!$j; ;! i a no'wad ys, ,.···.· . . a'pr.,pfr:.·0° .•• a
TRANSCRIPT
··GLOBAL· STAFFING<
.. Abstract
... ·.:.
. . . . .�.. :. . - .. .
.: . . .:·.- .... · < :_.·:_:_ tic, niatket,. gaini�g m:ore sales/pi;ofits and '. rtlairttain . good·. co:mtnunicatio':n liiiks There are growing numbers of Indo- expfoiirigJhe ndv 'markets, Whatever the With corporate headqillltets, and ti}¢ : nesillll c:om:panies going out of do111estic .. ·· reasons, are; since management• practices · . need. to ·. gi.ye . PQN s .intei:'rra fron{il .·• .· and �wen 'regional markits to global mar• aJ'e subje(;t fo envir9Illlleiltal cliaµges, gfo- ' •....-k�t. Mqst of.ili�tn. are rei�ol).ably)eeking . bal op�ratioµs mancfate giffer¢htn:ianage- ·· .•. . out form�re sales andloi pig ii is: :riie in� ·.• rneiit pr�ctic�s The managetnertt'of �gl� , · · · · .·:;,�·t:g�:i:i'U;0�:1o:1J t!�,,:�t��y .. �:�� · .. 'busihesse's,: and that mandates.' different, ' appropriate strategies to. acct,IIioda.te tb,ema�a'gement- practic�f th�n: 'there ate,
' ' staffing pia�tice\foJei �ti globalbµsiiiess . e.nvironm�nt .• that irt;ludes the fdctis, ·.ob- ' ' ..•. · '.j�cti�e, alterriative'appttiach��;�n�ffictors. ·, ' need to be considered wheri"decidilig �hich· approach is· more apptciptiat� th*1, , others. It willalso)fostribe 4w citl.i¢rtqp.:: 'ics ·. which are clqsely related, to' �taffing> 'practic� such asjritematicinal tr@'sfer and •career system. Atthe'.e11d. par:t: oftht, at�.· tic;l�, there willbe a prqposalfoi: cleyel<:>p. i!}g a glolJal staffing strategy: as.well lis,qne·. gk>bal staffing ptactke's:case·sfiitlf9f u.s:-baseciColllpaily •.... · .... , • · .. , .. .. i2., Tue poly�entric approach.:J'fti$ 11p< ' . . No'wad�ys, moi:e ariq µrore.liidqn:esfan ' proilch' staffs subsidiaries \Vith HCN§ ' �!$J;�;!��i�a ,.···.· .
.. _ ... �a'pr.,pfr:.·0° .•• a.�cC.:h:.·.·,· .•. : .•. 'F!··.01:r:re.,s:t:,·.:.
·.·e:mg�pth·oil•.so·.:·iy
ti .. �1b .• n°.: .. g; .•. • .. � .. aH.
0
-
1.j0c•.; .•
..•. • .. _�N •.. -.· ... -.•. �.-s-.·.·.······-····· marlcet; redqcirig 41:1pe�clen.cy on,�()Illes- · . . . ,
eliminates language barriers, avoids the adjustment problems of PCNs and their families, and removes the expensive cost of maintaining PCNs. Second, employment ofHCNs aUows an MNC to take a lower profile in sensitive political situations, and looks more favorable by host-country government. Third, the polycentric approach may help to satisfy the rising ambitions and expectations of many HCNs. Last, HCNs are more acceptable by host-country people.
The polycentric approach has its own disadvantages as well. Perhaps the major disadvantage is that of bridging the gap between HCNs at national subsidiaries and PCNs at corporate headquarters. Language barriers, conflicting national loyalties, and a range of cultural differences may isolate· corporate headquarters from the various foreign _subsidiaries. The second major disadvantage concerns with the career paths of HCNs and PCNs. HCNs have limited opportunities to gain experience outside their own countries and cannot progress beyond the senior positions in their own subsidiaries. PCNs have also limited opportunities to gain overseas experience. Organizational competence at running a global business can thus be seriously jeopardized.
3. The geocentric approach. This. approach utilizes the best people for thekey jobs throughout the organization,regardless the nationaHty. The mainadvantage of the geocentric approachis providing an MNC a greater pool ofquality staffs who can be moved anywhere in the world whenever needed.
As with other staffing apprpaches,there are disadvantages associatedwith the geocentric approach. First,there will be resistance from hostcountry governments which want theirpeople to be employed in MNCs. Thegovernments will utilize immigrationcontrol to force HCN employment ifenough people and adequate skills areavailable. Another disadvantage is the·geocentric can be expensive to implement because of increased training,relocation, and administrative (forhuman resource planning) costs.
4. · The regiocentric approach. Thisapproach makes transfer of staffs fromcountry to country within the sameregion possible. There are two advantages of the regiocentric approach.
· First, it allows interaction betweenstaffs transferred to regional headquarters from subsidiaries in the regionand PCNs posted to the regionalheadquarters. Second, the regiocentricapproach can be a way for an MNC togradually move from purely concentricor polycentric approach to geocentricapproach. The disadvantages of theregiocentric approach are it can produce federalism at a regional level, andit does not make the possibility ofregional staffs to occupy positions atparent headquarters greater.
In deciding which staffing approach isthe most appropriate, an MNC needs to consider the environmental (country) factors) and the characteristics of foreign subsidiary (Boyacigiller, 1995}; The environmental factors consist of: 1. The level of political risk In countries
where political risk is high, it isimportant to. have a local profile, thatis, to appear to act and look like a localfirm.
