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International Human

Resource Management

Ann Rennie and Rita McGee

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Published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development,


151 The Broadway, London SW19 1JQ
First published 2012
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Contents
Introductionvi
The authors
xiv
Referencesxv
Further reading
xix
Section 1: Setting the strategic context: structure, roles and
culture1
Section 1.1: Making the link between global strategy and an international HR
framework 3
Tool 1 Some contextual theory for adding support to strategic
business cases around internationalisation
3
Tool 2 PESTLE analysis worldwide
12
Tool 3 PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses
19
Tool 4 Linking global variables to roles for international HR
professionals34
Tool 5 Linking roles to the required competencies for HR
professionals40
Section 1.2: International HR structures and capabilities
47
Tool 6 How international is your HR function?
47
Tool 7 International HR policies and practices: to centralise or
decentralise?56
Tool 8 Structure and locations for HR teams
64
Section 1.3: International employee relations
69
Tool 9 Gathering the necessary information for managing
international employee relations
71
Section 1.4: Global HR data provision and international e-HR systems
78
Tool 10 What data is required for managing HR on a more
international basis?
79
Tool 11 How can transactional e-HR be best enabled on an
international basis?
85
Section 1.5: Dealing with cultural differences internationally
91
Tool 12 Framing the cultural dimensions of IHRM
92
Tool 13 Culture quiz
102
Tool 14 Taking account of different business norms and protocols 111

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Contents

Section 2: International talent management


115
Section 2.1: Planning for global talent management
115
Tool 15 Moving towards a global planning model for talent
management115
Tool 16 Different models for staffing an MNC
123
Tool 17 A comprehensive guide to managing employees on a
global basis
129
Section 2.2: International employees
140
Tool 18 Select for success; prevent failure
141
Section 2.3: Recruiting locally employed staff
149
Tool 19 Gathering the data
149
Tool 20 Attracting local talent
165
Section 3: International compensation and benefits
173
Section 3.1: The psychological contract
175
Tool 21 Making the link between the psychological contract and
total reward
175
Section 3.2: Expatriates
183
Tool 22 Rewarding expatriate staff what strategy to
adopt?183
Tool 23 Putting together an expatriate total reward package
189
Section 3.3: Locally employed staff and other categories
196
Tool 24 Total reward structures for locally recruited staff
196
Tool 25 A checklist of factors to be aware of for compensating
202
local recruits
Tool 26 Dealing with non-typical groups of employees
208
Section 4: International talent development
Section 4.1: Defining and planning for talent
Tool 27 Defining talent for development purposes

27.1 Defining talent

27.2 Different types of career ladders
Tool 28 Competencies friend or foe?
Tool 29 The development plan
Tool 30 Roles in development
Section 4.2: Induction/on-boarding
Tool 31 Inducting expatriates
Tool 32 Inducting local recruits

225
226
226
228
231
241
247
257
261
262
274

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Contents

Section 4.3: Learning for locally recruited employees


278
Tool 33 Key elements
278
Section 4.4: Succession planning in an international context
285
Tool 34 International succession planning
286
Section 4.5: International performance management
303
Tool 35 Adapting a performance management system to translate
internationally303
Tool 36 The performance management case study
310
Section 4.6: Repatriation
313
Tool 37 Supporting successful repatriation
313
Section 5: Managing for special situations
319
Section 5.1: HR policies and practices for managing mergers and acquisitions 320
Tool 38 Harmonising HR and reward systems values and
fairness321
331
Section 5.2: Risks and crises: how to pre-empt and manage
Tool 39 Preparing for risks: terrorism, kidnapping and other
security issues
334
Tool 40 Designing an evacuation plan
343
Tool 41 Relocation of an organisation in a crisis
348
Tool 42 Managing corruption: designing policies and practices to
address it at an individual level
355

