International HRM: Ambrosia's Thailand Market Expansion - A Report

This report delves into Ambrosia's international expansion plans, specifically focusing on its entry into the Thailand market. It assesses the company's current standing, its commitment to social and environmental responsibility, and the HRM policies necessary for becoming an employer of choice. The report highlights the importance of a robust reward system to attract talent and offers strategies for business and human resource development, considering the competitive landscape. Furthermore, a PESTEL analysis provides an overview of the political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental, and legal factors that could impact Ambrosia's expansion. The document also addresses the institutional and cultural differences between the UK and Thailand, the advantages and disadvantages of cross-cultural managerial groups, and the role of expatriates in recruitment, selection, communication, and training. Desklib provides comprehensive study tools and resources for students.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
International Human Resource Management
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Abstract
The report discusses about a United Kingdom based company, namely Ambrosia. Ambrosia
is a successful health company that manufactures, distributes and produces quality minerals,
nutritional, vitamins, body care products and supplements. Ambrosia Company has its own
manufacturing units at their head office. In addition to this, it leases other premises. The
organization has a strong commitment to the environmental as well as social responsibilities
of the nation. The company has successfully flourished in its domestic market that is United
Kingdom, and now it is planning for expanding its business into the international markets of
Thailand.
The report recommends few procedures and policies which the company’s Chief Executive
Officer needs to adopt for becoming the employer of choice. In addition to this, the report
discusses about the importance of an appropriate and proper reward system for attracting the
highly talented employees. It also recommends some strategies on developing the business as
well as human resource management for increasing the performance of the staff members,
taking into consideration the competitive nature of the business. Apart than this, the report
gives an overview of the political, economical, socio cultural, technological, environmental
and legal factors which may affect the company, while expanding its business.

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Table of Contents
Component 1..............................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
Institutional and Cultural Differences....................................................................................4
Advantages and Disadvantages of working in an international and cross cultural
managerial group involving the International Joint Ventures................................................8
Advantages.........................................................................................................................8
Disadvantages....................................................................................................................9
Role of Expatriates with respect to recruitment, selection, communication and cross
cultural training processes....................................................................................................10
Recommendations....................................................................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15
Component 2............................................................................................................................15
References................................................................................................................................18

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Component 1
Introduction
Ambrosia is a successful health company that manufactures, distributes and produces
quality minerals, nutritional, vitamins, body care products and supplements. Ambrosia
Company has its own manufacturing units at their head office. In addition to this, it leases
other premises. The organization has a strong commitment to the environmental as well as
social responsibilities of the nation. Moreover, the company acquires certified documents
from the government regarding their usage of the high quality organic materials at the most
ethical way. Ambrosia’s product pricing strategy is however, not aimed in being the cheapest;
instead the highly valued and reliable products are being fairly priced (Anitha 2014).
The report throws light on the environment in which Ambrosia is presently operating,
taking the expansion of the company into consideration. The company has successfully
flourished in its domestic market that is United Kingdom, and now it is planning for
expanding its business into the international markets of Thailand. The report recommends
few procedures and policies which the company’s Chief Executive Officer needs to adopt for
becoming the employer of choice. In addition to this, the report suggests some strategies the
company can undertake in order to attract and retain the most talented staff members as well
as employees. The organization can also develop their human resource management policies
as well as procedures in order to keep its staff members happy and maintain a healthy work
environment.
The report highlights the major institutional and cultural differences between the
native country and the international market, along with its advantages and disadvantages.
Moreover, it comprises the role of expatriate’s from both the companies with respect to

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selection, recruitment, communication and cross cultural training processes in the
International Joint Venture. In addition to this, the report discusses about the importance of
an appropriate and proper reward system for attracting the highly talented employees. It also
recommends some strategies on developing the business as well as human resource
management for increasing the performance of the staff members, taking into consideration
the competitive nature of the business. It is highly important for the human resource
managers of any company to develop a good reward system for motivating the employees
and staff members (Ashleigh, Higgs and Dulewicz 2012).
Discussion
Ambrosia is a United Kingdom based company that has managed to win the hearts of
many employees as well as its consumers. The company has sound human resource
management policies, which is responsible for recruiting and selecting the staff members,
conducting training and induction procedures for the employees’ assessment. The employees
have no such complaints against the leadership and management techniques of Ambrosia
Company. Currently, the company is planning for expansion in the overseas markets.
Initially, Thailand’s market is being chosen for building up the business (Austin and
Pinkleton 2015). Most importantly, for further expansion, Ambrosia Company needs get a
crystal clear idea regarding the current environment in which they are working.
Literature Review
Institutional and Cultural Differences
Howard Perlmutter’s work revolves around internationalization of the multinational
companies. His theories of evolution of the multinational companies are seen as one of the
pioneer theories concerning the legitimacy and viability of the corporations. The major

