Help

INTERNATIONAL HRM CASE STUDY

INTERNATIONAL HRM CASE STUDY

International HRM Case Study

Managing SHRM in a Global Economy

GB530

August 28, 2020

Purdue University global

MODULE 4

MICHELLE FREEMAN

This case focuses on Brunt Hotels new expansion strategies in European countries by acquiring other small hotel groups. One of the main advantages of Brunt Hotels is that they are strategically located downtown where mass transit is easily accessible. This is the main reason tourist are attracted to these hotels in popular visitor destination. The company has adapted an ethnocentric approach in rebranding their new hotels, where the job profile of managers is filled by the people from the parent country who already works for the organization. Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture (Menzies, 2019). Using this approach will help the company to manage each step of rebranding very effectively. It promotes the culture of the host country and the existing employees are already familiar with the policies and procedures of the organization. The main benefit to this approach is that it allows the organization to ensure the people in top positions are experienced. The ethnocentric approach is used to unify the entire organization rather than diversify. The disadvantage to this approach is that it does not fully support the transfer of local knowledge and it could block local promotions in the host country.

There are two types of HR management styles, traditional and strategic and there are also several differences. Traditionally HR departments focus on managing labor relations, solving not preventing employee's problems, and keeping the staff happy. On the other hand, strategic HR develop plans to help the organization on a whole. They implement plans to recruit more workers, develop talent, and train employees in company principles and standards. Different approaches are used for scope of responsibilities, HR forecasting and preventing problems.

Strategic management involves setting objectives, analyzing the competitive environment, analyzing the internal organization, evaluating strategies, and ensuring proper management roll of strategies across the organization. In today’s changing business environment businesses need to constantly assess their strategy for success. The main concern in strategic management would be with the development of strategic vision, setting objectives, formulating, and implementing strategies and corrective actions to reach the organizational strategic intent. The two main objectives of strategic management are to prepare for the future and to create a competitive advantage.

Strategic management is divided into schools of thought. The prescriptive approach which outlines how strategies should be developed or the descriptive approach which focuses on how strategies should be implemented. The difference is how the strategies are developed, through an analytic process, where all threats and opportunities are considered or general guiding principles to be applied (Strategic Management, 2020). Strategic management is critical to the success of any organization with respect to meeting its goals and mission.

With the emergence of globalization, companies are learning more about different countries cultures by providing employment opportunities in the host country. This helps them to gain a position in hearts and minds of local customers. The question of hiring expatriates is another problem faced by the company. Expatriates are people who work in a country other than his/her native country. Every decision has 2 sides, the advantage of hiring an expatriate is choosing quality over quantity, limited local talent, and it makes more sense because the global operation must conform to the standards of the home market (Laird, 2015). This would widen the pool of possible candidates, create an opportunity to incorporate new ideas into the organization, and there is a greater chance in finding individuals with more skills and knowledge. On the other hand, the disadvantages of hiring expatriates are that internal candidates may become ignored, external candidates will not have the full understanding of the organization and its culture, the organization is not as familiar with these candidates to fully know who would be a best fit for them, and it can cost them valuable time and money going through the recruitment process. 

The pending decision involves whether to relocate existing employees from the home country or to recruit new expatriates for more creative and effective functioning of the company. There are other decision connected with the recruitment like the process, the proportion of employees from outside the company, the salary and compensation and the training process which is to be given for better understanding of policies and procedure of the organization.

The main issues faced by the company is regarding allocation and recruitment of employees from host country or home country. The issues of following an ethnocentric approach (An approach which focuses on filling the position in company from parent country) is that it acts as a hindrance in the transfer of local knowledge. Which does not allow the company to market their product or in this case allow Brunt hotel to provide services in the local market. It also limits the wide choices of candidate a company may hire who possess more knowledge, skills, and abilities than already existing employees. It discourages cultural assimilation which might cause isolation in the future as the company is promoting a single culture of their parent country. All decisions are made around that culture which might not work in a new foreign market.

Another issue is the hiring of expatriates, which may cause the existing employees to feel ignored and discouraged when the company opts for external resources. In addition, the expatriates do not have complete understanding about the policies and procedures of the company or about the culture the company is coming from. This may cause the company to incur a time and cost expense to facilitate the process of training and recruitment because adequate training will be necessary. Finally, salaries and compensation should be given according the country's norm of employment in which the company is operating

There are a few alternate courses of action the company can take. They can use a complete ethnocentricity approach which will enable them to adhere to the original policies and procedure of operations. Existing employees are already experienced and are familiar with the culture. Therefore, no extra cost is incurred for any kind of training. They will also ensure high level of control in rebranding the hotels to Brunt Hotel. Another alternate course of action would be to hire expatriates or host country nationals as managers. This enables flexibility as the person is already familiar with the cultural elements of the host country. Another option is to widen their perspective by hiring new employees with different abilities, skills, and knowledge. They can also hire both parent country nationals and the host country nationals in an appropriate proportion. This will help the company to enrich its own culture as well as transfer of local culture in the functioning of the organization. Also, it will help the company to ensure that the standards of the organization’s requirement are met. Host country nationals’ employees will help the country to identify local needs of the host country and work accordingly for the fulfillment of their needs.

 The recommendation for action is for Brunt to hire both parent country nationals as well as host country nationals. It will provide better understanding of local culture with the help of expatriates. Better coordination and control of operation management. It will enable efficiency in problem solving skills and encourage cultural assimilation. Providing compensation like health insurance, education facilities and travel expense will promote the company among the local people. It will also provide a pool of new employees who would bring new and innovative skills and ideas into the organization. Doing this will position the organization to be able to effectively execute their strategy (2017). 

·

Reference

Laird, M. P. (2015, October 12). The Pros and Cons of Hiring Expats. HR Exchange Network. https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/hr-talent-management/articles/the-pros-and-cons-of-hiring-expats

Menzies, F. (2019, January 13). Ethnocentrism: The Cultural Superiority Complex. Include-Empower.Com. https://cultureplusconsulting.com/2015/06/04/ethnocentrism/

Robson, F.L. (2008). International HRM Case Study. Society for Human Resource Management. Alexandria, VA

S. (2017, August 22). Designing Global Compensation Systems. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/designingglobalcompensation.aspx

Strategic Management. (2020). Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/strategic-management.asp

2 | Page

2 | Page