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Introduction

Introduction
This is the first international HRM (IHRM) toolkit published by the CIPD. This toolkit
focuses on the core aspects of HRM we consider essential for all international
practitioners.
We start by exploring the strategic context in Section 1. We look at structure roles
and culture. In Section 2 we consider international talent management and provide
an array of tools to both drive strategy and overcome the challenges of talent
management on a global basis. Section 3 covers tools and techniques for rewarding
an international workforce. Section 4 continues with the theme of talent management
but here we focus on international talent development. Finally, in Section 5, we cover
the management of special situations including tackling crises and managing a variety of
risky situations.
Picture this scenario:
You are a senior HR business partner in an organisation based in the UK. It has
just completed acquiring companies in Asia and the USA. You have been informed
you are to be promoted to the newly established position of Group HR Director.
Your initial reaction is one of excitement, but also concern that, although you are
studying for the CIPDs IHRM qualifications, you have had no practical experience
in dealing with IHRM issues. Furthermore, you have travelled abroad extensively
but have never visited the countries where the new subsidiaries are based. You
need to learn fast, but do not know where to start. You know you do not have
time to read much and need to get going quickly in a more practical way so as to
establish your priorities and plans for moving forward. You need some ideas and a
few quick wins to get things moving.
This Toolkit is targeted at people who, like the HR manager above, are currently in
HR roles in their own country and moving or contemplating a move into more of an
international role. It is also useful for those already in an IHRM role, as it will help them
increase their capability and range of tools and techniques to use in an international
setting. Finally, it will be useful for HR consultants working in this area. It doesnt seek to
replace existing textbooks or the CIPDs course on Introduction to International HRM,
but rather, it complements these through providing a whole range of practical, downto-earth tools and techniques. Not only will it assist international HR professionals to
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Since IHRM is so complex and vast a subject, this Toolkit could easily run to thousands
of pages. Also, since this is a Toolkit, rather than a textbook, we have tried to use a
variety of different tools, to appeal to different types of audiences and participants.
We could have used many more examples and cases studies, but are conscious that
these can date quickly. So we have restricted ourselves to those examples which illustrate best practice and help you to construct the most relevant, practical and useful
policies and practices. In many cases, we refer you to other sources of information for
greater in-depth reading if you need to gather more data and examples of what best
practice organisations are doing.

Introduction

do their jobs well, it will ultimately help them to provide greater impact on the business
than they might otherwise.

Finally, in order for you to understand the background to our conclusions or recommended tools we have included some of the IHRM theory. Not all readers will warm
to the theoretical data but it is there to help explain the rationale for some tools. The
tools do, however, stand alone and can be used without a need to refer to the theory.
In some cases there are multiple theories but we have selected one or two examples
which we feel best help to support particular ways of doing things.

A rapidly globalising world


In these days of increasing globalisation and easier mobility and communications
between countries, workers are as likely to be located in Beijing, or Chennai, as they
are in the UK. Think about making a phone call to enquire about a banking product,
going online to chat to an expert about a problem you have with your computer, or
trading on eBay, to name a few common scenarios.
International HR management1 refers to an extension of HR that relates to having
people working overseas. These can be either expatriate staff, those who are recruited
from or work within their own home countries (locally recruited staff), or even thirdcountry nationals (individuals from neither the parent nor home country, but rather
a third country. The kinds of organisations in which this is the case can range from
those with a small office or subsidiary based abroad, to major multinational corporations, international public-sector organisations, or international NGOs (charities)
with sites all over the world. It can also encompass an organisation working in a joint
partnership with another organisation overseas. Alternatively it could be a homebased organisation with overseas offices or a company with selected departments
which are offshore.
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Introduction

Any of these models makes it more likely that an HR professional is going to have to
consider how he or she can best provide policies, practices and services to a diverse
set of employees located in potentially very different locations and operating environments. What works well in the home country may be a disaster in another for all
kinds of reasons, as will be outlined later on. Without a deep knowledge of what is
appropriate in one environment versus another, it is easy to make some fundamental
errors of judgement and poor decisions around people management.
The differences between IHRM and HRM involve:
being unpredictable and influenced more by external factors
requiring more functions
having continuously changing perspectives
requiring more intervention in employees personal lives
being more risky.

What do we mean by international?


Throughout the Toolkit we have used the term international HRM to refer to any
HR professional who is working in an organisation which operates in more than one
country. However, when we refer to different types of organisations this definition
does not work so well, and we debated which definitions to use to explain the
different international structures within which an IHRM professional may be working.
We have included below our own definitions and these are used throughout the
Toolkit. We recognise that some organisations will be a hybrid of the types listed
here.

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Explanation

Examples

National with overseas


subsidiaries

Some of you will be working


for companies which have
ambitions to open overseas
subsidiaries.

Topshop is a good example


of an organisation which
is UK-based but which
has successfully opened
an operation in the USA.
It has plans to expand
its international agenda,
which will change its status
to that of a multinational
corporation.

International organisations

This Toolkit is called


International HRM and
that is the term we use
when referring to HR
professionals working across
borders. However, in our
opinion, technically an
international organisation is
one which is either owned
by several governments
(intergovernmental
organisations) or
include global non-profit
organisations (international
non-governmental
organisations). The term
international organisation
has now fallen into everyday
management use and
is applied to all kinds of
organisations. However, we
are keeping to its original
definition to distinguish
such organisations from
multinational corporations
and enterprises.

