International HRM Report: Cultural Differences in IHRM Practices

This report provides an analysis of the impact of cultural differences on various international human resource management (IHRM) activities. It examines how cultural nuances affect performance appraisal, recruitment, selection, and training and development practices within international organiz...Read More

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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Executive Summary
The report has been able to provide an analysis of the effect that cultural differences between
various countries can affect the performance appraisal based activities. The ways by which
the international organizations are affected by cultural differences have been analysed with
the help of different examples. Another factor that has been analysed in the report is the
training and development based activity. The influence of cultural differences on the training
and development based activities have been examined in the report. The analysis has thereby
been settled by asserting that the international human resource management based practices
need to be integrated in international business activities in an effective manner.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Discussion based on the effect of HR based practices in different situations................3
Effect of cross cultural differences on recruitment and selection..............................3
Effect of cross cultural differences on training and development..............................5
Recommendations..........................................................................................................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The functions based human resource management play a major role in the different
HR based practices of the organizations. The functions are thereby comprised of the
transactional activities which can be conducted within the organizations or can be outsourced
as well. The practices are mainly conceptual in nature and are comprised of the systems
which are based on the normal process of business functions. The term named “best
practices” are mainly based on the huge impact that these HR systems have on organizations
and workforce as well. The different activities that are thereby performed by the
organizations are based on the direct correlation between different HR based practices. The
disconnection which can arise between the HR practices are able to affect the operations of
the department in an effective manner (Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey & Saks, 2015).
The report will be based on the analysis of the ways by which different human
resource management based practices are affected by different cultural differences that can
occur between different countries. The HR practices are able to provide important guidance
based on the proper coordination of the business plan. The different ways by which the HR
practices by different cultures will be analysed in the report in detail. The adherence to
employment based laws are an important part of the human resource practices (Bailey,
Mankin, Kelliher & Garavan, 2018).
Discussion based on the effect of HR based practices in different situations
Effect of cross cultural differences on recruitment and selection
The different organizational cultures are able to affect the recruitment and selection
based processes of the companies. The impact of organizational culture on the recruitment
and selection based processes has thereby become an important topic of discussion in the
modern business environment. The perceptions based on culture in different organizations are
able to affect the recruitment based processes. The positive culture which has been developed
in different organizations is able to affect the ways by which recruitment and selection
activities are designed by the human resource department. The different cultures are able to
affect the ways by which the recruitment is conducted by the management of an organization
(Brewster, 2017).
The culture of the employers can play a major part in the designing based procedure
of the recruitment activities. The culture of the organization can also have a negative impact

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on the recruitment based process. Therefore, the company needs to consider the negative
effects of this culture based factor in order to design the recruitment process effectively. The
culture of different organizations is capable of effecting the ways by which the employees
can be engaged, attracted and further retaining the different senior executives. The
millennials are attracted towards the organizations which are able to provide effective
engagement based activities to the employees. The progressive organizations thereby need to
understand the needs of modern employees in order to develop proper recruitment based
strategies. The organizational culture can thereby affect the recruitment based process
effectively (Brewster, Houldsworth, Sparrow & Vernon, 2016).
The job descriptions are thereby able to provide an important view of the culture of
the organization. The cultural differences that are evident between the different countries are
also able to affect the recruitment based process. The boom which has been experienced by
multinational organizations play an important part in the diversity based culture and the
human resource policies as well. The organizational policies are mainly based on different
activities like, training, motivation and staffing based activities as well. The recruitment
based policy of the organizations can be affected by the ways by which employees are hired
by them in different cultural contexts (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018). The hiring process
of employees is thereby affected by the following cultural attitudes,
 Ethnocentrism – This attitude is based on the ways by which the culture of a
particular country is considered to be superior as compared to others. The
organizations which follow these cultures mainly follow the similar culture
like their home country. For example, General Motors is a global organization
which is known to follow the ethnocentric culture. The company mainly
operates in the automobile industry and provides its products to many different
countries in the world (Deresky, 2017).
 Polycentrism – The organizations which follow this culture are mainly those
where the local managers are appointed in different foreign locations as they
tend to have better knowledge based on the behaviour, culture and the
scenarios in different host countries. For example, Toyota is known to follow
the polycentric approach in recruitment process in its international operations
all over the world (Jackson, Schuler & Jiang, 2014).
 Geo-centrism – This cultural attitude is based on the applications that are
made by potential employees from all across the world. The requirements are

