IHRM

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN COLLABORATION WITH STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY UK 

BA (Hons) in Business B usiness Administration

Individual Assignment The Desirability and feasibility of transferring IHRM practices to their new locations.

International Human Resource Management Module Code & Title

BLB10025-3 International Human Resource Management Prepared By

Sathyadasen Jeevan [CB003210] Date of Submission th

01 march 2011 Instructor Dr.Mahesha Samarathunga

Submitted in partial fulfilment for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Administration Word count:2725

1

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Executive summary.

According to Tayeb (1998, cited in Liu 2004:500) ³The Multinational Company (MNC) is a powerful vehicle or the transfer of not only the capital and other production function but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations´. According to Bartlett Bartlett and Goshal et al (1994.cited in Liu 2004:500) ³The effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) has been seen as the key to success in MNC¶s in the 21 centaury´. The MNCs¶ always focus on expanding its subsidiaries into new markets and exchanging best practices within it network to improve it s competitive advantage through t hrough forward and reverse diffusion. However transfer is not always possible. Due to difference in cultural and institutional factors of  economies. If the host country cultural and institutional factors are stronger than the host country factors the transfer would be challenge and eventual would be rejected. According to Tayeb (1996) ³national culture, government policies, industrial relations and regulation, power of  pressure groups, membership of regional and global agreements and institutions are examples of  external factors which have direct or indirect bearing on an organization¶s HRM´. Even though the cultural and institutions distance is large some practices may be possible to transfer due to factors such as dominance effect. The economic condition of the economy may influence the transfer in major terms. For example a country like China and America the Cultural difference is be large but transfer of IHRM practices would be possible due to the dominance effect of America over china. However there are four stratergies MNCs¶ can adopt to transfer  IHRM practices and policies across national borders.Multi domestic. Internationalization, global and transnational models.(Bartlet and Goshal 2000).

.

2

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr.Mahesha Samarathunga, for her continuous support and guidance in the preparation of this study. Without her invaluable supervision, all our efforts could have been short-sighted. Dr Mahesha Samarathunga, Asia Pacific Institute of Technology, (Sri Lanka) helped us with various issues during the thesis and we are grateful to her. Besides, a number of friends had always been around to support us morally.

I owe quite a lot to our families who provided us the chance to fulfill our career objectives and for the support throughout our studies. I would like to dedicate this study to them as a n indication of their significance in this study. Finally, I am responsible for any errors that remain this thesis.

3

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Table of Contents Executive summary. ................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................... 3 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 6 Section 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Section 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................ 8 Section 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 12 Scenario 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Section 4 ............................................................................................................................................... 17 Scenario 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Section 5 ............................................................................................................................................... 21 Scenario 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 25 Reference .............................................................................................................................................. 26

4

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

List of Table

Table 1: sources of country of origin effects ............................................................................................. 9 Table 2: cultural distance between Japan and UK ................................................................................... 13 Table 3:cultural distance between Spain and China ................................................................................ 18 Table 4:Cultural distance between USA and UK .................................................................................... 22

List of Figure

Figure 1:Centralized hub ........................................................................................................................ 15 Figure 2:decentralized federation ........................................................................................................... 19 Figure 3: Intergarated Network structure ................................................................................................ 23

5

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

List of abbreviations

HR-Human Resource HRM-Human Resource Management HQ-Head Quarter 

IHRM-International Human Resource Management MNC-Multinational Companies NBS-National Business Systems R & D - Research and Development

UK-United Kingdom USA-United States of America.

6

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Section 1 Introduction According to Tayeb (1998, cited in Liu 2004:500) ³The Multinational Company (MNC) is a powerful vehicle or the transfer of not only the capital and other production function but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations´. According to Bartlett and Goshal et al (1994.cited in Liu 2004:500) ³The effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) has been seen as the key to success in MNC¶s in the 21 centaury´.

This report would consist of the following aims and objectives to identify whether transfer of  IHRM practices and policies would be t ransferable and feasible in the new locations: Aim 1 - Analyze and critical evaluate the key theories and concept that influence strategies of the IHRM of the MNC¶s

Aim 2 - Demonstrate the problems involved in the transfer of IHRM policies. Aim 3 - Compare and contrast MNC structure and models, and relate the model s and concept to modern concepts to modern business pro blems. Section two will initially outline the Theoretical Framework focusing on the theories and academic work relating to this study. The third section will critically analyze and discuss the Japanese bank setting up a subsidiary in the United Kingdom (UK).The fourth section will critically analyze and discuss the scenario of a Spanish manufacturing location its production in China. The fifth section will critically analyze and discuss the transfer of an American high tech electronics firm opening a new site in Britain. Finally recommend and conclusion on the desirability and feasibility of transfer HRM practices to their new locations would be stat ed. As secondary source of referencing journal article would be used. This report is focused on the feasibility and transferability of IHRM practices to the subsidiaries of the new locations considering the differences in the economical and social environment.

