International Human Resource Management (IHRM) Lecture Series

Flashcards covering the foundational concepts of IHRM, including MNC definitions, host-country legal policies, cultural contexts, management styles in Japan, USA, UK, and China, and expatriate compensation strategies.

What are the three categories of employees typically found in International Human Resource Management?

Parent Country National (PCN), Host Country National (HCN), and Third Country National (TCN).

What is the 'narrow definition' of a Multinational Company (MNC) proposed by Buckley and Casson (1976)?

A firm that coordinates production across national boundaries through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), focusing on legal ownership of operations in at least two countries.

According to Cowling and Sugden (1987), what constitutes the 'broad definition' of a Multinational Company?

A firm that coordinates production from one center of strategic decision-making across national boundaries, focusing on the control of operations rather than legal ownership.

In the context of internationalization, what are 'push factors'?

Home-country conditions that drive a firm abroad, such as market saturation, fierce domestic competition, high production costs ($wages, raw materials, land$), and shortages of managerial or technical skills.

What are the capital requirements for foreign investors in Ghana under the GIPC Law of 1994?

Foreign investors must have at least $10,000$ for joint ventures, $50,000$ for wholly foreign-owned ventures, and $300,000$ for trading companies.

How does Hofstede (1980) define national culture?

The collective programming of the mind based on a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others.

What characterizes management styles in 'high-inequality' (high power distance) cultures?

Paternalistic or autocratic styles, centralized decision-making by senior managers, and a rigid hierarchical chain of command where obedience is expected from lower levels.

What is the Japanese 'Keiretsu' corporate structure?

A form of corporate structure, literally meaning 'headless combine', where organizations link together through small cross-shareholdings and close business relationships, often as suppliers to each other.

Explain the 'Ringi' method of decision-making used in Japanese enterprises.

A collective process involving informal consultation followed by a written proposal circulated to those affected by the decision and then to senior management.

What is 'Nenko' in the Japanese employment system?

A practice of life-time or long-term employment where core employees are hired upon leaving education and remain with the same firm for their entire working lives.

How do US and Japanese responses to bankruptcy threats differ, as seen in the Mazda and Chrysler example from the 1980s?

Mazda viewed its workforce as an asset to be retained via a $25\%$ salary cut, while Chrysler cut its blue-collar workforce by $28\%$ and white-collar staff by $$7\%\%.

What is 'Guanxi' in Chinese culture and what is its impact on IHRM?

A system of personal networking and connections used to gain cooperation; it can lead to subordinates following specific managers to new companies due to personal loyalty rather than organizational loyalty.

Define 'Ethnocentric' and 'Polycentric' approaches to international recruitment.

The Ethnocentric approach fills key foreign subsidiary positions with home-country staff (PCNs), while the Polycentric approach hires local personnel (HCNs) for host-country operations.

What are the four types of expatriates based on loyalty levels?

1. 'Go native' (high subsidiary loyalty), 2. 'Hearts at home' (high parent loyalty), 3. 'Dual citizens' (high loyalty to both), and 4. 'Free agents' (low loyalty to both, committed to personal career).

What is the 'Balance Sheet Approach' to international compensation?

A method based on home-country market values that adds allowances to the home-country salary to offset cost-of-living differences, ensuring the expatriate’s standard of living remains consistent.

Differentiate between 'Tax Equalization' and 'Tax Protection' in expatriate management.

Tax Equalization ensures expatriates pay exactly the same tax they would have at home (MNC handles differences), while Tax Protection allows the expatriate to keep the difference if actual host-country taxes are lower than home-country taxes.