NATO, the International


Olympic Committee and the
World Bank are examples
of truly international
organisations.

Introduction

Type

The World Bank is made up


of 123 countries, which are
represented on its board.
(Some board members
represent more than one
country.)
NATO is an organisation
whose membership consists
of 28 countries.
The UN organisations are
also included in this category.
Charities such as Medicins
Sans Frontiers and Oxfam
are examples of the
subcategory international
non-governmental
organisations.

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Introduction

Type

Explanation

Examples

Multinational corporations
(MNCs) or enterprises
(MNEs)

An organisation which
operates in multiple countries
and which derives at least
25% of its income from
countries overseas. Normally
the company or organisation
has a home nation and has
developed business overseas
as it has grown, becoming
more dependent on income
from overseas companies.

Most MNCs are either


American, European or
Japanese. Leading MNCs
include Nike, AOL, Toyota,
Coca-Cola, Honda, Toshiba
and WalMart.

MNCs and MNEs do not all look the same and they are often very different in terms
of their underpinning strategy. They have a choice about whether they will operate
as a global entity, which normally means that business strategy and policies are determined globally and are integrated across the worldwide organisation. Alternatively
they could adopt a multi-domestic strategy which allows greater autonomy to
respond to local needs or culture. These are based on Porters original definitions
of different types of organisations (see Tool 6 for more detail about these). Finally, a
third kind of organisation is that of a transnational organisation. This is really a hybrid
of Porters two types, comprising a set of independent organisations, operating
independently but bound together by a common ideology and/or cross-promotion
and subsidisation.
In this Toolkit we will look at both international organisations and MNCs as defined
above. Case studies have been taken from the World Bank and international organisations as defined by the OECD. There are also examples of MNCs and MNEs which
work to a global or multi-domestic strategy.
Identify which type is dominant in your organisation and use this definition as you
work through the tools, so that you can choose those tools which lend themselves
more directly to your own kind of organisation.
Regardless of the type of organisation, policies, practices and HR systems must
be compatible and effective across the world, and need to balance the needs,
wants and desires of all the various groups of employees, whilst remaining costeffective. Achieving the correct balance between having an integrated set of HR
policies and practices while remaining sufficiently flexible to allow for differences
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Initial scenario
To get started, lets paint a scenario that allows for an initial introduction to the topic
of IHRM. This can be used as a case study if you want to develop some initial thinking
in a team about what IHRM might entail. It will be used later (Tool 18) in more depth
as a case study in how to handle expatriate recruitment and again (Tool 39) as an
example of planning around security issues.

Introduction

in diverse business and cultural settings, is a major challenge for the global HR
practitioner.

Case study to introduce the concepts of IHRM


An employee is being groomed for a future position at an executive level within
a multinational organisation in the petrochemical industry. She has performed a
variety of roles within the company, all of which were located in her home country,
and in non-technical areas. The organisations policy is for each individual on its fast
track to occupy at least one position overseas, running a subsidiary or overseas
office.
The individual was offered a position in a predominantly Arabic-speaking and
Muslim North African country. It was a relatively new location for the organisation.
It had opened an office there because oil had recently been discovered offshore
and there was a great opportunity to drill for oil and share in the proceeds with
the government.
The employee had not been briefed in any way about the country, its
concerns or politics, only about the exciting oil partnership deal. She had
that as it was located close to Europe, she could fly back to her home
fairly easily if required. With a husband willing to take a leave of absence,
young children prepared, she was all set.

security
decided
country
and her

A few weeks before starting her new assignment, she travelled to the country
in question. Her first meeting was with the US ambassador (there was no UK
embassy in the country), who warned her that her forthcoming appointment
was already widely known about, and not just in a positive way. She was already
apparently on the radar of Al-Qaeda, which was known to be operating within
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Introduction