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institutional and cultural differences which separate both the countries are presented in this
part of the report in the form of PESTEL analysis.
Political Factors
The concept of neo-liberalism has been used for the past decades in order to address
the political factors of the society. The United Kingdom tends to favor the free market
capitalism and neo-liberalism. Ambrosia Company’s is highly influenced by its political
factors which have a direct impact on its profitability. The government officials all across the
world favor for high quality nutritional products, vitamins and minerals. Moreover, the taxes
on the health products have grown since the last few years. Therefore, the demand for fairly
priced health products is in demand internationally. However, the Ambrosia Company
received support from both the government officials as well as its target consumers, for their
organic products and less impact on the environment (Cavusgil et al. 2014). The Ambrosia
Company uses certified organic products from some exclusive brands. Moreover, the rules as
well as regulations of the government matters from region to region and from brand to brand.
In addition to this, the company needs to have some clear ideas regarding the political
situations and other related factors, on expanding its business to the markets of Thailand.
Moreover, the export as well as import rules and taxes vary from nation to nation (Ball et al.
2012).
Economical Factors
The economic forces of the country are of high importance when it is considered from
the context of the health industry. The Ambrosia Health Company has been planning for
business expansion into the Thailand markets. According to leaked information, it is found
that United Kingdom’s economic sector has been hardly hit by the recent crisis in the overall
economy. In times of not so good economic conditions, the sales may drop to a huge extent.

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This in turn, will affect the overall profitability of the Ambrosia Company (Deyoe and Fox
2012). However, even in economic crisis, majority of the individuals tend to buy medicines
and vitamins. Thus, there lies an advantage for the company, in this aspect, even though the
luxury products will face huge trouble. Additionally, along with normal prices, the taxes vary
from region to region (Dillon 2012).
Socio-Cultural Factors
Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory describes the societal effects on the cultural
values of the members. These particular values are related to the behavior of the consumers
and factor analysis. In addition to this, Trompenaars and Hampden Turner also mentioned
that the factors which distinguish individuals from one culture to the other are the preferences
which fall into the dimensions of universalism, particularism, individualism,
communitarianism, specific and diffusion. However, the markets are being highly influenced
by the cultural as well as social forces of the nation. The industries of health products get
influenced directly by the changing cultural and social needs as well as trends. This in turn,
affects their overall business to a huge extent. The overseas markets get hugely influenced by
the cultural and social forces of the international countries. Moreover, as per recent reports,
the markets of Ambrosia Company are going to get affected by the consumers’ attitudes,
behaviors and changing preferences. Thus, it is the responsibility of the company to cater to
the target audiences as per their choices (Downs and Swailes 2013). Certain strategies like
introducing new as well as innovative items can assist to the profitability of the company to a
huge extent.
Technological Factors
Technology and innovation have become two important determinants of the health
industry’s market share. If the company is innovative, their market share will also become

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higher. In addition to this, majority of the companies plan to invest huge on the research and
development segments. The more Ambrosia Company is innovative, the more is their share
in the market (Forsgren and Johanson 2014). However, it is worth making a statement here
after considering the fact that all major companies make huge investments in the research and
development segments. The companies prefer researching on the development of resource
units, before considering the capabilities (Dunning 2012). In addition to this, the Ambrosia
Company has made significant investments in the market development sections. Moreover,
they plan to introduce some latest developments in the upcoming years.
Environmental Factors
There are different laws that are related to environmental friendliness and carbon
emissions of various countries. The technological and automobile industries play a very
crucial role in this. However, it will not be easy for the Ambrosia Company to expand their
business to any place they wish to. They have to plan and conduct a high level research
procedure, before making the whole plan a success. In addition to this, they will receive some
tax subsidies and other tests in relation with the technologies have grown stricter (Girling
2012). The companies which pass through these tests are allowed to enter into the markets of
other countries. However, it is worth mentioning that Ambrosia Company has passed various
tests in the past decades. This will prove to be a beneficiary factor for the company itself,
while they expand into Thailand’s markets (Grant 2016).
Legal Factors
The law of the country is yet another crucial factor, which each and every company
needs to store in their minds, while international expansion. It affects the overall profitability
and performance of the companies. The health companies which are planning for expansion
into overseas markets need to pass from several legal procedures and tests, for proving its

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safety and quality. The laws have grown stronger and stricter (Hamilton and Webster 2015).
In addition to this, the items that are being exported from other countries need to pass from
emission controls. However, Ambrosia Company’s vision as well as mission is the overall
safety of their employees and target consumers. Therefore, it will not pose a threat for the
overall expansion of the company’s business.
Advantages and Disadvantages of working in an international and cross cultural
managerial group involving the International Joint Ventures
A joint venture refers to the business arrangement where two or more parties agree to
pool the resources in order to accomplish a particular task. It is different from the partnership
agreements as it focuses on undertaking a single project (Hoejmose, Brammer and Millington
2013). However, there are certain advantages and disadvantages of working in an
international and cross cultural managerial group involving the International Joint Ventures.
Advantages
Various Perspectives
A very common advantage of the multicultural workforce is the broader perspectives’
range on the issues or say, challenges. In addition to this, multicultural companies bring in
diversified workforce for higher performance and profitability. People from various
backgrounds bring in their own cultural experiences that are unique. They bring the
experiences which they face in their respective companies and this larger perspective of the
viewpoints tends to allow better and ultimate resolution (Homan 2013). Ambrosia Company
encourages diversity in their workplace policies and procedures. Therefore, it will prove to be
highly beneficial for the company itself. The company can go for joint venture with a reputed
health company of Thailand, namely Assure Company.
Broader Coverage

