Human Resource Management

As I mentioned before, last semester I was working on a research paper for the Organizational Theory and Behavior class. This research paper was focused on the understanding of the basis of human resource management in the global market. This review presented three different aspects of the human resource management globalization: Recruiting and selecting staff for international assignments, International expatriates training and development, and Management expatriates: appraising performance. Basically, the expatriate recruiting and selection reside in the normal domestic recruiting and selection as well as many other complex considerations. Selecting the right people has become very complicated because it requires sophisticated understanding and complicated procedures.

The Human Resource Management course helps me to understand better the role of Human Resources Management in the domestic market environment. We covered several themes that I really did not know about, themes such as Sexual Harassment in the workplace, or the legal aspects of discrimination in general. Another subject that was discussed, and I think a very important one, is the procedural justice and ethics in employee relations. I like how the book' author presents each of the themes. He gives the material and illustrates most of the points covered in each chapter by giving different scenarios. By using case studies, he helps to better visualize the problems and obtain a possible solution. There were several things that I covered in my research paper such as recruiting and selection, training and development, and performance appraisal, but the material in this course helps me to put all the knowledge acquired until now in a more organized, complete, and understandable perspective. I think the course comprises very interesting subjects in a very intense approach. HRM

Labor Management Relation

Usually institutions are conceptualized as the bricks and mortar of their buildings, but in reality their people, employees are the organization. Under that point of view it is easy to recognize that companies exist because of their people, they are the base structure of the companies. Therefore, what is important for any organization are the interactions, supports, feelings, frustrations, challenges, and hopes that come from the people who constitute it. According to Lockhart and Werther, this is what is called the institution's climate.

The relation between labor and management can be affected by the characteristics of the company's climate. This factor can have repercussion of the effectiveness of the health agency. This factor also can have influence in the feelings of the staff for the needs of be represented by a union. The management responds to employee needs, requests, problems, and concerns will be a major determinant of the organization's climate. Then, the primary administration task that companies need to address is to find a balance between employee's needs and organizational needs.

The term of human resources management usually is used to describe: specific human resources practices such as recruitment, selection, and appraisal; formal human resource policies, which direct and partially constrain the development of specific practices; and human resource philosophies, which specify the values that inform an organization' s policies and practices. This kind of system is supposed to be designed in a way that attracts, develops, motivates, and retains employees who ensure the effective functioning and survival of the organization and its members. But it is necessary to take in consideration that these human resources management components can be affected by the internal and external environments of organizations. The internal factors are represented by technology, struc­ture, size, organizational life cycle stage, and business strategy, and the external factors would be legal, social, and political environments; unionization; labor market conditions; industry charac­teristics; and national cultures. Today one of the new aspects that organizations need to considerer is managing four generations in the workplace. Managing Workplace

International Compensation

Many things need to be considered about remuneration and compensation in international Human Resource Management and these include the cost of living expenses in foreign countries, the taxation effects, and the expectation of the expatriates that they are suppose to receive additional compensation for the separation from part of their family in international assignments. Moreover, there is also the practical concern from many of expatriates that they do not lose out financially by going on an international mission. Usually most organizations deal with this problem by supplementing salaries to maintain the employees' standards of living as if they were in their own country. As a result, the expatriates may end up earning far more than the host-country nationals with they work, and that could create a interpersonal disaster in many cases. Therefore, expatriates remuneration and compensation may be something very complex. Wages and salary determination are normally area for conflict for national or international companies in general. Other aspects to consider would be internal and external equity, incentive and performance pay, and more latterly, packaging other benefits along with monetary remuneration that definitely increase the complexity of the problem.