the country. Whats more, her place of residence was right next to the TV station,
which had been taken over recently during a coup dtat.
To make matters worse, on meeting with the newly appointed oil minister, he
announced that the formula for the royalties split was being amended, so that
her organisation would receive less than what had been agreed upon initially, so it
seemed she would face a tough challenge in dealing with the government.
The employee met with a couple of locally recruited staff to get acquainted with
them in advance of her assignment. The employees turned out to be contractors,
and all appeared to be relatives of government ministers, their appointments
ratified by the government. None spoke English and no one had any expertise in
the oil industry.
Finally, the employee discovered that there were no schools which provided
schooling in English or even French. Arabic was the national language. With small
children, she had assumed there would be plenty of English-speaking nannies and
teachers. As for her husband, who had planned to take leave of absence from
his job, it transpired that the government was not granting entry visas for anyone
other than direct employees working for organisations that had contracted with
the government.
What was the employee to do?
What should the employee have done differently? What should HR have done?
What policies, steps, and practices should it have had in place to inform, educate
and assist the employee before accepting the position? In your view, was this right
kind of appointment for her? If not, why not? If yes, what kind of ongoing support
and practices could the parent organisation have put in place to assist the employee
and make the assignment a success?

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1 Consider your organisations career development policies. What are the gaps
when it comes to incorporating international assignments? (Section 3)
2 What kinds of data, information and briefing systems are available for such
assignments? How best could they be delivered and by whom? (Sections 1 and 5)
3 Think about your organisations family and diversity policies. How relevant are they
for those employees located abroad? Do they need to be adapted? (Section 2)
4 Do you have a mentoring programme in place that could be used to good effect in
this situation? (Section 2)
5 How is knowledge management handled? How can the lessons learned from this
(extremely difficult) assignment be used to inform others in similar situations?
(Section 1)
6 How can you best reward individuals for accepting international assignments?
(Section 3)
7 Does your organisation have a talent management policy? If so, does it extend
to recruitment of local staff? How is such recruitment carried out? What
development would have helped? (Sections 2 and 4)
8 How are your organisations ethics policies set up? How does it deal with issues
of corruption, nepotism with regard to employees, contractors and partners or
clients? (Section 5)
9 Does your organisation have any policies around security and crisis management?
What are the gaps? (Section 5)
10 Does your organisation have any policies on repatriation? (Section 4)
11 Does your organisation have any policies around dealing with different
stakeholders, including governments and local contacts? (Section 5)

Introduction

Suggestions for a deeper discussion

Each of these different areas will be covered in detail in the tools contained within the
five sections that follow.

Note
1 Technically speaking, one can differentiate global HRM from international HRM in
the following ways, as defined by Brewster et al (2004):
Global HRM: managing HR activities through the application of global rule sets.
International HRM: managing an international mobile workforce.
For this Toolkit, we are including both concepts to provide a more comprehensive
set of tools and ideas.

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the authors

The authors
Ann Rennie FCIPD, FRSA, MCIB, BSc (Hons)
Anns background lies in IHRM in senior line positions within the international organisation, banking and NGO sectors. She has extensive experience in implementing and
advising on international HR and change programmes, as well as in global capacitybuilding and talent management in both developed and developing countries, most
notably for international organisations, UN agencies and public sector organisations in
Asia.
She was most recently the Director for Human Resources Operations for the World
Bank, covering 160 countries, and based in Washington, DC. She also held a number
of non-executive director positions worldwide, including for the Department for
International Development, the Association for Human Resource Management in
International Organizations, The Princes Trust, Thamesmead Town, Reed Executive
and a large US-based credit union. Additionally, Ann held senior HR roles for NatWest
Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Ann is a qualified leadership coach.
Rita McGee FCIPD
Rita McGee specialises in the strategic development of HR functions. Previously HR
Director of the Pepe Group, she has also worked for Kingfisher and BTR (currently
known as Invensys). She works as a consultant, trainer, facilitator and executive coach.
She has designed and delivered training in talent management to major international
organisations. She has consulted in the UK and internationally on the development of
business and HR strategy including talent management and succession planning.
She runs public courses for the CIPD as well as other organisations. She has worked in
Europe, Asia, the USA and Africa.
Rita is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
www.rmgconsulting.com

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Management: An International Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp 214235.
TROMPENAARS, F. and HAMPDEN-TURNER, C. (2001) 21 Leaders for the 21st
Century: How Innovative Leaders Manage in the Digital Age, New York: McGraw-Hill.
TROMPENAARS, F. and HAMPDEN-TURNER, C. (2009) Innovating in a Global Crisis,
Oxford: Innovative Ideas.
TUNG, R.L. (1984) Strategic management of human resource in the multinational
enterprise. HR Management, Vol. 23, No. 2.
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT (2007)
World Investment Report, New York and Geneva: United Nations.
WARD, C. and KENNEDY, A. (1999) Coping with Cross-cultural Transition, Journal of
Cross-cultural Psychology, September, p 32.

xviii

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BEGLEY, T. and BOYD, D. (2000) Articulating Corporate Values through Human


