HRM Analysis: Unilever's Operations in India and Cultural Factors

This essay examines the impact of Indian culture on the international human resource management (IHRM) practices of Unilever. It analyzes how cultural dimensions, including Hofstede's power distance index and individualism versus collectivism, and dimensions from Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner and GLOBE's cultural dimensions, influence various HR functions. The essay explores the implications of these cultural factors on expatriate managers and host country nationals, specifically focusing on recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, and performance management. It highlights the potential positive and negative impacts of cultural differences, such as the high power distance and collectivist traits in India, and offers insights into how Unilever can adapt its HR strategies to effectively manage its workforce and achieve its business objectives in the Indian market. The essay uses relevant academic sources and provides a comprehensive overview of the cultural context of IHRM, providing a detailed analysis of how the company can navigate cultural nuances.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Globalization has paved way for major companies to go global and expand their
business in other countries in order to make a global presence in the market and to generate
more profits. Culture is seen to highly affect the human resource management of international
companies due to globalization (Awan, 2016). According to scholars, culture exerts powerful
influence on the attitudes, behavior and the values in a specific country and thus it affects the
preferences for the procedures and policies of the human resource management (Đorđević,
2016). This paper will focus on one of the most important international company, Unilever
and will focus on the culture of India to identify the impact of human resource management
of Unilever, the expatriate managers and host country nationals.
Unilever is a transnational company and is seen to have dominance in the FMCG
industry as well as in the global market. Unilever operates in over 190 countries which show
the high international presence of the company (Chebiego & Kariuki, 2018). In order to
ensure that the company maintains the presence and can grow their business in India, it is
important for the human resource management of Unilever to assess the cultural dimensions
that can affect the process of human resource management which is highly essential for the
operations of the company.
Every country has a different culture which is reflected on the work culture of a
company operating in a specific country. According to scholars, culture of an organisation
controls the process and the ways employees (Rodriguez, Montiel & Ekema-Agbaw, 2017).
The culture of India is very different and it has a potential to impact the human resource
management of Unilever. Vlajčić et al, (2019) states in international business the dimension
of cultures form a vital facet and it is important for managers to have knowledge about the
various features of an organisation or a business and how it is viewed in countries with

2INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
different culture in order to understand and sail efficiently across international or global
business market. In order to assess the cultural dimensions of India, the Hofstede’s cultural
dimension approach will be used.
Application of the Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory
Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory was introduced my eminent scholar, Geert
Hofstede and this framework was introduced to understand the culture of different countries
across the world (Peter, Marion & Allen, 2017 p. 32). According to scholars, the Hofstede’s
theory helps to discern ways in which businesses operate in different countries that have
different cultures and the main aim of this research was to determine all the dimensions in
which cultures vary (Al Ariss & Sidani, 2016). The two dimensions of Hofstede’s theory
which can be used and will be discussed in context to the human resource management are
the following:
Power distance index
The power distance index shows the extent to which power and inequality is tolerated
in the society. The power and inequality is basically viewed from the follower’s point of
view. According to scholars, India is seen to have high income inequality in the country
where the wealth is not distributed evenly which has resulted in a high percentage of people
earning meager amounts of money (Solt, 2016). This shows that there is a top down structure
which is present in India and there is a level of hierarchy. Employees generally follow what is
expected out of them and want to get instructions clearly. Communication in organisations is
directive in style and thus it can be understood that managers directly ask what needs to be
done rather than expecting them to do the job on their own (Frantz & Jain, 2017).

3INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
By assessing the power distance index, it is important for Unilever to hire competent
employees who will be able to understand the work properly and can follow orders. This
culture will be positive for the company as they highly follow orders and establishing training
and development will be fruitful. Providing compensation will be effective as the employees
are used to being treated in an unequal manner and providing compensation will help in
motivating the employees there. Performance management will also be easy for the company
as they mostly follow orders and thus managing and evaluating the performances will not be
a difficult task. However, this might be difficult for thee expatriate managers as they might
not know the language and know how people work which can have an impact on their
operations.
Individualism vs collectivism
India is seen to have mainly collectivistic traits. According to scholars, the collectivist
traits mean that there is more preference for belonging to a bigger social framework in which
the people are expected to act or behave in accordance to great good of the defined in-groups
of the people (Wiengarten et al, 2015). In India, the relationship of the employee and the
employer is mostly one which highly based on expectations. The employer is the one who
protects and guides the employees and the employees are the ones who are productive and
return the favour by being loyal. It has been seen that the promotion and the hiring decisions
in companies in India are generally made based on their relationships which is one of the
primary trait of collectivist society (Kyriacou, 2016).
This culture can highly affect the human resource management practices as it can be
seen that employees in India highly emphasize on loyalty and this can have negative impacts
on the compensation as well as the performance management process as it will become
difficult for the managers to provide compensation as it will be difficult for them to assess

4INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
who is the deserving employee. It is unfair to make decisions based on relationship rather
than focusing on performance which can have a negative impact on the processes (Gupta &
Bhaskar, 2016). It might become a liability for the expatriate managers to take care of all the
employees just based on the relationship one has developed with their subordinates making it
difficult for the decision making process.
There are many other models that are used to assess the cultural dimensions which are
essential for the human resource management and expatriate managers to understand and
come up with efficient strategies.
Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner
Trompenaars and Hampden- Turner had introduced the seven dimensions of culture
which helped in assessing the different cultures by emphasizing on the seven dimensions
presented in the model. According to scholars, this model suggests that people are not
different from one another randomly however they differ in predictive and specific ways
because culture has their own beliefs, thinking, preferences ad values which are placed on
various different factors. One of the dimensions provided by the model is the following:
Universalism vs particularism
It can be seen that India as a country has high aspects of universalism in their culture.
People in India place importance and emphasis on values, laws, obligations and rules and
they usually emphasize on rules in comparison to relationships (Sorokin, 2017). The working
culture in India shows that the managers usually provides clear instructions, procedures and
processes and give their employees time for their decision making. The employees and
people in general in India use various objective processes to make proper decisions for

5INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
oneself and if any other person is involved then they take time to explain the decisions that
one has taken.
The human resource management of Unilever may face issue in the selection process
as it will be difficult for them to hire employees as majority of them believe following that
coming up with their own insights which can lead to poor performances of the company.
Training and development will be positive as it will help Unilever to provide training on the
skills and competencies they look for. This however may help in evaluating performances
and providing compensation as it will easy to monitor the performances and compare with
one another to come up with compensation.
The other model which is used to assess cultural factors of a county is the Globe’s eight
cultural dimensions.
Globe’s eight cultural dimensions
Globe is a research program that is an extension of the work of Hofstede which helps
in investigating the cross-cultural behavior in terms of leadership which helps the managers
of organisations, moreover it helps in addressing questions like whether there are leadership
attributes and behavior which are accepted generally in all cultures, role of attributes and
behavior in specific culture that influence well-being of the society and many more (Peter,
Marion & Allen, 2017 p. 34). One of the dimensions which will be used to assess the culture
of India is gender differentiation.
● How much do behaviors and attributes in specific cultures influence the economic, physical, and psychological
well-being of the members of societies researched in the study? ● What is the relationship between these socio-cultural
variables and an international competitive capacity of the various sample societies?

6INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Gender differentiation
Gender differentiation is measured by the extent to which the society of a country
maximizes the differences of the gender roles. It can be seen that India has very low gender
difference in comparison to other countries. It has been seen that India is a male dominated
country and majority of the powerful positions in companies are generally held by male.
Gupta, (2017) states in India, literacy among female is usually not given much importance
and the literacy inequality between the male and the female are pretty high.
It can be seen that there is high discrimination in the society and according to
scholars, it is important for companies to address equal employment opportunity issues
irrespective of the location (Dowling, Festing & Engle, 2013). This may hinder the selection
and recruitment process as there are few females in comparison to males who work in this
field in India. However, this may not have any negative impacts on the training and
development and compensation.
Power distance
Individualis
m vs
collectivism Gender
differentiation
Universalism vs
particularism
Recruitment & selection Positive
 Hire
competent
employees
who
follow
designated
work
properly
Negatives
 Makes it
hard to
find
leaders
 Difficult
to hire
employees
due to lack
of
independe
nce
 Lack of
diversity in the
organisation
 Will not affect this
department
Training & development Positive
 Makes
training
and
 Easy to
provide
training
and build
cohesive
Will not affect this
department
 Help in building
skills and
competence required
to carry out work
alone.

7INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
developme
nt process
easy
Negative
 Might
affect the
manager
to provide
effective
training
teams
Compensation Positive
 Makes
compensat
ion easy
and
motivates
employees
.
 Unfair
compensat
ion based
on
relationshi
ps rather
than
performan
ce
Will not affect this
department
Will not affect this department
Performance management  Makes it
easy to
monitor
performan
ces
 Difficult
to assess
performan
ce
Will not affect this
department
Will not affect this
department
Conclusion
The culture of India in comparison to other countries is different and it can be seen
that there are various factors which can have both negative as well as positive impacts on the
human resource management of Unilever and the expatriate managers who will be assigned
in the company. It is important for the expatriate manager to understand the culture so that it
can help the manager to successfully look after the employees and automatically contribute to
the successful operations of the business in India.

8INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Reference
Al Ariss, A., & Sidani, Y. (2016). Comparative international human resource management:
Future research directions. Human Resource Management Review, 26(4), 352-358.
Awan, A. G. (2016). Wave of Anti-Globalization and Capitalism and its impact on World
Economy. Global Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(4), 1-21.
Chebiego, C., & Kariuki, P. (2018). Strategic firm level factors and performance of
manufacturing firms in Kenya: A case of Unilever Kenya Ltd. International Academic
Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration, 3(3), 243-262.
Đorđević, B. (2016). Impact of national culture on international human resource
management. Economic Themes, 54(2), 281-300.
Dowling, P., Festing, M., & Engle, A. (2013). International Human Resource Management.
Retrieved 2 April 2020, from https://books.google.co.in/books?
id=LVG2BUQs_ygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=International+human+resource+man
agement+Author:+Peter+J.
+Dowling+author.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr8bmbpcroAhXEWisKHdsxA4cQ
6AEIOzAC#v=onepage&q=92r.&f=false
Frantz, T. L., & Jain, A. K. (2017). Relating CEO leadership behavior and organization
culture in the Indian context. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
Gupta, N. (2017). Gender inequality in the work environment: a study of private research
organizations in India. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal.
Gupta, S., & Bhaskar, A. U. (2016). Doing business in India: cross-cultural issues in
managing human resources. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management.

9INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Kyriacou, A. P. (2016). Individualism–collectivism, governance and economic
development. European Journal of Political Economy, 42, 91-104.
Rodriguez, L. C., Montiel, I., & Ekema-Agbaw, M. L. (2017, July). The Effects of Culture
and Country Risk on the Choice of Corporate Sustainability Practices. In Proceedings
of the International Association for Business and Society (Vol. 28, pp. 267-276).
Solt, F. (2016). The standardized world income inequality database. Social science
quarterly, 97(5), 1267-1281.
Sorokin, P. (2017). Social and cultural dynamics: A study of change in major systems of art,
truth, ethics, law and social relationships. Routledge.
Trinh, A., Nguyen, N., Berger, J., Desai, U., & Lane, S. (2017). Cultural differences in
France, Germany, Greece, India, the USA And Vietnam. Copyright 2017 by Institute
for Global Business Research, Nashville, TN, USA, 171.
Vlajčić, D., Caputo, A., Marzi, G., & Dabić, M. (2019). Expatriates managers’ cultural
intelligence as promoter of knowledge transfer in multinational companies. Journal of
Business Research, 94, 367-377.
Wiengarten, F., Gimenez, C., Fynes, B., & Ferdows, K. (2015). Exploring the importance of
cultural collectivism on the efficacy of lean practices. International Journal of
Operations & Production Management.
Peter, D., Marion, F., & Allen, D. E. (2017). International human resource management.
Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

10INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT