International Human Resource Management: Week 3

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Week 3
December 8, 2021 IHRM (MBA III) Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan 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
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
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
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
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
Staffing Approaches (5a)
Advantages of the Geocentric Approach
 Facilitates the development of an international team
 Overcomes the decentralization effect of the polycentric

approach
Staffing Approaches (5b)
For the geocentric approach to be successful, 5 assumptions must be
met:
(1) 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Criteria for Selecting Staff for
International Assignments
Cross-Cultural
Suitability
Technical Ability
Family Requirements
SELECTION DECISION
Country-Cultural
Organization-Specific
Requirements
Requirements
Language
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
(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
(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
(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

(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
(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
(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)
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)
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
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
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

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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN

Recruitment – Defined as searching for and

Selection – Defined as the process of gathering

 Perceived lack of qualified host country nationals (HCNs)

• It limits the promotional opportunities of HCNs

• It eliminates language barriers, avoids adjustment problems of

Disadvantages of the Polycentric Approach

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

Advantages of the Geocentric Approach

 Facilitates the development of an international team

 Overcomes the decentralization effect of the polycentric

(1) Highly competent employees are available at headquarters and

• Immigration controls and work permits for the foreign

• It allows interaction between managers of an organization’s

• It can prevent the organization from taking a global stance

• Identifying a suitable person for the assignment

Expatriate failure means the premature

 Direct Costs – Can be easily measured in monetary terms

 Indirect Costs – Cannot be measured easily in monetary

Lack of technical Personal or emotional

Difficulties with the Manager’s Personal or

Inability to Cope With

• Technical and managerial competencies of the

• Certain individual traits and characteristics can have an

• Spouse may not adjust to a foreign environment

• Adjustment level of spouse depends on several factors,

• A higher level of organizational support in the early

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

• Pressure of living in repressive cultures and countries

• Denial of work permits to female expatriates

• Organization’s staffing approach may require sending

• Important situational factor. Knowledge of the host

• Knowledge of the host country’s language helps

Family - A potential expatriate may refuse the

Some companies are now offering assistance programmes

 Females are less desirous than males of international

Selection Tests entails the use of certain personal

Problems with such tests relate to their:

 Self-Orientedness – adaptive concern for self-preservation, self-

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