Resource Policies, Business Horizons, JulyAugust, 812.
BRAITHWAITE, J. and DRAHOS, P. (2000) Global Business Regulation. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
BREWSTER, C., HARRIS, H. and SPARROW, P. (2004) Globalising HR. Executive
briefing. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Further reading

Further reading

FARNDALE, E. and PAAUWE, J. (2005) The Role of Corporate HR Functions in MNCs:


The Interplay Between Corporate, Regional/National and Plant Level. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University ILR School.
KELLEY, C. and MEYERS, J. (1992) Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI).
Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
RALSTON, D.A., HOLT, D.A., TERPSTRA, R.H. and YU, K.C. (2008) The Impact of
National Culture and Economic Ideology on Managerial Work Values: A study of the
United States, Russia, Japan and China, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 39,
No. 1, pp 826.
RIDLEY, T. (2011) Evacuations: Evacuation Planning for International and Transnational
Crisis [Kindle edition].
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT. (2007)
World Investment Report. New York and Geneva: United Nations.
WARD, C. and KENNEDY, A. (1999) The Measurement of Sociocultural Adaptation,
International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp 659677.
WISMAR, M., PALM, W., FIGUERAS, J., ERNST, K. and VAN GINNEKEN, E. (eds)
(2011) Cross-border Health Care in the European Union, European Observatory
on Health Systems and Policies: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_
file/0004/135994/e94875.pdf

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Introduction
Consider the following scenario:
You are an HR director of a small niche hotel chain, catering to wealthy tourists,
which is wholly British-owned and located in the UK and Ireland. Despite the recent
economic downturn, the business is still moderately successful. Your boss, the CEO, is
keen to expand on this success, but the UK market is already saturated. He spots an
opportunity to buy a small niche hotel chain in Mexico. It is currently a great opportunity, he says, as it is virtually being given away because of all the criminal activities and
violence there! He has been advised by the Mexican owner that the hotels are located
in sites away from all the troubles, and that tourists, especially from the USA, are still
visiting in quite large numbers.
You immediately have a number of questions and concerns. You are tempted to
respond based on your gut feel. You start saying, Yes, but... and think of all the
immediate issues your organisation is likely to face, such as how to manage and recruit
from within Mexico, language concerns, security, local health and safety issues and
so on. Your boss frowns, explaining what a good move this is and how the timing
is just right. You realise you need to take a more positive approach, and decide you
need to arm yourself with appropriate facts and have some thought-out strategic
options to present to your CEO. You recognise that it is the job of HR to develop
an understanding of relevant factors pertaining to expansion abroad, since a lack of
knowledge can result in inappropriate policies and practices, with consequences for the
organisation ranging from embarrassing to potentially outright disastrous!
Certainly, gut feel is important, but for an international HR manager or director, or
indeed anyone who has been tasked with people management support responsibilities,
there needs to be more than this. You need to be informed and well prepared to a)
help the organisation to make its business strategy and goals a success, and b) have the
necessary people-related tools, procedures and practices to help it happen smoothly,
cost-effectively and efficiently. In addition, and as this case clearly illustrates, you will
want to arm yourself quickly with enough knowledge and data about all aspects of

Setting the strategic context: structure, roles and culture

Section 1
Setting the strategic context:
structure, roles and culture

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Setting the strategic context: structure, roles and culture

the country to be able to add value to the original business decision, rather than just
reacting, ideally before it is actually signed and sealed!
This section comprises tools to help you do just that. Firstly, we start with a basic
exercise which is aimed at the more academically inclined, giving you some frameworks to use when making arguments and proposals that support (or show why they
dont support) the business strategy.
We then go on to techniques that help make the links between a global business
strategy and an international HR strategy, covering ways to collect and sort data, and
then developing the necessary HR policies and procedures required. This includes
whether they are more likely to be effective as global policies or whether, in certain
cases, it would be better to work on a targeted and more local basis, country by
country.
We then suggest ways of making links between HR policies and practices to required
roles and competencies for HR professionals working in an IHRM environment, before
addressing potential ways of organising and locating such HR teams.
International employee relations form a key component of IHRM and pose all kinds of
issues for a globalising organisation, and we suggest sources of information and likely
issues you need to be on top of. We then consider how data and e-HR systems can
support international operations.
Lastly, we look at the all-important subject of culture. Economists and experienced
HR practitioners working in international domains generally agree that culture and
the management of cultural differences are the most important factors in managing
international operations. Many an organisation has failed on the basis of miscalculations about cultural norms and ways of working and living. We offer some tips and
techniques for exploring and capitalising on these differences in a global setting.

