Columbia Southern University Performance Management Plan Discussion

  

Part I

In this part of the assignment, create a performance management plan for your fictitious company for the upcoming merger. The paper must address, in detail and paragraph form, the following questions.

What performance criteria will be used? Include specific examples.

Who will conduct the appraisal, and will a standard or custom form be used?

How often will appraisals be conducted, and what are good HRM practices that can be used to ensure the appraisal does not become just an annual event?

(TEMP, TEMP2, & TEMP3 files are associated with Part 1)

Part II

In the second part of the assignment, begin by reviewing the Case Study found on page 164 of your textbook titled IHRM in Action Case 6.1. Using this scenario as a basis, address the following items:

Discuss how Richard should strengthen the relationship with his supervisor, Jean.

Discuss what Richard could have done differently to begin that relationship.

Should Richard contact his supervisor in Toronto? Why, or why not?

(Case Study 6.1 is associated with Part 2)

The entire assignment, including both Part I and Part II, should be in a narrative format and not a series of questions and answers. The total length should be no less than two pages not counting title or reference pages. One source must be used.

Running Head: DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
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DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
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The ConTs Company operates at the local level in the United States. It is a technology
consulting company, and its clients consist of both private and public institutions. It has no
foreign branches, which means that human resource management (HRM) focuses only on local
HR practices. ConTs want to merge with another company to form a bigger firm that will operate
at a global level. The CEO of the company proposed an oversee facility to be opened in China to
enhance global presence. Since everyone in the organization has agreed to the CEO’s proposal, it
is time to prepare a successful expansion plan. As an HR vice president, the following is my
guidance regarding the company transition from domestic to international HRM.
At the international level, HRM is different from domestic HRM. First, at the domestic
level, HRM practices correspond to the goals of the local organization. However, at the
international level, Edwards et al. (2013) explain that HRM practices involve the configuration
of different sets of HR practices from multiple places. For example, a multinational company
must employ employees both in local and foreign branches. Secondly, domestic HRM ensures
that the organization has the best skills to perform organizational tasks. On the other hand,
international HRM focuses on acquiring the best skills and ensures that expatriates are
comfortable in a foreign working environment. An additional role of international HRM includes
cultural immersion programs for the expatriates.
When creating a business plan for our new international company, the first concern to
consider is the cross-cultural operability of the HR procedures and instruments (Lievens et al.,
2015). In the United States, domestic HRM uses situational judgment tests to evaluate
employees’ values before hiring. To apply the same instrument in China, we must modify it to
accommodate the Chinese culture. The second concern to consider is the cultural competency of
DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
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employees. The expatriates must be aware of the Chinese language and social norms to facilitate
effective communication with foreign clients.
All our plans will be consistent with the mission statement, which is to provide the best
technology consultant services in all parts of the world by upholding the culture of intercultural
competency and inclusion. Since its goal is to operate in other countries, ensuring cultural
inclusion will attract more customers. Besides, internationalization will help the company
achieve its goals. Internationalization involves practices that make organizational products and
services ready for use by all international market customers. The company can spread and grow
by learning what different cultures prefer and providing products that match their preferences.
This approach will help my factious company to attract customers from all parts of the world.
To facilitate the mission statement, the business plan will cover areas like the selection
and training of expatriates as well as researching the host countries to identify customer
preferences. One of the strategies is to use host county nationals as managers because they
understand the host country’s culture better. Another strategy is to enhance collaboration between
domestic and international HRM, which ensures the success of processes at the global level.
Before moving our expatriates to China, the company will consider some safety and legal issues.
The first issue is compliance. That is, the company processes will be evaluated to make sure that
they are allowed in the host country. Another issue is the constraints that the host country has
declared for all expatriates. For instance, the company will select people with good morals to be
expatriates.
In conclusion, ConTs are ready to move to the international level after merging with
another company. As a vice president of human resources, I will ensure that the HRM practices
are effective for the company’s success at a global level. All expatriates will possess skills about
DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
foreign cultures before they move to work for the foreign facility. However, the management
will be held by host country nationals to ensure easy cultural inclusion.
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DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
References
EDWARDS, P. K., SÁNCHEZ-MANGAS, R., TREGASKIS, O., LEVESQUE, C.,
MCDONNELL, A., & QUINTANILLA, J. (2013). Human Resource Management
Practices in the Multinational Company: A Test of System, Societal, and Dominance
