INTERNATIONAL HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Recruitment & Selection

June 11, 2008 1

 International Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment – Defined as searching for and

obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient
numbers for and quality so that the organization
can select the most appropriate persons for its job
needs

Selection – Defined as the process of gathering

information for the purposes of evaluating and
deciding whom should be employed in particular
jobs
June 11, 2008 2
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (1)
Advantages of the Ethnocentric Approach

 Perceived lack of qualified host country nationals (HCNs)

 The necessity to maintain and consolidate good
communication, coordination and control links with the
organization’s headquarters
 The assurance that the foreign subsidiary or unit will
comply with corporate objectives, policies, standards etc.
 PCNs may be most suitable because they have the
requisite skills and experience
 Promising managers are given the opportunity of
international experience

June 11, 2008 3

 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (2)
Disadvantages of the Ethnocentric Approach

• It limits the promotional opportunities of HCNs

• PCN expatriate managers may experience adjustment
problems
• PCN expatriate managers may attempt to impose styles
which are appropriate at the organization’s headquarters
but which may be deemed inappropriate in the host
country
• The compensation packages of PCN expatriate
managers may be at a level considered unjustified by the
HCNs
• PCN expatriate managers are expensive
June 11, 2008 4
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (3)
Advantages of the Polycentric Approach

• It eliminates language barriers, avoids adjustment problems

of expatriate managers and their families, and removes the
need for expensive cultural awareness training programmes
• Hiring costs are reduced
• No work permit required
• Motivation effect because HCNs see a career potential
• Lower organizational profile in sensitive political situations
• Continuity of management improves because the HCNs
stay longer in the organization
• Local responsiveness and sensitivity, host government
policy
June 11, 2008 5
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (4)

Disadvantages of the Polycentric Approach

• More difficulty in bridging the gap (objectives, policies,

standards, communication, coordination, control, culture
and attitudes etc.) between the HCN unit and the
organization’s parent headquarters
• Tends to encourage too much decentralization
• HCN managers have limited career opportunities outside
the subsidiary or unit
• Limits opportunities for PCN expatriate managers to gain
foreign experience, adversely effecting their insight and
hence strategic decision-making and resource allocation
June 11, 2008 6
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (5a)

Advantages of the Geocentric Approach

 Facilitates the development of an international team

 Overcomes the decentralization effect of the polycentric

approach

June 11, 2008 7

 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (5b)
For the geocentric approach to be successful, 5 assumptions must be
met:

(4) Highly competent employees are available at headquarters and

subsidiaries
(2) International experience is a condition for success in top positions
(3) Managers with high potential and ambition for promotion are
constantly ready to be transferred from one country to another
(4) Open disposition and high adaptability on the part of competent and
mobile managers to different assignment conditions
(5) Open disposition and high adaptability can be learned with more
foreign experience

June 11, 2008 8

 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (5c)
Disadvantages of the Geocentric Approach

• Immigration controls and work permits for the foreign

manager and his family
• Provision of extensive, time-consuming (and sometimes)
expensive information and documentation for foreign
nationals
• Large numbers of PCNs, HCNs and TCNs must be sent
to foreign locations in order to create a successful
geocentric staffing policy
• High Training and relocation cost
• Devising an appropriate compensation structure
• More centralized control over staffing and loss of
autonomy by the subsidiary in HRM issues
June 11, 2008 9
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (6)
Advantages of the Regiocentric Approach

• It allows interaction between managers of an organization’s

subsidiaries transferred to their organization’s regional
headquarters, and managers from the organization’s
headquarters posted to the regional headquarters
• More sensitivity to local conditions as subsidiaries are
staffed mostly by HCNs
• TCNs from the region may be better informed about the
host country environment than PCNs
• Lower salary and benefit requirements for TCNs
• Paves the way for adoption of a geocentric approach
June 11, 2008 10
 Pros and Cons of the Four International
Staffing Approaches (6)
Disadvantages of the Regiocentric Approach

• It can prevent the organization from taking a global stance

• Improves career opportunities at the regional, but not
international level
• Factors such as political animosity between regional
countries and work permit requirements must be taken into
consideration

June 11, 2008 11

 Selecting Staff for International
Assignments
Selecting staff for international assignments is a complex
undertaking for several reasons, including:

• Identifying a suitable person for the assignment

• Predicting his or her performance in a new, culturally
potentially very different environment
• Dealing with personal and family-related issues and
problems
• Devising an appropriate compensation package
• Complying with host country regulations

June 11, 2008 12

 The Problem of “Expatriate Failure”

Expatriate failure means the premature

return of an expatriate manager before the
completion of his or her international
assignment due to the person’s failure to
attain the expected performance levels
and due to the persons continuing inability
to adjust to the new work and cultural
environment in the host country

June 11, 2008 13

 The Cost of “Expatriate Failure”
Expatriate failure has two cost components:

 Direct Costs – Can be easily measured in monetary

terms (e.g.: air fare, relocation expenses, salary and
training) and varies according to the level of the position in
question, the country of destination, the exchange rates
and whether a new PCN takes over the assignment of the
“failed” colleague