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Tool 1
Some contextual theory for
adding support to strategic
business cases around
internationalisation
Facilitators notes
Overview
This Toolkit is a practical aid, not a textbook. However, we recognise that we are
catering for all kinds of organisations, big and small, who are moving into, or already
operating in, an international business environment. This Tool is aimed primarily at
some larger organisations. However, even if this is your first venture into international
territory, and you work for a small organisation without a dedicated HR function, you
may still find this useful background reading. It helps to explain the rationale for making
particular strategic choices, and provides a backdrop for a deeper and more informed
IHRM and policy framework. We will refer back to the content in this Tool from time
to time, where it helps to illustrate or back up a point in later Tools.

contextual theory to strategic business cases

Section 1.1
Making the link between global
strategy and an international
HR framework

Aim of the Tool


This Tool will help you to think about your global business strategy. As busy international HR practitioners, it is easy to become almost totally reactive to events as they
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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

unfold. And it is true that tactical decisions are generally going to be more prevalent
than with domestic HRM. However, it helps to step back and think about what you
are doing from a more strategic perspective from time to time especially when your
organisation is starting up or acquiring a new business abroad for the first time.
We offer a few concepts that can be used to initiate some strategic thinking about
what kind of organisation you work for and why its operating (or considering
operating) more on an international basis. This will help form a platform for d
eveloping
your IHRM strategy and plans.

Materials needed
The PowerPoint presentation below.

Procedure
Either on your own, or with groups of HR staff and, preferably, employees from other
parts of the organisation, go through the PowerPoint slides, one by one. Each concept
is followed by a second slide which asks the audience to define where they see your
organisation or where it fits.

Evaluating its use


This exercise was used at a board meeting by one of the authors when her own
organisation was considering expanding abroad. The meeting was attended by the
chairman, CEO, and the finance, operations and legal directors. It led to very lively
debate about the whys and raison dtre of the organisation which showed that
these really needed clarification before any potentially false starts in foreign expansion
happened! In particular, it resulted in a sounder strategic decision around the
development of operations abroad, based on logic and strategy, and not simply feel.
So, if this Tool helps to elicit greater debate and greater clarity about the following
then it will have served its purpose!
1 What kind of organisation you are.
2 What your organisations motivations are for becoming more international.
This will then allow you, as an international HR director, manager or consultant, to
start to pull together the HR plan which will best help support the business plan.
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Strategic business constructs for


suppor1ng interna1onalisa1on
Adding value to your business
strategy

Construct 1
What are your drivers for becoming more
interna1onal?
Maximising shareholder value
Forging strategic partnerships
Crea1ng core business processes
Building global presence
(from the CIPDs publica7on Globalising HR: Execu7ve
brieng (2004))
Achieving a global humanitarian mission
(added by author)

contextual theory to support strategic business cases

The Tool

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Construct 1
What are your drivers for becoming more
interna1onal?

Which one(s) dene your own organisa1on?

Construct 2
Divergence versus convergence
CONVERGENCE the coming together of a set of HR
management policies and prac1ces around a
Western (capitalis1c) model.
DIVERGENCE the separa1on of HR policies and
prac1ces according to country or dierences in
culture.
(These come from early economic theory, which
describes how, in a globalising world, country
economies gain advantage by becoming either
more similar to, or more dierent from, each
other. )

6
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How do you decide whether your organisa1on is more


convergent or divergent in its strategy?
CONVERGENT more likely if it:

has strong organisa1onal culture which gives it


compe11ve advantage worldwide (eg Apple, Starbucks,
BP), and
wants to build a global presence, and
is bound by regional regula1ons and restric1ons (eg those
organisa1ons opera1ng in the EU) more likely to need a
common set of policies (including HR).

More likely to have a set of standard opera1ng and


employment policies.

Construct 2
Divergence versus convergence
How do you decide whether your organisa1on is more
convergent or divergent in its strategy?
DIVERGENT more likely if there are strong dierences in:
labour markets,
cultures,
economic and legal variables.
Examples include car manufacturing and appliance businesses
which build for dierent tastes, and dierent prac1cali1es
eg sizes of houses, price of petrol versus diesel,
environmental legisla1on.
Even global organisa1ons such as Walmart and McDonalds have
had to adapt somewhat to local markets and bend their own
policies to suit.

contextual theory to support strategic business cases

Construct 2
Divergence versus convergence

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Construct 2
Divergence versus convergence
Is your organisa1on more likely to follow a
convergent or divergent route?
This will determine how localised your HR
policies and prac1ces are likely to have to be.