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thereby based on the levels of qualification which have been specified by the
global organizations. For example, the geocentric approach is followed by the
organizations like Nintendo and Samsung in order to recruit employees from
all over the world. The companies are thereby known to provide opportunities
to the organizations which wish to operate in different areas of operations
based on their qualification and not on the culture which is followed by them
(Kramar, 2014).
The selection based policy which has been developed by the organizations is also
affected by the cultural diversity. Some of the countries tend follow the extensive process of
selection like that in Asia and the other countries follow the process which is employed in the
US. The screening based process has also been employed by the organizations in order to
select the suitable employees in an effective manner. The cultural diversity can also affect the
ways by which employees are able to adapt to the dressing, language and the life style (Liu,
Gong, Zhou & Huang, 2017).
Impact of cross cultural differences on training and development
The training and development based activities play a key part in the operations of
companies. The employees need to go through this process so that they are able to provide
the best levels of service to the company. The challenges that are however provided by the
training process of the employees to the managers are based on the huge differences between
the cultures that are followed. The cultural situation which prevalent in different countries is
able to decide the distance that is maintained between the managers and the employees. For
example, the Americans prefer to maintain a distance of 6 inches at the time of
communication, whereas the Arabs mainly try to communicate in a close manner (Luthans &
Doh, 2018).
The levels of significance which have been created between the gestures and the
words are quite different from each other. The managers thereby face huge amounts of
difficulties while providing effective training to the employees. The differences which are
evident between the cultures and the style of operations are able to affect the training based
process in modern global organizations. For example, the American companies which are
planning to expand their operations in Germany have to face major cultural issues. The major
American online retail based organization named Amazon had faced huge issues in its

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expansion based operations in Germany. The major issue which was faced by the company
was faced on the accusation that the foreign workers were intimated by the security service
providers of Amazon. The accusation which was further made against the company was that
the reply which was provided by Amazon was quite late. The response which was provided
by the company later on was not enough and convincing in nature (Paillé, Chen, Boiral & Jin,
2014).
The managers of the company were also not able to provide appropriate training to the
employees based on the work process of the company. The US based organizations are not
able to grasp the German market in an effective manner. Google had made many mistakes in
the course of its operations in Germany and the training process which is followed by them.
The employees or human resources can thereby act as challenge or asset for the companies
who plan for international expansion (Fourcultures, 2018). The analysis of global
organizations was thereby able to depict that the training and development based activities
need to be tailored in an effective manner for improving the services. The understanding of
the culture where the company plans to expand can play a major role in the effective training
based operations. The various surveys have been able to depict that the development of the
talent for different emerging markets needs to match the growth of global companies
(Vidovic & Farndale, 2016).
The Asian markets are thereby considered to be important emerging markets which
are able to provide effective opportunities to the global companies. The huge technology
based organizations like Google, Facebook and LinkedIn have faced major challenges in
diversity based activities. The training and development based activities of the companies
have thereby been organized in such a manner which can affect the operations and activities
of employees as well. The inclusion of diversity based activities is thereby important for the
proper operations of the global organizations. The companies thereby need to provide
effective training to the employees. The managers thereby need to coordinate with the
employees in such a way which can help them to train them in an active way (Reiche, Stahl,
Mendenhall & Oddou, 2016).
Recommendations
The international organizations can thereby be recommended that they need to deliver
suitable training to the managers so that they are able to manage the cultural differences in
expansion operations. The human resources will be able to play a key part in the success of

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global organizations. The company thereby needs to manage and train them to adapt with the
culture.
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the global organizations need to integrate
different human resource based practices in the different cultures. The differences in cultures
which are experienced by the expansion based operations of the global organizations can be
resolved with the help of proper human resource management. The recruitment and the
selection based processes are also affected by the cultural differences within the different
countries and organizations. The training based processes which are thereby performed by the
managers and the employees are also affected by the cultural differences in a huge manner.
The global organizations thereby need to implement human resource based practices in such
a way which can help them to control the employees in an effective way. The management of
human resources in an effective manner will play an important role in proper handling of
cultural differences between the countries.

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References
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Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive
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Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource
management. Oxford University Press.
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Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A
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Deresky, H. (2017). International management: Managing across borders and cultures.
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Fourcultures, V. (2018). The Google Dilemma. National Differences and Cross-Cultural
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Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Jiang, K. (2014). An aspirational framework for strategic
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Kramar, R. (2014). Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human
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Liu, D., Gong, Y., Zhou, J., & Huang, J. C. (2017). Human resource systems, employee
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Management Journal, 60(3), 1164-1188.

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