Effects. ILR Review, 66(3), 588–617. https://doiorg.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1177/001979391306600302
Lievens, F., Corstjens, J., Sorrel, M. Á., Abad, F. J., Olea, J., & Ponsoda, V. (2015). The Crosscultural Transportability of Situational Judgment Tests: How does a US-based integrity
situational judgment test fare in Spain? International Journal of Selection & Assessment,
23(4), 361–372. https://doiorg.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1111/ijsa.12120
5
1
Running Head: HR Implication of Conts Company
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Running Head: HR Implication of Conts Company
The business landscape in the United States and China is different; thus, our company
will need to modify many aspects abroad. HR is one of the activities that will be significantly
altered to suit the Chinese business environment and culture. Edwards et al. (2013) note that the
companies operating international market need to change their HR practices to attract an
appropriate workforce. There are several HRM practices that our company will need to change
as it goes abroad. The first is performance evaluation. American and Chinese business contexts
are different; hence the performance evaluation will also differ. Our company will need to alter
the performance evaluation techniques used to suit the new market. The second will be the
compensation and reward, which will require modification factors unique to the new location.
Lastly will be the recruitment and selection approach. The company needs to adopt a staffing
strategy that will enable it to hire an ideal candidate in the overseas market.
There are different types of HR structural forms. The first is a centralized form with a
robust corporate HR office that offers HR services in the entire organization and serves as a
central decision making authority. Next is the decentralized type with autonomous HR functions
housed in distinct regions or business units and makes decisions independently. A mix of both
the centralized and decentralized forms of HR will be the most appropriate for ConTs to adopt.
The approach will enable each unit to adopt HR practices unique to its context and enable the
head office to make significant decisions such as organizational HR policies. The method will
also avert duplication of efforts.
Two control mechanisms can be used to ensure an organization’s culture is congruent
across international borders. The first is through the espousal of the corporate culture. It is more
centralized control based in the company headquarters having control over all decisions. The
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Running Head: HR Implication of Conts Company
second is control through personal relationships, which entails networks of working relationships
that encourage cooperation and interaction across cross-functional and cross-border teams.
The factors that address an entity’s standardization decision include the operational costs.
Costs of operations are one factor that informs the standardization of organizational procedures.
Secondly, it is uniformity. Standardization allows uniformity of corporate operations across all
branches. Lastly is compatibility and interoperability of processes and manufactured products.
The contemporary business world has presented many conditions favoring the growth
and spread of internationalization. These factors include globalization. The modern world has
become highly interconnected due to information technology development reducing trade
barriers and increasing distinct nations’ interrelation. Next is the increased potential of the
foreign market. The international market presents attractive growth opportunities for different
companies (Kraus et al., 2017). Lastly is established networks. Many companies tendency to
capitalize on existing networks with their counterparts overseas have facilitated
internationalization.
IHRM professionals play vital roles in typical mergers and acquisitions. The first role is
the creation of new policies to guide the new organization. The next function is the creation of
compensation strategies. Lastly is employee selection and downsizing. The main challenge of
IHRM professionals is overseeing a company transition. Another potential challenge is adapting
to the different cultural aspects as merging companies had a distinct organizational culture.
An international joint venture is a partnership of two businesses located in distinct
nations. Many benefits are associated with international joint ventures, but this type of
collaboration is prone to many challenges. The first is the incompatibility of partner objectives,
which the two unable to continue operating together. Next is a clash of cultures that results in
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Running Head: HR Implication of Conts Company
poor cooperation. Lastly is difficulty in integrating the joint venture into a global strategy
involving substantial cross border trading disparities.
SME denotes small and medium enterprises, which are entities whose personnel fall below
certain limits. They have become essential participants in the global market and are aggressively
pursuing internationalization hence their relevance to IHRM.
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Running Head: HR Implication of Conts Company
References
Edwards, P. K., Sánchez-Mangas, R., Tregaskis, O., Lévesque, C., McDonnell, A., &
Quintanilla, J. (2013). Human resource management practices in the multinational
company: A test of system, societal, and dominance effects. ILR Review, 66(3), 588-617.
Kraus, S., Mitter, C., Eggers, F., & Stieg, P. (2017). Drivers of internationalization success: a
conjoint choice experiment on German SME managers. Review of Managerial
Science, 11(3), 691-716.
Lievens, F., Corstjens, J., Sorrel, M. Á., Abad, F. J., Olea, J., & Ponsoda, V. (2015). The Crosscultural Transportability of Situational Judgment Tests: How does a US-based integrity
situational judgment test fare in Spain? International Journal of Selection & Assessment,
23(4), 361–372. https://doi-org.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1111/ijsa.12120
DOMESTIC HRM AND INTERNATIONAL HRM
Staffing Strategy during Mergers