7

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Section 2 Theoretical Framework  When a MNC expands it subsidiaries to new markets and locations across borders, the subsidiary is managed and controlled by the home county cooperate headquarter, this is well explained by the embedded theory. The MNC is influenced by many factors and sometime the transfer is not possible or some policies and practices may be transferred but not all policies and practices can be transferred. The possibility of the transfer depends on the distance between the environmental and industrial level factors of the host country. However cross border economics flows and coordination processes depends overwhelmingly on national state legal systems, enforcement mechanisms, and institutional arrangements to manage risks and uncertainty sufficiently to enable strategic decision to be made. When MNCs¶ internationalize it, remains highly interdependent with national agencies¶ and institutions¶ structure and actions, since the host country host countries national business systems affect the operations of the MNC. As a result, its effect on established systems of economic organization and firms are greatly guided and limited by variations in these national institutions (whitley 1999, cited in Edwards and Ress,2006:52) The MNCs¶ therefore adhere to the theories of convergence and divergence. If the cultural and institutional distance between the two countries is large the MNCs¶ would take the divergence approach and if it is narrow the convergence approach would be used and all IHRM policies and practices could be transferred directly to the host country. According to Hofstede (1991,cited in wasti ,1998:610) ³concluded that national culture had a major impact on employees¶ work related attitudes.Infact culture explained more of the difference that did age,sex,profession or position in the organization. Hofstede¶s four dimension of culture, along which a comparative analysis of nations can be carr ied out are µpower distance¶ µuncertainty avoidance¶ µindividualism/collectivism¶ and µfemininity /masculinity¶.´ However Edward identified four main influences in t he transfer of IHRM policies and practices. In simple terms the four influence frame work explain transfer could take place even there is a

8

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

difference in the culture and institutional factors between the home and host county. The 4 influences are µcountry of origin effect¶, µdominance e ffect¶, µinternational integration¶, and µhost country effects¶.

Country of origin effects

Country Of Origin

Impact on the subsidiary

Effect Home country

In a event of convergence, most of the senior management positions will

expatriates in the

be occupied by the home country national, MNCs HQ adopted this

subsidiary.

technique to execute the HR practices in an effective way because, they are influenced by the culture of the home country.( Harzing, 2004)

The way in which

According to O¶sullivan (2000) cited by Harz ing (2004) Britain

firms are financed

executives maintain a distend relationship between shareholders in

and governed.

United state of America (USA) and on t he other hand maintain a close relationship with the Germany. Due to the distance in the NBS. And as cited by Doremus et al (1998) MNCs will have a close relationship with financial institutions contrast to the host countries.

Concentrate key

Activities which are required innovation like, Research and

activities in the home

development(R&D) and training and development will be imposed by

based.

the MNCs HQ on the subsidiary in maintaining the nature of the innovation of the MNCs (Harzing, 2004)

Institutional

The way in which he firm adopts in managing its international

configuration

workforce, for instant the way in which t rade unions are treated (Edwards & Ferner, 2001)

Table 1: sources of country of origin effects

Source: group project 2011

9

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Host country affects

The host country affects refer to the cultural and institutional factors of the host country, cultural and institutional factors of the host country affect the transfer of the MNCs.So practices are rejected by the host country due to the variance in the host country. According to Tayeb (1998,cited in Myloni 2004:520) ³Failure to adopt HRM practices to the host countries¶ culture can lead to negative consequences that inhabit a subsidiary¶s performance´.

Dominance effect

According to smith and Meiskins (1995:255-256 Cited in Harzing2004:396) dominance effect is ³a key factor in this respect is their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses o f economic performance across countries. Strong performance in one country gives rise to interest in the µborrowing¶ of elements of that business system by firms in other countries´. The MNCs¶ originating from a developed country would have a dominance effect over the host countries cultural and institutional factors, transfer would be possible even there are differences between the home and host countries ,this is due to developing econo mies are in favor of practice and policies from developed countries. However, According to Edward ( 2000, cited in Harzing 2004:398) ³Reverse transfer does not occur and that is it is shaped by the notion of dominance effect´. Reverse transfer would be mute.

