Phạm Quang Anh – 18045128

Module title/module code: International human resource management/UMPD7G-15-3

Word count: 2971

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Task 1

National culture

There are more than one definition of culture but none of them has been truly accepted.
However, several characteristics of concept of culture have been consented. According to
Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952), culture is including explicit and implicit patterns for the
behaviour and those are transmitted through symbols and build achievements of groups of
human. The core of culture including historical traditional ideas and its attachec values as
well. The system of culture might be considered as products of action or conditional elements
for further action. On the other hand, as mentioned by Beer (2003), Silber Friedrich (2003)
culture can be seen as an anthropology and ethnology academic concept. This definition does
not refer to one definition but to multitude concepts base on the objective and subject of the
research. Or as Schiene (1985) culture can be reflected from an individual’s assumptions,
beliefs and norms.

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Hofstede’s Culture’s Consequences (1984) discovered the domain of international

organizations. From his analysis, there are 4 work-related cultural dimensions identified, then
in 1990 he announced the fifth dimension of culture called Long-term Orientation. The table
below displays the comparison between United Kingdom (UK) and Mexico culture.

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● Power distance displays the inequality of power between subordinates and superiors. It is
obvious that in organizations which have high power distance and hierachy.

Regarding to the UK, this country has low ranking of power distance so that the inequality is
minimized and British people ought to be treated as equal. Mexico with 81 points is a
hierachical country where centralization is common, here the subordinates prefer to be
ordered and well-understood be their boss.

● Uncertainty avoidance displays the level of tolerance for the uncertainty and instability

UK has low score (35), it displays that British people are happy and comfortable to deal with
situations, there are not many rules in the society. While Mexico has high score (82) as its
people priority to avoid uncertainty, people themselves know they have to work hard, while
innovation may not be encouraged but the precision and punctuality are.

● Individualism and collectivism display that people who have high individualisic value
would care about self-actualization and career progress while people have low value would
value organization benefits more than their interests.

UK has a very high individualism score (89), British people think about their unique life
purpose from the early age and they find happiness from personal fulfilment. Mexico seems
like a society of collectivism with 30 points, loyalty is significant in the society, the
relationship among managers and employees related to moral term, group benefits normally
are in priority.

● Masculinity and feminine display the significance of work goal (earning, advancement) in
comparison with individual goal (cooperation, relationship)

With 66 points of masculinity, British people highly concentrate on being successful and
Mexico also has quite the same score of 69, people in the society work hard and have
ambition for their career.

● Short-term and long-term relationship are about assisting virtues which related to the past
or present or to the future.

UK with 51 score cannot be determined in this dimension, however, Mexico has low score of
24, so the culture here is normative, Mexican people respect the truth and tradition.

However, Hofstede’s model also has several limitation regarding to methodological concern
and theorical concern.

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- Methodological concern: Merker (1982) mentioned sample’s gender in this research may
have bias of mostly are male one

- Theorical concern: Triandis (1988) argued on the construction of Hofstede dimensions that
they are narrow and only focus on work-related values, not national values.

Because of there are multiple dimensions so there also challenges to manage the employees.
For example the attitude of employee is always a significant challenge because managers
have to deal with many characteristics (Bartlett, 1991)

Referenes

Kroeber, A. L., & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and
definitions.Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum.

Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related

values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Hofstede, G. (1990). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York:
McGrawHill.

Hofstede Insights. (2019). Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/mexico,the-uk/ [Accessed 12 Jan.
2019].

Harry Triandis (1982) Review of Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-

Related Values. Human Organization: Spring 1982, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 86-90.

Merker, S., 1982. Geert Hofstede: Culture’s consequences. Behavioural Science 27 (2), 195–
7.

Schein, Edgar H. (1985): Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Publishers.

Silber, I. F. (2003). Pragmatic Sociology as Cultural Sociology: Beyond Repertoire

Theory? European Journal of Social Theory, 6(4), 427–449.