Restructuring human resource department
during mergers requires proper strategies
 The
company ought to put in place staffing
strategies that are inline with the developing
situation
 This
ensures smooth transition and continuity
Sign based selection
 Involves
use of other assessment mechanisms such
as cognitive tests.
 Its
 It
is convenient for intercultural staffing
involves tests such as cognitive test
 Its
also involved the use of personal inventories
Assessment center exercise
 This
is a type of selection where the applicants are
taken through a conclusive test.
 It
is a High-fidelity method of selection
 Its
is ideal for intercultural staffing
 The
tests involves taking the candidates through a
series of exercises
 Group
presentations are used in the process
POINTE measure

It was developed by the Swedish
 It
separates individuals into social
nonconformity and rule abiders.
 The
measure is based on and individual
personality
 Ideal
for intercultural selection
Sample-based selection

Selection that involves selecting part of a
group.
 It
 It
is ideal for intercultural selection
encompasses both high fidelity and low
fidelity format
Preferred staffing approach
The company should consider adopting the
sample-based approach since it:
 Involves
testing candidates with varying
situations related to their respective jobs
 It
is ideal for intercultural selection
Extent of use of expatriates


The need for expatriates is occasioned by
differences between the US and Chinese business
landscape.
More expatriates will be required
 Need
to adjust to the new market increases the
demand for expatriates
 Modification
of various aspects of the company to
suit the new environment also increase the
demand for expatriates.
Benefits of Training expatriates
 Prepares
them for the new HRM.
 Helps
them understands and acclimatize to the
new cultural diversity.
 Helps
them to familiarize with the new policies
created by the HRM.
 Helps
them to adopt to the new ways of working
occasioned by the merger

The training will give the workers vital information
on the changed objectives
Benefits of Training expatriates
 The
training will create lee way for establishment of
conducive relationship between them and the HRM.
 The
training ensures that the expatriates gain the right
competences.
 Training
will ensure the expatriates understand the
prevailing trends occasioned by the merger.
 Training
ensures they acclimatize to new cultural
encoders.
Empowering women expatriates
 Through
the HRM department, the company can
create a policy that requires achieving a specific
thresh hold of women.
 Incorporating
women in the HR committees
 The
company can incorporate women into the
Human Resource Committee.
 Reserving
 The
posts exclusively for women.
HRM of the company can reserve several posts
exclusively for women.
Empowering women expatriates
 Providing
enticing measures to encourage women to
join the team
 The
company can encourage women to join the
expatriates by launching enticing offers.
 Creating
policies through the RM that will require a
certain population of women.

creating working conditions that cater for the unique
needs of women
References

EDWARDS, P. K., SÁNCHEZ-MANGAS, R., TREGASKIS, O., LEVESQUE, C.,
MCDONNELL, A., & QUINTANILLA, J. (2013). Human Resource
Management Practices in the Multinational Company: A Test of System,
Societal, and Dominance Effects. ILR Review, 66(3), 588–617. https://doiorg.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1177/001979391306600302

Kraus, S., Mitter, C., Eggers, F., & Stieg, P. (2017). Drivers of
internationalization success: a conjoint choice experiment on German
SME managers. Review of Managerial Science, 11(3), 691-716.

