International Human Resource Management

Class 10

María Victoria Restrepo G.

mvrestrepo@javerianacali.edu.co
vickyrestrepo07@hotmail.com
 Agenda
• Special Guest
• The nature and importance of culture
• Layers of culture
• Development of culture
• The Research of Geert Hofstede
• The Research of Fons Trompenaars
• Final Project – Second Hand in
• Group Activity
Special Guest Questions
The Nature and Importance of Culture

• Every country has at least some variances from all others, e.g., its history, government, and
laws.
• Today, it is common for MNEs to interact with customers and firms in dozens of other
countries.
• Variances in people’s values, beliefs, and behavior patterns (for example, what they
consider to be right and wrong, normal and not-normal) are critically important to such IB
activities as cross-national negotiations, sales interactions between people from different
countries, management of the performance of employees from different countries, the
understanding and treatment of contracts between firms from different countries, and all
HR responsibilities, such as recruiting and hiring, compensation, training, labor relations,
and performance management.
Layers of culture
Development of Cross-Cultural Competence
The Research of Geert Hofstede

• Degree of acceptance of power distance between bosses and subordinates.

• Degree of individualism or collectivism.
• Degree of masculinity or femininity in social values.
• Degree of uncertainty avoidance or tolerance for ambiguity.
The Research of Fons Trompenaars

• Universalism versus particularism (emphasis on rules versus relationships).

• Collectivism versus individualism.
• Range of emotions expressed (neutral versus emotional).
• Range of involvement with other people (diffuse versus specific).
• Basis for according status to other people (achievement versus ascription).
Country Cultural Clusters

• Anglo: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States.
• Arab: Abu-Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
• Far Eastern: Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand.
• Germanic: Austria, Germany, Switzerland.
• Latin American: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela.
• Latin European: Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain.
• Near Eastern: Greece, Iran, Turkey.
• Nordic: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden.
• Independent: Brazil, India, Israel, Japan, South Korea.
Differences to consider

• Deal focus versus relationship focus. “Making or doing the deal” rather than “building relationships”.
• Informal versus formal cultures.
• Rigid-time (monochronic) versus fluid-time (polychronic) cultures.
• Expressive versus reserved cultures. Expressive people communicate—verbally, non-verbally, and in
writing—in radically different ways from their more reserved counterparts.
Country Culture vs. MNE Culture

Country vs. Organizational Culture

Countries develops unique patterns of values, norms, beliefs, and acceptable behavior, so also do
companies. (Country culture)
Organizational culture reflects the values of their founders and evolve to create corporate
personalities that give employees a template for how to behave, including how to make decisions.

Cultural Convergence and/or Divergence

The conflict between centralization/standardization and localization/customization.
Impact of Culture on IHRM

• Recruiting and hiring practices;

• building business relationships;
• the role and use of multiple languages and communication;
• perceptions of organizational justice (such as fairness in treatment, quality of treatment, and
fairness of outcomes);
• decision-making;
• performance evaluations and feedback;
• management and leadership development;
• development of a global mindset; and
• varying perspectives on careers across cultures.
 - Group activity:

According to the reading and Luis Gutierrez lecture, please answer:

- What do you consider to be the most important factors of culture in terms of
their impact on business?
- What do you think is important to take into account for IHRM to help expats to
adapt to the country/company culture?
- Select four aspects about the impact of culture in IHRM and explain why you
consider are a “must” for the success of this type of programs.
Second Hand-in
Deadline– April 22nd.
Activities
• You were selected as a consultant to design the HR process for a company that is
starting to work under the model of IHRM (the company selected for the first
delivery).

• You have to define the Human Resource strategy for the company:
• Objective of the IHRM program for the company selected.
• HR Processes that the group considers needed to be implemented, why and how.
• Timetable to implement the project.

• Each group will present a paper with the information required which is going to be
reviewed by the teacher during the class.
Questions?
Thank you!