How International HRM Reflects Corporate Strategy: ASDA Analysis

This research proposal examines the relationship between International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and corporate strategy, using ASDA, a British supermarket chain, as a case study. The study aims to understand how IHRM reflects corporate strategy, evaluating ASDA's corporate strategy through an international HRM perspective, identifying challenges faced due to changes in international standards, and exploring ways ASDA can maximize benefits from IHRM. The research covers the background, aims, objectives, rationale, and significance of the study, along with research questions and a literature review covering key concepts of IHRM and ASDA's corporate strategy. The rationale emphasizes the importance of effective IHRM for companies entering the global market, while the significance highlights the benefits for organizations, professionals, and researchers. The proposal also details the research structure and time plan, providing a comprehensive overview of the planned investigation into the role of IHRM in ASDA's corporate strategy.

RESEARCH METHODS AND
ETHICS

Table of Contents
RESEARCH PROPOSAL...............................................................................................................1
Background of study...................................................................................................................1
Aim and objectives......................................................................................................................2
Rationale.....................................................................................................................................4
Significance ................................................................................................................................5
Research specification.................................................................................................................6
Research structure.......................................................................................................................6
Time plan....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Background of study
International HRM reflect the corporate strategies in much large extent as the
organisation have to change its entire policy related with international employees and there
operations in different countries. A sound policy is must to compete the organisation with other
companies and have a win win situation. HR policies are placing the employees in right place
and paying them salary according to the place. International HRM practices can be effected by
Parent company towards subsidiary company. Coordination also plays a dominant role in the
international HR practices, between the management and the subordinate because if the
subordinates disagree with the HR policies made by the management it will lead to pitfalls in the
organisation (Rees and Smith, 2017). The employee must be happy to move to the other location
if the policy of transfer of employee is there in the organisation. The HR international practices
must be made with due care as it have a long term impact on the organisation. Long term impact
can affect the organisation's profitability,
ASDA is a British supermarket which deals in retail, The organisation is having its
headquarter in Leeds, West Yorkshire. 1949 is the year when The organisation was founded. The
company expanded rapidly year by year its operations by acquiring the large supermarkets and
several businesses. The organisation was also listed under the London Stock exchange. It possess
the second place after Tesco as a largest supermarket chain in Britain. The organisation also
provide mobile phone and financial services apart from supermarket having number of
employees of around 165000 with its key person Roger Burnley as a CEO and President. Its
number of location is 633 and it is a very large number and requires sound international Human
Resource Management (Noe And et.al., 2017). The organisation's parent company is the
Walmart. Mainly The organisation's locations are in UK and some in Northern Ireland and some
in Scotland.
Corporate strategy of company is to develop product so that it can target mass audience
and can fulfil needs of large number of consumers. If company has effective HR policies and
practices then it may help business in getting support from staff members and implementing
changes to develop product effectively. This would support firm in running business in global
market successfully. If the product is good that means the policies are good and so as the impact
it have on the organisation.
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Aim and objectives
Aim: Main aim of this research is “ To Know How does International Human Resource
Management Reflect the Corporate Strategy through an International Perspective?”. A Study on
ASDA.
Objectives:
 To determine the concept of international human resource management.
 To evaluate the corporate strategy of ASDA on the basis of international HRM.
 To identify challenges faced by ASDA due to changes in HRM as per international
standards. To evaluate ways by which ASDA gains maximum benefits from international human
resource management.
Research Questions
 Explain the basic concept of international human resource management?
 Write down the evaluation of corporate strategy of ASDA on the basis of international
HRM ?
 What are the challenges faced by ASDA due to changes in HRM as per international
standards?
 What are the ways by which ASDA gains maximum benefits from international human
resource management?
Literature review
International human resource management.
As per the view of Collings, Wood and Szamosi, (2018) The concept of International
human resource management is the set of the work or activities done at the international level
which targets human resource management at international level with the main aim is to meet the
objectives of firm at international as well as national level. International human resource
management of the organisation is management at internation level and includes recruitment as
well as selection and then training and development, rewards and compensation appraisal at
internation level. It includes management of the 3 kinds of employees which includes employees
of the home country, employees of the host country and employees of third country.
Corporate strategy of ASDA on the basis of international HRM
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Voegtlin and Greenwood, (2016) argued that The corporate strategies of the organisation
on the basis of international HRM is to changes in the business strategies related to the HRM
practices by adopting the change related with the employees like making changing in the the
organisation culture and making changes in the organisation . This starts with understanding the
organisation 's goal and mission and vision as well. Training of the employees as per the
requirements, developing of the employees as per the requirements, helping the HR managers to
achieve the target of them. Designing HRM courses for the HR. Choosing the :HRM practices
that suits the organisation the best.
