Impact of Culture on HRM Practices

This assignment delves into the significant influence of culture on various Human Resource Management (HRM) practices worldwide. It requires students to analyze scholarly articles and case studies examining how cultural factors shape HRM functions like recruitment, performance appraisals, training, and compensation. The analysis should highlight both challenges and opportunities arising from cross-cultural differences in HRM.

Running Head: IHRM ESSAY 1
IHRM Essay
Name of the student
Name of the Institution

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 2
Introduction
Described as the work systems and its employment practices of any firm, the human
resource management of a company embraces both the collective and individual aspects of the
people management. It is not restricted to any ideology or style but engages energies of both
specialist and line managers and includes the responsibilities of HRM such recruitment and
selection practices, training and development of employees, and human resources planning. Not
only that the function of the HRM also include instituting reward and payment systems,
assessment related to the performance of different employees and various initiatives to align the
development of employees to corporate strategies. There are two types of HRM management at
different levels and they are at the domestic and international level (Boxall, & Purcell, 2011, pp.
34).
About IHRM
With continuous research and development in communication and internet technology,
more and more companies are expanding their operations throughout the world in a quest to
reach out new markets, expand the marketing and sales of their products and services and
increase their revenue and profit. An important of the organization, the main focus of HRM is to
identify requirement of personnel, recruit suitable candidates, attract the best talent, train and
develop their skill-set, and retain them for a successful business or venture, and increase market
share. In their research article Welch & Bjorkman, (2015) state that, IHRM is subsumed into or
overlap with the related research areas of cross-cultural management or comparative human
resource management.

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 3
Not only that, in their research work, Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique (2016), describe IHRM
as the study as well as an application of all types of human resources management activities that
impact the management process of human resources in any company in the global environment.
The key word here is the global environment that includes diverse workplace or the office
premises in different cultural or cross-cultural societies and this remains the greatest challenge
faced by IHRM in any global or multinational corporation (Manroop, Boekhorst, & Harrison,
2013). IHRM is mainly concerned with HR issues that cross national borders or when this
function is conducted in various locations other than the home country offices. The main focus of
IHRM is to create, and maintain the relationship between the HR department of an organization
and foreign environment in the areas of operation of that particular organization Pudelko,
Reiche, & Carr, 2014).
The IHRM include various aspects such as recruitment and selection, staff induction,
performance appraisal, career management and occupational health and safety. Defined as a
business environment where citizens of different region or countries and bring different
viewpoints, values, and business practices, the cross-cultural issues remain the core problem in
IHRM whose resolution can decide the extent of success and failure of that particular
organization in the market (Shen, Chanda, Dnetto, & Monga, 2009). During its functions, the
IHRM faces a wide-range of challenges related to cross-cultural issues such as cross-cultural
communication, cultural differences, sustaining international operations and host and foreign
countries issues (Pudelko, Reiche, & Carr, 2014). One of the best examples of the seriousness of
the cross-cultural issues remains the recruitment and selection of the employees.
Recruitment and selection of the employees and cross-cultural issues

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 4
The recruitment and selection of the employees in the organization remain the core
activity of the HRM department whether it is at the domestic level or the international level. In
this regard, the main focus of this department remains to attract and retain the best talent
available in the market (Vaiman, & Brewster, 2014). For this purpose, IHRM practices take four
approaches that have become very common as more and more companies try to seek out best
talent throughout the world. These four approaches include ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric
and regiocentric approach (Luu, Rowley, 2016). With the ethnocentric approach, IHRM seeks to
fill-up the key positions by the nationals of the parent company. Similarly, the polycentric
approach, IHRM seeks to fill-up key position with the host country national for the management
of the subsidiary in the host country. The third approach is geocentric recruitment approach
where the organization seeks to recruit best people regardless of their nationality (Hongvichit,
2015). The last and final approach is known as regiocentric approach where the organization
seeks to recruit the best people within the region where the subsidiary of the company operates
(Hongvichit, 2015). The IHRM chooses its approach based on many factors such as
characteristics of the existing staff, type of industry and markets that are being served, the
cultural preferences as well as the type and degree of internationalization (Allen, & Vardaman,
2017).
Some of the best examples related to cross-cultural differences between different cultures
when it comes to recruitment and selection of the employees include the different perspectives
related to the importance of the skill-set to the employers (Chan, Cheung, 2008). Interviews are
often described as the conversation between two people, each of whom has something required
by other person. However, when both people belong to different cultures, it is very easy to
misunderstand and send wrong signals as the verbal and non-verbal language differ from others

