HRM Issues and Challenges for UK Firms in Japan: Call Centers

This report provides a critical evaluation of human resource management (HRM) issues faced by UK companies, specifically HSBC, when considering the establishment of call center operations in Japan. It explores the cultural challenges, including religious and sub-cultural barriers, management practices across cultures, ethical and local considerations, language barriers, and the importance of building relationships. The report also delves into specific HRM issues, such as adapting HRM practices to the Japanese context, including the concept of lifetime employment, attracting talented and skilled employees, and navigating the hiring process. The analysis highlights the complexities of operating in a new cultural environment and emphasizes the need for careful consideration of local customs, employee expectations, and the overall business environment to ensure successful operations and profitability. The report underscores the importance of understanding the nuances of the Japanese market and adapting business strategies accordingly.

Human resource
management issues in UK

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Critical evaluation of cultural issues faced by the companies of UK in order to locate call
centre operation in Japan.............................................................................................................1
Critical evaluation of HRM issues UK companies needs to take into consideration when
locating a call centre operation in Japan.....................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the practice of managing people at work place. In order
to expand business in the other countries company face many issues that can impact the business
and increase challenges(Ashtari and de Lange, 2019). In different countries there are different
culture and sub culture that have an impact on the business and its functioning. This report is
based on the HSBC Holdings plc, company is British multinational investment bank and
financial services holding company. It is largest bank of Europe, with the total assets of $2.715
trillion. Company wants to set up their call centre business in Japan. This report include various
opportunity and challenges faced by the company in order to setup business in the Japan. It also
include the cultural issues faced by the company of UK. Further, it also include human resource
issues that company face.
Critical evaluation of cultural issues faced by the companies of UK in order to locate call centre
operation in Japan.
There are various issues that company may face in order to locate call centre in the Japan.
Globalisation of business based on the cultural shift in the different countries. There are various
factors that have an impact on the business's functioning in the other countries. Below are
various cultural issues that company can face in order to locate business in Japan.
Religion and sub culture barriers:
Consumer attitude is highly influenced by the culture of the country. If company wants to
move in the new market in new countries, there are various cultural barriers that can affect the
business(Avidov-Ungar and Forkosh-Baruch, 2018). There are religions variations in the
customer preferences and market condition. It also influence the decision making process of the
company due to the cultural variations. In the context of HSBC, in order to locate call centre in
the Japan, company may face many cultural issues such as variations in the culture in Japan.
Also there are social integration that can be problematic for the business of HSBC. Company is
UK based and the culture of UK is totally different from the culture of the Japan. People in Japan
have different thought process and convening them for the investments in the bank can be
difficult for the HSBC.
Management practices across culture:
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It is one of the biggest challenge for the companies to select best management practices
according to the culture of the country. Selection of appropriate management practices according
to the growth of the country and selection of appropriate practices can helps in better
management of the business in the specific company(Cook,and Bush, 2018). When the fail to
meet the need of appropriate management practice in the new market it affect its growth and
level of effectiveness of business. In the context of HSBC, company follow most effective
practices in the UK that helps the business to increase its profitability. Starting call centre in
Japan need appropriate planning and selection of appropriate practices can help company in
better growth. Thus, management practices in different culture could be an huge challenge for
the respective company.
Ethical and local issues:
Companies face complex web of local and ethical issues in the country. Ethical and local
issues refer to the integrity and trust of the local public. In order to move business in the new
market company may face ethical issues in the business that can affect its decision making
process. In the context of HSBC, in Japan business can face that is gaining trust of customers in
the Japan. Japanese customers and business people expect trust and integrity for the global
business. Gaining trust and respect can take some time in the Japan, it will take efforts for the
company by providing them best services and gain their trust in the market. Thus, company may
face ethical and local issues in the Japan.
Language:
It is most obvious challenge company face to do business in Japan, because the language
of japan is totally different and in order to make contact with the costumers and other business
company may face problems(Gokhale, and Machina, 2018). Language barrier in the business
and develop impact on its growth and profitability. In the context of HSBC, in order to start call
centre in the Japan it could be huge challenge for the company to deal with the language barrier
in the country. In order to make people understand about the the business and investment that
bank offer to them it require company to hire employee from the Japan to handle this
departments. Thus, company face various language barriers if they start call centre in the japan.
Building relationship:
It is also an important part in order to start business new market. But sometimes making
healthy relationship with the customers and other business of the new market become challenge
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for the company. Building trust of people on new brand could be difficult, it takes huge efforts
by the management of the company to effectively maintain the relationship with new market
segment(Grizioti and Kynigos, 2018). Informal development of relationship into the new market
can enhance the level of effectiveness in the business. In the context of HSBC, in order to locate
business in the japan company have to make effective relationship with the people and other
business. Japan has more relationship oriented culture than the other countries. Gaining trust of
the customers in the japan could be difficult task for the business and it can impact the level of
effectiveness in the new market segment. Also company can develop better relationship with the
Japanese people by providing them effective services so that they can make build trust of people
and increase the level of effectiveness in the business.
