Strategies and Challenges in Internationalizing Organizations

This report discusses the strategies and approaches that newly internationalizing organizations can take to prepare and train groups of employees for overseas projects. It also explores the challenges employees often face when working abroad and how HR practices and management can assist them in coping with these difficulties and achieving success.

Strategic Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Strategies and approaches a new internationalising organization can take to prepare and train
groups of employees to work in overseas location on projects. .................................................3
Challenges employees often face when working abroad and how management and HR
practices can assist them in coping with the difficulties and being successful............................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Strategic human resource management is concerned with connecting the organizational
goals and the human resource of the organization. It a future oriented approach by which human
resource makes a direct impact on the growth of the company. The objective of strategic human
resource management is to innovate and get a competitive advantage and it also requires thinking
ahead. The aim of this report is determine various strategies and approaches which the newly
internationalising organization takes to prepare and train groups of employees to work in the
overseas locations on a project and also discussion on various challenges that the employee faces
when they are working abroad and the ways HR practices and management can assist them in
coping with such difficulties and challenges.
MAIN BODY
Strategies and approaches a new internationalising organization can take to prepare and train
groups of employees to work in overseas location on projects.
There are various approaches and strategies that a newly internationalizing organization takes to
train employees such as:
Orientation – This is the most basic strategy for training which provides employees with basic
information to the employees about the workplace, organization, employer. It also involves
familiarising the employees with different cultures, language of several countries with which the
organization has to deal with (Kang. and Shen,2017). There are basically two types of orientation
in international context which is pre-arrival orientation and post-arrival orientation.
Pre-arrival orientation includes culture briefing, assignment briefing and shipping requirements.
Post-arrival orientation include cross-cultural training and briefing about career opportunities.
Cultural simulation – It is an approach of training in which the employees will be role playing
certain situation and will be practised upon responding to such situation in a way that is
culturally sensitive. In this training various activities are being undertaken by the employer to
train the employees such as building self-awareness and value ranking charts, simulation games
and perceptual exercise (Benjamin. and et.al., 2019). Role plays are also used in this type of
training which helps the employees to accept the culture and helps them to adapt to host culture.
Documentary training or didactic training - It is a informal training which is concerned with
briefings which is given by the company or the employers in an informal way. It is given in the

form of casual conversation and are generally less structured. In this type of training strategy
basic and factual information is provided regarding working and living conditions and the
cultural diversity of the host country. This training involves familiarizing and observing the host
countries shopping and dressing patterns. This training helps the employees to adjust to the new
culture and adaption to the lifestyle and mainly focuses on problem solving.
Simulation training – In this type of training the trainees are put to an environment which has
real life scenarios are gives them true to life learning experience. The employees are given an
opportunity to put their skills and knowledge into the practice. It is a cost effective training
method which gives employees a hands on opportunity to learn and take decisions. This training
strategy gives various benefits such as it helps in making the employees aware about the business
and other basic information (Brock. and et.al., 2017). It helps the employees to experiment
control over the virtual situation. It also tests employees time management skills and helps in
determining the time the effectiveness in submitting their decisions regarding a certain matter.
Through this training employees also learn team coordination which improves their
communication ability and also improves their problem solving skills.
Sensitivity training – This approach of training helps the employees being sensitive towards
different culture and existing diversity at the workplace. It involves training which helps the
employees to learn to be respectful and consider perspective of others too and not just keeping
his views on the table (Nistane, 2017). It helps the international organization to be successful as
there are various employees which come from different background, culture and have different
beliefs therefore to be sensitive towards all these employees making in taking effective decisions
and creates a healthy workplace environment. There are various ways in which sensitivity
training can be done such as unfreezing the old values and developing the new ones. It helps the
employees to be educated about the constructive behaviour which benefits everyone through
emotional actions (Karaatmaca. and et.al., 2020). It motivates the employees to indulge in
perspective talking as it helps the employees at the workplace to come to mutual understanding.
Language training – Language and communication is considered the most important aspect of
successfulness therefore the international organization focuses on training their employees in
different languages may it be a native language or business language of the host country. As lack
of this training slow down the business processes and also interaction with the customers and
people. This training provided to the employees by the organization helps them in getting

competitive advantage over others. It also gives employees confidence to deal with the customer
and also in communicating within the organization. It tightens the understanding people and
providing customers in giving effective after sales service, marketing to attract the customers. It
also helps the employees to enhance their network.
Challenges employees often face when working abroad and how management and HR practices
can assist them in coping with the difficulties and being successful.
Fitting in – The first challenge which the employees faces when working abroad is fitting in
with the new people, new environment. As working abroad the employees needs to interact with
many people who come from different backgrounds, have different cultures and beliefs. So the
employees have a fear of fitting in with these new people, new environment and new workplace.
Management and HR can conduct various activities that helps the employees in engaging with
other employees at the workplace. The management should conduct activities that help the
employees in ice breaking and communicate with colleagues effectively. The management and
HR can conduct activities such as one word game, pop quiz, Scavenger hunt etc. These activities
will help the employees know each other better and also helps them in interacting.
Finding a home – Another challenge that the employees faces while working abroad is to find a
home. As the employees has to do certain homework before planning to work abroad as the
prices of the house are higher than the prices at their current home country. Working abroad is
little bit expensive and can incur a higher cost of living to the employees. To cope up with this
challenge the management can provide the employees with accommodation facility. It gives
convenience to the employees and keep them satisfied.
Making new friends – Making new friends is really a challenge for the employees who are
working abroad. Employees coming from different backgrounds find it challenging to socialize
with new people and make friends due to this sometimes employees may also feel isolated. The
management and HR can help the employees in making new friends by giving them team work.
Language barrier – Language barrier is also a challenge when the employees work abroad.
Communication is the basic to carry a successful business and also to socialize. If the employees
are not well versed with different languages then they may not be able to carry out work
effectively and also they may not be able to share thoughts with their colleagues and also may
not be able to understand the problems of customers. To cope up with challenge the management
and HR should provide them with language training and for initial purpose they can also provide

