International HR Practices and Expatriate Success - TMGT402

This essay delves into the critical role of international human resource management (IHRM) practices in ensuring the successful completion of foreign assignments by expatriates within multinational corporations (MNCs). The paper begins by outlining prominent theories and models related to expatriate success, including motivation and trait activation theories, and the significance of international experience and language skills. It then explores the impact of various IHRM practices, such as national culture, organizational structure, and cultural values, on foreign assignments. The analysis extends to a comparative study of Apple Inc. and Samsung, examining their respective IHRM practices, including personnel evaluation and training, and assessing their effects on expatriate success rates. The essay highlights the importance of understanding and adapting to cultural differences, providing training, and fostering a supportive organizational environment to enhance expatriate performance and reduce challenges. The conclusion emphasizes the positive correlation between effective IHRM practices and improved expatriate success, offering valuable insights for organizations seeking to optimize their global workforce management.

International Human Resource Management

International Human Resource Management 1
Introduction
Human resource management is set of organisational activities that aimed at effectively
directing and managing the human resources (Labour/ workers). Managing and directing the
human resource management helps to achieve the objective of the organisation. The functions
of HRM staff would be recruitment, selection, training, and development, performance
appraisal, managing promotion and many others. The activities of human resource
management at the international level are called international human resource management.
IHRM includes the typical HRM functions such as recruitment, selections, training and
development, performance appraisal and many others additional activities. The activities of
IHRM are required in the multinational companies (MNC) in order to manage the employees
of the organisation (Saleeth, 2010). In Multinational companies, people come from different
background and country for the common purpose. Different countries have different culture
due to which there are many issues arise that is face by the employees of the organisation. It
is essential to maintain the HR practices at the international level so that the activities will
manage effectively. The practices maintain the three types of employees and these are home
country employees, host country employees and the third country employees. In this paper,
the discussion is made on the topic of “international human resource management”.
This paper is classified in three parts as per the effective structure with the different important
terms such as national culture, organisational culture, cross culture and many others. In the
first phase of paper, the theories and models on expatriates success. After that the discussion
is made on the HR practices of two organisations such as Apple and Samsung. At the end of
the phase of paper, recommendation will be discussed for the organisation with the poor
expatriates.
Overview of organisation

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Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company that develops and design the
consumer electronics, computer software, online services and many others. It is one of the
biggest technologies companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. It operates in many
countries across the world.
Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate that operates in electronics goods and
service. It is the largest information technology company that operates in consumer
electronics maker and chipmaker which is measured in terms of revenue. It operates in many
areas across the world.
Part A – Prominent Theories and Models on expatriates’ success
Multinational companies need to manage their issues related to geography in the context of
implementation, controlling or transferring knowledge. There are many assignments taken by
the expatriates who work at the international level. The expatriate requires the support of
people and from the host country employees in order to reduce the issues for them and helps
to achieve the goals, and objective. It is essential for multinational companies to facilitate the
expatriate interaction and achieve the good relationship between them. The expatriate’s
success can be achieved by the multinational company when it maintains the relationship
with them so that it can achieve its objective. There are many theories and models applied by
the organisations in order to maintain the issues related to geography dispersed.
Motivation departs
The multinational company has to focuses on the stress level and motivation level of the
employees in order to achieve the success in the terms of expatriate’s. This theory of
motivation helps to support the employees so that the challenges face by them is reduces. The
expatriate’s faces the national culture challenges as it works from the other country beyond

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the home country. In this theory, the main focus is given on the “cross culture contexts” as
there are large numbers of challenges faces by them. The bulk of expatriate’s theories and
research; the reducing stress helps to achieve the success in the expatriate’s. Reducing the
stress helps to reduce the threat of global assignment and enhance expatriate’s well-being and
also makes them happy. Motivate theory explore the role of expatriate’s motivation
moderating mechanism that explains the terms how and when cross cultural motivation
promotes expatriate’s effectiveness.
Trait activation theory
This theory is mainly focuses on the personality traits of expatriate’s. This theory is also
applicable on the motivational attributes and their resulting expression in order to develop the
balance between the cross-cultural motivation and the work adjustment. This theory examine
the contextual influences on expatriate’s outcomes such as the foreign subsidiary cultural
distances, foreign subsidiary support. Foreign subsidiary cultural defines the extent of
cultural of host country and the culture of home country is similar for expatriates. Foreign
subsidiary support defines the extent in which subsidiaries helps expatriates in adapting to the
global assignments and provides them career and financial support (Anzam, 2018).
International experience
The marital status is also other consideration to achieve the expatriate’s success. The
organisation has to maintain the balance between the work adjustment and job performance
of expatriates. It is observed that the employees face the work-family conflict, prior
experience, and assignment tenure in order to adjust in the work.
Controlled expatriates local languages