One of the main problems is to define what is the salary level for the same job among different countries where the Multinational companies (MNC) operates. Parent company managers believe that the same remuneration should be paid to every employee without reference to their location. But the fluctuating exchange rates require constant attention in order to maintain constant salary rates in home country dollars. Global Payments and Benefits

Merit Pay

The Merit pay, the most complex provision of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Merit pay provisions are based on a widely accepted perspective on motivation, people expect to receive a valued reward for high performance. The Merit pay is supposed to increase the effort and performance of employees as a result it will be an increase in the overall managerial performance. Managers can see more benefit by using this high performance program than the previous compensation system. On the other hand, there are other opinions at respect, some business people criticize the program saying that the performance of a complex job as whole is reduced to a simple and single measure of performance. They also argue that merit pay discourages teamwork. For example, people in a selling department that are evaluated on the number of contracts negotiated per year, the may not be interested in improving the quality of materials because that not help them as help people in manufacturing. Therefore, they are not going to worry about that kind of improvement even though that generate problems to the organization. The performance related pay also can generate some kind of hostility between employees during a tough economic period because multiple employees may compete for the attention of one customer. This situation can make employees appear to be performing to a lower standard and it does not measure really the actual performance.

Today one of the most frequently argument is if merit pay should be offered to public school teachers in the Uniter States. In June 2003 the National Education Association (NEA) President Reg Weaver said:

“Our members are open to alternatives, but we will always oppose quick fixes designed to weaken the voice of teachers and effectiveness of education employees in all jobs.” Marit Pay for teachers?

 Remuneration and compensation in international HRM

In general nationally or internationally, wages and salary determinations are almost a natural arena for conflict. National and regional differences in the tradition, meaning, and practice of pay remain significant sources of variation in the international firm (Dowling & Welch 2004).

There are many aspect to considered when a expatriate go in an international assignment. Some of the factors are the cost of living expenses in foreign countries, the taxation effects, and the expectation of expatriates that they are suppose to receive an additional compensation for leaving their country. Usually the way that organizations deal with these factors is by supplementing salaries to maintain the expatriates' standards of living as if they were in their country of origin. As a consequence, sometimes expatriates may up end earning far more than the host country nationals with whom they work. Negotiating the expatriates remuneration can be a very complex matter. One way to analyze and execute this is by considering to construct a map around five dimensions (Heneman, 1985):

1. “Pay level represents pay relative to external comparisons.”
2. “Pay structure deals with internal comparisons, the hierarchy of pay differences within the organization.”
3. “Pay form includes those determinations as to how the pay is to be presented, cash or benefits, including motor vehicle use, stock options, housing assistance, and other considerations.”
4. “Pay system is the method the organization uses to determine pay raises for individuals, like productivity increases, seniority, etc.”
5. “Pay policies and administration concerns how pay is communicated and administered, which includes how information is disclosed and communicated to employees, the nature of employee participation in pay design and administration, and the nature of dispute procedure. Executive Resources' Methodology

Appraising Performance

Human resources management is a very complex matter in a domestic environment, but it is even worse in an international environment, due to the cultural and business variables. It is very difficult to measure the performance of an employee in one country in order to determine if they can apply for promotions back to headquarters in another country (Schuler et al., 2002).

The performance appraisal is concentrated in letting the employees know the performance standards and the performance appraisal process. Employees need to understand how the management views their work with the organization in order to identify their weaknesses and strengths, improve their job-related behavior, and provide information about workforce planning. There are several approaches in performance appraisal including rating scales, comparison methods, job result management systems, and outcome oriented methods (Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy, 1996).

Assignments require several job performance dimensions, and in the case of expatriate assignments, the multinational enterprises need to evaluate dimensions of performance such as cross-cultural interpersonal qualities (sensitivity to foreign norms, laws, and customs), adaptability to uncertain and unpredictable conditions, and the host location's integration with other multinational enterprises units. The relevance of these factors is going to depend on the type of expatriate (Shuler et al., 2002). Other challenges to performance appraisal in the international scene are more focalized to the appropriate assessment of technical competence and the financial aspects of the assignment, which need to be direct to the unique characteristic of the environment (Dowling et al., 1994).

