HRMT20025 Term 1 2018: IHRM Policies for Culture Shock Management

This essay explores the phenomenon of culture shock experienced by individuals transitioning between cultures, particularly in international assignments. It emphasizes the role of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) policies and practices in mitigating the negative impacts of culture shock, both during expatriation and repatriation. The essay discusses key HRM functions such as planning, recruitment, selection, and cross-cultural training, highlighting the importance of preparing expatriates for the challenges of a new cultural environment. Compensation and benefits are also addressed as motivational factors. The Saudi Arabian Corporation, ARAMCO, is presented as a case study of successful culture shock management through extensive orientation programs, competitive remuneration packages, and consideration of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The essay concludes that effective IHRM policies and practices are crucial for managing culture shock and ensuring the success of international assignments.

RUNNING HEAD: International Human Resource Management
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Success or failure of an individual during an international assignment depends on the experience
of culture shock to a great extent. The successful handling of the culture shock leads the
expatriate towards the adjustment phase where the capability of dealing with the diversity
challenges is acquired. This essay focuses on the term culture shock and various international
HRM policies and practices which can be utilized for the purpose of effectively managing
culture shock. This essay also provides the example of a Saudi Arabian Corporation, ARAMCO,
which has successfully managed its culture shock.
When an individual moves across cultures, a phenomenon is experienced known as culture
shock. Many adjustments are required to be made by the expatriate in the new environment in a
very short time frame (Dowling, 2008). The environment challenges the frame of reference of an
expatriate to such an extent that their sense of self, specifically with respect to nationality, comes
into question. Culture shock can be defined as the personal disorientation felt by a person at the
time when they experience an unfamiliar way of life as a result of immigration or a visit
(Harzing & Rutsseveldt, 2017). Culture shock results in negative feelings regarding host country
and its people and a desire to return home. Culture shock is experienced in two major ways by
the employees when they are sent on foreign deputation. Firstly, when they are expatriated i.e.
sent to a new culture and secondly, when they are repatriated i.e. when they return back to their
own culture (Lles & Zhang, 2013). In other words, an important role is played by culture shock
in the transfer of employee from one culture to another. However, the impact of culture shock
can be reduced by way of creating awareness regarding the new culture with the international
HRM policies and practices before entering into that culture.
International HRM policies and practices can play a vital role for the purpose of managing
culture shock. Firstly, the HR department needs to properly plan the issues to be addressed in
training in order to prepare the expatriates for their experience in working abroad. The HR
should focus on providing training which not only embrace business issues but also technical,
lifestyle and cultural issues (Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique, 2012). Firstly, multinational enterprises
(MNE) need to assess their requirements with respect to human resources in accordance with the
type of international assignment and then making selection of the correct approach for staffing.
Expatriates may be either parent country national (PCN) or third country nationals (TCN). The
recruitment and selection will depend on the capability to take up challenges during international

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assignments. The HR department of the MNEs should also take into consideration the
restrictions imposed by host countries on the citizens belonging to certain nationalities.
Moreover, the knowledge of the language of foreign countries will facilitate the expatriate in
communicating with the locals in the foreign country (Selmer & Lauring, 2015). However, alien
culture, high cost of living, relocation anxieties, etc. can result in expatriate failure (Wang &
Varma, 2017).
Therefore, cross- cultural training should be provided to the expatriates which involves a
complete coverage of the laws related to labor relations in the host country. The training must
also explain the productivity standards and the disciplinary actions associated with the new job.
The training should cover the topic related to living and working conditions, language and
culture of the new country (Morley & Parkinson, 2015). The pre- departure training should also
be provided to the spouse and children of expatriate which will allow their smooth transition to a
foreign location (Wurtz, 2014). International HR managers should also include the practice of
providing preliminary visits to the host country along with culture sensitization programs.
Practical training should also be provided to the expatriates by employing relocation specialist.
The expatriates should be provided adequate information regarding their assignment and location
so that their responsibilities in advance. Evaluation of the performance of the expatriates should
be performed from time to time on the basis of pre- defined parameters. Systematic processes
should be evolved by MNEs for the purpose of evaluation of employees from diverse countries
who work in diverse environments. Moreover, international HRM policies relating to
compensation and other benefits should be provided to the expatriates in the form of salaries, pay
rise, relocation allowances, housing allowances, etc. which will act as a motivating factor for
them to bring further improvement in their performance. Such motivation will enable them to
face the culture shock and effectively deal with it. HRM practices will be influenced by the
impact of cultural context. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions should be taken into consideration
regarding the host country while recruiting and selecting the employees, providing training and
development, compensation and making task distribution. The HR department should also plan
repatriation training which assists the returning employees to become accustomed with the
practices in their home office along with adjusting to the reporting hierarchy. This will again
assist in managing the culture shock.

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Nowadays, every multinational enterprise is undertaking the management of cultural shock for
avoiding expatriate failures. A Saudi Arabian Corporation, ARAMCO, makes the use of
extensive orientation programs for the expatriate employees along with their respective families.
Practical housekeeping information is provided in such programs which includes information
relating to shopping, day- to- day finances, local transportation and comparisons of the customs
and beliefs of American and Saudi people. Such cross- cultural training provided by ARAMCO
assists in employees in performing better. The expatriates are more gratified with their
assignments when they are provided with such an intense training. The effectiveness of the
employees of ARAMCO is increased by the training provided by it as it allows them to relate
more with the foreign culture. ARAMCO offers competitive and attractive expatriate
remuneration package after making proper comparison of the components of benefits and
compensation with the industry practices. Such HR policy assists in motivating the expatriates
for making their best efforts. ARAMCO considers the difference in culture of different countries
by understanding every aspect of Hofstede culture dimensions and establish the HR practices
that addresses power distance, individualism or collectivism, long term orientation, masculinity
and uncertainty avoidance and roots its HR practices accordingly. It adopts geocentric and
regiocentric approach where suitable employees are recruited from irrespective of nationalities
and also from within the geographic regions of business. ARAMCO is therefore capable of
managing the cultural shock (Kataria & Sethi, 2013).
Therefore, it can be concluded that when an individual moves across cultures, a phenomenon is
experienced known as culture shock. Such culture shock is capable of deciding the success or
failure of an individual during an international assignment. Culture shock is experienced by the
expatriate at the time of moving to a new culture and at the time of returning to their own culture.
However, the impact of culture shock can be reduced to a significant extent by taking into
consideration the international HRM policies and practices. The international HR department
should significantly perform the function of planning, recruitment and selection for finding out
employees that are capable to managing international assignments (Feitosa, Kreutzer,
Kramperth, Kramer & Salas, 2014). Moreover, proper cross- cultural training should be provided
to the expatriates in order to make them familiar with the new culture along with compensation
in the form of benefits and reward for motivating them to perform better. Saudi Arabian
Corporation, ARAMCO, has become successful in managing culture shock.

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