Lievens, F., Corstjens, J., Sorrel, M. Á., Abad, F. J., Olea, J., & Ponsoda, V.
(2015). The Cross-cultural Transportability of Situational Judgment Tests:
How does a US-based integrity situational judgment test fare in Spain?
International Journal of Selection & Assessment, 23(4), 361–372.
https://doi-org.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1111/ijsa.12120
Case Study 6.1
Richard Hoffman, a Québécois chemical engineer working for a Canadian-based energy firm,
was given a three- year expatriate assignment in Venezuela as a technical liaison and
environmental protection project manager. His local project supervisor was Jean, a French
engineer who had lived in French Guiana and then Venezuela for over 20 years. Richard thought
that, as a Francophone from Quebec, he and Jean would be able to build a quick working
relationship. Rich sent Jean an early email (in French, and not the usual corporate English)
containing what he thought of as the five most significant goals associated with his assignment –
similar to the management- by-objectives section of the more or less standard performance
appraisal forms he had filled out for years during earlier assignments in Edmonton, Toronto and
at corporate headquarters in Montreal. After several months with no response from Jean, Richard
caught Jean in the hallway between meetings and asked him about the email and his progress to
date. “Don’t worry about that”, Jean responded blandly. “Just keep working to the deadlines and
I will check with your co-workers and the other project managers on your work. Where did you
go to engineering school, by the way?”.
Richard waited another six months and was becoming increasingly anxious as the firm’s annual
review week approached. He finally caught up with Jean on a rainy Friday in the lobby of the
office building as they both waited for their drivers to arrive. When asked about the upcoming
performance review, Jean snorted and said, “C’est tout fini, it’s all been taken care of. Make an
appointment with my assistant, Louisa, next week and we can go over the report we have sent to
Montreal”. As Jean stepped gingerly into the rainy Caracas parking lot, Richard thought back to
the last few weeks with his team, the sometimes loud disagreements with his fellow project
managers, and wondered if it was too late in the day to call his old supervisor in Toronto.
UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
International Performance Management
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
4. Evaluate the issues related to training and developing expatriates for an international assignment.
4.1 Discuss performance appraisal criteria for an expatriate employee.
4.2 Discuss who will conduct the appraisals, the method, and frequency.
4.3 Describe a performance management plan.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
4.1
4.2
4.3
Learning Activity
Unit Lesson
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 PowerPoint Presentation
CASE 6.1: IHRM in Action
Unit IV Scholarly Activity
Unit Lesson
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 PowerPoint Presentation
CASE 6.1: IHRM in Action
Unit IV Scholarly Activity
Unit Lesson
Chapter 6
Chapter 6 PowerPoint Presentation
Unit IV Scholarly Activity
Reading Assignment
Chapter 6: International Performance Management
CASE 6.1: IHRM in Action Case 6.1, p. 164
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
The textbook includes a PowerPoint presentation to accompany the required reading.
Click here to view the Chapter 6 PowerPoint Presentation. Click here to access a PDF of the presentation.
Unit Lesson
The first three units took you through the beginning steps of an international merger focusing on fundamental
concepts. We introduced the concepts and factors separating domestic human resource management (HRM)
from international human resource management (IHRM). The significant role and importance of cultural
contexts when making IHRM decisions was also emphasized. We looked at the factors driving decisions for a
merger or acquisition to a foreign location and broke down important factors in making staffing decisions and
the different types of international employees. This unit focuses on effectively managing those employees by
looking at performance factors and the role honest and accurate performance appraisals play in employee
development.
BHR 4501, International Human Resource Management
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Performance Management
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
The purpose of performance management is to improve performance, as the name implies. Performance
Management ensures the employee is performing at a level to meet corporate goals and objectives and then
measuring the performance against those goals. The concept of performance management is based on the
theory that when individual employee performance is improved, corporate performance improves with it
(Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2012). Motivation is one of the primary factors driving a good or weak
performance by the employee.
Employees need to perceive a sense of fairness in the wages earned for their performance, otherwise their
motivation will decline, and that will hurt productivity and morale. The same concept applies to international
performance management of employees working in foreign locations. One thing that makes it more
challenging is the distance between expatriate employees and managers at headquarters. The home country
managers rarely see or work closely with expatriate employees, so they rely on input from host country
managers, but those lines of communication can blur at times.
Performance Management and MNEs
Most human resource (HR) professionals and employees think of performance appraisals when speaking of
performance management. However, despite being closely related, there are differences. In terms of
multinational enterprise (MNE) performance management, the process is more complex than simply
appraising performance. Aside from the role of motivation, the performance is tied to two purposes broadly
defined as either evaluation or developmental goals. The following goals fit the categories of evaluation goals
that focus on developing data to help make decisions on pay, promotions, and job assignments. Some of the
main developmental goals would be quality career planning for stronger commitment to the company, reward
and recognition for motivation purposes, and recognition of potential organizational and individual problems
(Briscoe et al., 2012). As noted above, a key area of performance management is setting goals and then tying
the performance of the employees to achieving those goals.
Expatriate Performance Management
When speaking of expatriate employees, the approach used in previous units refers to expatriates as either
