Global Insights- Ch 11

Parent-Country Nationals (PCNs)

employees who have citizenship in the country where the hiring firm is headquartered

Expatriates

a PCN who works overseas for an extended period

Boomerangs

employees who are hired or chosen to return to their home countries to work for the multinational

PCN

highly technical people, standardize management, expensive to send them

Failure rate of PCN

15-20%

Host-Country Nationals (HCNs)

individuals from the country where a multinational has decided to set up a facility

Perks of HCNs

Cheaper, have a grasp of the local culture, good for PR

Third-Country Nationals (TCNs)

employees who are citizens of a country other than that of the foreign subsidiary where they work or country where the parent firm is based (language translation)

International Cadre

talented group of managers who are sent to any country and successfully represent the firm's values

Perks of International Cadre

high potential, good at working with foreign locations, work the international circuit

Permanent Expats

-employees who stay on at one or more foreign subsidiaries for an extended period of years

-(domesticate to foreign & there for extended time)

Inpatriates

foreign employees working abroad who are brought to the home country where the parent firm is based to fill a temporary position at corporate headquarters for as long as a few years

Geocentric Philosophy

stresses ability and performance when selecting international staff, without regard to nationality

Ethnocentric Philosophy

an approach which headquarters makes all key decisions and foreign subsidiaries have little autonomy or input

Polycentric Philosophy

places human resource management control in the hands of the foreign subsidiary (headquarters still makes broad strategic decision)

Regiocentric Philosophy

moves foreign employees from country to country in a particular region, rather than into headquarters positions

Developing international managers

-rotate through different assignments

-cultivate talent at local levels worldwide

-recruit foreign students

-employees fluent in multiple languages, culture (overseas)

-bring in from all over world to work together on projects

Home-Country Culture Influences

-how individual is assessed during selection (indiv. values, background, personality)

-how successful training programs are when matched to values & culture of employees being trained

Legal Requirements

-illegal for US to discriminate against US citizens working abroad

-can sidestep this if complying w/ US law means a local law will be violated

Cultural differences (equal opportunity)

american view that everyone deserves equal opportunity is a cultural value (not viewed this way everywhere)

Cross-National Diversity

corp. environment in which frequent interactions occur between parent, host, and third-party nationals

Intranational Diversity

corp. environment in which frequent interactions occur between employees from a specific country who represent different races, ethnic groups, etc.

Synergistic Multiculturalism

open to positive aspects of all cultures and attempts to leverage cultural differences to benefit company

* accept all cultures, embrace diversity

Parochialism

approach to managing cultural diversity in which the firm believes its way is the only way and cultural diversity is ignored

Ethnocentrism

approach to managing cultural diversity in which the firm believes its way is the best way and tries to smooth out differences across the firm by imposing corporate values

Factors affecting expats

-nature of assignment, available training, location, personal fit of expat

Selection of Expats

-interviews, personality/skill test, training exercise performance, past accomplishments

Cultural Toughness

extent a foreign culture is different from a person's home, makes adjustment more difficult