International integration

According to Edward (2000, cited in Harzing 2004:400) International integration is the ³extent to which MNCs are internationally integrated, defined as the generation of inter-unit linkages across borders´. Even though MNCs operate off national borders all the subsidiaries are

10

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

controlled by the cooperate headquarter, all polices practices are share among all the subsidiaries. Since MNCs face multiculturalism Bartlet and Goshal introduced four approaches and structures the MNCs can adopt to transfer their IHRM policies, µMulti-domestic¶, µGlobal¶, µinternational¶ and µtransnational¶, strategy .And the structure used in on each strategy is known as µDecentralized federation¶, µa centralized hub¶, µa co -ordinated federation¶, µan integrated network¶, structure. (Bartlet and Goshal, 2000).In the argument of local adaptation vs. global integration .However perlmutter categories into four strategies which are Ethnocentric, polycentric, Geocentric, Regiocentric strategies.

11

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Section 3 Scenario 1 Critically analyze and discuss the transfer of a Japanese bank setting up a subsidiary in the UK.

Cultural distance

The social norms, Gender equality, and working pattern between Japan and UK are large. This means the cultural distance between Japan a nd UK is large. As stated above in section one.Hofstede has analyzed and graded these cultural distance according to, four cultural distances in accordance to the individual countries, Japan and UK. Which are well explained bellow.

Characteristics

Japan(home country)

UK(host country)

Values

54

35

Analysis

High

Low

Power distance

The power distance in Japan is high and UK is considerably low so the gap between the managerial level and lower level staff is less and when the Japanese bank o perates in UK these practices may not be accepted, these practices will have to change according to the UK culture. Individualism and collectivism

Values

46

89

Analysis

moderate

High

Asians are more collective and work o n a team based structure and prefer working in groups when the Japanese bank operates in UK, UK individuals prefer working Individually. Masculinity and felinity

Values

95

66

12

Individual Assignment

Analysis

International Human Resource Management

masculine

Feminine and masculine

The Asian culture is more toward male domination ,the female participation is less in the managerial position .

Uncertainty Avoidance

Values

92

35

Analysis

High

Low

The measures taken to avoid possible future risks and to dominate possible future co mpetition the Japanese companies take into account risks that are possible in future and the act to it now. Table 2: cultural distance between Japan and UK 

Source: Authors work. The above diagram shows a high cultural distance between Japan and UK, since the company culture is similar and linked to the nat ional culture.

Dominance effect between Japan and UK.

The Japanese economy was widely perceived to be dominant power (Hazing and Rusysseyeldt, 2004:397).Therefore the Japanese MNCs has the ability to transfer IHRM practices and policies to UK even there are differences in the cultural factors of UK. Forward diffusion would take place in the scenario, the reverse diffusion would be muted. No transfer would take place from UK to Japan.

Institutional distance between Japan and UK.

A national business system (NBS) perspective incorporate both cultural an d institutional influences on HRM(ferner & Quintanilla,1998,cited in Elkassrawy n.d)Thus difference in the NBS encourages instinct HR stratergies,structure and practices that distinguish companies originated from different national context(.Dickman 1999).The institution factors consist of 

13

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

legal, political and educational system of the home and host country. The institutional distance between Japan and UK is large. Japan is a developing country and UK is a developed country the NBS of the countries are different.

Nature of Individual HRM practice

According to Huang (2000,cited in Elkassrawy n.d) ³Japanese companies rely on µlife time employment¶ so it is very seldom to hire outside for high level position as they rely more on their  senior employee. Therefore, it gas been widely claimed that Japanese have strong commitment to internal promotion and job filling´. Therefore more expatriates would be in the host country subsidiaries .this shows are more of a country of origin effect. Hover ever these practices may be rejected by the UK HRM practices since UK HRM practices differ from Japanese individual HRM practices. Recruitment and selection is mainly done on the individual qualification and skills acquired by the individual.

14

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Strategy and structure.