Thus there are various cultural barriers that company may face in order to local call
centre in the japan. Company have to focus on the local culture of the japan in order to know
about the perception of people and their thinking process. Building trust among the Japanese
people is important for the company to analyse the impact of business and the level of
profitability in the market. Language also play an important role in the growth of the business in
foreign market. Japanese believes in the natural in natural order in the society and Japanese
organisations, and it could be challenge for the company to build trust among the people of the
japan and make them believe in the investment bank of UK.
Critical evaluation of HRM issues UK companies needs to take into consideration when locating
a call centre operation in Japan.
There are various issued that company face in order to locate business in the new market,
it affect the business and growth in the new market(Gruters, and Gruters, 2018). Issues in the
human resource department could face by the businesses and it could increase the level of
challenges in the market. In the context of HSBC, in order to locate call centre in the Japan
company has to done effective human resource practices that can help in the future growth and
profitability. Japan is a complex and dynamic society where the culture and beliefs of the
population change with the time. In Japan people are always aware about the difference between
foreign and native product and services. People in japan support local business than the foreign
businesses and it could become huge challenge for the business of HSBC. Below are various
issues that company face in order to locate call centre in the japan.
Changing human resource management practices:
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In order to start business in new market or new business company face major issue in
change of human resource practices in the specific market. Businesses can face huge challenges
while adopting right style for the human resource department of new market. Analysing various
trends in the human resource practices also analyse the market scenario which can help in better
growth and effective strategy. Various challenges in human resource management practice can
affect the effectiveness of productivity and growth of business in particular market. HSBC
willing to start its call centre in the Japan they could also face various challenges in the market.
Below are various challenges that company can face in order to move business in new market.
Life time employment:
Providing job security to the employee of the company is important in order to make
them loyal employee of the company(Hilty, Turvey, and Hwang, 2018). But in order to start
business in the new market company may face issues while appointing employees and provide
them job security. Providing life time commitment to the employee about the business could be
an difficult task for the company. In the context of HSBC, IN Japan there is evidence of life time
commitment of the employment. It could be an important task for the company to maintain
healthy business environment for the employee of the japan. Also company may face issue while
recruiting employee in the japan because of the trust issues of the people on new businesses or
foreign businesses. Thus businesses face issues while setup business in the new market. Life time
employment could be an huge impact on the stability of the business in the market.
Attracting talented and skilled employees:
It is one of the main issue that companies face in order to move business in other
countries. Attracting talented and skilled employee could be huge challenge for the business of
companies of UK(Jones, 2018.)). Talented and skilled employee could help the businesses of the
company to gain better profitability and growth in the market. Shortage of skills in the people
can become challenge for the new businesses in the market. Not every employee wants to work
with new market businesses they prefer to work with well establish brand rather than work with
new companies. In the context of HSBC, company face issue during hiring right people for the
right job the the japan. Company can also face challenge in the attracting talented and skilled
employee in the company because people in japan believes to work in well establish domestic
company. Also it require high training and proficiency for the people of japan to work in
multinational bank. HSBC can also face challenge while educating local citizens about the
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working process of the company and how it can improve the effectiveness of business in the
market. Thus company can face various issues while recruiting employee with the appropriate
skills and talent require for the growth of the business.
Hiring process:
Hiring new employee in the business is major issues for the companies starting business
in new market of country. It become critical task for the businesses to find talented and skilled
employees in the company(Liu-Farrer, and Shire, 2020). New area of businesses face the issues
and challenges while attracting right candidates in the business. Also skill full and capable
employee wants to work in well establish company rather work in new business and start up. In
the context of HSBC, In japan people is likely more dedicated towards the domestic brands
rather than working in the foreign companies. They are more authentic towards the workplace
they are working in, employees in japan is more loyal to their work and towards the company
and it could be benefit for the HSBC. But hiring employee in the business with skills and
capabilities could be an difficult task for the company. In order to start business in japan
company should focus on their working environment in order to increase various benefits of the
businesses and the employee. Also in call centres many employees feel pressurised to work and
it could be an issue for the management of the company. Japan is work ethic country they are
dedicated towards the work and their companies. So in order to hire experienced employee could
be a difficult task for the HSBC. Bank have to make effective strategy in order to attract and
retain the employee in the organisation. Thus, it could be an huge issue for the HSBC to hire and
retain employees in the new business.
