Cross-cultural communication exists when people from differing cultures have reached a certain degree of understanding regarding their differences. For understanding to take place, both people must have some form of knowledge or awareness regarding the norms or customs that exist in each other’s culture. Verbal and nonverbal communications can contain implied meanings, as well as certain degrees of symbolism. For successful communication to take place, background knowledge concerning values, norms and perceptions is necessary in order for clear, effective communication to take place. The key to effective cross-cultural communication is knowledge. It is essential that people understand the potential problems of cross-cultural communication, and make a conscious effort to overcome these problems and important to assume that one’s efforts will not always be successful, and adjust one’s behavior appropriately. For example, one should always assume that there is a significant possibility that cultural differences are causing communication problems, and be Continue reading
International HRM
Concept of Global Human Resource Management
Concept of Global Human Resource Management Human Resource Management (HRM) is the process of acquiring, training, appraising and compensating employees, and attending to their labor relations, health and safety concerns. It includes policies and practices involved in carrying out the people of a management position, including recruiting, screening training, rewarding and appraising. An organization’s human resource management (HRM) function focuses on the people aspect of management. It consists of practices that an organization deals effectively with its employees during the various phases of the employment cycle: pre-selection, selection and post selection. Many firms realize that they must enter foreign markets in order to compete as part of a globally interconnected set of business markets. From an HRM perspective, such organizations must foster the development of more globally oriented managers: individuals who understand foreign languages and cultures, as well as the dynamics of foreign market places. Globalization is the tendency of Continue reading
Managing Workforce Diversity
How administrators manage workforce diversity greatly depends on the needs of the organization. For example, some companies may want a diversified work force in order to make them more competitive in the global market. Diversity helps them to better understand international markets. While other organizations consider diversity as a means to bring about greater harmony in the workplace and an opportunity to prepare employees and volunteers to deal with the nation’s changing demographics. Regardless of the reasons, managing diversity is here to stay. So, it’s no longer an issue whether to implement diversity training, but how diversity training will be implemented. “Managing for Diversity” pertains to a philosophy that is purely motivated by business purpose and market advantage. It is seen as a strategy for improving organizational competitiveness and efficiency. It is distinctly different from policies grounded in social purposes such as equal employment opportunity or affirmative action. It focuses Continue reading
Four Generations in the Workplace
For the first time in history, the workforce has become a melting pot of four diverse generations. While diversity is increasingly common in the workforce, usually it is only considered in differences of race, religion, sex, nationality, education, and skill level. While each of these traits can contribute to an employee’s perception of work and preferences in the workplace, generational differences will also have an effect. When organizations try to understand and cater to differences in generations, they will experience benefits both for the organization and the individual employees. By offering more of what employee’s want, an organization can begin to see the benefits of a multi-generational work force. Currently, there are four prominent generations in the workforce. A generation is defined by demographics and key life-events that shape, at least to some degree, distinctive generational characteristics. Since the 1920s, key historical events have shaped society. It is argued that Continue reading
Organizational Change – Meaning, Definition, and Driving Forces
The concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller changes such as hiring a new person, modifying a program, buying a new computer for the department etc. Examples of organization-wide change are a change in mission statement, restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.), new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, “rightsizing”, new programs such as Total Quality Management, Business Process Re-engineering, etc. Some experts refer to such change as “organizational transformation”. Organizational change means that there is a fundamental and radical reorientation in the way the organization operates. Business organizations should reconsider the best changes in order to remain competitive. Every business that wants to remain competitive should be ready to embrace new managerial or operational changes. Every successful firm adapts new changes every time. Organizational change helps a firm survive and achieve its goals in a timely manner. Failure to initiate the Continue reading
Understanding the Talent Cliff
The talent cliff is a looming challenge facing organizations across a variety of industries. The phrase refers to the coming shortage of experienced, knowledgeable workers as the baby boomer generation retires en masse. This large cohort of workers has played a central role in driving the U.S. economy for the past several decades, and their absence could lead to a significant talent gap that could prove detrimental to many industries. This essay will explore the talent cliff, its causes and effects, and the potential strategies and solutions that organizations can adopt to mitigate the talent cliff’s impact on their operations. Causes of the Talent Cliff The baby boomer generation, which includes individuals born between 1946 and 1964, has played a central role in the U.S. economy for many years. As this generation reaches retirement age, a significant portion of the workforce is expected to retire in the coming years, leading Continue reading