International Human Resource Management Challenges at Qantas Airlines

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of international human resource management (IHRM) challenges faced by Qantas, a major airline operating globally. The report highlights the importance of workforce diversity, employee engagement, and effective recruitment strategies within the context of IHRM. It examines issues related to employee dissatisfaction, communication barriers, and the need for diversity and equality policies. The analysis includes discussions on various recruitment approaches, such as ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric models, and their implications for managing a diverse workforce. The report also emphasizes the benefits of training programs and the implementation of diversity policies to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity. Furthermore, it explores the negative impacts of employee issues on Qantas's customer service and overall performance. The report concludes by recommending measures to improve Qantas's diversity policy and foster a more inclusive and productive work environment. This assignment is a valuable resource for students on Desklib, offering insights into real-world IHRM issues and potential solutions.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
International Human Resource Management
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Teaching case
Contemporary business organizations are entering in the global market in order to
enhance their market share and market presence. However, in operating in the global market
scenario, there are various aspects that should be considered by the business organizations. One
of the key factors is the maintenance of the diversity in the workforce (Jonsen et al. 2013). This
is due to the reason that, in the global business scenario, employees are being recruited from
various regions across the world. Thus, these business organizations will have diversified
workforce, which should be maintained effectively. This is due to the reason that, in the
diversified workforce, employees belongs from different social and cultural backgrounds (Okoro
and Washington 2012). In accordance to that, they will have different requirement and
expectation from the organization. Thus, business organizations entering in the global market
and operating with diversified employees will have to initiate effective strategies in order to
enhance the effectiveness of the diversified workforce.
Qantas is one of the leading and biggest airliners in Australia as well as in the whole
world. They are also one of most renowned brands in terms of the employer branding among the
job seekers. However, in the recent years, they have faced the issues with their employees in
their different operational units around the world. This is due to the reason that, Qantas is having
their operational facilities around the world with having diversified employees (Patrick and
Kumar 2012). However, one issue being faced by them is the ineffective maintenance of the
employees in the workplace. According to the report being published, employees in the Qantas
are having the problem with the workplace condition. Moreover, employees being recruited from
different cultural and social backgrounds have also accused the organization that effective
maintenance of the workforce diversity is not being enhanced. In addition, it is also been

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reported that, effective training and for the employees from different cultural backgrounds is not
being initiated and thus these employees are facing challenges in effectively communicating with
the local employees.
For the above discussed issues, Qantas should implement effective management of
human resources in order to prevent these issues. One of the key and effective measures for the
business organizations is the international human resource management. Initiation of the concept
of international human resource management will help the business organizations to effectively
manage and fulfill the requirement of the diversified workforce. One of the key aspects of
international human resource management is the recruitment. Recruiting and selecting the right
employees who can get adjusted with the existing organizational culture and procedures will help
to reduce the chance of employee related issues. According to Bratton and Gold (2012), there are
mainly three approaches being followed in enhancing the effectiveness of the recruitment
policies of the business organizations. According to the authors, one of the approaches is the
initiation of the ethnocentric approach. In this case, the employees are being selected only from
the parent country of the organizations in their host country facility. Though, this model does not
promote the diversity in the organization, but also helps the organizations to bring forward their
organizational culture in their host country facility also. The organizational values and cultures
are being effectively followed in the host country unit due to having the same culture of the
employees from the parent country (Gehman, Trevino and Garud 2013).
Another approach in the recruitment process is the polycentric approach. According to
Tiwari (2013), polycentric approach refers to the recruitment of the employees from the host
country. In this model, business organizations have the advantages of effectively determining the
local market requirement due to the presence of the local employees. According to the author, in

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this case, the issues related to the diversity are being effectively mitigated due to the reason that
entire organizational structure is being filled with the human resources from the host country.
However, both of these approaches are not promoting diversity in the workforce and thus, there
is less chance of having the issues related to the diversity. On the other hand, it is to be noted that
in the initiation of the process of the international human resource management, these
approaches will help to effectively manage the employees from social and cultural backgrounds
(Jeon and Choi 2012). Moreover, though diversified workforce cannot be maintained with these
two approaches but these will help the business organizations to maintain the employees from
the same social backgrounds in different operational facilities around the world.
Another approach in the recruitment process is the geocentric approach. According to
Guo, Rammal and Dowling (2016), polycentric is the only staffing approach in the international
human resource management that promotes having diversified employees in the organization.
According to this approach, business organizations selects employees both from the host and
home countries based on the organizational requirement and skill and expertise of the candidates.
This approach promotes having employees from different social backgrounds in the organization.
Effective implementation of the above stated steps will help Qantas to reduce the
probability of the employee related issues. Moreover, with having effective policy of recruitment
of the employees, Qantas will have the access to the skilled and expertise employees, which will
further help them to enhance the competitive advantages of them in the market. As discussed
earlier, employees from different cultures and social backgrounds had accused the organization
of not initiating the effective working environment in the workplace. Thus, initiation of effective
training programs will be beneficial for the organization due to the reason that, employees will
be trained with the domestic culture of the host country (Ford 2014). Thus, the issues related to