Employee retention:
Retain employee in the business also a major challenge for the businesses. In new market
business face challenge in order to attract skilled and capable employee, if the company able to
hire capable employee in the company there is one more big issues that company could face is
retain those employee in the company (Liu and Lo, 2018). Increasing moral of the employee in
the organisation can help the people in better growth and effective productivity for the business.
In the context of HSBC, if company hire the skill full and capable employee in the organisation
there is huge challenge for the business is to retain those employees in the organisation. In order
to maintain growth of business in japan company should follow the strategy of effective work
place that can help in increasing the moral of the employees and growth within organisation.
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Thus, retention of right people at workplace is important task for the company in order to gain
effective growth and profitability. Business can follow effective strategy that can help them to
retain employees and increase their loyalty for the company.
Training and safety of employees:
Workplace safety and training is a vital aspect in the business. It enables the management
to ensure a safety and healthy work environment for the employees of the company. It also helps
the employee to recognize the safety hazards and correct them. It enables them to understand
best safety practices and expectations(McDonald, Boulton, and Davis, 2018.). Therefore, in
order to start new business in the new country company face various issues for the safety and
security purposes. In the context of HSBC IN Japan people are more concern about the safety
topic for office workers ,clearly outlining available employee resources for mental and physical
health and well-being may be the most pro-active step you can take. Environmental safety
training for employees in Japan is vital aspect and respective company face issues in this
(Meissner and Shmatko, 2019). Also providing training to the new employee could be difficult
because of different human resource practices in the Japan. company can use comprehensive
part of the training program. Although in context to start HSBC bank in japan need some of these
things to understand for the training purpose. A steady rise in remote work and decentralized
work force ,training can be quite hard; misunderstandings are common, and cultural differences
may even lead to inconsistent training . The solution is use social tools to unify your dispersed
team . Video conferences,webinars ,and online forum are easy ,convenient tool to foster trust and
empathy between team members across the country or globe
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CONCLUSION
From the above information it can be conclude that globalisation of the business increase
challenges and issues in the new market. Different culture and beliefs of the people in different
country may affect the level of business growth in the new market. Locate market in the new
country have an impact on the management and decision making process. Company have to
make effective marketing strategy for the development of new business in out side the
destination country. Impact on the level of business's profitability because of the different
attitude and buying behaviour of the customers in the out side business. Cultural challenges in
the new market can have an impact on the business and effective planning of the business can
increase the level of effectiveness in the business.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ashtari, D. and de Lange, M., 2019. Playful civic skills: A transdisciplinary approach to analyse
participatory civic games. Cities, 89, pp.70-79.
Avidov-Ungar, O. and Forkosh-Baruch, A., 2018. Professional identity of teacher educators in
the digital era in light of demands of pedagogical innovation. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 73, pp.183-191.
Cook, K.L. and Bush, S.B., 2018. Design thinking in integrated STEAM learning: Surveying the
landscape and exploring exemplars in elementary grades. School Science and
Mathematics, 118(3-4), pp.93-103.
Gokhale, A. and Machina, K., 2018. Guided online group discussion enhances student critical
thinking skills. International Journal on E-Learning, 17(2), pp.157-173.
Grizioti, M. and Kynigos, C., 2018, June. Game modding for computational thinking: an
integrated design approach. In Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction
Design and Children (pp. 687-692).
Gruters, P.C. and Gruters, K.T., 2018. Publicly Available Information: Modernizing Defense
Open Source Intelligence. Special Operations Journal, 4(1), pp.97-102.
Hilty, D.M., Turvey, C. and Hwang, T., 2018. Lifelong learning for clinical practice: how to
leverage technology for telebehavioral health care and digital continuing medical
education. Current psychiatry reports, 20(3), pp.1-11.
Jones, O., 2018. Digital mines: The need for restructuring university courses. AusIMM Bulletin,
(Jun 2018), pp.58-61.
Liu-Farrer, G. and Shire, K., 2020. Who are the fittest? The question of skills in national
employment systems in an age of global labour mobility. Journal of Ethnic and
Migration Studies, pp.1-18.
Liu, H.L. and Lo, V.H., 2018. An integrated model of workload, autonomy, burnout, job
satisfaction, and turnover intention among Taiwanese reporters. Asian Journal of
Communication, 28(2), pp.153-169.
McDonald, E.W., Boulton, J.L. and Davis, J.L., 2018. E-learning and nursing assessment skills
and knowledge–An integrative review. Nurse education today, 66, pp.166-174.
Meissner, D. and Shmatko, N., 2019. Integrating professional and academic knowledge: the link
between researchers skills and innovation culture. The Journal of Technology
Transfer, 44(4), pp.1273-1289.
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