Globalization's impacts on HRM may come via the opening up and penetration of economies to

external forces and influences. This may be two-way, with both indigenous and 'foreign'
multinational enterprise (MNE) operations and investment leading to exposure to other countries'
HRM practices ,greater publicity and even direct importation. Globalization's universalizing
tendencies and implications can be located within work of long For management an implication
is that there were 'universal truths', including in HRM, that could be applied everywhere. A
central proposition is that because of political, economic, social and technological forces, now
including globalization, there is a worldwide tendency for countries, and within them HRM, to
become similar as the copying and transfer of practices, sometimes taken as 'best practices' and
linked to benchmarking, was encouraged. In short, HRM systems would converge.

However, there may be reasons other than globalization (or earlier political, economic, social, and
technological changes) for why and how convergence occurs.. Thus, practices are adopted not because
of 'effectiveness', but because of three specific social forces (McKinley et al., 1995). First, 'constraining'
forces, which shift as practices once viewed negatively become interpreted positively and gain
legitimacy. This shift in social constraints subsequently encourages firms to conform to legitimate
structures and mana gement activities. Second, 'cloning' forces, which pressurize firms to mimic the
actions of leading companies in the face of uncertainty. A cloning force (associated with mimetic
isomorphism), is promoted by conditions such as ambiguous performance standards, uncertain core
technologies and frequent interaction between firms. Third, 'learning' forces, which are shaped through
processes in educational institutions and professional associations. Together these forces push firms to
adopt institutional rules, which may then create pressures for convergence.

Human resource management

can include two large areas: personnel management and development functions.
?

International environments are changing rapidly. Nothing is permanent, and the cause of
yesterday's success may be the cause of tomorrow's failure. Rapid technological changes has
transformed the time dimension of competition. Speed and quality in addressing the needs of
worldwide customers greatly influence who the next winning businesses are going to be. The
diffusion of technological know-how around the world is also much quicker than in any other
previous era. New powerful global competitors are emerging in countries previously on the
periphery of global economic activities. Global competitive conditions are presently affected by
a rapid internationalization of service businesses, much of it, again, driven by the emergence of
new boundary-crossing technologies.

Globalization implies accepting that cultural diversity in management composition and

To develop and manage a global organization implies developing and managing people who can think,
lead, and act from a global perspective, and who must possess a global mind as well as global skills

3 The process of globalization requires a progressive transformation of thinking about the role
and tools of human resource management in the public sector. The argument proposed is that
human resource management can and should make a contribution to the competitive strategy of a
global village.

Setting the Context for the Globalization of Human Resource Management

Changes in the contemporary global economy highlight many of the emerging challenges facing
human resource management (HRM). Vast macrosocietal changes increasingly bind countries
into interdependent nations in which goods, capital, and people move freely. Between these
communities, however, there remains a patchwork of cultural barriers.4 To remain successful in
this new global age, agencies must commit themselves to transnationalism. They must also
internalize strategies that are likely to succeed in global competition. Implementing successful
global strategies requires careful attention to the paradoxes created in the management of human
resources and the maintenance of multifaceted organizational cultures.

To survive in the 21st century, agencies must adapt a global mindset and transform leadership to
be globally competitive. Agencies and their leaders must learn to manage such transformations
or they will inevitably lose their competitive edge.5 Global leaders, therefore, must have the
capacity to turn threats or stumbling blocks into opportunities; to motivate people to excel, not
just to survive; to accelerate innovations in competitions; and to operate globally through cross-
cultural problem solving and team building.

The ability to cope with cultural relativity is the key requirement for global managers to succeed
today and tomorrow. Familiar aspects of organizational life such as organizational structure,
leadership styles, motivation patterns, training and development models, and the very important
concept of human resource management, are culturally relative and, therefore, need to be
considered when national boundaries are crossed. To facilitate such cross-cultural adaptation,
what is required is more recruitment of managers from different areas, acculturation through
carefully planned career moves, and cultural awareness training.7 To create opportunities for
international collaboration, global leaders must learn not only the customs, courtesies, and
protocols of their counterparts from other countries, they must also understand the national
culture and mindsets of the people.8

