INTERNATIONAL TRAINING

STRATEGIES
Amaresh C Nayak
International Training Strategies

• Training strategies bridge the gap

• The four strategies of training are:
– MNCs may make use of expatriates for short-term or long-term
international job assignments.
– The staffing orientation that is adopted in the subsidiary unit
influences the training impetus
– The control and coordination linkages that the parent unit wishes
to establish with the subsidiary unit drive the training budget and
the strategy
– The role and responsibilities of the position determine the extent
and content training
EXPATRIATE TRAINING

• The focus is on ascertaining the cultural awareness and

the fit for the host country's culture
• MNCs offer Cross-Cultural Training (CCT)
– A planned intervention
– To increase the knowledge and skills of expatriates to live and
work effectively
– To achieve general life satisfaction in an unfamiliar host culture
• The effectiveness of a CCT is reflected by the cognitive,
affective and behavioural changes that occur during and
after the training.
Benefits and Drawbacks of CCT
Merits
Increases chances of success in
assignment
Provides a comprehensive global
perspective for managers
Instills a sense of confidence into
people
Foreign employees can be
managed better
Reduces culture shock due to
frequent travels abroad
Demerit
Develops a false sense of
confidence in global employee
May not remove cultural biases
and prejudices
May not be taken seriously by the
recipients
May not make a visible difference
in business volumes
Can never fully prepare an
assignee to face real problems
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROCESS

• The stages are:

– Identify training objectives
– Identify the types of global assignment for which CCT
is required.
– Determine the specific cross-cultural training needs.
– Establish the goals and measures for determining
training effectiveness.
– Develop and deliver the CCT programme.
– Evaluate whether the CCT was effective
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROCESS

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

• Training Objectives • Identify the type of •D etermining Training
Global Assignment Needs
o CEO o Organisational
o Structure Analysis
Reproducer o Individual Analysis
o Trouble-Shooter o Assignment
o Operative Analysis

Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6

• Establish Goals and • Develop and Deliver • Evaluating the
Measures the CCT Programme Programme
o Short term o Course Content o Short Term Goals
o Long term o Identify Methods of o Long Term Goals
training
o Sequence of training
OBJECTIVE

• A few commonly understood objectives of training

in the multinational corporation are:
– Bridging the cultural gaps between the host and the
parent organisation*
– Recognising that orientation / induction challenges are
different for the parent and the host unit
– Ensuring that organisational success is critical in
achievement of the global objectives.
– Establishing and retaining advantages over
international competitors
GLOBAL ASSIGNMENTS

• Global assignments are of the following types:

– Chief executive officer - overseas and directs the entire
subsidiary operations, undergo an intensive CCT
– Structure reproducer - shoulders the responsibility of building or
reproducing in a foreign subsidiary, not be exposed to a rigorous
CCT
– Trouble shooter - to analyse and solve a specific operational
problem, do not need to undergo a very intense CCT
– Operative - to perform functional tasks in an existing operational
structure, do not need to undergo a very intense CCT
NEEDS ANALYSIS

• Needs assessment diagnoses present problems

and identities future challenges to be met through
training and development.
• Needs assessment occurs at three levels:
– The individual
– The organisational culture, politics, structure and
strategy
– The assignment
CCT GOALS AND MEASURES

• Short-term - what the expatriate should be able lo

accomplish on completion of the CCT
• Long-term - reflect the expected outcome of the
expatriate assignment
DEVELOP AND DELIVER THE CCT
PROGRAMME
• Involves two activities
– Deciding on the content of training
– Sequencing
COURSE CONTENT

• Language Training
– Communicate effectively with the host country citizens
– To learn about host country-value systems and the
customs of its people
– (exceptions - France. Germany, Japan or China)
COURSE CONTENT

• B. Cultural Training
– General cultural orientation - receptiveness to effective
cross-cultural interactions, clear understanding of the
purpose, value and benefits of the global assignment,
the ability to manage stress.
– Specific host country cultural orientation -
understanding of the host country's culture, adaptation
of spouse in the host country
COURSE CONTENT

• B. Cultural Training
– The intensity of cultural training depends on two
factors:
• The degree of interaction required between the expatriate
and the host country citizens
• The similarity between the assignee's native culture and the
new culture
COURSE CONTENT

• B. Cultural Training
– These two factors give rise to two dimensions:
• If the expected interaction between the assignee and the host country
citizens is low, and the degree of similarity between the assignee's home
culture and of the host country's culture is high, then training could focus
more on task and job-related issues rather than culture-related issues.
The level of rigour necessary for effective training could be relatively low.
• If expected interactions are high and dissimilarities between cultures are
also high, then training could focus more on cross-cultural sensitivity, in
addition to the new task. The level of rigour for such training could be
moderate to high.
COURSE CONTENT

• C. Practical Assistance:
– This seeks to help the expatriate and his family “feel at
home” in the host country
METHODS OF TRAINING:

• Didactic general culture training

• Didactic specific culture training
• Experiential general culture training
• Experiential specific culture training
METHODS OF TRAINING:

• Didactic general culture training:

– Called as educative training.
– Seeks to incur a cognitive understanding of a culture so that its
norms and behaviour can be easily be appreciated by the
assignees.
– Methods of imparting training are –
• lectures,
• seminars,
• study materials,
• discussions,
• videotapes,
• culture-general assimilators.
METHODS OF TRAINING:

• Didactic specific culture training:

