International HRM: Culture's Impact on Management Decisions in Japan

This report delves into the complexities of international human resource management (IHRM), specifically examining the impact of culture on decision-making processes within a UK company's venture to establish a call center in Japan. The report initiates with an introduction to IHRM, emphasizing its strategic importance and the necessity of considering cultural factors. Task 1 critically appraises the influence of culture on managerial relations, highlighting cultural differences and the use of Hofstede's model to navigate these differences. It analyzes cultural dimensions like power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation, providing insights into their implications for the call center's operations. Task 2 evaluates the management of human resources as integral to the international organizational strategy, discussing challenges and offering strategies for effective talent management across diverse cultures. It emphasizes the importance of avoiding favoritism, tracing the employee life cycle, and developing a global database for talent management. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications for the UK company, underscoring the importance of culturally sensitive IHRM practices for success in international business ventures.

International Human
Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Critical appraisal of the impact of culture on the decision-making in managerial relation and
also its relation to international human resource management..............................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Evaluation of the management of people who are integral business resource to an international
organisational strategy............................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The management which deals with strategic as well as functional management of human
resource in the firms which have international operations in a number of countries is called
international human resource management. The activities included in international human
resource management are same as that in human resource management such as selection,
recruitment, that your management, training and development, compensation, industrial relations
and so on. International human resource management is majorly associated with the business
strategies of a company (Aswathappa and Dash, 2020). It is necessary for an organisation to
analyse different factors which affect working of employees in an organisation. It is necessary
for an organisation to make sure they are analysing different factors and critically evaluating
them in the following case as a United Kingdom companies opening to locate a call center in
Japan. The report consist of different decisions which will impact the culture in management
decision making in relation to international human resource management. There have also been
evaluation on different people who are a resource for business and an integral part of
organisational strategies (Liu and et. al., 2020).
TASK 1
Critical appraisal of the impact of culture on the decision-making in managerial relation and also
its relation to international human resource management
A company which is dealing internationally can be said to be a company which have its
subsidiaries or relations in other companies as well. In this following report it is seen that a
company from United Kingdom is trying to start a call centre in Japan. There are a number of
factors and functioning of employs which will be affected in the company. The international
human resource management will help the organisation to effectively use various functions such
as recruitment, training, selection, appraisal and so on to set up a call centre in Japan. This will
also help the company to effectively gain a competitive advantage in the market (Lohaus and
Habermann, 2019) .
There are a number of companies who have the same dealings with different countries. It will
be a challenge for the company from United Kingdom to train and develop the employees in this
call centre in Japan. This will happen because there is a lot of difference in the cultural
upbringing of the people in both the places. It is needed by the managers of human resource to

make sure that they are developing the skills and qualities required in all the employs in the call
centre so that they can effectively complete all their roles and responsibilities (Koontz, Weihrich
and Cannice, 2020). The major roles of international human resource management of United
Kingdom ‘s company while opening a call centre in Japan are mentioned below:
 Is required by international human resource management department to make sure that
development of various skills and technical abilities is done effectively in employs and
the management.
 They need to develop strategies for handling the global operations in business.
 They need to secure compensation, performance management and also the carrier path
for the employs.
 They need to manage and organise all the cross-cultural sessions including counselling
and also language training program if required.
 They need to develop human resource management in such a way that it might provide
competitive edge to the company (Cascio, 2019).
The management of human capital is a challenging task for the company. It is necessary that
company knows about the cultural and economic situation in the country in which it is hiding.
There are three major activities in international human resource management which includes
procurement, allocation and utilisation. Below mentioned are some of the major functions and
challenges for the company (Crawshaw, Budhwar and Davis, 2020).
Cultural challenge
It is often seen that when there is a difference in culture specially nationally it is difficult
for the human resource management to hire the staff and make them work with each other. It is
necessary that in the call centre the environment is positive and all the people are working with
each other so that all the objectives of the organisation can be fulfilled (Berk and et. al., 2019).
This is an important factor to be looked upon by the training and development team so that they
can effectively hire the staff and train them in order to work with the people of different
background and thinking.
Hofstede model of culture is used in the company which have a number of different
aspects related to culture which helps in solving the cultural differences between the people
working in an organisation (D’Angelo and Presutti, 2019). The major advantage of using
Hofstede model to an organisation is that the finding of this model will not be affected by

