Human Resource Management Essay on Cross Culture Differences

Question

Task: One year after completing this postgraduate study, you are employed as the head of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) in your country of origin. Your company owns a leading brand competing with other global brands in such items as premium quality shoes, bags, clothing and insurance policy for protection on valued goods such as gold and diamond ornaments. The designs and management of the brand is operationalised in Italy and France. However, production takes place in your country, thus requiring employees from different countries to work together.
The local office to which you have been appointed has a total number of 100 employees. Understandably, 60% of the staff are citizens of your home country, while 40% are from ten different countries. Your task is the following: Drawing on knowledge developed within this module, your own experience and wider reading, you are requested to compose an essay of 3500 words in which you critically engage and address the following aspects of the job:

Answer

Introduction
In global economic scenario as portrayed in the present context of human resource management essay, there are several human resource management and organisational behaviour theories which are required to be studied while performing international businesses. The primary aim behind the development of this human resource management essayis to understand the challenges and issues which are likely to obtain while the company operates in different nations. The key emphasis has been put upon the various cross cultural differences that take place and how these differences can be reduced and better communication can be channelized. Further the report on human resource management essay will highlight the communication barriers that can inhibit the growth of the company. The human resource management essaywill also highlight how the subsidiary of the company is required to work ethically and morally in order to increase their sustainability in the international market and how these demands of being ethically sound has been fulfilled by the organisation. In this piece of writing, major emphasis has also been made up on the importance of the motivational theories and how these theories can boost the morale of the employees. A number of motivational theories has been discussed the practical approach of some of the theories in relation with the case has been explained. The human resource management essaywill also throw light upon the effective leadership and how aspects such as recruitment strategy and emotional intelligence can support in obtaining an increased level of employee engagement in the company. The people will conclude with a brief analysis of various aspects discussed in the human resource management essayin respect with human resource management and how the organization can work successfully in the global market with its strong leadership and employee participation.

Leading organization in global market
In a global business environment, it is crucial for any organisation to have its primary emphasis on effective leadership in order to sustain in the international market. By understanding the core concept of cross cultural leadership, the managers can successfully serve their external as well as internal stakeholders and on the other hand they can also lead a motivated team (Brewster, et al., 2016).In comparison with various other leadership theories and practices, it is evaluated that participative leadership would work well to manage the cross cultural and global business teams (Brannen, Piekkari and Tietze, 2017).In respect with the case scenario of human resource management essay where the company has its operation in various other host countries, participative leadership would be effective enough in managing the organisation employees. The first attribute which will help in managing the overseas employees would be discussions (McCleskey, 2014). With participative leadership, there would be open forum discussions where the concern of all the employees can be raised and their opinions can be channelized (Bücker, et al., 2014). In the present context of human resource management essay, the second attribute which can help the organisational managers in successful leading is by providing sufficient information (Berry and Dasen, 2019).

With participating leadership style, the organisational leaders are required to share all sort of information among the groups before making the key decisions (Brannen, Piekkari and Tietze, 2017). This leadership style would also help in developing effective cross-cultural communication as the participation of all the employees is encouraged (Thomas and Peterson, 2016).But taking insights from various sorts of participative leadership, it is been analysed from several sources of information taken in this human resource management essay that democratic participative leadership would help in better growth of the company rather than collective participative leadership (Albrecht, et al., 2015). To handle the global business operations, it is much necessary that the leader possess higher power and authority in comparison with the other groups as to have successful implementation of the suggestions and ideas. From the critical analysis on human resource managementessay, it is much evident that it is necessary that the final say must be of the leader and thus democratic participative leadership is considered to be the best leadership style and theory which can help in running the organization (Brewster, et al., 2016).

In the complex global leadership, employee participation offers a great support in improving the job satisfaction, enhancing productivity as well as improving the overall organisational performance. With strong participation of employees at all the levels of there is development of strong and cooperative organizational workforce. The selected theory explored in the human resource management essay is suitable for the business as all the team members even in the host countries would feel valued thus they would be performing in a better and organized way (Wang, Fang, Qureshi and Janssen, 2015). There are high chances that the employees would be dedicated towards attainment of goals and less level of competitiveness would be observed among the members of the global teams. Leading the organization with the implementation of participative theories can help the business to grow with decrease number of workplace issues and complications (Brannen, Piekkari and Tietze, 2017). This approach of participative leadership discussed in the human resource management essay also seems to be suitable in the long run where there would be required better communication and higher participation of the employees (Thomas and Peterson, 2016).

