Chapter 14 – Human Resource Selection and Development Across Cultures
In The International Spotlight: Russia
Questions & Suggested Answers
1. What are some current issues facing Russia? What is the climate for doing business
in Russia today?
Answer: One of the current issues facing Russia today is continuing social and
economic turmoil and what rights private businesses will have in the end. A second
issue is whether the economy will experience sustained growth that provides jobs
2. What are some of the benefits of using home-country nationals in overseas
operations? What are some of the benefits of using host-country nationals?
Answer: Some of the benefits of using home-country nationals are that it helps the
firm maintain control of operations and these nationals have a good working
3. Why would a multinational such as EI be interested in bringing in third-country
nationals?
Answer: A company like EI would be interested in bringing in third-country
nationals because these individuals can provide additional insights that are not
4. What criteria should EI use in selecting personnel for the overseas assignment in
Russia?
Answer: There are a series of criteria that EI should use in selecting personnel for
assignments in Russia. Five that should be given major consideration are: (a) the
candidate’s motivation, (b) the individual’s ability to live in a third world
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You Be the International Consultant: A Selection Decision
Questions & Suggested Answers
1. What selection criteria would you recommend to Star when deciding whom to send
to mainland China?
Answer: The Asian cultures are quite different from that of the U.S. Star
Corporation must be very careful with its management selection. Star Corporation
should probably look for an individual who is fluent in the Mandarin language and,
perhaps, the Cantonese language, open to change, independent, responsible, and
physically and emotionally in good health. In addition, the individual should have
2. What procedures should the company use in making the final selection?
Answer: Selection tests and interviews of the candidates would be appropriate.
Testing is commonly done in the U.S. for managers, but firms tend not to test for
foreign assignments. It is a wise thing to do though because of the high cost of
expatriate failure. It is important that the firm use validated psychological tests that
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3. What type of repatriation agreement would you recommend the firm use? Be
specific regarding some things you would suggest be contained in the agreement.
Answer: Star Corporation needs to guarantee an employee that an acceptable job
will be available when the foreign assignment is over. The job should be equal to or
better to the one the individual had before leaving. Work should begin on finding
such a position at least six months prior to the expatriate’s return. The firm could
International Management in Action: Important Tips on Working for
Foreigners
Summary
1. Useful tips that have been drawn from the experience:
a) Focus on making slower and more accurate decisions.
b) Learn to adjust to the decision making process of the particular company.
c) Adapt to staying late if that is the custom, or convince the manager that they are
working as hard as their peers but in a different physical location.
d) Carry out important conversations in the home-country’s language; learn that
that discriminates against women.
Realize that ethics and social responsibility are becoming a major issue in the
international arena, and these moral challenges must be met now and in the future.
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International Management in Action: U.S.-Style Training for Expats
and Their Teenagers
Summary
1. A major reason expatriates have trouble with overseas assignments is teens not
being able to adapt to the new culture. U.S. MNCs now are developing special
programs for helping teenagers assimilate into new cultures and adjust to new
school environments.
General Electric Medical Systems Group (GEMS) pairs an expat and family with a
recently returned family to discuss challenges and problems. Teenagers are able to
talk about their concerns with others who have been there. Coca-Cola has a similar
program.
A boarding school option concerns many teens. Tutors, schools, curricula, home-
country requirements, and host-country requirements need to be examined and a
plan put in place.
Updates on teen issues are helpful at the beginning (for the overseas country) and at
the end (for the home country). Cultural and language training is also useful; teens
usually do well speaking a new language if they are immersed in it. There is a great
benefit in becoming an experienced, bicultural person.
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International Management in Action: Lessons in Global Leadership
Development: The PWC Ulysses Program
Summary
1. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) typically sent top midcareer talent to the
developing world for eight-week service projects. After its merger with coopers
Lybrand in 1998, a new model developed. Starting in 2001, the company used
“Project Ulysses” to aid those in need, but to develop leadership skills outside of
managers’ comfort zone, to pair employees from different countries, and to create
broader stakeholder networks.
Schools and training programs are adding social responsibility to their curriculum,
and graduates are increasingly signaling they want to work for firms with a positive
reputation for social responsibility and service. Corporate social responsibility
results in an increased bottom line and brand awareness. The PwC project, for
example, has taught the partners to understand risks more holistically, to consider
all stakeholders that are involved, and to realize that doing business is not about one
goal, but many.
Brief Integrative Case 4.1: Ikea’s Global Renovations
Summary
1. How it all began: Just weeks after becoming the largest furniture retailer in the
U.S. after Ashley Furniture, Ikea faced a setback: the apparent use of horsemeat in
some of its iconic meatballs.
The idea of Ikea began in 1935 in Sweden with a boy (Ingvar Kamprad) who
started selling home furnishing in 1947 and focused on that line exclusively in
1951. The first IKEA store was opened in Scandinavia in 1958; today there are over
338 stores in 41 countries, employing more than 150,000 people. The high quality,
stress-free furniture and caring employees represent a Swedish tradition employed
by the company. One of the biggest reasons for IKEAs success on a global level has
been its ability to enter new international markets yet keep their core values and
brand image intact.
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2. Global expansion: Ikea’s founder wrote a vision and set of core values over sixty
years ago that are still in use today; he continues a help manage the company.
a) The vision: to offer “a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing
products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford
them”
b) The three defining values:
i) Common sense and simplicity
iii) Working together
International strategies:
a) Stay consistent with the global values described while still allowing some room
for a unique local flair.
b) “Employees become the ambassadors of the brand values,” as they are the
salesmen of the firm.
c) Focus heavily on the recruitment process.
d) The global supplier needs to act as a firm base for the company when entering
new markets, to continually support them in order to avoid the necessity of
constantly forming new relationships.
similarly to their processes for recruiting and hiring employees.
e) IKEA has found a way to achieve a reputation for social responsibility and
sustainability.
3. Examples:
a) China: IKEA entered China in 1998 and moved slower than they had
traditionally. Asia makes up 30 percent of IKEA’s sourcing. The core strategy of
the company in China is to offer low cost, high quality furniture. Faced with
extreme competition and copycats, IKEA had to alter their emphasis to the
higher income population who see their furniture as more of a luxury purchase.
b) Russia: IKEA entered Russia in 2000 and has found success there. Russia’s
culture is extremely different from Sweden, and training has been an issue as
well. Ikea is a company dedicated to fair business practices, and Russia is
flooded with corruption, but IKEA played fair. In 2009 Ikea suspended
investments and in 2010 fired two expatriate executives for taking bribes.
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4. Recent Challenges:
a) Saudi Arabia: In 2012 Ikea was criticized for removing photos of women from
its catalogs for this country. The company apologized, but the issue continues.
b) Forced labor practices: In 1012 Ikea apologized for using East German political
prisoners for 25 to 30 years. IKEA places provisions on working conditions and
now conducts audits on suppliers over 1,000 times every year just to ensure a
situation like this will not arise again. Rather than moving production
issue would not recur. The problem is labeling discrepancies.
d) Cake contamination: Also in 2013, chocolate cake was discovered to contain
traces of Coliform Bacteria, and the Shanghai quarantine bureau destroyed 2
tons of the cake. The company removed cakes from restaurants in 23 countries
and apologized.
New venture―Budget Hotel chain: Ikea partners with the Moxy hotel chain in
Europe, targeted at “next-generation” travelers for a low price. The first hotel opens
in 2014.
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