Stand Alone Project A Proposal For Expatriate Employee Development
Stand-Alone Project: A Proposal for Expatriate Employee Development
You should begin working on the Stand-Alone Project early in the course . Each lesson provides a benchmark for completing the Stand-Alone Project in a timely manner while working through the course. You will find this information in the “Stand-Alone Project Benchmark” section of each lesson. (A 20-25-page response is required for the combination of Parts A, B, and C.)
You are an IHRM professional who has been asked to create an IHRM plan for the development of expatriate employees (expat) who will open and manage a major facility employing 5,000 people in a foreign country. You know that the preparation of expatriate employees is key to the success of this international operation. It is critical that the expat be able to address cultural differences and to meet the expectations of the local population. You realize that the preparation of expat employees must go far deeper than giving them information about proper business etiquette. It is imperative that your employees understand the values and beliefs that drive workplace expectations in the new country’s culture. A bibliography formatted in APA style is required. (A 20-page, double-spaced, response is required.)
Part A
Identify a home country culture and a foreign country culture that you wish to research and use as the situational basis for your project. For example, the home country culture could be the United States, and the foreign country culture could be China. Use ProQuest, the database found on the Ashworth College website, the Internet, your textbook, and the Lecture and Research Updates to research cultural similarities and differences (in terms of Hofstede’s four dimensions) between the two countries’ cultures for work place issues that might arise for expatriates. (Keep in mind that you will look for general stereotypical information about a given country’s culture.) If possible, interview individuals from each of the two countries’ cultures that you’ve chosen to use in your project. Try to find people who have similar work experience. Use the information you gather to provide the following:
1. Describe the type of company that you work for by industry, age, financial health, and reason for wishing to expand overseas. Also, use Hofstede’s dimensions to describe the home national culture. (20 points)
2. Describe the national culture where the new subsidiary will be established in terms of age and financial health, as well as motivation to create an alliance with the acquiring company. Also, use Hofstede’s dimensions to describe the new national culture.
Part B
Either find an expatriate employee or create an imaginary situation and expatriate profile (ex: 41-year-old male with an MBA and ten years’ experience, etc.). If you know an expatriate who will let you interview him or her family, then do so. If not, create an imaginary expatriate family to serve as the typical family for which to model your recommendations (ex: 3 children, one in 9th grade, etc.).
1. Describe a profile of the expatriate employee in terms of function, seniority, education, work experience, prior overseas experience, knowledge of the new culture, and motivation for accepting this assignment.
2. Describe a profile of the expatriate family in terms of spousal background (career, hobbies, overseas experience in general and knowledge of new culture in particular), and background of children (how many children, age, grade in school, extracurricular interests, prior overseas experience in general, and prior experience with the new culture in particular).
Part C
You must now explain why it is important for your company to research differences and similarities on certain work place issues between your country’s culture and the foreign country’s culture. To do so, analyze any four of the seven following issues, comparing and contrasting how the two countries’ cultures view each one. Also, explain how these issues reflect differences in cultural beliefs about the work place.
1. Management and Leadership Styles: Is the management style directive and authoritative? Or is it participative? How many levels of management might one find? Who can be a leader? Who is empowered and why? Are employees concerned about empowerment issues?
2. Communication Styles: Who talks to whom? What kind of information can be shared? What are the communication channels?
3. Motivational Needs and Reward Expectations: Do employees need security or challenge? Do employees expect to be rewarded for their performance or for their political ties? Do employees yearn more for money or for recognition? How are the criteria prioritized? For example, is seniority more important than performance? How important are social skills vs. performance?
4. Models: Who are the heroes (models to follow) and the villains (models not to follow)?
5. Selection Procedures: How are employees recruited? What criteria are the most important, for example, credentials or a performance record?
6. Training: What is the purpose of training? Who can design and deliver the training? What are the most critical training needs?
7. Career Development: What is the purpose of career development? Is it formal or informal? Who mentors whom?
Part D
Make recommendations in the following areas for the expatriate employee.
1. Employee Selection Recommendations
2. Training and Development
3. Family Considerations
4. Reentry Considerations
Make sure that your writing style and grammar are clear. Your spelling must be correct. This entails more than just a spell check with your word processor. It typically takes me 4 or 5 drafts before I feel comfortable about my own writing. Be sure to include an introduction and summary to your manuscript. These sections should be written last. Make sure that all references cited in the bibliography are in fact used in the body of your proposal. Use a recognized guide to the citation of references such as APA 6th edition from the American Psychological Association.