In working with people from different countries, there are number of challenges that come across due to cultural differences. There are certain cross-cultural theories such as Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Theory which help in understanding the diverse culture of the organizations operating in different areas. The various dimensions help in performing adequate cultural analysis to have an in-depth understanding of the cultural differences. From the theoretical aspect of cross-cultural theories, there are challenges faced such as integration among the teams working globally (Thomas and Peterson, 2016). While people from different nations and cultures interact there are certain sorts of negative cultural stereotypes that took place which can hinder effective communication amongst them. Another challenge identified in the human resource management essay that overcomes was the misinterpretation of the communication when they are translated and passed to the host country employees (Berry and Dasen, 2019). This directly results in risk of loss of actual information because of already existing language and communication barriers. Because of the diverse cultural aspects, employees behave in a particular way which might result in misunderstandings and even offense in several cases (Albrecht, et al., 2015). There are several other problems as mentioned in this report on human resource management essayassociated as well such as in relation with the employment laws where the same laws cannot be applies to the people working in different countries (Tenzer, Pudelko and Harzing, 2014). Therefore, it might result in dissatisfaction of the employees because of certain policies and rules. Hiring employees in host countries is one of the key challenges which are faced by the company and the recruitment department (Wang, Fang, Qureshi and Janssen, 2015). It is pertinent to add that there are also certain issues while accommodating the workplace requirements of the employees working in global markets. From the literature, it is also evident that, there are times when professional etiquettes hold diverse meaning for diverse set of people and thus it also gave rise to challenges while managing cross cultural teams (Thomas and Peterson, 2016).

There are several interpersonal issues and operational difficulties discussed in this segment of human resource management essay that will arise as a result of working in a diversified working group. In order to manage and overcome such issues in respect with the personality and cultural differences of the employees, there are certain actions that can be taken such as by mapping the differences at the initial level that what is the base of those differences such as whether it is thinking approach of the employees, individual personality, or the diverse cultural values (Tenzer, Pudelko and Harzing, 2014). The research on human resource management essay also indicates that it is also much essential to bridge the gaps after mapping the differences. It could be performed by analysing the conflicting situations through motivation approach as well as by building confidence among the employees that they are being heard as well as are the core of the organization. This will help in boosting the moral and motivation of the workforce and would likely to build a better chain of communication even in cross-cultural teams (Brannen, Piekkari and Tietze, 2017).The final and the significant aspect that needs to be focused on integration of the employees where it is essential to manage the cultural differences of the team members by engaging practices that can help to resolve conflicts, encourage higher level of participation and building a shared platform where employees can share their opinions (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015).

In a multinational organisation which is basically working overseas there are number of communication challenges such as ethnocentrism, stereotyping cultural differences, task completion, language barrier, trust building and various other non-verbal language related challenges. The organization that has employees in host countries is much likely to face communication challenge such as cultural shock. There are several times when the employees accidentally encounter unexpected sort of cultural practices that give rise to communication challenges (Thomas and Peterson, 2016). When there are employees who work in a Global Business Environment, they usually undergo culture shock due to working in a diversified and different culture. It is also stated in the human resource management essay that due to lack of knowledge about other culture, the employees feel emotionally disappointed and this may further lead to job dissatisfaction that directly hampers the organisational productivity as well (Berry and Dasen, 2019). To manage and overcome this communication challenge, it is essential for the companies to provide cross cultural training to their workforce so that they can have an in-depth understanding of different and diversified cultural groups and can behave and monitor their attitude so that not even unexpectedly go beyond the cultural norms and practices and it can also safeguard the employees from being culturally shocked (Brewster, et al., 2016).

The second major communication challenge identified in the present context of human resource management essay that is much likely to arise is ethnocentrism where the employees possess a superiority complex where they have a notion that their culture is much superior to the other groups. Such attitude give rise to higher level of anxiety and certainty create a number of challenges for the organisation to manage a diversified workforce (Wang, Fang, Qureshi and Janssen, 2015). In this particular aspect, there is an essential need to provide cross-culture understanding training to the global workforce in order to have better organisational productivity. It is also necessary that the organisation must disregard the practices where employees are likely to compare their culture with other work group and make them feel inferior (Tenzer, Pudelko and Harzing, 2014). The findings obtained in the human resource management essay signifies that developing a healthy working environment where increased numbers of cross cultural training programs are organized is one way to overcome the ethnocentrism related communication challenges that took place in the organisation (Albrecht, et al., 2015).

