Question 1
The roles of the HR manager have to be parallel to the requirements of the changing organization. In this case, the business is expanding from being based locally to start exporting. HRM has to be more resilient, adaptable, customer-centered, and quick to change directions to be successful. The HR will face new organizing, planning, controlling, and leading challenges, and therefore, the HR professional must be flexible. The business will have to expand its workforce and recruit more skilled employees to help in the exporting business. The HRM has to ensure that only the best and the able applicants get employed for the business to be a success. Jack Welch (2013) states that HR is in charge of bringing together the team that should make the business a success.
Operating human resources across cultural and geographic boundaries is often a challenge for a U.S. business planning to expand into being international. The first challenge is that the expansion will result in having to adapt to new tax liabilities and labor laws. The business will need to pay a value-added tax. Additionally, complying with international law might be difficult to implement as it could be complex (Bradley, 2018). Operating on an international scale would make the navigation of globalization impact a challenge. Globalization means that different cultures, laws, and norms have to be considered. Understanding and maintaining cultural diversity is a salient issue in international HR.
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For a global enterprise, the main challenges include staffing policies and dealing with certain challenges such as repatriation. There are also other challenges such as living and working overseas, compensation packages, training and management development, labor relations, performance appraisals from a distance, and organized labor laws. Different technology levels in different countries might also be a challenge, as some areas are less developed than others. This difference might make it hard to create an international human connection.
Question 2
The first challenge is staffing, selection, and recruitment. Meeting the requirements of manpower for foreign ventures can be in three ways. The first way is a company sending people from its home country to manage operations in the host country. The company can also opt to hire people from the host country to solve its human resource problems. Finally, an organization can employ the nationals of the third country. The challenge comes when the foreign employees face a hard time in trying to adapt to the change and learn the new language. The foreign employees could also face a challenge because of the lack of a better understanding of the business environment of the host country.
Second, training and development is an essential area requiring special attention in international human resource management. The academic curriculum in the host country might be different from the home country (Scroggins et al., 2010). The people in the host country might, therefore, lack the needed training for skills and capabilities development fit for the jobs that they might be assigned. The employees have to be effectively trained and should also have the following abilities: language efficient, adaptability to changing situations, understanding the host’s social and cultural environment, and efficiency in the use of technology.
Finally, international human resource management has to offer lucrative compensation packages for all employees to attract and retain top-talent and competent personnel. Different countries have different labor laws on the minimum pay of an employee, and therefore, the HRM has to decide on the amount to pay its employees to keep them motivated. Evaluating the performances of employees working abroad is challenging for home-country management. The HRM has to come up with ways of evaluating and rewarding employee performance. The reward for the performance of an employee should be enough to attract the high talents and retain them while still ensuring that the business remains profitable and competitive.
Question 3
There are various reasons that make multinational organizations prefer hiring host-country nationals than sending expatriates to fill the vacant job positions. The first reason is that a local candidate has a better understanding of local business practices and culture. The local candidate can, therefore, navigate potential challenges in a much easier way. This easy navigation translates to increased productivity and decreased financial losses. Locals are also fluent in their language and they can easily manage the workforce using local resources. A host-country national will not favor an English-speaking person over a local, as an American HR professional maybe would because of language barrier. A local candidate is familiar with the practices and the culture of that particular place, and therefore, he or she will relate with clients more effectively as compared to how an expatriate would. This would result in customer satisfaction and increased sales.
Hiring a local candidate is cheaper than employing an expatriate. An expatriate might cost more than twice as much as hiring a local candidate. The costs for the expatriate include normal salary, cultural training, language, and relocation costs. The above costs are not only for an expatriate but also for his or her family. Local people are also much likely to stay in the company for a longer term. Therefore, working together for a long time builds bonds between the staff. Additionally, hiring locals enables increased collaboration with local governments. Collaborating with the local government is crucial for the longevity and sustainability of programs. A local employee also brings social advantages and new skills, ensuring the projects of the company meet the needs of the locals. Finally, local employees bring diversity to the workforce, which offers the company better odds to grow the business. They are able to offer new business ideas best for that area that might not be known by an expatriate.
References
Bradley J. (2018). International HR issues. Small Business – Chron.com. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/international-hr-issues-61937.html
Welch J. (2013). The role of HR. YouTube, Jack Welch Management Institute. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rByDmC0SqtM
Scroggins, W. and Benson, P. (2010), "International human resource management: diversity, issues and challenges", Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 409- 413. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481011045380