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The local languages skills of experts are also appointed for them so that they cannot face any
kind of challenges regarding the cultural differences. It is founded that the local language
skills is predicted the expatriates adjustment and enhance the performance by reducing the
gap between the culture of host country and the culture of home country.
Impact of international HR practices on foreign assignment of expatriates
Enhance performances
International HR practices have a positive impact on the foreign assignment as they reduce
the challenges for expatriates. It is observed that the cross-culture issues face by the
expatriates affects their performance that directly relies on the foreign assignment.
Appropriate HR Practices helps the company to provide the local culture to expatriates so that
they can provide the facility to them (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2017).
Enhancement in the success rate of expatriates
It has been seen that improving the HR Practices develops the positive environment for the
organisation. The success rate of expatriates is also improved with the improvement of the
activities related to human resource management. The quality of foreign assignment is also
improved with the success rate of expatriates as they are responsible to do those foreign
assignments (Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow, and Houldsworth, 2016).
Reduces negative role
International HR practices of the multinational companies helps to reduce the negativity from
the workplace. It is observed that the good amount of compensation helps the organisation to
reduce the challenges so that the expatriates can easily survive in the host country. The rate of
retention to do the work is also improved.

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Factors of international HR practices have significant effects on foreign assignment of
expatriates
National Culture
Improving the international human resource management practices helps to reduce the
challenges of culture issues. Understanding the national culture and develops the HR policies
is also a HR practices that helps to reduce the challenges of cross-culture. Treating the people
equally develops the positive environment of the organisation. It is a motivation technique of
HR practices because giving the equal values and understanding the culture of expatriates
encourage them to perform the activities of the assignment with the full efforts (Brewster,
Chung, and Sparrow, 2016).
Organisational structure
Effective HR Practices always developed friendly atmosphere at the workplace. The
international HR Practices helps the expatriates to understand the organisation culture so that
they can put their full efforts in fulfilling the foreign assignment. The relation between
employers and the expatriates will get strong with the effective HR practices due to which
they can easily share the complaints, issues and the appreciation. These activities also
improve the performances of expatriates in doing assignments (Bratton, and Gold, 2017).
Cultural values
Effective IHRM includes the activity of understanding the expatriates so that they cannot face
any issues related to cross culture. The biggest issues of the expatriates during the foreign
assignment are to understand the culture of host country. It is difficult for them to adjust in
the host country by adopting the culture of home country. Understanding the cultural values

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helps to eliminate the possibility of Conflict issues at the workplace during completion of
foreign assignment (Collings, Wood, and Szamosi, 2018).
Part B – Analysing the expatriates’ success rates of two organisations
Success rate
The rate of Samsung is revaluated with the existing employees of the company. It is the
largest consumer products company in the technology. The organisation has large number of
employees who works with the company beyond their home country. The approx. 70 percent
of employees are Koreans went India during the expansion of business.
Apple provides the large number of opportunities to expatriates to work on their foreign
assignments. The company established its business from USA to Australia due to which the
large numbers of employees are sending by the employers in the host country. The employees
of the organisation perform their work with the effective manner due to which it achieves the
success in host country. But the company is in worst situation while the number of expatriates
is high. The expatriate face the culture challenges because it is difficult for him to understand
the culture of host country as the employees come from different country to do the work
(Srivastava, 2017).
HR Practices of Organisations
Apple Inc. and Samsung
Personnel Evaluation system
Personnel Evaluation system is designed by the Samsung in order to assess the performance
of an employee. The fair evaluation of the company also encourages the employees to
improve the performance for their careers. Samsung measures the employee performance
once in a year in order to provide the feedback so that they get motivated.