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the employees from different social background can be mitigated. Another recommended
measure will be the initiation of the effective policy of diversity and equality among the
employees. This is due to the reason that, if the employees from different social backgrounds can
be given equal representation in the organization, then all the employees will feel involved in the
organization and employee related issues will be reduced and prevented.
Model answers
 What will be benefits of effective management of the workforce diversity?
Workforce diversity is one of the major aspects that should be considered by the business
organizations in the current business scenario. According to Podsiadlowski, Gröschke, Kogler,
Springer and Van Der Zee (2013), effective management of the diversity in the workplace will
have positive implications on the employee engagement. This is due to the reason that, due to the
reason of effective management of the diversity in the organization, employees will feel
motivated if the particular community from where they belong is being given the proper
attention. Thus, the effectiveness and the productivity of the employees will get enhanced.
According to the theory being stated by Maslow regarding the motivational level in the
workplace, it is being stated that various factors should be considered to enhance the level of
motivation of the employees. If the working environment in the organization can be effectively
maintained then the safety needs and love and belonging needs of the employees will get
fulfilled. Thus, with the effective maintenance of the diversity in the organization, the working
environment in the organization will get enhanced. This will in turn help the employees to feel
more motivated in the organization. In addition, with having the motivated employees in the

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organization, the organizational productivity will get increased along with the increase in the
level of satisfaction of the employees. Thus, the above identified issues can be avoided.
 What will be negative implication of employee issues for Qantas?
As discussed earlier, there are various issues being identified in the internal management
of Qantas. One of the key issues being identified is the lack of maintenance of diversity among
the employees. There will be various negative implications for these identified issues for the
organization. One of the key implications will be the lack of motivation among the employees.
This is due to the reason that, if the diversity is not being maintained in the workforce, then
employees will feel connected with other internal stakeholders in the organization belonging
from the different social backgrounds. Thus, the initiation of the mutual trust and cooperation
among the employees will not get enhanced. It will also affect the relationship between the
internal stakeholders.
Another key implication from the above identified issues will be providence of
ineffective customer service. This is due to the reason that, if the employees are not being
involved and engaged in the organization, then they cannot be able to provide effective service to
the customers. Thus, the customer satisfaction level will get affected along with the customer
loyalty of Qantas. According to the opinion being given by Anitha (2014), employee engagement
will determine the performance of the employees in the organization. This is due to the reason
that, as per the author, the more engaged will be the employees, the more effectiveness and
performance of the employees. They will feel more involved in the organization. Thus, it will in
turn enhance the customer service quality. However, as discussed earlier, ineffective
management of the diversity in the organization will de-motivate the employees and it will
adversely affect the performance and effectiveness of the employees of Qantas.

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 What are the advantages of effective international human resource management?
For the contemporary business organizations, managing the employees is one of the key
aspects that should be considered by them in order to gain competitive advantages in the market.
This is due to the reason that, the more effectively the employees will be managed, the more
engaged will be the employees in the organization. Moreover, initiation of the effective human
resource management will further help the organization to train and equip the employees in
meeting the organizational challenges (Beardwell and Thompson 2014). As discussed in the
above case, majority of the contemporary business organizations are operating in the global
market and thus they are having diversified employees from different cultural and social
backgrounds.
In this case, initiation of the international human resource management will be more
beneficial due to the reason that, it will help the organization to effectively manage and fulfill the
diversified requirement and expectation of the employees. According to Jiang, Lepak, Hu and
Baer (2012), initiation of human resource management will further help the organization to
provide effective customer service. Moreover, due to the reason that, Qantas is an service
organization and they deals directly with the end customers, thus providing effective customer
service is having more benefits for them. As discussed in the above case, initiation of the
international human resource management involves initiation of various recruitment approaches
to select the right employees for the right job (Koskan et al. 2013). Moreover, implementing the
different approaches in different situations will help them to achieve positive outcome from the
internal management.
 What should be done in order to enhance the diversity policy for Qantas?

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Enhancing the diversity policy in the organization is much important for Qantas due to
the reason that, it will create the effective understanding and mutual cooperation among the
employees, which will in turn reduce the chance of employee oriented issues in the organization.
One of the key measures should be taken by them is to provide training to the entire workforce
consisting both the employees from the home and host countries (Topno 2012). Providence of
the training will help the organization to aware the employees about the benefits of the
workforce diversity. Thus, the employees will have the awareness about the benefits of having
the diversified workforce in the organization.
Another measure that can be initiated by Qantas is the initiation of the geocentric
approach of staffing. This is due to the reason that, geocentric approach will help the
organization to select employees from both the home and host countries. Thus, the workforce
will have the employees from various social and cultural backgrounds (Treven 2017). The more
will be differentiation among the social background of the employees, the more they will be
motivated to communicate with other employees. Thus, it will in turn help the organization to
have effective diversity in the workforce of them.

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Reference
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