Factors

Details

Industry

Banking

Organizational structure

A centralized hub

Strategy

The global form

Subsidiar y Subsidiar y

Subsidiar y

HQ Subsidiar y Subsidiar y

Subsidiar y

Figure 1:Centralized hub

Source: Authors work. The Japanese MNC is operates on a structure of a centralized hub and the corporate headquarter  controls and creates HRM policies and practices in each and every individual subsidiary. (bartlet and Goshal 2000).Therefore the convergence approach is taken to transfer IHRM practices and policies to the subsidiaries. However this structure would not be accepted by the UK co mpany

15

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

level factors and transfer would not be possible. The possible solutions would be discussed in recommendations below.

Recommendations

As analyzed on this report the social and economic difference between Japan and UK is high. As seen by hofstede the distance between the senior level and lower level of the organization is lager  this sort of hierarchy would not work in UK since UK cultural practices are different so a different approach would have to be taken to the organizational model in the set up of the Japanese Subsidiary Bank in the UK. The employees in UK prefer working individually that the Asian way of working in groups therefore when aims and objectives are formulated. It will have to be focused o n individual achievements and goals will have to be formulated to individual targets.

The Japanese rely more on senior level employees and the high post will be awarded to the employees who are there in the business or a long period of time. However this will not suit the UK culture because the individuals are chosen according to the qualification and skill of the individual itself to suit the task.

The NBS of China and UK are totally different and the Japanese Bank will have to totally adopt the NBS in UK. Also the structure the Japanese Bank uses to co nnect to its subsidiaries does not suit the UK .The Japanese Bank uses a one best way approach to transfer it IHRM policies so therefore it does not consider differences in the ho st country, so therefore the transfer would be rejected. The Japanese MNC cou ld adopt a multi-domestic strategy which would make this transfer a success. There are many problems and d ifferences between the two countries, so therefore there are number of problem in the transfer in the transfer of IHRM practices and policies from the Japanese headquarter to the UK subsidiary. This transfer would be possible f the Japanese MNC re-strategizes its total structure and policies. However, this report does not recommend t his transfer to be feasible. 16

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Section 4 Scenario 2 Critically analyze and discuss the scenario of a Spanish manufacturing location its production in China

Cultural distance.

The cultural distance between Spain and china is large. This is due the difference is social and economic conditions of the two countries.

Characteristics

Spain (home country)

China(host country)

Values

57

80

Analysis

moderate

high

Power distance

The power distance in Spain is moderate and china is high, this indicates that there is slight similarity in the power distance between the two countries. Individualism and collectivism

Values

51

20

Analysis

moderate

Low

Asians are more collective so therefore individualism is low in China and moderate in Spain due to its European nature. Masculinity and felinity

Values

42

66

Analysis

Masculine and feminine

masculine

China is more towards masculinity and all the to p decision making managerial positions are being held by the male employees; however is Spain there is a mix of both genders.

17

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Uncertainty Avoidance

Values

86

40

Analysis

High

moderate

Spain is more concerned on future risks, so the management decisions are based on future unlike the chine¶s culture. Table 3:cultural distance between Spain and China

Source: Authors work.

Dominance effect between Spain and China.

China has a dominance effect. Chinese companies are highly culture rooted to its national culture. The companies in china has a Chinese way of doing this, any external different practice would be rejected by the Chinese culture. So therefore China is dominate over Spain so much transfer of practice and policies from Spain would not be possible.

Institutional distance between Spain and China.

The institutional difference between Spain and C hina is large. China is a developing country and Spain is a developed country. Most of the institutional practices such as the legal framework and the political system is different from one another.

Nature of Individual HRM practice

According to moriones (2002) ³Training directly geared to the job is by far the most frequent form of training given in Spanish firms, since it takes up almost half the total training time.´ Spanish firm mostly concentrate on training and development of the employees. The cooperate headquarter would tend to transfer theses practice to the subsidiaries also. Training and development would be transfer in the Spain manufacturing.

18

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Recruitment and selection .

The Spanish manufacturing plant depends on more of the internal labourmaket, which are feature in many firms; allow these to map out carriers for their workers. They do this by providing a series of entry points at which to take on workers, usually on the lower rungs of the organizational ladder. Later using a process of promotion to fill posts at the higher level. (moriones 2002)The Chinese also do have a similar way of recruitment and selection techniques. So therefore transfer of recruitment and selection practices to t he Chinese subsidiaries would not be a problem and the transfer would be accepted in China.

Strategy and structure. Factors

Details

Industry

Manufacturing

Organizational structure

A decentralized federation

Strategy

Multi-domestic form

Subsidiary

Subsidiary

Subsidiary

H Subsidiary

Subsidiary

Subsidiary

Figure 2:decentralized federation

Source: Authors work.