Language barrier is considered as the most common issue which usually takes place in the cross cultural communication. Employees dealing with the people from different nations with diverse language are likely to meet number of language issues. The research on human resource management essay indicates that the message delivered to the listener is somewhat different from the message communicated and so it leads to language barriers (Berry and Dasen, 2019).The key to develop effective communication among the employees is that the organization must undertake sessions that can help in overcoming the cross cultural differences and should also make available a sustainable communication platform where people from different cultural backgrounds can communicate (Thomas and Peterson, 2016). There must also have adequate translation of the messages conveyed from one work group to another to avoid misunderstandings (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015). For developing better communication channels, the organisational leaders must ensure that open platforms are provided to the employees for sharing their ideas, feedback, input and also the grievances, so that there can be decreased number of issues and higher level of communication between the employees (Wang, Fang, Qureshi and Janssen, 2015).

In order to ensure sustainability in the global market, it is stated in the human resource management essay that it is essential to undertake a process of change where the business subsidiary which is working globally can prove their ecological-friendly, moral and ethical approaches towards working. To have a greater presence of the company it is significant to serve community in a successful manner (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015). In the process of change, the key areas which will be emphasized comprises of welfare and interest of the company. Strategies would be developed for highlighting the ways by which the community can be served in a better way. In the ethical approach, there would be higher level of focus on environmental values and it would be ensured that no negative ad harmful impact would have upon the environment because of the operations and functions of the company (Zheng, Luo and Wang, 2014). It would also be made sure that all the actions are likely to be guided by strong ethical aspects and principles that will be essential part of the environment and ecological friendly approach of the company. The company would provide answers to the environment problems in the form of organisational strategies. The company will also develop policies where higher level of corporate responsibility can be seen (Brewster, et al., 2016).

In the new framework and policy, corporate sustainable development would be emphasized where practices controlling the waste, environmental health, pollution control and implementation of environmental practices. A proper check would be done herein human resource management essay to ensure that all the compliance is met in respect with environmental legislation. At the same time, awareness would be raised and promoted at each and every level of the company so that impact of environmental issues can be decreased (Berry and Dasen, 2019). The organisation would also carry out several assessments in order to identify the environmental risks associated with the business and will further assess and reduce the negative impacts in order to run the organization on ethical approaches (Zheng, Luo and Wang, 2014). While working in the global environment, it is essential for the company to follow every single aspect of the environmental laws and legislations so that it does not breakdown the necessary laws. The company and the leaders would not have their only focus on profit making but also on the environmental values. For this, practices must be done to raise awareness related to environmental by the means of numerous programs. There would be set ethical principles which will help in guiding the managers so that better decision making could be performed. With all such practices and policies, there are higher chances of organizational success (Bücker, et al., 2014).

As the performance of the organisation is low and also there are several challenges faced by the company in respect with communication breakdown as well as absence of integration among the working groups, it all leads to downfall of the company. To overcome these challenges and to improve the organisational performance, it is essential to motivate the employees. With extensive research on human resource management essay, it has been observed that in all the motivational theories the primary is to increase the motivation level of the individuals by various means (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015). By evaluating various motivational theories, it has been analysed that there are certain level of similarities among these theories such as while comparing the Herzberg theory with that of Maslow need hierarchy theory, the research on human resource management essay indicates that there are certain needs of the employees which are essential to meet in order to keep them motivated such as earning money. For securing the financial needs of the employees there must be adequate salaries as well as incentive needed to be provided to the workers. It is also observed that to increase the engagement level of the employees, the motivational theories and approaches play a vital role (Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2017).

