Chapter 15 Discussion Posts (see ch. 14 comment)

1. This chapter focuses on International HR. This is a very interesting subject. Because HR is so heavily people based, I can see how HR could totally change in a different culture. Consider for example how societies have different values. What may be important to one set of people in one country may be entirely different for a different set. For example, in America we value performance. In Asia however, education is given heavier emphasis. Your HR needs to reflect that.

2. Have you ever lived in another country besides the US? What differences in values affect how work is performed or how employees need to be managed?

3. The key principle to take away from this is that as you expand your business operations to other countries, you need to put HR people in charge that understand the foreign countries people and values. An employee you send overseas is called an "expatriat." They either need to already understand a foreign country's culture or they need to be trained to understand. Those of us in International Business have learned about Hofsted's Dimensions. Power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculine/feminine, individualism vs collectivism; these all affect the way a group of people perceive the world and understand the workplace. A expatriat needs to be intimately familiar with these cultural dimensions.

4. Can you identify the cultural dimensions in the foreign country you are familiar with? What negative impact would you expect if you tried to manage the people there like we do in America?