19

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

However the structure of the Spanish manufacturing firm shows decentralized federations , there are loss operational controls by the corporate headquarter and the subsidiaries act as individual firms in the host countries. There is less transfer taking place from the Home to Host country subsidiary and the divergence approach of taken.

Recommendations

However the social and economical distance between Spain and China is large, Hofestedes¶ model shows a power distance exists in both the countries at a moderate level. China is more toward masculinity, most of the senior level manager ial positions would be granted to the male gender, this would a pro blem when the Spanish manufacturing plant is established in China because the Spanish operate equally so when a female is in a higher rank and when orders down the line the male lower level male employee in china would have unwilling attitude.

Chinese employees are not used to work individually according to the Spanish system of  individualism. When tasks are assigned in the Chinese subsidiary, it will have to be formulated according to group achievements. The institutional factors as widely different between Spain and c hina. The Spanish manufactory will have to hire or outsource the legal setup of the company since the factors vary from Spain. However the Chinese companies are deeply culture rooted to it NBS so external influences for  outside MNCs¶ such as the Spanish MNC entering the Chinese market would be heavily challenged.

So basically there are small differences between th e social and economical factors between Spain and China. However these Variances could be overcomes by the use of a deviance approach. So this report recommends this transfer to be feasible.

20

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Section 5 Scenario 3 Critically analyze and discuss the transfer of an American high tech electronics firm opening a new site in Britain

Cultural distance.

The cultural distance between USA and UK is narrow. There is less differences between t he home and host social and economical factors.

Characteristics

USA (home country)

UK (host country)

Values

40

35

Analysis

Moderate

Moderate

Power distance

The power distance in USA and UK is more or less similar.

Individualism and collectivism

Values

91

89

Analysis

High

High

Individualism in both countries are the same . Employee like to work on an individual basis. Masculinity and felinity

Values

62

66

Analysis

Moderate

Moderate

participation of female employees are moderate in both the countries, there is no domination in the economy by one gender 

21

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Uncertainty Avoidance

Values

46

35

Analysis

Moderate

Moderate

The uncertainty avoidance measures taken in both the co untries are more or less similar.

Table 4:Cultural distance between USA and UK 

Source: Authors work. Therefore however the above table shows a narrow and almost no cultural and institutional distance between USA and UK.

Dominance effect between USA and UK .

America is dominating country with a do minating culture. The American culture is a way such; Americans are fond of dominating markets all around the globe and transferring and do minating practice and policies to all its subsidiaries on the other hand other economies are in favor of the transfer of these practices and policies due to it dominating cultural itself. Other countries tend to learn from these practices and policies created by America. However the American culture is not a one way learning stratergy, policies and practices are also transferred from other countries to the MNC headquarters in America. The cu lture is in such, the thirst for new ways and creation of  new strategies and practices are always welco med.

Institutional distance between USA and UK .

However the US and UK culture and institutional distance in the electronic market is small, its more or less similar except for the fact that the American legal system is a very highly co mplex structure than UK.But most of the factors explained by Hofstede is similar .So therefore the one best way approach would be used in the process of transfer of IHMR practices.

22

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Nature of Individual HRM practice

Recruitment and selection

Recruitment is totally based on the individual qualification and the individual skill. The recruitment practices of both the countries are similar. The same techniques are used to recruit employees to the firm. Promotions are based on the individual performance of the employee. The hierarchy of the organization is low in both the co untries there is less power distance too.

Strategy and structure. Factors

Details

Industry

high tech electronics firm

Organizational structure

An integrated network 

Strategy

Transnational firm

Figure 3: Intergarated Network structure

23

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Source: Google images(2011) Since the American culture is fond of transfer in practices and policies, it takes the deviance approach to transfer it practices and policies across national borders,Practises which are not possible to transfer directly would be reformulated according to match t he host country NBS and then transfer back. On the other hand reverse diffusion would take place as well. As explained on the above diagram ,the American firm uses an integrated network structure to connect and transfer it practices and policies to it subsidiaries .This system is unique since this system will consist of a regional headquarter as well.