Construct 3
Hofstedes power ra1o
Hofstede was a Dutch researcher who gathered
data from 100,000 IBM employees worldwide.
He wanted to see if there were cultural
dierences worldwide.
He found ve.

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Individualist/collec1vist the extent to which people are expected


to look a]er themselves as opposed to being part of a larger group
(USA and Australia have a more individualis1c culture, South Africa
less so).
High/low uncertainty the extent to which people are comfortable
with ambiguity and instability. Eg Greece has strong bureaucracies;
various Caribbean countries have a more laid-back approach.
Masculine/feminine this refers to being tough versus caring. Eg
Japan is in the rst category, where material rewards are important,
whereas Sweden, where policies around childcare, family leave and
other caring factors are seen as important, is in the second.

Construct 3
Hofstedes power ra1o
Low versus high power distance this refers to how
hierarchical structures are, and more autocra1c
leadership. India has high power distance rela1onships
amongst business and society; Israel has ader
structures and more democra1c management.
Short-term versus long-term approach a focus on the
past and present, including the preserva1on of face
and tradi1on, versus a focus on the future through
persistence, thri] and investment (added at a later
date).
(Hofstede 2001)

contextual theory to support strategic business cases

Construct 3
Hofstedes power ra1o

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MakIng the lInk between global strategy and an InternatIonal hr fraMework

Construct 3
Hofstedes power ra1o
How does your own culture t in?

Construct 4
Culture and ideology

(Based on Ralston et al (2008))

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Where are you on this grid?


(Hint: USA lies in top le]-hand box, China in
bodom right-hand box; Russia in the bodom
le]-hand box, and Japan in the top right-hand
box.)
What might this mean when doing business in
other countries?

contextual theory to support strategic business cases

Construct 4
Culture and ideology

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Tool 2
PESTLE analysis worldwide
Facilitators notes
Overview
PESTLE stands for political, economic, social or socio-cultural, technological, legal
and environmental. Other variations are STEEP, PEST or STEEPLE, all of which
are acronyms for methods by which to analyse a current and future state of an
organisation.
This is a useful exercise to carry out with a group of individuals who may be new
to an international setting, and it works best with a mixture of employees from
both the home country and other countries in which your organisation operates. In
this way, the locally recruited staff can start immediately to add value with regards
to knowledge management transfer. It is most useful in the situation of a recent
acquisition or takeover of a foreign player.

Aim of the Tool


To provide a model and a checklist to help you explore trends and changes that could
occur in your industry on a global basis and to start to think about the implications
for your overall international HR strategy and framework. The framework is what will
provide initial guidance for defining the appropriate policies and procedures for your
particular organisation.

Materials needed
Have the team members prepare for this exercise by gathering as much background
information and data about changes that may be occurring in your sector or industry
worldwide. This could be gained from industry reports, the CIPDs change agenda,
government or industry forecasts, websites and news articles and from your
organisations global business plans, objectives and strategy.

12

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World events and changes happen all the time. It is also wise to consider worstcase scenarios, however unlikely they may seem many organisations have suffered
setbacks, or even foundered, because they didnt consider such events (eg the BP oil
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the effect of the volcanic ash from the Icelandic volcano
on the airline industry, or the earthquake followed by a tsunami in Japan and its effect
on TEPCOs nuclear power stations and the countrys nuclear power strategy).

Evaluating its use


After going through this exercise, were you able to foresee changes that could occur
and establish the relevant international HR framework for appropriate policies and
practices for your organisation?

PESTLE analysis worldwide

Procedure

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

The Tool
PESTLE factor

Implications for your organisations


international HR strategy and policy
framework

Political (trends, possible changes and


events at global, regional, national,
local and community level):

Has implications for establishing


organisations or offices or doing business
with organisations in risky countries
(especially for attracting employees,
compensation, security policies)

Government stability
Turmoil in Arab nations, and demands for
more democratic rights

Grants and funding initiatives can assist


in establishment of businesses in some
locations, including incentives for hiring of
nationals. Sometimes these are used to
stimulate an economy during a recession

Rise of kidnapping and piracy


Fluctuating level of availability of grants and
funding changes
Governments policies and attitudes

Governments come and go and can have a


direct effect on organisations based abroad
in terms of changing policies, attitudes
towards foreign organisations, etc

Stability and terms of governments


Wars, civil wars and other types of strife
Terrorism
Lobbying groups
Relationships and geopolitical tensions
between countries
Economic (trends and economic
factors in global, regional, national and
local economies):

Turbulence in economies with associated


negative effects on exchange rates or
inflation can be an issue for compensation
for either expatriate employees and/or
locally recruited employees

Interest rates (high or low?)