The readings provided in the human resource management essaysignifies that the higher level of motivation helps in developing increased level of commitment and involvement from the employees' end towards the organisation. From the perspective of Hierarchy of needs theory, it has been evaluated herein human resource management essay that there are certain needs of the employees which can be fulfilled by the company by providing them with opportunities (Kaliannan and Adjovu, 2015). As per the two factor theory of motivation, it can be stated that the concern to motivation and dissatisfaction are two different factors. To overcome such issues and enhance the moral of employees, it is essential for the organization to provide the employees with suitable working environment (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015). The company can take use of numerous factors to enhance the motivation of the workers such as by recognising their efforts and also provide them with certain achievements, offering them additional responsibilities so that they can sense authority, as well as various opportunities of growth must be given to them (Wang, Fang, Qureshi and Janssen, 2015). If the employees are dissatisfied then the concern would be handled by making changes in the organisational practices and policies as well as offering adequate working environment to them. As per the equity theory of motivation, there are high chances that the employees will get motivated by observing equity in the organisational policies Barba-Sánchez and Atienza-Sahuquillo, 2017). It indicates that there must be no inequality issues prevailing at the workplace and fair practices must be adopted by the organisation while dealing with employees. The treatment with each and client must be followed by the organisational practices and no sort of biasness should be there in the organisation. The higher the level of employee motivation is the better and increased are the organizational revenues, positive brad image, more productivity and higher retention rate of the employees. Thus, all these practices will help the company in building a strong brand image in the host countries (Albrecht, et al., 2015).

A successful leader and its leadership style can directly help the organization in attaining long term sustainability and growth (McCleskey, 2014). But it also truly said that leadership is more about control, employee motivation, and influence over the workers. But with other analysis of data done in the human resource management essay, it is also observed that successful leadership can help in retaining organizational employees and boosting team work amongst them in order to improve their performance (Ashkanasy, Humphrey and Huy, 2017). The insights taken from the literature in order to address this section ofv states that it is necessary to understand the role and impact of emotional intelligence in order to have an in-depth knowledge of the employees (Ashkanasy, Humphrey and Huy, 2017). Emotional intelligence helps in managing an individual’s opinion so that there can be fast attainment of organizational goals (Barrick, Thurgood, Smith and Courtright, 2015). And to possess higher level of emotional intelligence, it is also important to know the aspect of active listening (Carson, Carson and Birkenmeier, 2016).It helps in developing favourable conditions for the workers so that it may result into faster attainment of organizational gaols and mission (Magnano, Craparo and Paolillo, 2016). The employees are likely to put their hundred percent for the growth and success of the organization when they are emotionally satisfied and contented. Employee engagement also has its link with company’s productivity, job role, as well as the growth of the company. The study prepared in the human resource management essay also claimed that, employee engagement is considered as the key tool for attaining several competitive benefits (McManus and Mosca, 2015).

There are various theorists that have also stated that by providing financial incentives to employees can also lead towards increased employee engagement and commitment (Zhu, Sun and Leung, 2014). On the other hand, it is also noticed by the researchers that other than monetary factor, there are other various aspects which support in better employee engagement and commitment of the employees towards the organizational growth (Kaliannan and Adjovu, 2015). But factors such as formal recognition, job enlargement, improved security, job enrichment, and providing authoritative position mentioned in the human resource management essay can also have a key role in improving employee engagement (Albrecht, et al., 2015).If the employees feel secured in terms of their job and are also been offered job enlargement then they are likely to feel positive and so have higher engagement level (McManus and Mosca, 2015).On the other hand, recruitment strategies are also essential in order to have effective leadership as well as employee engagement as when the expatriates are been recruited n the company, it is essential that there must be fair practices and should be celebrate as well (Thomas and Peterson, 2016). By working under groups, it also helps in better communication among the employees and so it resulted in greater level of employee participation and engagement within the organization (Albrecht, et al., 2015).And to attain effect e leadership, the company is required to take adequate steps in relation with implementing correct recruitment strategies, having training and programs to have increased involvement of employees as well as by reducing the cross-cultural issues to give rise to effective leadership(McCleskey, 2014).

Conclusion
The human resource management essaywas developed to understand the various factors which can affect the business and the company while working in the overseas market. It has been evaluated that the success of the organisation is much likely to get affected by the cross cultural differences and communication challenges that took place among the workers of different countries. It has also been used concluded that there are other factors which can help in overcoming these issues such as conducting cross-cultural programs and several training sessions that can help in overcoming such challenges. Employees working overseas also possess certain demands, the paper outlined in the human resource management essayalso concluded that motivational theories play a vital role in improving the overall performance of the organisation by boosting the moral of the workers working and accomplishing their needs. It is also essential for the company to work ethically and morally in the international market in order to build its brand image. Therefore, the readings of the human resource management essayalso suggests that the companies are required to work upon building the trust of employees as well as give rise to employee engagement on such factors that can help in the sustainable growth of the company. There is several learning which has been gained by accomplishing this task such as I have learnt that motivational theories play a significant aspect in overcoming the business challenges and also emotional intelligence possess vital importance as it an important aspect that needs to be emphasized by the companies while working globally.

References
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