Recommendations

The cultural distance between USA and UK is more likely narrow. There is less power distance in USA and UK more or less similar in both the economies. Employees pre fer to work on an individual basis. Participation of female employees are moderate in both the countries, there is no domination in the economy by one gender. America is dominating country with a dominating culture so more transfer would take place from USA to UK but this would not be a problem due to the indifference in the culture. However the US and UK culture and institutional distance in the electronic market is small. Recruitment is totally based on t he individual qualification and the individual skill so there is no problem when t his practice is transfer to UK because the recruitment policy in UK is similar. The American MNC uses a t ransnational strategy and an integrated network structure to transfer the IHRM practices and po licies from host to host, this is a good structure to transfer across -borders since it takes into account host country cultural and institutional variances.

So basically there is no problem in the transfer in the transfer of IHRM practices and po licies from the American MNC to the UK subsidiary so, this report recomends this transfer to be feasible.

24

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Conclusion The objectives of this report was to identify and advice the client of the three scenarios which is well analyzed and provided with a clear and critical recommendation on whether the transfer  would be desirable and feasible of transferring IHRM practices and policies to its new subsidiaries in locations. The author of this report has cr itically identified the significant cultural and institutional difference between the home and host countries according to each and every three scenarios.

The report identifies the scenario one to be unsuccessful in transfer if IHRM practices from home to host. Scenario one due to the direct approach taken by the Japanese MNC.The transfer  would not be possible due to the high differentiation in the cultural and institutional factors of the home and host country.

The second scenario however consisted of few mismatches between Spain and china but however due the multi-domestic structure and the divergence approach taken by the Spanish manufacturing plant the transfer would be Successfu l. The third scenario has no problem with the transfer taking place between America and UK since the there is no difference in culture, but however there is a slight difference in institutional factor  which would nut influence the transfer of IHRM practices and policies. So therefore it conclusion the three scenarios have been critically analyzed and recommendations are provided on each and every individual scenario on the desirability and feasibility of the transfer of IHRM practices and policies from home to home country.

25

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Reference Bartlett, A.C, and Goshal, C. (1998) Managing across borders: The transnational solution, 2nd edition, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Child, J. (1994) Management in China during the Age of Reform, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ClearlyCultural. (2011). Power Distance Index Available: http://www.clearlycultural.com/geerthofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/. Last accessed 28.02.2011 . .

Dion, D. (2004). ³Between local and global: flexibility in MNCs as local adjustments under  constraints´, Paper for International Conference, IESE Business Schoo l. Edwards, T, (1998), Multinationals, labor management and the process of reverse diffusion, Edwards, T. and Rees, C. (2008). .International Human Resource Management. 2nd ed. India : Dorling Kindersley. Edwards, T., (2000) The Transfers of Employment practices Across Borders in Multinational Companies. In: Harzing, A. (2004) International HRM. London, Sage publications. Elkassrawy, M. (n.d), ³A Revisit of Home and Host Country Effects: Human Resource Management of MNCs Subsidiaries in Egypt´, Manchester Business School, p.1-17. Gamble, J. (2000). ³Localizing management in foreign invested enterprises in China: practical, cultural, and strategic perspectives´, International Journal of Human Resource Ma nagement, 11,(5), p. 883±903. Harzing, A. and Ruysseveldt, J. (2004). International Human Resource management. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications. Hofstade,G.(2009). Compare Japan and UK cu ltural dimensions. [Online] Available from:http://www.geerthofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=50&culture2=94#compare [ Accessed : 05th Feb 2011] Hofstade,G.(2009). Compare Spain and China cu ltural dimensions. [Online] Available from: http://www.geerthofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=83&culture2=18#compare[Accessed: 07nd Feb 2011]. Hofstade,G.(2009). Compare USA and UK cu ltural dimensions. [Online] Available from: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php?culture1=95&culture2=94#compare. [Accessed: 02nd Feb 2011].

26

Individual Assignment

International Human Resource Management

Liu, W. (2004). The cross-national transfer of HRM practices in MNC¶s: An integrative research model. International Journal of Manpower. 25 (6) p. 500 -515. Myloni, B., Harzing, A. K. and Mizara, H. (2004). Host country specific factors and the transfer  of human resource management practices in multinational companies. International Journal of  Manpower. 25(6) p.518-528. Syeda Aruza Wasti. (1998). Cultural barriers in the transferability of Japanese and American human resource practices to developing countries: The Turkish case.. The international journal of  Human Resource Management. 1 (9), 608-612 Tayeb, M. (1998). ³Transfer of HRM practices across cultures: An American company in Scotland´, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 9(2). Yu, T. & Wu, N. (2009). A review of theories on transnational transfer of HR pract ice within multinationals. International Journal of Business and Management., p. 121. .

27