International Human Resource Management: Apple's Approach

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INTERNATIONAL HRM PRACTICE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
a. Identify the organization structure(s) of your chosen MNC and evaluate its effectiveness
in managing the workforce throughout the subsidiaries..............................................................4
b. Define international human resource management. Explain the sources of staffing in
MNCs. Suggest with the rationale the most appropriate source(s) of staffing for a new
international operation of your chosen MNC in a new country..................................................6
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
a. Define and evaluate international reward and compensation approaches that MNCs adopt.
Recommend the most suitable approach that motivates an expatriate in your chosen MNC’s
international assignment. Justify your recommendation.............................................................7
b. Discuss relevant cultural awareness training programs to motivate expatriates in
international assignments adopted by your chosen MNC...........................................................8
Conclusion & recommendations......................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
The process of Human Resource Management includes the hiring as well as the developing of all
the organizational employees so that their performances can become more valuable within the
business organization. The concept of International Human Resource Management is defined as
the process which includes the set of effective activities for aiming the proper management of the
business organization with the help of human resources at the international level. The main aim
of IHRM is to gain a competitive advantage over the nation as well as international competitors.
The chosen multinational company is "Apple Inc.” which is an American company of
technology & which aims at designing, developing & also selling the consumer electronics,
online services & the computer software. It was founded in the year 1976. The company
possesses the expansion of business at the global level. It earns the annual revenue worldwide of
around 171 US billion dollars, according to the data of "Forbes Global Leading Companies
(2013)". The complete report will determine the organizational structure of the company along
with the proper evaluation of the effectiveness of managing the workforce. The impact of
cultural difference has also been analyzed along with effective approaches.
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Task 1
a. Identify the organization structure(s) of your chosen MNC and evaluate its
effectiveness in managing the workforce throughout the subsidiaries.
Rapid & effective innovation is being contributed by the organizational structure of Apple Inc.
which leads the whole business organization towards the critical success along with gaining the
competitive advantage at both the national & the international level. The organizational structure
of the company highly supports the business performance for ensuring the leadership within the
whole industry. “Hierarchical organizational structure" is being implemented in Apple Inc.
which is traditional. Following are the essential characteristics of Apple Inc.:
 Spoke-and-wheel hierarchy: More collaboration is being found within the company
among the different parts of the business organization including both the hardware teams
& the software teams. Now, the structure of the business is less rigid. According to this
hierarchy, the upper tier is based upon the functional grouping. Also, the business needs
are being addressed of all the top leaders about the functional areas of the whole business.
 Product-based divisions: The upper & the lower tiers of the structure is based upon the
product divisions. It has also been identified that the concept of marketing mix of 4 Ps is
completely linked to the different structural characteristics in a different manner. It
includes the main aspect of managing the specific products or essential components that
can be delivered to all the target customers (Björkman, et.al. 2014).
 Weak functional matrix: It refers to the collaborative interactions among the different
components of the whole business. Under this matrix, the direction of the project is being
determined to have limited authority or control. Through this way, the information is
being facilitated by the company which is necessary for the process of innovation.
Effectiveness: The organizational structure of Apple Inc. has been proved to be highly effective
in enhancing the great support to all those strategies which are implemented for further
technological innovation. It also helps in ensuring the competitive advantage against the leading
companies of Google, Intel, Sony, Microsoft & many more. It also continues to improve all its
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capabilities for designing competitive products at the international level market (Jimenez‐
Jimenez and Sanz‐Valle, 2013).
Figure: Organizational Structure of Apple Inc.
Source: By John Dudovskiy, 2019
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b. Define international human resource management. Explain the sources of staffing in
MNCs. Suggest with the rationale the most appropriate source(s) of staffing for a
new international operation of your chosen MNC in a new country.
International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is defined by Boxall, P. (1992) as
concerned with all the major problems of the human resource of different multinational
corporations in foreign subsidiaries. These are also associated with the unfolding of all the major
HRM issues which are associated with the different stages of the internationalization process.