Beer, Bettina (2003): »Ethnos; Ethnie; Kultur.« In: Hans Fischer and Bettina Beer (Eds.)
Ethnologie. Einführung und Überblick. (5. Vollständig veränderte Neufassung) Berlin:
Dietrich Reimer Verlag, pp. 53–72. Here: p. 61.

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Bartlett, C A and Ghoshal, S (1991) Managing across Borders: The transnational solution,
London Business School, London

Task 2
According to Tung (1982) and research from Robinson (1978), organizations normally use
criteria to choose their expatriates.

Expatriates selection criteria

- Technical competence: Firms would evaluate the candidate through technical ability of their
previous performance but it cannot display technical ability when in cross culture
environment.

- Cross-cultural adjustment: this can be understood as the language capacity, regarding to

firms’ behaviour when there has new culture. Besides, MNCs also display relationship
maintainance ability of firms and how they take impact from different culture

- Family also another factor related to expatriate’s success on early return. Spouses, no
regarding to their gender would have similar issues of adjustment, these people would return
to their home when there have cultural adjustment issues.

- Nation/cultural requirements: Some requirements have to be ensured like permit of

accompanying spouse. On the other hand, countries may have problems about regions, it may
affect on the decision of accepting international assignment.

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- Language skill: HCN’s language is very necessary for managers especially in international
firms, so the knowledge of multiple languages would be an advantages.

- MNE requirements: multiple skill such as training, technical abilities to the local
environment are also necessary for international assignment.

In this case, Rafael has the most experience and he had taken international assignment before,
his big weakness only the English skill and the lack of knowledge in host-country culture.
While Olivia is very good at English but this is her first international task, she understand UK
culture thanks to 1 year there but sometimes she might be distracted while working. The last
expatriate is Julio with normal English skill and no experience at all, however, his adjustment
for cross-culture is good, he tries to improve his skills, besides, he also has no idea about
other cultures. None of these expatriates has burden of their families.

These people can support each other well, Olivia can share her knowledge about UK culture
to the other two people, so as to Rafael can give the other people experience in doing
international assignments and Julio can even push people to develop themselves to adapt new
situations.

References

Tung, Rosalie. (1982). Selection and Training Procedures of U.S., European, and Japanese
Multinationals. California Management Review. 25. 57-71. 10.2307/41164993.

Robinson, R.D. (1978) International Business Management: A Guide To Decision Making,

2nd edn, Illinois: Dryden Hinsdale

Task 3

Nowadays balance sheet approach is commonly applied, this method displays the standard of
expatriates in home country at the same degree. This method is depended on the home-
country peer and stabilize similar buying power which conserve the lifestyle of the home-
country. Besides, if the cross-culture country has lower living cost than parent one, expatriate
compensation would not be adjusted downward (Lowe, 2002). In this case, the Breezemex
base on data from Bristol which has same living standard with Mexico to make a
compensation package, this action may ensure the equity among assignments and assignees
in the same country and even support firms in communication with their staffs (Reynolds, C,

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2000). The base salary of the compensation package is paid by parent country, here is Mexico
so that expatriate may have similar lifestyle as in Bristol. The annual pay for Mexican wind
engineers normally from £13.000 to £20.000 and base salary of each person will depend on
experience. While the Foreign Service Inducement is around 5% to 40%, Breezemex offer
30% of premium to encourage staffs go for cross-culture work and in UK the value is 0%
(U.S. Department of State, 2019). The allowance and Mexican living standard should be
established as the same degree, cost of living allowance (COLA) and renting allowance are
being taken to consideration.

According to numbeo.com (2019), cost of living and the rent index at Bristol are as 69.07 and
34.57, while Mexico has 35.30 and 17.65. We can see that the cost of living in Bristol is
nearly double the one of Mexico City and the rent index at Bristol also nearly double (1.9
time). Living cost for an individual at Mexico City is £4282.2 each year without renting, the
renting cost for each bedroom per year is reported to be around £4153.44, therefore, the
COLA in Bristol is £3854, renting allowance at £3738. Between UK and Mexico, cost flight
is about £1000. Staffs are supported by firms to be able to rent apartment, allowance for
relocation is not added. In this case families of the 3 people would not go with them so no
spouse assistance here. The allowance for travelling at Bristol is £1649, healthcare insurance
is based on age, medical history at the UK, however, it is about £840 each year (Coleman,
2019). Base salary for each individual would be different depend on their own experience.

