International HR Practices in Coca Cola and PepsiCo

International HR practices1
INTERNATIONAL HR PRACTICES
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International HR practices 2
Part A
In Multinational mode of international business, employees engaged are categorized as Parent
Country Nationals (PCNs), Host-Country Nationals (HCNs), and Third-Country Nationals
(TCNs. In this case study, we are comparing completion of foreign assignment between
expatriates of Coca cola and Pepsi. Standard way to describe Multinational Corporations (MNC)
staffing policies can be illustrated in the work where three different orientations are identified
(Ethnocentric, Polycentric and Geocentric). By applying an ethnocentric staffing policy, mostly
PCNs are appointed to top positions at their subsidiaries, while following a polycentric staffing
policy a HCN is preferred. Geocentric staffing policy aims at appointing the best fitting
individual regardless of nationality even if the person is from a third country national (Adekola
and Sergi 2016).
International HR practices have foreign assignment of expatriates in a number of ways. The first
and common effect is demoralization. Demonization occurs when ones experience in new work
stations fall beyond the expectations. Moreover, good remuneration and terms of service may
result to motivation. While some quarters believed prior international experience was mandatory,
others felt that an employee’s success at the domestic level, rather than international experience,
was enough to predict ones success as an expatriate.
Despite application of high standard recruitment processes, expatriates have failed in their roles.
Signs of a failing expat include delays in completion of assigned tasks, interference or
prematurely dropping of an assignment. It has been found that most expatriates do not fail in
their new jobs due to professional incompetency but misfit challenges contributed by
environmental change and delocalization (Holden, Michailova & Tietze 2015).

International HR practices 3
Family issues are the primary cause of expatriate failure. Due to lack of prior research,
employees end up in host countries along with family members who experience uneasy time to
adapt to the new environment.
Language barrier and cultural difference deters one from easily adapting to a new place thus
compromising his/her productivity at work. Traditions and believes in a given community also
acts as a barrier to effective induction (Irwin 2011).
Gaps in recruitment process may result to promotion of inexperienced or unqualified personnel.
The same mistake can also lead to mismatching of roles with the recruit.
Another cause of expat failure is health issues, stress and uncertainty. Restlessness and lack
confidence may undermine ones strength and general output.
Consideration and careful steps should be taken when recruiting employees to any country
around. From recruitment to the point of expatriation, issues that cause expatriate failure can be
ironed out one by one (Jiang, Gollan & Brooks 2015). By the time an employee is sent to a host
country, a chain of activities is involved as shown in the illustration below:
Job analysis Recruitment Expatriate selection pre departure preparation
International relocation
Job expectation Employees networking expatriate development

International HR practices 4
Part B
Coca cola and Pepsi have been in business wars for centuries now. Coca-Cola has a huge share
of revenues in Europe, Middle East, and Africa while PepsiCo has its primary operations in the
US. Coca-Cola is the largest beverage company in the world. PepsiCo got diversified between
beverages and food, but both companies have massive marketing and distribution strategies. To
compete favourably, PepsiCo has product mix hence making revenue from a wide range of
products. We can therefore say while Coca-Cola is the largest beverage company in the world,
PepsiCo has a vast array of products ranging from food and beverage (Andini & Simatupang
2014).
Analysis on HR practices exposes various aspects of approach in relation to human resource
management. The Coca cola heavily prefers internal recruitment as compared to external
recruitment. The recruitment processes is procedural such that it takes years collecting talent data
that is banked for future use in recruitment. This entails prior collection of resumes through
company website before a vacancy arises. The forecast on human resource needs is based on
changing technology and increase in production. The process is solely e-recruitment. After
recruitment, new employees undergo three months of training while under salary after which
they are fully absorbed into the company. Training is also not limited to existing staff members.
Performance appraisals are carried out annually. Promotions, remuneration adjustments are
based on these appraisals (Chanlat, Davel & Dupuis 2013). Coca cola has
PepsiCo mode of recruitment is both formal and informal. Recruitment is based on the needs of
the existing or ongoing projects. In the past, the source of employees was from dropped resumes