– Seeks to instruct about the cultural nuances of the
expatriates host country.
– Methods of imparting training are –
• area studies,
• videotapes,
• orientation,
• primary visits,
• case studies
METHODS OF TRAINING:

• Experiential general cultural Training:

– Experiential general culture training methods help
assignees experience the impact of cultural differences
on their behaviours.
– Methods in this category include –
• immersion programmes
• intensive workshops.
METHODS OF TRAINING:

• Experiential specific cultural Training:

– These methods seek to help expatriates experience
and learn from interactions with individuals from the
host culture.
– Training includes
• role-playing,
• look-see trips,
• cultural coaching
• language training.
SEQUENCING OF SESSIONS

• Pre-Departure CCT:
– This is the most widely used method of imparting training and is
at best learning something without actually experiencing it.
– Training on basic information - currency, exchange rate, hotels,
transportation systems and hospitals
• Post-Arrival or In-Country Training:
– Facilitates learning by experiencing the host country culture,
beliefs and values.
– Training on deeper cultural learning about a new country and its
culture and the awareness of the skills and behaviours needed
to be successful in another culture.
• Issue: Without some initial support and a
framework for learning, many managers find it
difficult to reach out to new colleagues
themselves.
– Solution – Process of Socialisation
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CCT

• Evaluation necessitates an identification of training

goals and methods so as to judge whether or not
the goals have been met.
– Short-term goals
• Cognitive goals
• Affective goals
• Behavioural goals
– Long-term goals
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CCT

• Short-term goals
– Cognitive goals focus on helping the expatriates understand
the role of cultural values on behaviour in the host country.
• Knowledge about managing stress
• Awareness of the norms required to effectively interact with host country
nationals
– Affective goals seek to manage his or her attitude towards the
new culture and effectively handle negative emotions.
• Changing the expatriate's perception about the host culture
• Enhancing his or her self-confidence to communicate with people from
other cultures
– Behavioural goals help the adaptive behaviour by the cross-
cultural skills, interpersonal skills.
• Developing intercultural skills
• Negotiating skills, Relationship building skills
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CCT

• Short-term goals
– Methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the CCT
• Paper and pencil tests
• Online tests
• Personal interviews
• Group discussions
• Observation of performance in a cultural stimulator
• Role-play.
EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CCT

• Long-term goals of the CCT programme include

the expected outcome of the expatriate
assignment
– Cross-cultural adjustment
– Success on the assignment
– Measurement
• Paper and pencil questionnaires
• Phone interviews
• In person interviews
• Electronic surveys
NEXT..
HCN TRAINING

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

• Training Objectives • Identify the type of • Determining
Global Assignment Training Needs

Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 5 Phase 6

• Establish • Develop and • Methods of • Assessment
Goals and Deliver the Training of
Measures CCT Effectiveness
Programme
HCN TRAINING

• OBJECTIVE
– A few commonly understood objectives of training in
the multinational corporation are:
• Gaining information about the parent organisation and its
global existence and objectives.
• The acquisition of technological know-how specific to the
organisation
• The role of the new subsidiary in the MNCs Road Map
• General awareness about parent country norms, culture and
work methods
HCN TRAINING

• TYPES OF HCN ASSIGNMENTS

– Managing Director / Country Head / Centre Head
– Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer,
Chief Information Officer, Chief Finance Officer, HR
Director/HR Manager
– Unit Staff
HCN TRAINING

• NEED ANALYSIS
– The individual Need Assessment remains the same as in
Expatriates
– The training needs analysis at an organisational or assignment
levels are
• Orientation to parent country processes and reporting mechanism
• Familiarity and awareness of parent company work practices, work
culture, values
• Provisions for career planning and development initiatives
• Training for Global corporate vision and mission
• Training for uniformity in global work practices
HCN TRAINING

• TRAINING GOALS AND MEASURES

– The ability to have the subsidiary similarly managed as
the parent unit.
• Short-term – awareness
• Long-term – to carryout the objectives of the organisation
HCN TRAINING

• DEVELOP AND DELIVER THE HCN TRAINING

– Involves two activities
• Corporate Induction
• Technological Training
HCN TRAINING

• DEVELOP AND DELIVER THE HCN TRAINING

– A. Corporate Induction
• Corporate history, heritage, founders, promoters and investors
• Industry overview, company’s market share and positioning, competitors,
growth
• Company’s specific product and service background
• Inducting to corporate and local leadership teams
• Future plans for growth
• Role of subsidiary
• Communicating to corporate vision and mission statement, philosophy
• The HR policies of subsidiaries
• Basic work practices of subsidiary
HCN TRAINING

• DEVELOP AND DELIVER THE HCN TRAINING

– B. Technological Training
• Sharing of detailed information on the core business of the
company
• Nature of work
• Knowledge to make the subsidiary to work independently
HCN TRAINING

• METHODS OF TRAINING:
– On-the-Job
– Class room training
– On-site visits
– Mentoring
– E-learning
– Web based coaching
HCN TRAINING

• EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS

– The ability of the individual to build successful
subsidiary operations
– Establish competent teams
– Achieve the unit's objectives while adhering to global
processes and policies
NEXT..
TCN TRAINING

• Besides training of HCN and PCN, TCNs also

need to be trained.
– The focus is on ascertaining the technical, cultural and
managerial fit of the person for the role.
– The approach is similar to that of the HCN
THANK YOU