As per the view of Ahlvik, Smale and Sumelius, (2016) The International HRM of the
organisation faced various challenges due to change in HRM as per international standards. As
the organisation looked to cut the cost that resulted in likely abundance cut in the working
hours of the employees which resulted in change in the HRM of the the organisation as per
international standards by cutting jobs in the international market of the underperforming staff all
this happened due to changes in the economic conditions in the form of volatility in the interest
rates, change in wage rates, and also variation in inflation rate. It will effect the organisation
corporate strategy to focus on nations with less volatility and more economic growth.
According to Rees and Smith, (2017) Free Trade Agreements are done to enhance the
cooperation between two countries trade. It reduces trade barriers and reduce in taxes such as
import duties and so on but if the relationship between two countries become bad then it can
create huge hindrances of trade between two nations. It will effect the organisation strategy to
focus less on less friendly nations. Each country is having its own rules and regulations which
the organisation have to respect and follow. The rules and regulations may have bad impact on
the policies of the organisation which may differ as comparison with different country. This will
effect the organisation corporate strategies to focus on employees of the nation which are having
favourable laws and regulation. employees of the different nations have different taste and
preferences. They also have different culture and dealing with them is sometimes a challenge and
also they have different languages and the other employees may face challenges due to this. This
will effect the organisation corporate strategies to manage the employees or placing the
employees at one place of similar languages or culture.
According to Voegtlin and Greenwood, (2016) managing the performance is big deal
because each country have its own practices of managing performances in their own way. Some
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prefer SWOT analysis some PESTLE analysis and so on. As per the international performance
management. This will effect the organisation corporate strategies to make same rule for
performance evaluation to all the employees.
Rationale
The reason behind conducting this research is that it is a burning issue as many
companies are entering into global market hence they have to make effective HR policies to meet
international standards so that their corporate strategy can become successful. Hence this study
can help many firms in getting information about effectiveness of IHRM. It is essential that they
make great HR polices which may support their corporate strategy such as product development
to meet needs of mass consumers (Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018). The other prospective of
the research is hiring the employees from the international market for the cost cutting and high
profit of the organisation. This will help the organisation in getting new talent and this will lead
indulgence of fresh mind in the organisation and ultimately help in getting innovative work
towards the work.
The researcher took this topic because it is the field of interest of the researcher. The
researcher loves to do research on international HR management and its impact on corporate
strategies. The researcher did the research because the researcher was having adequate data for
completing the research. The researcher found the data for the research very easily and was
having ease in doing the research with the data the researcher found. The researcher did the
research as the topic was ongoing, as topic. The researcher loved to research on how corporate
strategies really can play such a crucial role in the growth of the organisation. The researcher did
research because the researcher feels that the long term prospective is very important or the
organisation and also diversification (Johnson, Gibbs Grey and Baker-Bell, 2017). The
researcher wanted to explain how market development strategies in the corporate strategies can
impact the international HR policies. Targeting large number customers can only be done with
good HR policies. T
he researcher chose the topic because what the organisation must change in it and having
a change in the organisation brings a long term. It is also important to discuss the legal
formalities towards the intentional employees and the employee's personal issue impact on the
organisation as per the researcher. The researcher is passionate about the research of employee
growth and development as till will ultimately help the growth of the organisation. It also a new
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way of providing benefits to the employees in the international market. How the international
HR policies can bring changes towards the organisation to bring integrity smoothness in the
work culture of the organisation. The like to do research on complicated issues like the
researcher did. The organisation on which the researcher did research is very large and so many
diversity in the businesses like finance, supermarket, etc (Cuervo‐Cazurra and et.al., 2017).
Significance
There are lot of importance for the research done by the researcher , one of the major
significance is that it would be beneficial for organisations to get information about effective
international HR practices that may support their corporate strategy. This will help them in
running or sustaining in new market successfully (Setia, 2017).
The research will make public more and more aware the companies that what to do when
such situation emerges and also help them understanding several issues that are relevant to them.
This research will help the business in growing and will provide aid to get succeed in the
business. The research is not only limited to the students or the professors but it is also equally
important to the management professional or the other professionals from different background.
The will the person who loves to do innovation and want to find something new always. This
report will help those who want to distinguish between right and wrong. Like if someone
following his or her personal issues, which is wrong making it right is not at all good for the
organisation. For example if the employee is talented and if the employee gets fired just because
of the boss's personal reason than it is very bad for the organisation (Mackey and Gass, 2015).
