International Human Resource Management: Managing Cultural Shock

This essay explores the phenomenon of cultural shock within international business contexts and the crucial role of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) in mitigating its effects. It defines cultural shock as the anxiety and uncertainty experienced by individuals when transitioni...Read More

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Policies and practices of international human resource management to deal cultural shock........................3
Problems faced by International Teams.......................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Culture shock can be explained as the mixed feeling of anxiety, confusion and uncertainty that
individual face at the time of change in business, living area which includes totally different
society from their own. It can arise due to unfamiliarity with local customs, language and
acceptable behavior, as standards can be different for different cultures. Culture shock in
organization can be daunting when an organization plans to operates its business activities across
the globe for sustaining the profitable corporate relationship. Many of the international
companies provide cultural training to help the employees to understand the different cultures.
This training further helps in reducing cultural gaffes by employees which can influence the
business (Furham, 2012).
Cultural shock can also be explained as experience of the person when he/she shifts to a
cultural environment which is totally different from their own (Fan, 2010). One of the main
origins of cultural shock includes persons in a foreign environment. Cultural shock is a natural
process and it may generally take weeks and months to develop in any person. Cultural shock
consists of four phases’ adjustment, negotiation, honeymoon and adaptation (Vanderwerf, 2016).
The experience involved in these stages varies from person to person and the influence of each
phase is different. The different phases help to know that how one should adjust, adapt and
manage the changes.

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Source: (Vanderwerf, 2016).
Honeymoon- When one finds the changes very exciting, interesting and fascinating.
Cultural shock- When one starts facing difficulties and challenges to comprehend the changes.
Adjustment-When one got to understand the changes and tries to adjust.
Mastery- when change has become the new normal.
For instance, an Indian student has planned to go abroad for higher studies in Australia. The
student was aware of Australian accent and he knows how to speak English properly. He has an
idea that he may face some challenges related to admissions and colleges but he wasn’t aware of
actual difficulties. So when he actually reached their, he realizes that climate condition is totally
different from their country. This further creates the health related problems. Then he came to
know about the actual expenses in living in Australia afterwards he realizes he has to look for
some jobs to bear the expenses. He also faced challenges in understanding their culture and
values which was no similar to his own country (Cullingford, 2017). First he felt isolated and
lonely and he was barely able to connect with the people around him. Then with time he got to
know the changes and develop the understanding of their culture. He is then able to adjust with
the new country and at the end the change becomes the new normal for him. Now he seems to
belong from Australia. So this example defines the concept of cultural shock more clearly
(Duchscher, 2009).
Policies and practices of international human resource management to deal cultural shock
There is a need to understand the differences that occurs while shifting from one culture to
another. The dimensions of the culture vary from one country to another country. To expand the
business, an organization must go for global business. Global business implies global clients as
well as global employees. This further creates the cultural shock as many of the employees have
to shift from one country to another country to achieve the organizational objectives. Many of
the organization involve employees from different cultures such as HP, IBM, and many more.

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The organizations that have the employees from different countries may face the challenge of
cultural shock (Expatica, 2018). It is quite challenging to manage cultural shock as it requires
some extra efforts and managerial skills to deal with it. International human resource
management plays a vital role in dealing with cultural shock at workplace. From the beginning
the HR mangers are aware that they may face the challenge of cultural shock as it is the roller-
coaster of emotions of individuals which comes in between the performance of the employees.
As the behavior of the employees depends upon the performance of the employees so the
employees must have peace in mind so that they can perform well. The performance of the
employees gets influenced by the level of anxiety and depression due to cultural change. To
manage the cultural shock, there are some practicalities which may be included in settling down
in a new country along with the new job and new culture.
For instance, an American Multinational Information Technology Company known as Hewlett-
Packard (HP) was founded in 1939. It has developed and delivers wide variety of software and
hardware components and co services to the consumers, small and large sized organizations. It
was ranked as the world’s leading PC producer from 2007-2013. The company HP has
employees from different countries therefore they usually deal with the challenges like cultural
shock. To manage the cultural shock, HP has followed the Synergistic approach out of
ethnocentric and parochial approach. The synergistic approach implies “Our way and their way
differ but neither way is inherently superior to other”
Approaches to Managing Diversity, Adapted from Adler (2016).
Synergistic approach suggests and assumes cultural contingency-that the best way depends on
the particular cultures of the people involved. This approach identifies the similarities and
dissimilarities between the different cultures that make up a global organization and advices that