parent country national (PCN), host country national (HCN), or third country national (TCN) employees. When
discussing expatriate performance, some key factors come into play such as the compensation package, the
specific task and duties of the expatriate, the role of headquarters, the amount of support, and the host
country cultural impact on the expatriate and family members (Dowling et al., 2017). Although compensation
will be covered in Chapter 8 of your textbook, some discussion of the impact of compensation is important
when addressing expatriate performance management because pay and allowances have an impact on
motivation. As noted above, expatriate duties and responsibilities play a role in performance. Dowling et al.,
(2017) break down the four main categories of expatriate roles.
ï‚·
ï‚·
ï‚·
ï‚·
A CEO who is responsible to oversee and manage the entire operation.
A troubleshooter who is sent on assignment to isolate problems and fix them.
A structure reproducer whose role is to reproduce in a foreign location a similar system to that of
another part of the organization.
An operative who is usually a lower-level supervisor performing a specific function job task.
Goal-Setting and Performance Management Issues
Goals are set by the host country, home country, or third country managers. As noted above, when goals are
set by the home country or a third country manager, the distance between sites can result in a lack of
familiarity with difficulties in the host country. This can result in a lack of validity in the performance
management process. Another issue can be a lack of alignment between the parent company and third
country managers, and the goals may not be compatible. Goals set by the parent company might not
recognize the expatriate’s efforts to adjust to the host country’s cultural competencies. Then, host country
factors such as bureaucratic process and local management interference may prevent the expatriate’s
achievement of goals set by the parent company office (Crawley, Swailes, & Walsh, 2013). All these issues
can prevent accurate evaluation of performance by the expatriate.
BHR 4501, International Human Resource Management
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Performance Appraisals and Methods
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Some of the decisions needed in performance appraisals include the method of appraising the performance,
what criteria to evaluate, the frequency of the appraisal and deciding who will conduct the appraisal. In most
cases, immediate supervisors evaluate employees. As noted above, when those supervisors are in countries
geographically distant from the expatriate employee, the appraiser is not able to see routine day-to-day
performance, so an accurate appraisal of the performance is difficult. A way to minimize that problem is to use
a multi-rater method. One method commonly used for that purpose is the 360-degree feedback that allows
evaluation input from different perspectives of supervisors, subordinates, peers, and even customers. Another
effective method includes forced ranking that puts employees into categories of excellent, good, or poor, thus
ranking them against each other (Crawley et al., 2013). The difficulty with this method is the competition to
achieve the top ranks can be counterproductive to good teamwork.
One lead trainer used a form of the 360-degree method to rate his instructors with four evaluations per year.
One of those was a peer evaluation by other instructors. The peer-reviewed method tended to be the most
effective because the instructors valued peer reviews. In most cases, an annual review is done, but those are
only effective when employees keep a running record of all their performances and accomplishments and
provide that information to the rater who cannot recall every achievement of every employee. When a
quarterly counseling session is included to address strengths and weaknesses, this annual method becomes
more accurate and effective. Sitting down with each employee once per quarter in a counseling session, and
documenting it in writing, allows each employee to provide their input to the statement prior to signing. As
noted previously, when raters and employers are separated in different countries, this process becomes more
difficult.
Conclusion
This unit looked at expatriate performance management by discussing criteria for the appraisals, methods
and some challenges associated with them. Unit V will take this discussion further and focus on training and
development and the challenges associated with this an international workforce.
References
Briscoe, D., Schuler, R., & Tarique, I. (2012). International human resources management: Policies and
practices for multinational enterprises (4th ed.). New York, NY: Rutledge.
Crawley, E., Swailes, S., Walsh, D. (2013). Introduction to international human resource management. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D., Sr. (2017). International human resource management (7th ed.).
Hampshire, United Kingdom: Cengage Learning.
Suggested Reading
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Pages 184–191 of the below article discusses the performance management factors and the role that culture
plays in appraisals. This article helps demonstrate the challenges of appraising performance when the rater is
in a different country than the employee.
Claus, L., & Briscoe, D. (2009). Employee performance management across borders: A review of relevant
academic literature. International Journal of Management Review, 11(2), 175–196. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=38711585&site=ehost-live&scope=site
The below article looks at performance management appraisal criteria and the impact of frequency of the
appraisal on performance.
BHR 4501, International Human Resource Management
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Kang, H., & Shen, J. (2016). International performance appraisal practices andUNIT
approaches
ofGUIDE
South Korean
x STUDY
MNEs in China. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
27(3), 291–310. Retrieved
Title
from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=111903062&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Learning Activities (Nongraded)
Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit
them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.
To dig a little deeper into the types of international assignments, click here for more information on technical,
developmental, strategic, and functional assignments.
To check your understanding of some of the terms presented in Chapter 6 of your textbook, click here for a
matching activity.
BHR 4501, International Human Resource Management
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