The key approaches of IHRM include the ethnocentric (which considers the key positions to be
filled up by the nationals of parent company), polycentric (host country nationals to be recruited
for managing the subsidiary in their own country), geocentric (to recruit best people, irrespective
of their nationality) & regiocentric (to recruit best people within the region in which the
subsidiary operates).
Sources of staffing in MNCs: Three different sources of staffing have been identified through
which the competent employees can be recruited from different sources, including the parent
country, host-country nationals & the third-country nationals. The source of parent country
includes the expatriates, home country nationals & expats. The host country nationals include
the natives of the host country (Schiuma, et.al. 2012). And, the third-country nationals are the
natives of the country other than the home country.
Appropriate source of staffing: It has been identified that choosing the most appropriate source
of staffing is the two-way process between the individual as well as the whole business
organization. The chosen MNC of Apple Inc. chose the right source of staffing in terms of
different areas including the technical competency, ability to cope up with different variables,
relational skills & the family situation. The most appropriate source of staffing for Apple Inc. &
which is implemented by the company is the source of third-country nationals. As the company
is expanded all over the World, therefore it calls up the different competent people from other
countries also so that the company can call up the fresh candidates to enhance the innovation
along with implementing the suitable business strategies effectively & efficiently. Apart from
this, the HR theory is being implemented by the company, which is “Maslow Need Hierarchy
Theory" at it possess the main aim of focusing on innovation (Jack, et.al. 2012). It majorly
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focuses upon fulfilling the psychological needs of all its employees. Along with this theory, it
enhances the teamwork, ensures comfortability within the workplace, and ensure safety needs,
employee wellness, as well as the affiliation, esteem & self-actualization needs.
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Task 2
a. Define and evaluate international reward and compensation approaches that MNCs
adopt. Recommend the most suitable approach that motivates an expatriate in your
chosen MNC’s international assignment. Justify your recommendation.
The international reward & compensation should be planned for achieving mobility as well as
the goals of staffing within the business organization. Certain methods can be utilized by the
business organization of Apple Inc. for determining the global expatriate compensation,
including the home-based approach, host-based approach & the global market approach.
Home-based approach: It is also called as the balance sheet approach & it is used by more than
85 % of the MNCs. It provides all the international employees with the rewards as well as the
compensation package which equalized the cost between the same assignment in the home
country of that particular organization & the international assignment.
Host-based approach: Under this approach, the payroll is being transferred to the host country &
the incentive is being received based on the practices & regulations of that respective host
country. Above the base, allowances are being delivered by the host payroll. It is a cost-effective
option including the components of the local plus policy. This approach can make it very
difficult for the assignees to another destination (Ehnert, et.al. 2016).
Global market approach: It requires the international assignment to be viewed continuously.
Under this approach, all the assignees are on the scale of equal compensation. It is also identified
that this approach is inclusive.
Recommended approach: It has been recommended that the MNC of Apple Inc. should
identify & implement the most suitable approach which can not only motivate an expatriate
within the organization but also helps in achieving the defined objectives along with solving the
major identified issues in the effective as well as in an efficient manner. The company should
highly consider the different variations in-laws, tax policies, living costs as well as the necessary
factors for establishing the compensation for expatriates. That approach should be implemented
which can help in maintaining the equity & higher level of consistency. After considering all
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these things, it has been recommended that Apple Inc. should implement the "Global Market
Approach” as it provides the major benefits to each & everyone, regardless of which the country,
the assignee is being assigned (Garavan and Carbery, 2012). It also requires the continuous
evaluation of international assignment which helps the company to overcome the different
identified variations, effectively & efficiently.
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b. Discuss relevant cultural awareness training programs to motivate expatriates in
international assignments adopted by your chosen MNC.
An expatriate compensation is a good package of compensation which is to be considered fairly
by an expatriate. Also, it must be cost-effective for the whole business organization. Proper
planning needs to be done & enhanced for achieving mobility as well as the goals of staffing
within the business organization. Various relevant training programs are being identified
including the cultural awareness, country-specific, different language courses, multicultural
communication, and training & development of the host country workforce. All these effective
training are being divided into two stages including the general orientation as well as the specific
development. The phase of general orientation includes self-assessment & cultural awareness.
