1.

Research suggests that many expatriate employees encounter problems that limit both their
effectiveness in a foreign posting and their contribution to the company when they return
home. What are the main causes and consequences of these problems, and how might a firm
reduce the occurrence of such problems?

The main cause for expatriate failure is the overall inability to adjust. A different country comes

with a different culture to which most parent-country nationals (and their spouses) are not used.

Thus, research shows that main culprit in expatriate failure is actually a failure in adjusting to

culture. Other factors that contribute to expatriate failure are an expatriate's emotional immaturity

and inability to manage larger responsibilities overseas.

One way to prevent expatriate failure is to extensively screen potential expatriates before

selecting one. A good screening should prove that a candidate is self-confident with good mental

health. She should also have a willingness to communicate with others. This will prove effective

when difficult concepts need to communicate to host nationals.

The main causes of expatriate problems include the inability to adjust to the new work place.

employees. work culture. problems with spouse and children who could not adjust to the new

country, inability to handle the global responsibilities etc. With these issues they might retum

back without completing the assigned tasks to their best possible extent.

The company could reduce this problem by providing the repatriation program and developing

an effective selection. High self-esteem and self-confidence are very important for the

expatriates who need to communicate confidently with the new language employees and mingle

with the foreign cultured colleagues. So, by considering these qualities the company needs to

include the culture and language training as pat of the expatriate training.

The language and culture training should be given by considering the workplace and the personal

perspective. Along with the employee: his family members should RICO be assisted in making

them to get back to the daily routine. This might help them to adapt quickly to the new

circumstances which would eventually helpful in handling the new responsibilities successfully.
2. What is the link between an international business’s strategy and its human resource management
policies, particularly with regard to the use of expatriate employees and their pay scale?

Remember, staffing policy is related with selection of individuals for a particular job. While

selecting the employees for the organization, a manager should analyze the skill and abilities of

individual, so that, they match with the job requirements.

In addition, staffing policy helps in promoting and developing the corporate culture.

Note that, there are three types of staffing policies in international business. They include:

• Ethnocentric approach

• Polycentric approach

• Geocentric approach

Ethnocentric approach: Under ethnocentric staffing policy, parent country nationals are

concerned with filling all key management positions.

Advantages:

• Transfer of skill and knowledge from parent country to foreign operations.

• Maintain a unified corporate culture

• Creates values by transferring core competencies to a foreign operation

Disadvantages:

• Limits advancements opportunities for host-country nationals

• Increased employee turnover

• Lower productivity

• Leads to cultural myopia

Polycentric approach: This approach relates to recruitment of host-country nationals to manage

the subsidiaries.

Advantages:

• Alleviates the cultural myopia

• Decreases the employee turnover

Disadvantages:

Limits career mobility

regardless of nationality.

Advantages:

• Efficient use of human resources

• Builds strong culture

• Forms informal management networks

Disadvantages:

• Expensive approach

A firm's HR policies can either be

• Ethnocentric (parent-country nationals are paid to fill in international positions),

• polycentric (foreign subsidiaries are managed by someone from that country), or

• Geocentric (picking the best people for the jobs available, no matter their nationality)

In terms of pay, companies that use ethnocentric or polycentric policies should determine pay on

a country-specific basis. Those with geocentric policies can use the balance sheet approach to

estimate the pay that would allow the same living standard in their respective countries to decide

how much to pay international staff members.

To conclude, ethnocentric approach is compatible with an international strategy, polycentric

approach is compatible with localization strategy and a geocentric approach is compatible with

both standardization and transnational strategies.

Cultural Diversity is very important and there is a direct relation between cultural diversity and
international business. A failure to build cultural diversity may not be just a cultural demerit but it may
cause a flop in the business. Cultural diversity means including people from diverse cultural
backgrounds, such as from different regions, Gender, Education and etc. some of the reasons why
cultural diversity is important are provided below.

GETTING THE DEAL

As an international company, it is very important to deal with different types of people and convey
them in their own way. For example, as an international company, a company may have to deal with
different types of people in different ways and having people with similar cultures may help the
company to make the deal easily. For example when the company is making a deal with a person from
the Middle East if there is someone from the Middle East he can deal with them easily than anyone
else.

CUSTOMER RELATION

In an international business, there may be customers from different parts of the world and dealing with
them is very important. Dealing with a variety of customers may be in a different way. In such cases,
anyone in the company from similar culture can deal with them very easily than others. So, a company
dealing with diverse people need to promote diversity in their culture.

BETTER DECISIONS

A company with diverse culture may help for taking a better decision as well. When there are people
from different cultural backgrounds, Different opinions may be there regarding a decision making and
this diverse opinion will help the company to make a better decision. For example, if the company is
launching a new business in America then people from America may know anyone else, when and how
to launch the business than anyone else. So having people from a variety of diversity is very important
and helpful to a company in decision making.

How a company can foster diversity?

A company can approach in different ways to promote diversity of culture. The first step towards it is
while selecting the workers and labours to a company the company shall try to maintain a group with
diversity.

When people are leaving the company, the company shall try to keep appoint people with similar
cultural backgrounds, so the company can maintain diversity.
International business refers to the trade and commerce activities that take place across the
borders. When business firms expand their business operations in foreign countries overseas
and engages in international trade, it is considered as international business.

Diversity refers to the term wherein people from different backgrounds and cultures are
involved
and engaged together in achieving particular objectives and goals. When a business firm
employs people from different ethnic and social backgrounds to work at various positions in the
firm, it is called as diversity in workforce.
The reason diversity is good for international business can be that when people from different
backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are brought together to work as a team in achieving
specific business objectives, business firms can utilize the strengths of every individual by
combining the same to reach specific goals. With diversity in workforce, employees carrying
variety of skills and characteristics work together which helps the firms to bring different
insights to any issue faced by it.
This also facilitates the firms in resolving of different problems and issued with new approaches
offered by diversified workforce. When firm globalizes, employees from different backgrounds
help the firm in settling to the new place and culture with ease and comfort which would have
not been possible if the firm would have not employed employees carrying diverse backgrounds
and cultures concluding that diversity is good for international business.

To foster greater diversity, the actions that a company can undertake are that the firm can
create a hiring policy wherein recruitment of diversified workforce is encouraged and not
sidelined. The hiring manager are trained to recruit candidates from different social and ethnic
backgrounds
without showing discrimination with them. Firm can make use of employee referrals of current
employees making them aware that the firm is planning to have diverse workforce and thereby
employees are requested to suggest candidates who could be the best people for the vacant
positions in the firm. Employees with different backgrounds and cultures should be given equal
treatment and opportunity to opine their thoughts and opinions in the discussions which would
create a model for others to include diversified co-workers and treat them as one of them. This
way firms can foster greater diversity at the workplace.
Research task
You work in the human resource department at the headquarters of a multinational
corporation. Your company is about to send a number of managers overseas as expatriates (or
expats) to France and New Zealand. You need to create an executive summary evaluating,
comparing, and contrasting the possible issues expats may encounter in these two countries.
Your manager tells you that a tool called Expat Explorer created by HSBC can assist you in your
task.

Moving into a foreign country comes with its challenges. Therefore managers moving to France
and New Zealand may encounter various issues due the nature of these countries. First, In New
Zealand, life is expensive hence one should be financially stable. Secondly, during winter it is
very cold. This means that managers heading to this country must seek a good quality house
well insulated preferably double glazing and central heating. This is also the same case in France
where finding accommodation is stressful.

Even though English is a worldwide spoken language, these two countries are different.
Manager will face challenges communicating with local people especially in France where
majority of citizens use French as the national language. They should therefore try and learn
native languages of these countries. Travelling around New Zealand may also take long than
ones expectation. There are no direct routes to the destination and the roads are not in good
conditions. Additionally, there are frequent strikes in France especially during holidays. One
should have a plan B while flying in and out of France during this period.

Executive Summary

Despite economic concerns, retirees and parents rate France as an expat destination.We can
evaluate and compare both countries in foll manner:-

1.Cost of Living

Expats in France tend to experience higher cost of living with the country ranking 32nd out of 37
in the Expat Expenses league table. This means that most expats living there do not see an
improvement in their financial status after the move. Nearly two in five (39%) expats feel that
their finances got better upon relocation, which is twice the global average of 20%.

2.Childcare and education

While the cost of living may be higher in many respects, France stood out as being cost effective
in terms of childcare and education. Expat parents generally see an improvement in the quality
of the childcare (56%) and education (53%) since moving and are actually spending less on these
expenses.Compared with the global average of 67%, only 45% of expats think that the overall
cost of Raising Children Abroad is more expensive in France than in their home country. This
factor combined with other elements such as children