It seems that the appraisal of the performance of managers becomes an important part of the inter-unit linkage level of international human resource management. Therefore, it is necessary to concentrate in the development of a standard appraisal format that recognizes and makes situational differences legitimate in order to track, evaluate, and compare the contributions of managers around the world. This standardized information can provide a better guide for managerial career development, and future promotion decisions (Shuler et al., 2002). Performance Appraisal Article

Human Resouces Development in the international organizations

Globalization, a phenomenon that is referring to the increase of trade market and the financial integration of the world economy, has been increasing during the last decades. The increasing rate of the world trade market has been impressive. Business globalization started and cannot be stopped; the businesses, firms, and industries that have a clear understanding of the new business rule in the world economy will succeed, the rest will fail ( Adler & Gbadar, 1990). It is very well know today that human resources play an essential role in the successful implementation of strategy in multinational corporations. For that reason human resources development is crucial and human capital must be allocated carefully.

The consequences of insufficient cross-cultural understanding in international business can clearly be observed in the rate of premature return of expatriates, and in the substantial rise of the failure cost. Analysis of the importance of cross-cultural training and its effectiveness has demonstrated that it is wrong that organizations believe that the training is neither necessary nor effective (Black & Mendenhall, 1989).

The success of the expatriates depend on the training that the organization offers them in order to be prepared for their life and work abroad. The most important characteristic of expatriate training is cross-cultural training (CCT) (Alrawi, 2008). Cross-Culture Training instructs expatriates not just to work but also to live in a different culture, which is much more challenging than just handling a new job. Technical ability and managerial skills are some of the characteristics that expatriates need to be successful, but they also require cross-cultural abilities that empower them to function in a new environment, which includes cultural empathy, diplomacy, language ability, positive attitude, emotional stability, and maturity (Scullion & Starky, 2000). Some companies sort out managers from throughout their worldwide organization. This strategy is used in order to develop an integrated, global organization through the international career growth of elite managers and, by defect, the creation of a global core of executives

Global managers are developed and they need to have the global awareness of the multinational enterprise and the diplomacy to local culture and knowledge of local conditions such as labor relations and laws. Management development activities could be housed in corporate or global headquarters with local, regional, and other HR units assisting in program design and delivery (Schuler et al., 2002). In the future more research needs to be done in this area. HR management:Training & development

Recruiting and Selecting Staff for International Assignments

Because of the high increment in the global business, it is very common today that employees of international companies work in a foreign country, and it is also common that expatriates work in more than two different countries while working for international companies during their career (Dowling et al., 1994). International and multinational companies start to notice the importance of internationalized managers within the company. Today one of the requirements for senior manager position is to have a vast experience in international management business. Firms usually use a selection system where the candidates are selected by level of high potential, which means that the individual has acquired enough maturity and management experience in the domestic environment. The age range for this kind of position is between the late 20s and mid 30s (Harris & Brewster, 1999). To manage an organization's operations in another country is a very difficult task or assignment that usually requires a deep understanding and sophisticated procedures. Studies of the matter have shown that the high rate of failure of expatriates on international assignments, and the financial expenses of repatriating these managers is not as efficient or effective as hiring host country managers for multinational companies (Dowling et al., 1994). Some international companies attempt to select their best employees for international positions. They even do not limit their selection to home country employees, they sort out managers from throughout their worldwide organization. This strategy is used in order to develop an integrated, global organization through the international career growth of elite managers and, by defect, the creation of a global core of executives (Adler & Gbadar, 1990). Normally, multinational enterprises used to send parent-country nationals abroad to be sure that the policies and procedures of the main office organization were being understood and followed in its totality in foreign operations. They expatriate parent-country nationals as technical troubleshooters, structure reproducers, and general management operatives. Research emphasizes that the foreign assignment selection process needs to be more systematic without consideration of the gender and more strategic by using expatriates to help transfer knowledge and learning (Schuler et al., 2002). Selecting and developing

The Impact of Social Media in an Organization.

