as on health outcomes of patients and the satisfaction of those patients’ family members. The results of their study are included in a
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paper titled, “What’s Love Got to Do with It? A Longitudinal Study of the Culture of Companionate Love and Employee and Client Outcomes in the
Long-Term Care Setting,” which will be published in an upcoming issue of Administrative Science Quarterly.

To conduct their research, Barsade and O’Neill constructed a scale designed to measure tenderness, compassion, affection and caring. But rather than
simply asking the participants if they felt or expressed those emotions themselves, the researchers asked to what degree people saw their colleagues
expressing them. They also brought in independent raters to observe those four elements of the facility’s culture, as well as asked family members to
rate the culture. Last, they added ratings of “cultural artifacts” (how the culture is displayed in the physical environment) that reflect a culture of
companionate love — for example, having spaces with a “homey” environment, throwing birthday parties, etc. “We have a very robust measurement
consisting of all the possible lenses on the culture of the unit,” Barsade says.