employees with reliable translation services. The management can also narrow the market as per
convenience of employees which means give market to employees for which they are
comfortable in communicating (Podgorodnichenko, Edgar. and McAndrew, 2020). Avoid using
technical words and jargon which are not common and are not used by many people. The
management and HR should try to teach the employees the basic of every language at least.
Using more visual tools for communication can help cope up with this challenge. HR should also
encourage employees to explore other culture also.
Finance and money management – The challenge that the employees that work abroad faces is
of managing their finance and money. As managing the finance and money in the home country
is even easier for the employees but when the employees work abroad there are many expenses
that add on and it gets complicated. There are many extra laws and tax that the employees has to
pay and various banking transactions that the employees has to undertake (Visser, 2018). The
management and HR can offer their employees carrots and not the sticks and also conducting
financial management programs for their employees which can assist them in saving and
effectively utilizing their money. They can also tech their employees certain option where they
can invest and get greater returns.
Healthcare and safety – As the employees working abroad is not familiar with the places that
provide health care and safety facilities. Sometimes the organization provides this facility but in
some cases it does provide therefore this is the challenge for employees. Also it hike ups the
stress on finance and steals peace of mind of employees. Safety is also a concern when it comes
to employees working abroad (Howard, 2017). Therefore it is important for the employees to
ensure that the organization has certain laws and regulations relating to safety and health. This
difficulty of employee can be cope up by making certain policies regarding health and safety by
the HR in the organization. The HR should include policies of protecting their employees and
securing health and Safety of employees at the workplace. For the safety of employees they
should regularly maintain and check complex plants and system which have a risk on employees
health and life. The management and HR should give training to handle complex machines to the
employees. To limit the emission of harmful chemicals and noxious substances that can impact
the health of employees. Providing the facility of first aid at the workplace is also included in
the policies of organization's health and safety. This will help in reattaining the cream customers
in the organization and helps the organization to be successful.

Other practices of management and HR that assist employees to cope up with challenges.
They should provide employees with basic information about the culture an make them feel
comfortable.
Talking with employees and knowing about their challenges which they face and showing
concern for the same also helps the employees in coping up with their difficulties.
Providing them with different coaching and counselling which are necessary for the employees
to adjust in the new environment.
The management and HR can also undertake leadership and help the employees in staying
optimistic.
The management and HR can use various tools to know their state of mind and the level of
happiness.
The management and HR can give employees work from home facility for sometime by which
they can save on their fuel expenses.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that there are various strategies and approaches that a newly
internationalising organization can take to prepare and train groups of employees such as
Orientation, Cultural simulation, Documentary training or didactic training, Simulation training,
Sensitivity training, Language training. When working abroad the employees faces various
challenges such as fitting into the new environment and work culture, Finding a home in abroad,
Making new friends at the workplace and outside too, Language barrier, Finance and money
management, Healthcare an safety etc. and there are many ways in which management and HR
practices can assist them in coping with all these difficulties and helps in being successful.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Benjamin, J.Z. and et.al., 2019. Implementation of a cross-cultural simulation workshop:
Feasibility and training satisfaction. Training and Education in Professional
Psychology.
Brock, K.E. and et.al., 2017. Training pediatric fellows in palliative care: a pilot comparison of
simulation training and didactic education. Journal of palliative medicine. 20(10).
pp.1074-1084.
Howard, J., 2017. Nonstandard work arrangements and worker health and safety. American
journal of industrial medicine. 60(1). pp.1-10.
Kang, H. and Shen, J., 2017. International Training and Development Policies and Practices.
In International Human Resource Management in South Korean Multinational
Enterprises (pp. 85-112). Springer, Singapore.
Karaatmaca, C. and et.al., 2020. The Role of Sensitivity Training for Managing Diversities in
Sustainable Smart Societies. European Journal of Sustainable Development. 9(3).
pp.13-13.
Nistane, M.M., 2017. Sensitivity Training-An Introduction to Concept. International Journal of
Engineering and Management Research (IJEMR), 7(3), pp.792-795.
Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F. and McAndrew, I., 2020. The role of HRM in developing
sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions. Human
Resource Management Review. 30(3). p.100685.
Visser, A., 2018. How to identify and retain talented employees: on the money-
management. finweek, 2018(22 November). pp.44-45.