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Employees and staff members with diversified backgrounds help in providing the
companies a broader coverage into the global marketplace. For instance; if Ambrosia
Company wishes to expand its business into the markets of Thailand, it needs to serve those,
in which the employees have no cultural or communication barriers. The employees must be
able to speak as well as write their language accurately, overcome all the communication
filters and cultural barriers and also know what the consumers want (Ireland, Hoskisson and
Hitt 2012). These are the advantages of the employees which can relate to the global
consumers. Broader coverage of the company helps in future expansions. In addition to this,
employees with various backgrounds will assist in bringing in new and innovative
experiences and concepts into the company, which in turn will prove to be advantageous for
the Ambrosia Company itself. Assure Company’s experienced employees will be able to
connect with the employees more effectively as well as efficiently (James Sunday Kehinde
2012).
Disadvantages
Enhanced risks of discrimination
A diversified workforce helps in presenting huge experience and ideas into the
company. However, there are several disadvantages as well. It increases the risks and
potential of discrimination. It is quite natural that if people of distinguishing characters and
traits are put together, prejudices and discrimination will arise. In some workplace,
employees have the mindset of, “we have always done it in this manner”, which is highly
disadvantageous for any company. This increased the overall risk of diversity and therefore,
diversity management is considered to be highly crucial for the multicultural workforces
(Schuler 2015). Employees must be given diversity trainings and sessions in order to accept
the diversified workforce. Companies are needed to provide cultural sensitivity and
awareness trainings in order to create an organization’s culture of tolerance as well as

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acceptance of all the differences that exist within the enterprise (Killing 2012). Ambrosia
Company needs to take care of these factors before expanding their business into the foreign
markets. Tying up with the Assure Company will prove to be beneficial for Ambrosia.
Internal Communication
It is true that global communication proves to be beneficial for any company.
However, internal communication is generally more challenging at the times when the
employees have cultural or language barriers. However, the diversity management plans can
assist in this. It is seen that the companies with multicultural workforce tend to have higher
number of obstacles. The employees need to be competent enough in order to overcome
those. The miscommunication regarding major objectives may however, lead to several
problems and also cause low team morale, which can ultimately add up to the workplace
conflicts related to the diversity. Internal communication is referred as the blood line of any
organization. Poor internal communication has the power to mar the entire organization’s
image and reputation. It leads to severe confusion, low morale among the employees, less
productivity and in turn, hampers the profitability of the overall company. Workplace conflict
is one of the major disadvantages of internal communication (Kumar et al. 2012). Therefore,
Ambrosia Company needs to take care of such factors, before planning for expansion into the
foreign markets and check how the internal communication goes with Assure Company.
Role of Expatriates with respect to recruitment, selection, communication and cross
cultural training processes
Bartlett and Ghoshal mentioned about several competencies among the expatriates in
political, technical, social organizational and cultural terms. There are various people who
have got different reasons of moving to the foreign countries. Furthermore, the neo-
corporatism refers to the economic tripartism which involves negotiations between the

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business, state interest groups and labors in order to establish the economic policies. Due to
the globalization, business operations are becoming increasingly international. In addition to
this, the companies are in search of more human resource managers and employees. Typical
activities of the international human resource managers include tax equalization,
administrative services for the expatriates, international orientation and relocation, language
translation services and maintaining the relationships between the host and government.
There are specifically three major dimensions that are involved in the international human
resource management, which are the human resource activities, countries involved and the
people involved (Lamba and Choudhary 2013). However, this segment of the report discusses
about the recruitment, selection, communication and cross cultural training procedure with
respect to the role of expatriate workers.
Role of Expatriates with respect to recruitment
Organizations planning to expand their business, joint ventures or relocating the
members need to know certain things. It is true that sending expatriate workers overseas is
highly expensive as the company needs to take into account certain things like immigrant
requirements, insurances, allowances, tax equalizations and some other payments (Rugraff
2012). However, in most of the times, it is worth an investment. There are some major roles
of the expatriate workers in respect to the recruitment. Firstly, hiring the locals can be a tough
job especially when the company is expanding their business in the foreign markets.
Secondly, the human resource managers of the company should stress on quality over
quantity. Lastly, the operations need to strictly conform to the overall standards of the home
market (Majaro 2013).
Role of Expatriates with respect to selection