International HRM Report: Australian Culture vs. Global Practices

This report provides an analysis of international human resource management (IHRM), focusing on key aspects such as working cultures, diversity, and cultural awareness. The report begins by comparing the working culture of Australia with global practices, examining factors like flexibility, work-life balance, and challenges faced by companies. It then explores the benefits of diversity in business, presenting five reasons why diversity is advantageous for organizational success, including enhanced vision, strengthened capabilities, team growth, customer satisfaction, and improved bottom-line performance. Finally, the report emphasizes the significance of cultural awareness in gaining a competitive edge, illustrating how understanding cultural nuances and adapting to different environments can lead to better business outcomes and improved workforce management. The report uses articles from HRMonline and includes relevant references to support the analysis.

International Human Resource Management
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

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International Human Resource Management
Question 1: Who has the best working culture? Australia, or the rest of the world?
Article: https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/best-working-culture-australia/
Every country has own culture which also has an impact on the performance of the
organisation. There are people from different parts of the world working within Australia.
This article suggest about the working cultures in different parts of the world along with fact
that challenges that are faced by the companies. Every organisation has own set of cultures
and it is described through the cultural orientation of the country.
The article illustrates that Australia has more flexible working environment when compared
with other working environments. Working culture in Australia is friendlier when compared
with most of the countries in European region. For example more etiquette at the time of
meetings is shown between different companies. (Healey, 2017) However there is lesser
seriousness in the working environment when compared with Ireland hence people works
with lesser intensity. In Australian sub-continent there is more relaxed working culture. They
have more work-life balance in Australia as employees do not feel too much burden and even
they have more job security which helps in building more free culture. In Australia people do
not always ask for the interview when resume is sent to them. There is a formal trail before
companies in Australia actually hires an employee. There is more flexibility in the Australia
when it comes to firing people when compared to America where they can fire employees
without any real cause. Leave practices in America is also poor when compared with
Australia as companies do not allow leaves. This has impact on the satisfaction level of the
employees. When compared with UK, Australian culture has more sick leaves and it comes
with full-time employment.
In Australia there is lesser hierarchy when compared with other countries with higher class
based society and this openness is not extended to everything. There is negativity in the
Australian culture where religion, race and politics play a bigger role and hence it leads to
conflicts (Wiewiora, Trigunarsyah, Murphy & Coffey, 2013). In Australia there is higher
workload on the employees in terms of responsibilities and onus.
Question 3: Diversity is good for business: here are 5 reasons why
Article: https://www.hrmonline.com.au/innovation/diversity-good-business-5-reasons/

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Diversity management is one of the most critical challenges that are faced by the companies
all across the globe and in this regards the major role is played by the HRM. The diversity
related problem is much bigger in the case of gender equality. Diversity in the team has a
positive impact on the creativity and innovations within the firm. Companies are managing
diversity and the biggest five arguments in this regards are:
 Diversity enlarges vision: This can be understood in terms of the fact that diversity
enhances the way in which organisation is dealing with the visions it has set for them.
Diversity allows a company to create more polarity and perception which allows
companies to make better decisions. It attracts new ideas within the firm which also
promotes vision improvement (King, Dawson, West, Gilrane, Peddie & Bastin, 2011).
 Strengthening capabilities: This article illustrates the fact that companies need to
promote diversity as if it does so then they will be able to attract and retain employees
and hence they will be able to improve operational performance. Since every people
from different backgrounds have different kinds of capabilities which is necessary in
today’s time hence promoting diversity can be helpful for the company (Gately,
2017).
 Diversity promotes growth and evolution of team: As the team culture is important
within the firm for performing better, diversity allows a company to make better
teams that is able to make fast decisions and have all types of skills (Trompenaars &
Hampden-Turner, 2011).
 Greater customer satisfaction: Clients needs to interact with company and it is seen
that higher customer satisfaction can be achieved if the employee and customers are
from the same culture. This promotes the companies to be more customers centric
which can give them competitive advantage over the rivals (Plaut, 2010).
 Diversity enhances bottom-line: Since diversity brings experience hence it helps in
building a better team culture which is again effective for performing better in the
market appearances for themselves and hence they are able to gain competitive
advantage over the rivals.

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Qusetion 4: Cultural awareness adds a competitive edge
Article: https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/cultural-awareness-adds-a-
competitive-edge/
This article illustrates about the fact that cultural awareness about any company can give
them competitive advantage over the rivals. This article with the example of James Chan
illustrates the way in which patience acts as a virtue. The cultural awareness of individuals
allows them to do better business in different parts of the World (Okoro, 2012). A person or
organisation going from the one nation to another having totally different cultural
environment needs to understand the culture over there. An organisation that is able to adapt
in the other cultures in a better manner are able to manage the performance in a better manner
and hence they will be able to gain competitive advantage over the rivals. It also helps in
giving country-specific training. This can be understood in terms of the fact that when the
company goes from one part of the world to another they need to give culture-specific target
and in this case cultural understanding acts as a source of competitive advantage. Language
understanding and recruiting locally are some of the significant elements that give
competitive advantage to the firm in other parts of the world (Hopkins, 2015). This helps in
enhancing the cultural understanding. Selection and promotions must be done on the basis of
this only. It is critical for the companies to give cross-cultural training to the employees so
that they are able to deal with the international business environment. Cultural-competence is
essential to be present in decision-makers as it helps them in making decisions that is
culturally acceptable. Company can also send these managers as an expatriate which helps
the company in managing their difficulties in the external markets. Desire for work-life
balance also changes from country to country and hence cultural awareness plays a very
critical role in this. In this article there must be illustration about the fact that cultural
awareness allows companies to bring a better workforce that is culturally competent.

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References
Gately, K. 2017. Diversity is good for business: here are 5 reasons why. Retrieved from:
https://www.hrmonline.com.au/innovation/diversity-good-business-5-reasons/
Healey, B. 2017. Who has the best working culture? Australia, or the rest of the world?.
Retrieved from: https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/best-working-
culture-australia/
Hopkins, C. 2015. Cultural awareness adds a competitive edge. Retrieved from:
https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/featured/cultural-awareness-adds-a-
competitive-edge/
King, E. B., Dawson, J. F., West, M. A., Gilrane, V. L., Peddie, C. I., & Bastin, L. (2011).
Why organizational and community diversity matter: Representativeness and the
emergence of incivility and organizational performance. Academy of Management
Journal, 54(6), 1103-1118.
Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-cultural etiquette and communication in global business: Toward a
strategic framework for managing corporate expansion. International Journal of
Business and Management, 7(16), 130.
Plaut, V. C. (2010). Diversity science: Why and how difference makes a
difference. Psychological Inquiry, 21(2), 77-99.
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (2011). Riding the waves of culture: Understanding
diversity in global business. Nicholas Brealey International.
Wiewiora, A., Trigunarsyah, B., Murphy, G., & Coffey, V. (2013). Organizational culture
and willingness to share knowledge: A competing values perspective in Australian
context. International Journal of Project Management, 31(8), 1163-1174.