On the other hand, the stage of specific development includes knowledge acquisition as well as
the training of skill development (Lerro, et.al. 2014). All these effective & efficient programs of
training help in increasing the functional effectiveness of expatriates, which is considered as the
comprehensive program of training for preparing the expatriates for the different positive cross-
cultural experiences.
It has been identified that the expatriates play an essential role within all the international
operations & it also very necessary to manage expatriates for majorly focusing upon the HRM
process at the international level. According to the research, it has been identified that Apple Inc.
involves into the huge amount of investment upon all the expatriate managers for indicating the
higher level of importance of expatriate in the training & the work performances of different
employees working within the business organization. The basic procedures of training including
the environmental briefings as well as the language training are also being ensured & enhanced
within the business organization containing the pre-departure training along with the supportive
training which is being designed to address & support the different situations, effectively &
efficiently. All these programs were being conducted by the business managers of Apple Inc. to
motivate the expatriates in the international assignments (Kadiresan, et.al. 2015). With the help
of all these, the company will also be able to ensure, enhance & gain a competitive advantage
over all the competitors at the international level in different ways or manner.
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Conclusion & recommendations
It has been concluded from Task 1 that the hierarchical organizational structure is being followed
or implemented within the business organization of Apple Inc. It has also been identified that the
form of organizational structure implemented by the company is very effective in enhancing the
process of innovation along with gaining the competitive advantage, effectively & efficiently.
The source of third-country nationals is also considered as the appropriate source for the business
organization. Task 2 evaluates the different approaches of international reward & compensation
and among all of them, the global market approach is being considered as an appropriate
approach for the company. Different ways have also been determined to conducting the cultural
awareness training programs for motivating expatriates within the different international
assignments.
It has been recommended that:
 The MNC should identify & apply the most suitable & appropriate theories or models of
HRM along with providing the training to all the employees according to the different
changing situations.
 The business managers of Apple Inc. should also conduct the continuous meetings with
all the employees for reviewing their respective performances along with making them
aware about the different approaches of international staffing as well as the different
sources of staffing.
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References
 Björkman, I., Ehrnrooth, M., Mäkelä, K., Smale, A. and Sumelius, J., 2014. From HRM
practices to the practice of HRM: Setting a research agenda. Journal of Organizational
Effectiveness: People and Performance, 1(2), pp.122-140.
 Jimenez‐Jimenez, D. and Sanz‐Valle, R., 2013. Studying the effect of HRM practices on
the knowledge management process. Personnel Review.
 Schiuma, G., Andreeva, T. and Kianto, A., 2012. Does knowledge management really
matter? Linking knowledge management practices, competitiveness and economic
performance. Journal of knowledge management.
 Jack, G., Greenwood, M. and Schapper, J., 2012. Frontiers, intersections and
engagements of ethics and HRM. Journal of business ethics, 111(1), pp.1-12.
 Ehnert, I., Parsa, S., Roper, I., Wagner, M. and Muller-Camen, M., 2016. Reporting on
sustainability and HRM: A comparative study of sustainability reporting practices by the
world's largest companies. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 27(1), pp.88-108.
 Garavan, T.N. and Carbery, R., 2012. A review of international HRD: incorporating a
global HRD construct. European Journal of Training and Development, 36(2/3), pp.129-
157.
 Lerro, A., Linzalone, R., Schiuma, G., Kianto, A., Ritala, P., Spender, J.C. and Vanhala,
M., 2014. The interaction of intellectual capital assets and knowledge management
practices in organizational value creation. Journal of Intellectual capital.
 Kadiresan, V., Selamat, M.H., Selladurai, S., Ramendran, C.S. and Mohamed, R.K.M.H.,
2015. Performance appraisal and training and development of human resource
management practices (HRM) on organizational commitment and turnover
intention. Asian Social Science, 11(24), p.162.
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