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we neither ignore nor minimize the cultural shock. The organization does not force employees to
follow the rules and values of a particular culture. They do not make the employees feel the
cultural shock as they prefer to provide the information package to the employees regarding the
host country. Instead of making the employees feel cultural shock, the organization tries to
indulge them with existing employees. From the point of view of HP, the employees from
different countries are resources which help in designing and developing the organizational
systems (Banks, 2015)
HP follows some major steps to manage the cultural shock. They first describe the situation and
determine the underlying cultural assumptions. Then accesses the cultural overlaps, then try to
create culturally synergistic alternatives afterwards select one alternative and eventually,
implement the selected solution. By following these steps it transforms the cultural shock into
some positive outcomes (Kamal, 2009).
If the managers want the employees to switch in another branch of their organization then the
employees must provide with the package of information. The package of information includes
the information about the host country such as their culture, values, beliefs, norms and attitudes
and the way they work and others necessary things. With the help of this information package,
the employees will get themselves prepared for a new country. In some cases organization fails
to provide information package to the employees therefore in those cases the organization should
at least provide counseling support to the employees (Rice, 2015).
The cultural shock is combination of mixed feelings in which a person literally gets confused and
that will further affect the performance of the employees. Therefore to deal with these

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challenges, the organization often hires well trained employees to motivate the employees to
cope up with the new changes. The organizational helps the employees to know the information
regarding the new country. The permanent transfer can be depressing for the employees
consequently; employees might deny adapting the new changes (Reisinger & Turner, 2012). So
to handle this situation organization can provide counseling support to the employees by the
psychologist who can motivate the employees and help in keeping their mind positive towards
the new change.
Problems faced by International Teams
As an organization includes different employees from different cultures therefore it is necessary
to spend some time to establish and develop the team process to manage the cultural shock
properly. Is the employees feel cultural shock that will ultimately affects the performance of the
employees which can be very challenging for the organization. Therefore the organizations need
to develop a good communication process in which every employee will feel free to ask any
questions and doubts. A simple and easy process of communication will build a healthy
environment in the workplace. If the employees from different country feel cultural shock they
can easily ask for help from the organization to understand the new culture and changes
(Waycott, 2015).
Cultural shock implies feelings of individuals such as anxiety and depression due to the cultural
change. The teams which have the employees, who feel cultural shock, will definitely going to
have poor performance as the employees will not be able to understand the new processes and
ways to perform well. Therefore the organizations should indulge the type of team exercises to
determine the new perceptions (Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping & Todman, 2008). They should
also carry out the different trainings sessions that will help to encourage harmony and new
concepts to handle cultural shock.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above essay that international business is a quite exciting and
interesting term. This expression might seem interesting to hear but involves so many challenges

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and difficulties. Many of the organizations have failed to handle those challenges and difficulties
and end up being unsuccessful. Therefore the organization should overlook the behavior and
activities of the employees as it will ultimately affects the overall performance of the employees.
In addition to this essay also includes the ways to handle the cultural shock. It can be concluded
that cultural shock is a natural process which takes time to get on the normal stage.

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References
Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (2015). Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge.
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Duchscher, J. E. B. (2009). Transition shock: the initial stage of role adaptation for newly
graduated registered nurses. Journal of advanced nursing, 65(5), 1103-1113.
Expatica. (2018). Manage culture shock in three easy steps. Retrieved 31st March, 2018.
https://www.expatica.com/nl/moving-to/Manage-culture-shock-in-three-easy-
steps_106059.html
Fan, S. (2010). Language shock: A challenge to language learning. Internet Journal of
Language, Culture and Society, 2(31), 42-51.
Furham, A. (2012). Culture shock. Revista de Psicologéa de la Educación, 7.
Kamal, Y. (2009). Managing Diversity at Workplace: A Case Study of hp. Retrieved 31st March,
2018. https://www.bmefcolleges.edu.in/uploads/v3n2sl13.pdf
Mazur, B. (2010). Cultural diversity in organisational theory and practice. Journal of
Intercultural Management, 2(2), 5-15.
Reisinger, Y., & Turner, L. (2012). Cross-cultural behaviour in tourism. Routledge.
Rice, M. F. (2015). Diversity and public administration. ME Sharpe.
Vanderwerf. F. (2016). Four stages of cultural shock. Retrieved 31st March, 2018.
https://www.minnesotaumc.org/blogdetail/culture-shock-6195954
Ward, C., & Kennedy, A. (2001). Coping with cross-cultural transition. Journal of Cross-
Cultural Psychology, 32(5), 636-642.
Waycott, A. (2015). How to Manage Employee Culture Shock. Retrieved 31st March, 2018.
http://www.industryweek.com/engagement/how-manage-employee-culture-shock
Zhou, Y., Jindal-Snape, D., Topping, K., & Todman, J. (2008). Theoretical models of culture
shock and adaptation in international students in higher education. Studies in higher
education, 33(1), 63-75.

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