Geert Hofstede has helped identify important dimensions of national character.9 According to
Hofstede, culture refers to the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes the
members of one group or category of people from another.10 Hofstede identifies four
dimensions of national culture: power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
individualism/collectivism, and masculinity/femininity.11 Hofstede suggested that although
some cultural gaps were not very disruptive or were even complementary, differences between
two cultures in uncertainty avoidance were potentially very problematic for international
cooperation because of differences in tolerance towards risk, formalization, and the like.12

At the agency level, differences between cultures, according to these dimensions, has many
consequences for management practices

Developing Leadership in Global Negotiations

Negotiation is a process in which two or more e

Negotiation is a process in which two or more entities discuss common, as well as conflicting interests in
order to reach an agreement of mutual benefit. In international negotiations, some of the aspects that
differentiate the negotiation process from culture to culture include language, cultural conditioning,
negotiating styles, approaches to problem solving, implicit assumptions, gestures and facial expressions,
and the role of ceremony and formality. For international negotiations to produce long-term synergy,
and not just short-term solutions, individuals involved in the negotiation must be aware of the
multicultural facets embedded in the process. The negotiator must understand the cultural space of his
or her counterparts. Negotiating is a skill and it can be improved. Fisher addresses five considerations for
analyzing cross-cultural negotiations: (1) the players and the situation; (2) styles of decision making; (3)
national character; (4) cross-cultural noise; and (5) interpreters and translators

Training and Development for the Global Public Manager

Equipping executives with a global mindset is one of the key strategic tasks facing human resource
management in global organizations. Among other desirable traits and skills, cultural empathy and
adaptability are increasingly demanded in the era of globalization. The successful training of future
leaders of global organizations requires a radical transformation of thinking about the basic premises of
human resource development techniques. There are many essential characteristics for the successful
global leader of tomorrow: a global mindset, global leadership skills, an ability to lead cross-cultural
teams, energy and talent to participate in global networking, and skills as a global change agent.
Traditional training and development approaches fall short of what is required for globalization.

. Organizations need to provide on-going training so that managers adjust to expatriation and
repatriation. With central and local governments expanding their efforts to promote and attract foreign
investment or investors, encounters with officials from foreign corporations and governments have
significantly

Training is frequently restricted to rather limited orientation sessions and cultural briefings, often
imparted via lectures, handouts or case studies and supplemented by further reading. An analysis of
intercultural competence noted that cognitive awareness and understanding, though important, are not
the only important attributes of a successful international manager or expatriate.
for example, consider an individualistic, low power distance, task-oriented, tolerant of
uncertainty Anglo-Saxon manager taking up an assignment in a collectivist, high power distance,
relationship-oriented, uncertainty-avoiding Asian culture.24 In such cases training and
development need to be rigorous and extensive.

The first major goal of learning in Figure 2, is access to basic data and information representing
those facts, which pertain to the specific work environment and relevant comprehension of
professional knowledge (legislation, business processes, and sources of finance). The second is
to acquire situation-specific skills and response tendencies including the skills associated with
sensitivity to events (problem- solving, decisions/judgment-making skills, social skills and
abilities, emotional resilience and proactivity). The third is to promote self- development
including creativity, mental agility, balanced learning habits, and self-knowledge.

Training would take the form of developmental activities involving sustained interaction with
ample room for reflection, revision of perspectives and further experimentation derived from
cognitive or experiential learning in order to shift attitudes in some significant manner. It could
be a very lengthy and time-consuming process. Nevertheless, techniques, which persistently
encourage new ways of working, may condition the trainee to think differently as well. In other
words, repeated actions may lead to attitude formation.

Globalization demands new ways of thinking Now, transformation, multiple interpretation, and
alternative patterning become the basis for understanding and constructing meanings in cross-cultural
encounters. Open-endedness is now an essential feature of the postmodern framework. Some view
globalization or the postmodern framework as negative and destructive; and some see it as the latest
fad; but now, many are coming to recognize it as a broad and pervasive mind shift that will bring with it
challenges to find new ways of thinking and doing in various fields of human endeavor.31 Thus, a new
teaching method and a new version of curriculum should be developed in the era of globalization..