The investigation can also be beneficial for publishers as well because it may be hot topic
for them and also this research can be beneficial for blogs which one can post of various social
media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, tweeter etc. Many uses the research for
filmography as well or making video of it, to give better understanding of the topic(Kumar,
2019). This research can help to do case study and on making comparison of the different case
studies and making conclusion out of it. The research on international HR management and its
effect on corporate strategies is also very important for investment decision making as well and
also for researcher indulged in expansion of businesses and finding ways how to do it. This
research can also be beneficial for the one who are thinking of whether to do outsourcing or not
and what is the impact on outsourcing on global as well as national platform(Setia, 2017).
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Research specification
There are many techniques that are used in different research projects such as:
interpretism, positivism, realism etc., The current research is based on how International HRM
reflect the corporate strategies. For that, scholar will take help of interpretism philosophy
because it cam help the researcher in developing understanding about impact of international
HRM on corporate strategies in its forming of HRM policies and its impact on business. This is a
qualitative research and will help in finding appropriate and accurate results to the
organisation(Cuervo‐Cazurra and et.al., 2017).
There are two mainly used methods known as primary and secondary techniques for
collecting information, primary technique is based on the real facts and secondary technique is
based on already available information. Qualitative research uses questionnaire and interview
etc. whereas Quantitative research is based on statistical facts and figures or numbers. In the
present study questionnaire technique will be used as it gives more appropriate results by
collecting the data related to information about international HRM changes and its impact on
corporate strategies. This technique also help in gathering the real information about the real
situation and it is also most effective technique in the qualitative method of data collection. Semi
structured interview will support the Student to ask pre arranged questions about international
HRM management and its impact on corporate strategies(Johnson, Gibbs Grey and Baker-Bell,
2017). Samples in the current study can be managers of the ASDA those who are having good
knowledge of the work with good experience. In the study researcher will ask questions with 10
HR managers. They are appropriate sample because they are the actual person who will play
active role in making policies of the organisation and also the same will effect organisation's
corporate strategies and overall performance of the organisation(Noe And et.al., 2017).
Research structure
Chapter 1: Introduction: Under the first chapter scholar will briefly introduce the topic Impact on
international management on corporate strategies and give overview of it.
Chapter 2: Literature review: The literature will review to the other authors who have conducted
the study on the same topic which will help them in the research.
Chapter 3: Research methodology: Tools and techniques in the research which will help in
conducting the research in effective manner which is used in the study.
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Chapter 4: Data analysis: This chapter will analyse the data collected by the researcher which
will help the researcher to do fruitful research and to also do analysis on it.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: This chapter will summarise the entire investigation and will do finding
on the entire study in a nutshell.
Time plan
Activities 1st
Week
2nd
Week
3rd
Week
4th
Week
5th
Week
6th
Week
7th
Week
8th
Week
9th
Week
10th
Week
Framing the
aim and
objectives or
purpose, and
also selection
of the research
topic in detail
manner.
Reviewing the
previously
used literature
or the earlier
literatures.
Selection of
the research
methods used
and applied in
the research.
Completion of
research
proposal or
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accomplishme
nt of the
research for
the scholars
sake or for the
benefit of the
participant in
the
investigation.
Data
collection
through
questionnaire
which is a part
of qualitative
technique and
it is very useful
for the study
and doing
investigation.
Once data is
collected then
doing
Recording of
the collected
data for
further study.
Doing Data
analysis of the
data and the
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investigation
made.
Making
Conclusion
and
recommendati
ons of the
investigation.
Doing Edition
and final
submission of
the
investigation
and
completing the
research
submission
procedures
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahlvik, C., Smale, A. and Sumelius, J., 2016. Aligning corporate transfer intentions and
subsidiary HRM practice implementation in multinational corporations. Journal of World
Business. 51(3). pp.343-355.
Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Cuervo‐Cazurra, A. and et.al., 2017. Research methodology in global strategy research. Global
Strategy Journal. 7(3). pp.233-240.
Johnson, L.L., Gibbs Grey, T.D. and Baker-Bell, A., 2017. Changing the dominant narrative: A
call for using storytelling as language and literacy theory, research methodology, and
practice. Journal of Literacy Research. 49(4). pp.467-475.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015. Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Noe, R.A. And et.al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017. Strategic human resource management: An international
perspective. Sage.
Setia, M.S., 2017. Methodology series module 10: Qualitative health research. Indian journal of
dermatology. 62(4). p.367.
Voegtlin, C. and Greenwood, M., 2016. Corporate social responsibility and human resource
management: A systematic review and conceptual analysis. Human Resource Management
Review. 26(3). pp.181-197.
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