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 5
(Chan, Ye, & Xu, 2016). For example, when a North American person interviews an Indian
candidate, although they both speak English, the cues they give are completely different. An
Indian candidate would not shake hand with the person who belongs to opposite gender and may
start with his or her family history when asked to offer information about them. In contrast, the
North American employer would select the candidate who would refuse to shake hands or tell his
or her family history in this reference (Allen, & Vardaman, 2017). The next aspect where the
cross-cultural issue plays an important part includes the performance appraisal.
Performance appraisal and cross-cultural issues
Also known as performance evaluation, review, employee appraisal, the concept of
performance appraisal refers to documentation and evaluation of employee performance
(Selvarajan, & Cloninger, 2012). An essential part of the function of HR department, the main
focus of performance appraisal is to review the employee performance as per specific parameters
(Selvarajan, & Cloninger, 2012). As the organization employs different type of workers and
executives such as expatriates in the host country, some factors it needs to include in the
performance appraisal differ from location to location and the type of employees (Abu-Doleh, &
Weir, 2007). For example, when a company needs to conduct the performance appraisal of an
expat, it needs to take various factors in consideration such as his or her ability to adapt to the
host country environment, employee behavior, and the culture in addition to the normal
performance evaluation that is connected with the position and department. Not only that the
type of performance appraisals differ for different types of the employees who work not only for
the employees in the host country but also in the foreign country.
Conclusion

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 6
Human resources remain one of the most important inputs that determine the difference
between the success and the failure of any organization and HRD or HRM remains an essential
part of any organization at any level, whether it is domestic and international. As the
organization continues to increase their operation throughout the world, the importance of the
IHRM continues to increase at the rapid rate. Like any field, this field also faces many challenges
including the cross-cultural issues such as the difference in language, customs, traditions, power-
distance, and method of operation. The situation becomes more complex with an increase in the
diverse workplace. As the main focus of IHRM is to recruit, select, maintain and retain talent
that is required by the organization, it needs to take a broad approach to fulfill its objectives in
any region of the world. For that purpose and find the resolution, the IHRM need to customize its
approach to every matter that includes cross-cultural issues.

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 7
References
Abu-Doleh, J. & Weir, D. (2007). Dimensions of performance appraisal systems in Jordanian
private and public organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
18(1),75-84.
Allen, D. G., & Vardaman, J. M. (2017). Recruitment and Retention Across Cultures. Annual
Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior,4(1), 153-181.
doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113100
Boxall, P. F., & Purcell, J. (2011). Strategy and human resource management. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, pp 34.
Briscoe, Dennis, Schuler, Randall & Tarique, Ibraiz. (2016). International Human Resource
Management. Prentice Hall, NY, pp 14.
Chan, D., Ye, T., & Xu, H. (2016). Culture Differences and Challenges in Localization of Senior
Executives of International Luxury Hotels in China. Journal of China Tourism Research,12(2),
196-215. doi:10.1080/19388160.2016.1224209
Chan A. W. H., Cheung H. Y. (2008). Common cultural relationships in corporate governance
across developed and emerging financial markets. Applied Psychology: An International
Review, 57: 225-245.
Hongvichit, S. (2015). The Relationship Between Cross Cultural Adaptation and Turnover
Intention: A Study of Lao Employees in Foreign Enterprises. International Business
Research,8(8). doi:10.5539/ibr.v8n8p164

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 8
Luu, T.T, Rowley, C, (2016) "The relationship between cultural intelligence and i-deals: Trust
as a mediator and HR localization as a moderator", International Journal of Organizational
Analysis, Vol. 24 Issue: 5, pp.908-931, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-03-2015-0848
Manroop, L., Boekhorst, J. A., & Harrison, J. A. (2013). The influence of cross-cultural
differences on job interview selection decisions. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management,24(18), 3512-3533. doi:10.1080/09585192.2013.777675
Pudelko, M., Reiche, B. S., & Carr, C. (2014). Recent developments and emerging challenges in
international human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management,26(2), 127-135. doi:10.1080/09585192.2015.964928
Selvarajan, T. T., & Cloninger, P. A. (2012). Can performance appraisals motivate employees to
improve performance? A Mexican study. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management,23(15), 3063-3084. doi:10.1080/09585192.2011.637069
Shen, J., Chanda, A., Dnetto, B., & Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human
resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management,20(2), 235-251. doi:10.1080/09585190802670516
Vaiman, V., & Brewster, C. (2014). How far do cultural differences explain the differences
between nations? Implications for HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management,26(2), 151-164. doi:10.1080/09585192.2014.937969
Welch, Denice & Bjorkman, Ingmar. (2015). The place of International Human Resource
Mangement in International Business. Management International Review, 55.3, 303.

CROSS-CULTURAL ESSAY 9