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Performance Evaluation practices of Apple includes the receiving a semi-annual review. The
manager of the organisation adopts the method of determining the strength and weaknesses of
an individual. The main focus of the company is measuring the performance of everyone so
that they can handle the problems of expatriates in order to improve their performances
(Essay Town, 2017).
Health and Safety Training
Apple Inc. is committed to protecting the environment, health, safety of their employees. The
company adopts the health and safety management practices during conserving and
enhancing the resources for future generation. The company adopts the technologically
innovative tools for the health and safety practices of employees (Apple, 2018).
Samsung trained the employees for the use of chemical substances in order to provide them
safety. Instructions on emergency kit usage such as first aid including CPR practices and
practices chemical neutralisation. It specially adopts the safety training for new expatriates so
that they feel safe and secure.
Comparison
As per the above analysis, it has been seen that the Samsung provides the training to
expatriates at the international level in order to provide them security and safety. But in
Apple, it adopts the new innovative tools to protect the expatriate. It can be said that the
health, safety and training practices of Samsung is more appropriate for expatriates in terms
of safety.
The other international HR practice of Samsung is personnel evaluation focuses on the
motivation of expatriates as per the theory of expatriates’ success. The international HR
practice of Apple is focuses on the problems of expatriates which affects their performance

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and try to solve them in order to improve the performance (Brewster, Mayrhofer, and
Farndale, 2018).
Effects of International HR Practices on Foreign assignment of expatriates
Training-
As discussed above, the expatriates faces the issues of national culture due to work in the
other countries. In the case of Samsung, it has been seen that the expatriates face the language
barriers while the Korean people went outside the South Korea. As the company provides the
training to their expatriates in order to protect them but it is difficult for expatriates to
understand their language. A language barrier is the main issue which affects the foreign
assignment because it is difficult to them to work on the assignment as per the instruction(van
der Laken, van Engen, van Veldhoven, and Paauwe, 2016).
Personnel evaluation-
As discussed, the fair evaluation is encouraged by the expatriates in terms of success. It is
observed that the method of Apple of evaluation of strength and weakness is arises the issues.
The fair evaluation is essential in order to improve the performance of expatriates for
effective result of foreign assignment. It is observed that the expatriates of the company face
the issue of biasness, and gender equality that affects their performances (Albrecht, et. al,
2015).
Part C – Managerial implication for the organisation with a poorer expatriates’ success
rate
As per the above discussion, it is observed that the international HR practices of both the
companies are appropriated but as the coin have two aspects as same the HR practices of the
companies have two aspects. In the simple words, it can be said that the HR practices of the

International Human Resource Management 9
companies has some gap due to which they face the issues in expanding the business. The
negative result of assignment states the position of failure in the assignment. The poor
practices of human resource management develop the issues for the expatriates in terms of
survival (Soltis, Brass, and Lepak, 2018).
It has been seen that the expatriates of Apple have many facilities to do the work but it is
observed that they face the cultural issues. As per the above discussion, it is observed that the
employees of USA sent Australia by employers so that they can handle all the assignment of
Australia. As the company hire the large number of employees from Australia due to which
employees of Australia faces the cultural issues. The company does not take care of every
employee by analysing their problems as the large number of employees hire by it. The
chance of increasing the conflicts among the people is increases due to which the foreign
assignment of the company is affected.
It is recommended that the organisation has to hire the expert trainers to train every
expatriate. Trainers are the best source to overcome the issues of cultural challenges and the
others. Using the local languages of the expatriates always makes them comfortable due to
which the motivation level of expatriates is increases. As per the organisation structure, the
company has to develop the friendly environment so that the expatriates take participation in
different activities. The friendly environment helps expatriates to perform the services in an
appropriate manner with the positive mind-set.
It is observed that Samsung faces the issue of cultural differences due to shifting the large
number of employees in the host country from home country. The balance is not properly
maintained by the company due to which the cultural gap issues are arises. It is required to
improve its recruitment and selection practices in the host country. It has to hire the

International Human Resource Management 10
employees of host country in order to maintain the balance at the workplace (Chen, Kirkman,
Kim, and Farh, 2018).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it is recommended that the international human resource
management is essential for the organisation in order to attain the objectives and goals. In this
report, Apple and Samsung are the companies taken into consideration to analyse the
international human resource management practices. As per the theories of expatriate’s
success, the motivational techniques have to be adopted by the companies to develop the
balance between the work adjustment and job performances. The international HR practices
of the companies has been analysed which states that the company have the appropriate
practices due to which the foreign assignment achieve the moderate level of success. As per
the comparison, Samsung is more appropriate in training practices and Apple is more
appropriate in personnel evaluation practices. At the end, it is recommended that the Apple
has to hire the trainer who is expertise in every languages and encouraging the employees.

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