2. Cultural distance. When two cultures(PCN's or third country national's(TCN's)1 culture and HCN's culture)differ significantly, it is more difficultfor PCN s or TCN s and HCN s tocommunicate and work well together.
3. Competition. If the local competitionexists, an MNC should employ moreHCNs than PCNs or TCNs. The logicalexplanation for this is HCNs are morefamiliar with local competition andhave better contact with local government which plays important role inilocal competition.
4. Cost. It is quite expensive sendingPCNs or TCNs abroad. The totalcompensation for PCN or TCN can be2.5 times higher than HCN or PCNwho is employed at the headquarters.But, MNCs need to address the costissue· within a broader framework ofwhat the company seeks to gainthrough over�eas assignments. Theasssignments appear more useful whenperceived as long-term investment
cforum S'(_anajemen Wrasetiya S'\_ufya-�. 62, 1996
The most important characteristics of foreign subsidiary are: 1. Interdependence, Subsidiaries do not
operate as closed systems. Typically,the have resource links to other unitswithin the MNC as well as ties to firmsand custoµiers in host, home, and othercountries. This interdependence creates important implications for staffing. If a subsidiary has a high level of
· interdependence with the headquarters, placing some PCNs in keypositions at that subsidiary facilitatesintraorganizational communicationand relations.
2. Complexity. Most MNCs are comprised of units that differ widely intheir level of complexity. Controllingunits that have disparate levels ofcomplexity is difficult for MNCs.Complex tasks imply an increase ininformation load; information diver-
.
.
sity, or rate of information change.Consequently, the amount of information processing necessary to controlcomplex operations is much greater
. · than the information processing required to control less complex units. So; it is not surprising that PCNs and/ or TCNs are more preferable to be assigned to the complex units because they have more experience in maintaining the speed of information processing in such units. The low speed rate of information processing in one subsidiary may impede the information flow of the whole MNC's network.
3. Control. There are two types ofcontrol: direct or behavioral controland indirect or output control (Phatak,1989; Davis, 1994a). One importantdevice of direct control is staffing offoreign subsidiaries by PCNs. On theother hand, the indirect control mostlyrelies on the periodical reports submitted to the headquarters.
International Transfer
. Basically, the reasons for international transfer are filling out the positions when qualified HCNs are unavailable or difficult to train, giving staffs international ex -perience and train them for future important tasks in subsidiaries abroad or with
17
why Bonne Bell, Inc. adopts this model is because the competition in the cosmetic industry is very keen, and one key success factor to survive in that kind of environment is the creativity. Bonne Bell, Inc. seems to realize that the baseball team model can heighten the. pressure for creativity although it can also reduce the employment security and the employees' commitment to the company. So far, the implementation of baseball team model has no s1gnificant negative effects for the company, and if such minor negative effects exist, they will be written off by the increase of employees' creativity.
References
1. Borg, M. and A Harzing (1995). "Composing An International. Staff," in A.Harzing and J.V.· Ruysseveldt (Eds.),International Human Resourc.e Management. London, England: Sage Publicationsin association with the Open University ofthe Netherlands, pp. 179-204.
2. Boyacigiller, N.A. (1995). "The International Assignment Reconsidered," inM. Mendenhall and G. Oddou (Eds.).Readings and Cases in International
Human Resource Management (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Soiith-Western College Publishing, pp. 149-156.
3. Davis, T. (1994a). Lecture.: "Main Typesof Control," November 15. Cleveland, OH:Cleveland State University.
4. Davis, T. (1994b). Lecture: "Main Alternative Approaches to Staffing," December06. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland StateUniversity.
5. Davis, T. (1994c ). Lecture: "SuccessFactors for International Assignments(Expatriates)," December 08. Cleveland,OH: Cleveland State University.
6. Dowling, P.J., R.S. Schuler and D.E. Welch(1994). International Dimensions ofHuman Resource Management (2nd ed.).Belmont, CA: Wadsworth PublishingCompany, Ch. 3.
7. Phatak,A.V. (1989). International Dimensions of Management (2nd ed.). Boston,MA: PWS-Kent Publishing Company, Ch.5-6.
8. Pucik, V. (1993) .. "Globalization andHilman Resource· ·Management," in V.Pucik, N.M. Tichy and CK. Barnett (Eds.),Globalizing Management: Creating andLeading the Competitive Organization.New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,pp. 61-81.
9. Sonnenfeld, J.A. and M.A. Peiperl (1984)."Career Systems and Strategic Staffing;"in J.J. Gabarro (Ed.), Managing Peopleand Organizations. Boston, MA: HarvardBusiness: School Publications, pp. 464-473.
10. Sonnenfeld, J.A. and M.A. Peiperl (1988)."Staffing Policy as A Strategic Response:A Typology of Career Systems," in F.K.Foulkes (Ed.), Human Resources Management: Readings. Engkwood Cliffs,· NJ:Prentice-Hall, Inc., pp. 67-79.
11. Tung, R.L. (1988). The New Expatriates:Managing Human Resources Abroad.Cambridge, MA: Ballinger PublishingCompany, Ch. 7.
Budi W. Soetjipto, SE, MBA adalah Staf Pengajar Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia (FEW), Depok; Staf Lembaga Manajemen FEW, Jakarta;Mahasiswa
Program Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) di Cleveland State Univer
sity, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
21