 Indirect Costs – Cannot be measured easily in monetary

terms but may be significantly higher than the direct costs.
Examples include loss of the organization’s reputation and
market share, loss of morale and productivity in the local
work force, complications with the host government,
discreditation of the expatriate at the organization’s
headquarters and a future performance impact
June 11, 2008 14
 The Reasons for “Expatriate Failure”

Lack of technical Personal or emotional

competence problems

Difficulties with the Manager’s Personal or

new environment Emotional Maturity

Inability to Cope With

Larger International Spouse’s Inability
Responsibility to Adjust

Manager’s Inability
Other Family Reasons
to Adjust

June 11, 2008 15

 Criteria for Selecting Staff for
International Assignments

Cross-Cultural
Suitability
Technical Ability
Family Requirements

SELECTION DECISION

Country-Cultural Organization-Specific
Requirements Requirements
Language

June 11, 2008 16

 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Technical Ability)

• Technical and managerial competencies of the

person to perform the required tasks
• Research studies indicate that technical ability
are the most important selection criteria for
organizations
• Usually easy to evaluate on the basis of past
performance

June 11, 2008 17

 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Cross-Cultural Suitability)

• Certain individual traits and characteristics can have an

impact on the success or failure of an international
assignment – cultural empathy, adaptability, diplomacy,
language ability, positive attitude, emotional stability, and
maturity
• Ability to implement technical and managerial skills and
feel reasonably comfortable in a in a foreign environment
• Sometimes difficult to determine

June 11, 2008 18

 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Family Requirements)

• Spouse may not adjust to a foreign environment

• Adjustment level of spouse depends on several factors,

such as the adjustment of the expatriate and the
spouse’s own opinion of the international assignment

• A higher level of organizational support in the early

stages of expatriation usually correlates with a higher
level of adjustment by the spouse
June 11, 2008 19
 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Country-Cultural Requirements)

• “Hardship Postings” (Remoteness of job location, social

upheavals, safety risks, very low standard of living and
lack of recreational opportunities etc.)

• Pressure of living in repressive cultures and countries

(e.g. China, Saudi Arabia and other totalitarian Islamic
states in the Middle East)

• Denial of work permits to female expatriates

June 11, 2008 20
 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Organization-Specific Requirements)
Situational Factors influence staff selection. Examples:

• Organization’s staffing approach may require

sending more expatriates to work in certain regions
and locations than otherwise
• Partner organizations may be involved in the
selection of expatriate staff, for example, on
international joint ventures
• Certain specific skills, for example, training, may be
used as a selection criteria
June 11, 2008 21
 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Language)

• Important situational factor. Knowledge of the host

country’s language is considered critical for many senior-
level positions along with the ability to communicate
effectively

• Knowledge of the host country’s language helps

expatriates and their families feel more comfortable in
the new environment

June 11, 2008 22

 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Other Considerations 1)
Time – Unexpected international vacancies may arise
for which positions have to be quickly filled by
expatriates and which may preclude the use of
screening tests

Family - A potential expatriate may refuse the

international assignment due to family considerations
(children’s welfare and education, parental care,
single parents)
June 11, 2008 23
 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Other Considerations 2)
Dual-Career Couples – Research studies undertaken reveal
that many potential expatriates are reluctant or unwilling to
take on international assignments because of the career
implications for their spouses, e.g. loss of jobs and career
opportunities, difficulty in finding new employment in the
expatriate’s host country

Some companies are now offering assistance programmes

for the benefit of their expatriates’ spouses (employment
hunting, networking, intra-company employment, commuter
marriages and on-assignment career support)

June 11, 2008 24

 The Staff Selection Criteria
(Other Considerations 3)
Female Managers – Studies reveal that female expatriates
make up a very small proportion (< 10% percent) of the total
expatriate population. Possible reasons are:

 Females are less desirous than males of international

assignments
 Females are less likely to be offered international
assignments
 There are a comparatively smaller number of females with
the requisite skills to be sent on international assignments
 Many repressive cultures discourage the sending of female
expatriates, and
 In many repressive cultures males do not like reporting to
females
June 11, 2008 25
 Selection Tests

Selection Tests entails the use of certain personal

and other related criteria with a view to determining
whether a person is suitable or not for an inter-
national expatriate assignment

Problems with such tests relate to their:

• Reliability
• Culture-boundedness

June 11, 2008 26

 Alternative Model of Expatriate Selection
Mendenhall and Oddou propose a four-dimensional approach
linking specific behavoioural tendencies to probable inter-
national performance:

 Self-Orientedness – adaptive concern for self-

preservation, self-enjoyment and mental hygiene
 Perceptual – expertise in accurately understanding the
behavour of host country nationals
 Others-Orientedness – Degree of concern about the host
country nationals and the expoatriate‘s desire to affiliate
with them
 Cultural Toughness – Difference between the expatriate‘s
country and the host country‘s cultural, social, political,
economic etc. environment and ist implication for the
expatriate
June 11, 2008 27