different cultures in the company. Another advantage of this theory is that different dimensions
of culture can be quantified with the help of this model. Better understanding of these models
can be done quantitively as well as visually.
On the other hand, the disadvantages of these models are that the results of these model
are generalised and not organisation specific. It is necessary to understand that a model is not
meant to be applied on individuals but altogether on an organisational culture which can be
difficult sometimes. The model does not understand the importance of values and believes that a
unique person have built for themselves over the period of time.
Below mentioned are different cultural dimension of the theory:
Power distance index: This clearly indicates that the people in the organisation who have
less power make sure that the power is equally divided between all the people. Due to higher
power index there arise inequality in the organisation. Due to this high authority and respect is
shown to the higher rank. On the other hand due to lower power index the culture in the
organisation is motivating and also the power is decentralized (Song, Fisher and Kwoh, 2019) .
In the call center in Japan it will be important for managers to see that power is not vested only n
the hand of locals. This might bring differences in employees.
Individualism versus collectivism: This reflects that how the society is divided into
different groups and the perceived obligation and dependence upon the group of people.
Individualism shows that it is required by person to attend their personal goals on the other hand
collectivism reflect that individual look for personal goals as well as well-being of group as a
whole. The human resource manager in Japan requires to provide training to employees in order
to fulfill the organisational goals as well as personal goals of employees to fulfil the requirement
of individualism and collectivism.
Masculinity versus femininity: According to this dimension there are two different
factors which are mostly neatly as well as femininity one refers to distinct gender roles,
concentrated on material achievements as well as assertive. It is necessary that the human
resource population from both the gender are equal in the organisation. The manager in Japan
needs to provide both with equal opportunities and roles.
Uncertainty avoidance index: This refers to the point of tolerance of uncertainty in the
organisation. This index describes how low tolerance can be risk-taking in the organisation. And
low uncertainty avoidance index shows the high tolerance of risk. It is necessary that in the call

center to be located in Japan the tolerance of uncertainty is set low so that all the employees area
fulfilling there required tasks effectively.
Long-term orientation versus short-term normative orientation: It is often seen that due
to long-term orientation the delay in short-term goals can happen in an organisation. Because the
short-term orientation only focuses on coming future and delivering short-term goals. The call
center in Japan will need strategies for short term orientation more as requirement of human
resource in call center will be throughout the year.
Intelligence versus restrain: This refers to the tendency of an individual to fulfil all the
desires of society. This dimension is basically related on how society is responsible for impulse
of individual. On the other hand, in the regions refers to the free gratification of society involved
in life. Restraint on the other hand indicates how society can sometimes suppress the needs and
requirements of a people due to various social norms (Richards and Sang, 2019). It is necessary
for the human resource manager in Japan to make sure that a positive environment is built in the
organisation to manage the impulse of employees working for them.
It has been analysed that all these can be used effectively by human resource management to
fulfil the needs of employees in the organisation. This will also help to enhance the working in
the call centre and maximise their revenues and profits.
TASK 2
Evaluation of the management of people who are integral business resource to an international
organisational strategy
It is necessary for every organisation to make sure that they are managing the people in the
organisation. Especially when the company deals in more than one country. When the company
from United Kingdom is opening a call centre in Japan, they need good human resource to carry
out the work effectively. It has been seen that there has been scarcity for leaders who can
effectively manage all the work of the company in Japan. This is one of the major factors as
human resource is important for any call centre (Von Schomberg and Hankins, 2019). Human
resource also acts as intellectual capital which helps in developing competitive advantage for a
company against its competitors. It is necessary for the executive of human resource
management in United Kingdom company to bridge the gap between employees of Japan. It is
necessary to make sure that human resource is effectively working in multinational companies

and also make sure that they hire the right kind of people for the job. Below mentioned are some
of the ideas to manage the human resource with different cultures and believes when operating in
international market:
No use of national or local: The major effect of developing a good human resource
program is by making sure that there is no favoritism between the managers in local or national
employees. They need to ensure that there are no preference showed towards any employee in
the call center and the work is effectively managed by the local manager. They need to know and
understand what are the instructions and the assigned task. This favoritism of any employee will
not be encouraged. It is necessary to recruit the people from international market who understand
the culture of headquarter country and also helps in development of market (Shin, Hur and Choi,
2020).
Tracing the life line:
There are a number of strategies in the business of the company and it is necessary to
identify all the strategies so that the objectives of business can be achieved. The life line usually
depends on various positions in the company. It is required for the company to make sure that
they have functional, technical and soft skills for growth of organisation (Macke and Genari,
2019). The teams which are generated in the organisation must consist of specialist and the line
managers as well. The skill descriptions for all the post should be predetermined so that
recruitment can be done accordingly it also becomes necessary to describe the roles annually and
make sure that the performance management is done efficiently. The role description and
performance management should be done twice a year to make sure that all the changing market
requirements are met effectively by the organisation
Developing a global database for talent management:
It is necessary to make sure that the human resource have the database of all the employees
working for the company whether local or national. It is necessary that they help in development
of carrier of employs along with all the staff who are working in the call centre. This will
motivate the employees to work better. It is necessary to create a database which have the
information and details about all the employees whether they work in lower, middle or senior