Base salary 13,000

international work premium (30% base
salary) 3,900
Hardship premium (0% base salary) 0
COLA 3854
Renting allowance 3,738
Home leaving allowance 1,000
Relocation allowance 0
Spouse allowance 0
Travelling allowance 1,649
Healthcare insurance 840
Compensation package 27,981

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 Julio’s compensation package (Currency: Pound)

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 Base salary 17,000
international work premium (30% base
salary) 5,100
Hardship premium (0% base salary) 0
COLA 3854
Renting allowance 3,738
Home leaving allowance 1,000
Relocation allowance 0
Spouse allowance 0
Travelling allowance 1,649
Healthcare insurance 840
Compensation package 33,181

Olivia’s compensation package

Base salary 20,000

international work premium (30% base
salary) 6,000
Hardship premium (0% base salary) 0
COLA 3854
Renting allowance 3,738
Home leaving allowance 1,000
Relocation allowance 0
Spouse allowance 0
Travelling allowance 1,649
Healthcare insurance 840
Compensation package 37,081

Rafael’s compensation package

References

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 Living, C. (2019). Cost of Living. [online] Numbeo.com. Available at:
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2019].

Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013). International human resource management.
6th ed.

Lowe, K.B., Milliman, J., De Cieri, H. and Dowling, P.J. (2002), “International compensation
practices: a ten-country comparative analysis”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 41 No. 1,
pp. 45-66

Reynolds, C. (2000), 2000 Guide to Global Compensation and Benefits, Harcourt Inc., New
York, NY.

Tradingeconomics.com. (2019). United Kingdom Corporate Tax Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart |
Calendar. [online] Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/corporate-tax-
rate [Accessed 17 Jan. 2019].

Task 4

The goals of training are to enhance working ability and behaviour of employees (Downing et
al, 2013). MNCs’ HR capacity is built by the training activities. Training is supposed to be a
significant field which directly affect on the success of expatriate because it supports
individuals to adapt easier with new cultures. There are some elements in pre-departure
training.

Regarding to the 3 engineers, Julio and Rafael have not gone outside Mexico so they have
lack of knowledge about Bristol’s culture. Moreover, English is their boundary, Rafael is not
good at English but he has 10-year experience for cross-culture tasks. Besides, Olivia stayed
at London for 1 year so she understood the culture there quite well, but she is lack of
international assignment experience. Regarding to Julio, he has just graduated with no
experience. Therefore, 1-day training session might be applied in 3 weeks to develop
themselves to adapt the situation.

Time Session Activity Trainee Material

9 am to 9.30 am Introduction Self-introduction, play All Hand out, video

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 games to connect people clips, slide shows

Announce job describtion

in detail (time, location,
etc)

Offer practical support like

allowance, spouse
assistance, cost-of-living

Q&A: solve questions

from staffs

9.30am to 10.30 Cross-culture Introduce British and Rafael and Julio Slide shows,
am awareness Mexican people at non- video clips, role
verbal signal play, hand out

Access Hofstede model to

show the difference in
culture between 2
countries

Q&A: solve questions

from staffs

10.30am to Language Make conversation in 10 Rafael and Julio Slide show, hand
11.30am training minutes to check their out, video clips,
language skill note book

Teach basic English and

local language

Show them what skill in

English they are good or
bad at

Show some English

teaching chanel on
Youtube or famous online

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 channels

11.30am to 1pm Break time, Lunch time

1pm to 2pm Security brief Introduce potential risks All Slide shows,
while doing assignment in trainers, hand out
Bristol

Give information about

firms related if they have
problems

Trainers teach them some

living skills to avoid
accidents

Q&A: solve questions

from staffs

2pfrom staffsm Administration Open role play about Julio and Olivia Slide show, case
to 5pm training negotiation hand out, role
play
Practice solving problem
and negotiate with cases

Let them evaluate each

other and give feedback

Review the day training

content

Q&A: solve questions

References

Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013). International human resource management.
6th ed.