Nowadays, millions of people are using social media as a form of communication. This is the way that today's world is capable to keep in touch, develop a relationship with others, and make friends. From the early 2000s more and more users started to participate in content creation over the web because it is the easiest, fastest, and more convenient method of communication and integration in this new world environment or new reality. Today everybody can obtain information about some theme or event no matter how recently it has occurred. This is an advantage that many organizations have taken in consideration as a functional tool that can be used by everybody within the organization.

As is mentioned in the book “Social Media at Work” (Jue, Marr, and Kassotakis, 2009), not too many years ago the organizations started making questions and investigation about improvement of talent manager service, engagement of leaders, extension of learning over time, and communication to exchange wisdom and experience. Many organizations have found the solution to these issues by incorporating social media as part of their practices and functions at the workplace. There is a variety of tools that social media offers to the organizations to stay ahead in the market. For example, a social media tool mentioned in this book, besides many others, is the web conferencing described on pages 61 and 62 under the section “What is social media, and How does it work?”. The web conferencing is defined in the book as “a conference for people who are in different locations that enables them to see the same computer screen on their individual computers and be in a live conversation together over a phone or VOIP line. “ Today, many organizations are taking advantage of this tool. The web conferencing has certainly created business efficiencies, speeding up the process of organizing meeting and cutting travel expenses. The people, especially teams in the corporations use the web conferencing to hold their meetings, collaborate on documents, and make decisions together. Some examples of this tool are Webex, GoToMetting, and Live Meeting. Here there is a video presenting the Webex tool. Webex

Influence of external factors in HR

Globalization and the increasing advance in technology have been some of the main factors that have affected businesses in general. Companies have had to restructure their organization in order to succeed.

As we know, the increase in unemployment today has been in part due to the result of the great recession of 2008, but it is also the result of the growth in technology and the rise in globalization. One of the companies' strategies to increase their profitability and adapt to the changes of the global business was to keep the core competences locally and outsource all the other units like manufacturing and service.

In the article,”Where the Jobs Are” (Time magazine, January 17, 2011), the writer, Bill Saporito, tries to give us an idea of the employment situation that America is facing today. On one side are the highly educated people, the technically talented workforce adapted to the demand of the global marketplace and on the other side are the disposed and underskilled people who see their future diminished by foreign workers from other countries that represent the low labor cost for the companies.

Despite of all the negative aspects of the nation's situation, there are some flexible and focused companies and institutions that are trying to find the difference, the turning point of the situation. Companies such as the American branch of Ricardo, General Electric, Smith & Wesson and Deloitte, and institutions like John Hopkins University are involved in the creation of new jobs. General Electric is planning to create 1,300 jobs over the next four years. The company is trying to recruit engineers to staff its expansion at Appliance Park, Louisville KY. They have other three locations, established as the center of excellence in refrigeration technology. The company has also repatriated a refrigerator manufacturing line from South Korea. This is due to a new deal that they have with the union and a weaker dollar that makes U.S. labor more competitive.

Another company like Smith & Wesson that produces software in Springfield, Mass. is planning to expand its manufacturing unit. The company is intending to hire 225 people well trained in the field. To achieve this task, they have sent its used equipment to community colleges and vocational institutions in order to develop the skill workforce that is needed to run the numerically controlled machining used to precision-cut metal.

Deloitte, which recently became the world's largest professional-services firm, has started to recruit college campuses for fresh brains. The company is interested in tax specialists, lawyers, auditors and other talented minds who have the ability and capacity to learn in practice to solve the problems of today's global businesses.

John Hopkins University is creating jobs in different disciplines, even in business, but they are facing the obstacle that many of Baltimore's residents lack the skill to get them. Ronal Daniels, president of the institution, realizes the role that the University has in trying to improve the Baltimore's education system. Today the University has set up training programs for positions like lab technician in order to allow the community to fill the positions currently created. Time article