levels in the company. The relationship between trainees and trainers should also be mentioned
in this database so that responsibility can be derived.
Constructing a mobility pyramid:
It is necessary to make sure that the new location have the best capability and experienced
workers. The new call centre needs to make sure that they are providing effective training
sessions for the new hire’s employees. The training session must include different culture and all
the individuals from not only Japan but United Kingdom as well. They need to ensure that the
employs are continuously motivated and encouraged effectively in order to make sure that the
work is done effectively.
Identification of leadership capital:
The human resource management of company required to make sure that they are building
a database of all the call centres along with the managerial skills which is required in order to
make sure that the employees of the organisation are working effectively and they are
encouraged from time to time. The new employees in the organisation also need to be satisfied
with their work and the environment in the organisation. The managers used a competency
framework so that all the senior managers of the company and in the call centre are effectively
managing the grievances and queries of all the employees in the organisation. It is required to
create a database which is private so that all the talent pools in the organisation can be served
efficiently. The most experts and managers are responsible for comparing and capitalising the
maximum capability out of the database which is recovered. It is also necessary to continuously
review and validate the data and also discuss with all the executives of the company about the
data reviews (Aguilera and Grøgaard, 2019).
Continuous recruitment: There is huge requirement for human resource in any call centre.
It is often seen that the rate of retention in call centres is very low. Which means that the
employs are continuously leaving the work and new employees are continuously joining the
work. It is necessary for the organisation to make sure that the human resource management is
capable enough to carry on continuous recruitment and selection process. They need to make
sure that maximum number of customers get the service whenever they require and the waiting
time is less so that customer satisfaction can be achieved. In order to achieve this it is required to
have maximum number of workers who are always available to take the calls of customers
(Morgeson, Brannick and Levine, 2019).

Advertisement of vacancy internally: A company needs to make sure that they are
advertising the vacancy in the organisation first internally. This will help them in running the
global labour market effectively and efficiently. It is required by the new call centre which is
open in Japan to make sure that that they are effectively using recruitment in the company and
the call centre have open vacancies for new recruitments all over the year. Will help them in
making sure that all the employees working for them are the best and they are the most skilled to
work for the call centre and achieve all the goals and objectives required by the company.
International staffing
It is necessary to conduct staffing within the company. It becomes a challenge for the
company to make sure that they are recruiting the most talented and skilled workers. It is
required that the human resources effectively understanding all the objectives of the company.
They need to make sure that communication skills as well as the knowledge of employees
recruited are best. Various skills include the communication power as well as the problem-
solving skills (Apte and Kapshe, 2020).
The major requirements for the employees who will be hired in call centre need to have good
English-speaking communication skills as well as vocabulary. They must also have the
adaptability to work in culture of organisation which have diversity. This is required because the
human resource in the new organisation that is call centre will have a number of people with
different culture and religious background. It is necessary for the workers to mix well and work
with each other without any conflicts or grievances (Straatmann and et. al., 2020). Cost is also
one of the major factors which is to be looked upon by the international human resource
management. They need to make sure that they do not invest much cost of the organisation while
hiring the people for the organisation. It is necessary to make sure that the hiring and recruitment
process is done smoothly and they are being most productive with the cost, time as well as talent
while recruiting and selecting the people for the organisation (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2019).
They will also need to face some tax rules and regulations while hiring the people from
international markets. It is necessary for the United Kingdom ‘s human resource management to
look upon the tax treaties which are incorporated in Japanese jurisdiction. This will make the
work of both the Japanese and United Kingdom ‘s citizens working in the organisation easy.

CONCLUSION
With the help of above the discussion, it can be concluded that proper analysis of market and
human behaviour required to manage for international human resource management. It is
important for a company which is dealing in more than two countries to effectively use
international human resource management for managing the resources in the organisation. It also
concludes what are the necessary steps to be taken by an organisation which needs to start the
business in a new country with various human resource strategy and functioning of the
organisation effectively.

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