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Task 5

The headquarters of international organizations concentrate on multinational staffs by

relocating the family or virtual assignments that deliberating factors of cross culture tasks
(Downing et al, 2013). Regarding to this case, Rafael, Julio and Olivia are structure producers
who build the marketing framework, produce plant and play the system in developing wind
farm. On the other hand, managers’ attitudes would be different when they work
internationally.

According to Downing et al in 2013, the performance can be appraised by criteria to be

determined. “Performance criteria” would be used to evaluate personal performance of
employees that including activities such as objectives setting, appraisal and feedback as well.
It also including “Hard criteria” like profit or market share and “Soft criteria” like
relationship, behavior (Gregersen et al, 1996). Managers who appraise the staff performance
normally are the senior or subsidiary ones and the ones of host-country always have clear
understanding view of their staffs. However, in this case the manager who evaluate the 3
engineers is the subsidiary one in Bristol. However, managers from host-country might lack
of “cultural applicability” so the ones at home-country would take care the long-term career
of staffs depend on the report to the headquarter. Regarding to Rafael and Julio, they have
limitation of language because they have not gone outside their home country so managers at
home-country can find it not difficult to measure their performance. Besides, we can use 360-
degree feedback for expatriates to rate others in cross-culture assignment (Downling, 2013).
Therefore, the 3 engineers can base on this to evaluate each other.

Conductor Criteria Period

Host & parent-country Performance improvement 6 months after accomplshied
manager a Project
Home-country manager Development 1 year
Host-country manager & Managing attitude 6 months
expatriate

Performance Development Managing attitude

improvement
Rafal Hard working, He would not like to He finds it difficult to

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 creative to bring new improve his Engish communicate with
ideas. the colleagues
Often miss the
deadline and waste
money of company
Julio It took him 4 months His skill has been Colleagues would
to develop his improved after 4 like to support Julio
technical ability and months, he asks and because of his
he sometimes still learns lessons from characteristic.
causes mistakes his mistakes, he
improved his English
by studying at Bristol
Olivia Her performance at She might learn new She would not prefer
the beginning was experience because it to support Rafael to
good but she was her first cross- translate and she
distracted and even culture assignment even skipped work
missed the work for travelling.

References

Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013). International human resource management.
6th ed.

Gregersen, H., Hite, J. and Black, J. (1996). Expatriate Performance Appraisal in U.S.
Multinational Firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 27(4), pp.711-738.

Task 6

Base on CIPD (2016), firms ought to avoid 6 risks at cross-culture environment.

- Legal, firms ought to understand deeply regulation of employment at the country related to
cross-culture assignment

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- Regulatory, candidates may be misunderstood because of the differences in regulatory
request among parent and cross culture countries

- Health and security, each parent country may have different healthcare standard

- Tax, differences of tax system among countries may affect differently on individual income

- Immigration, the decision of expatriate might be delayed due to permission and work of
papers

- Social security, candidates may maintain their own social system depend on cross-culture
assignment

- Total cost reporting, both parent and cross-culture country may provide cost for assignments

Regarding to BreezeMex, Julio is supposed to go for Equatorial Guinea for international

assignment. This country remains on top 12 of corruption so politic here is unstable while
government can get a huge payment. Besides, people in this country have to face kidnapping
problem expansion so the social security here is a real problem, moreover, organizations
might be charged a ransom by the government to have freedom of expatriates. Another
problem is about transportation when the main vehicle here is boat, airport is not developed
well here. Furthermore, the healthcare service is quite poor here that expatriates may get
serious diseases. Candidates and firms might be impact on by those risks at the host-country.
Also base on Downling et al (2013) that MNCs did not mentioned procedure and process to
deal with risks.

References

CIPD. (2019). EBSCO Discovery Service: Business publications and journals | CIPD.
[online] Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/journals [Accessed 17 Jan. 2019].

Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013). International human resource management.
6th ed.

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