Currency exchange rates, and uses of
different currencies (which ones are and
might be affected in the future? Eg the euro
is an example of a currency under pressure)

Recessions have implications for lay-offs


and downsizing, plus drive for more
cost-efficient HR solutions
Reduced value of company may have
implications for resourcing levels

Inflation (home and abroad)


Cost of raw materials (eg crude oil and its
impact on transportation costs)

Fiscal implications such as tax, exchange


rates and price of goods on cost of living

Rapid growth and stronger demand in


emerging markets than developed ones
Recessions and slow recoveries in
developed nations
Consumer confidence
Trade tariffs and restrictions
Unemployment (home and abroad)

14
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Implications for your organisations


international HR strategy and policy
framework

Global stock market issues


US fiscal deficit and its impact on other
countries
Failing countries within the EU and
sovereign default in weak economies
Correlations between geographical distance
and sizes of economies with level of trade
(gravity theories of economists, eg Leamer
and Levinsohn, demonstrating that the
closer the country and larger the economy,
the greater the trade opportunity). An
example might be the USA and Canada
Available funding or grants for particular
initiatives (eg greener energy)
Companies headquartered in developing
markets like India, China, Brazil and South
Africa, to name a few, are expanding, along
with multinationals from more established
markets

PESTLE analysis worldwide

PESTLE factor

Taxation issues (home and abroad)


Immigration/emigration and population shifts
Rising cost of public services in situations of
growing populations or aging communities
Social/socio-cultural (trends, changes
or developments in demographics,
culture and expectations):

Implications for pension administration of


changing retirement ages
Religious differences needs to be factored
in to some policies

Aging populations and living longer


Retirement ages rising in OECD countries
in UK this will rise to 68 by 2044; France is
67 (men) and 62 (women); USA is 66

Security policies
Family policies
Recruitment and remuneration of
employees and contractors in economies
that are becoming wealthier

Changing balance in demographics make-up


Generational differences in attitudes and
behaviour, such as Generations X, Y and Z

Healthcare plans

Demographic shifts will result in an


increasing number of workers being sought
from developing countries to replace the
aging workforce in North America and
Europe (McKinsey predicts that by the year
2040, the largest working-age population in
the world will reside in Africa.)

Increased expectations of employees on


the types of benefits they wish to have
Attitudes towards work influence
employment decisions
Corruption issues policies for handling
15

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

PESTLE factor

Implications for your organisations


international HR strategy and policy
framework

In the West, because of the withdrawal of


retirement age and diminution of pensions,
several generations are likely to be at the
same workplace at the same time
Spread of Islam
Killing of Osama Bin Laden and other
terrorist leaders repercussions for
religious extremism
Interest in working remotely is increasing
Women having children later in developed
economies
One-parent families and marital breakdown
Employees working longer viz increased
or abandoned compulsory age for
retirement
Increased wealth and disposable incomes
of populations in developing or previously
developing economies eg India, China,
Brazil not just developed countries.
Emerging markets will grow more than
developed ones
Gaps between rich and poor accelerating
(eg in India, there are over 150,000
millionaires, and yet many millions of poor)
Healthcare costs and expectations
Increase in viruses and illnesses that are no
longer resistant to drugs; pandemics
Consumer attitudes, fashions and demands
for types of goods
Media influences and ethics concerns
Attitudes towards work, including desire to
work
Qualifications eg more university
education in some countries
Values around corruption, nepotism, etc

16
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Implications for your organisations


international HR strategy and policy
framework

Technological (developments in
computer-related hardware, software
and social networking):

Ability to work remotely is increasing


Implications for hiring workers remotely
Implications for managing communications,
data and meetings across international
boundaries

Technological or scientific breakthroughs


Rise of social networking
More extensive spread of Wi-Fi

Management of stress as technology can


mean being available at all times, and also
working across time zones can be an issue

Increase in data-sharing capabilities and


central files management (the paperless
office)

Data security and levels of access; back-up


centres

Increase in hacking incidents, identification


theft and theft of online information
implications for IT security

Software and hardware compatibility issues


across boundaries

Spread of mobile phones (even faster in


developing countries than in developed
countries)

Data access restrictions and regulations in


some countries
Change management due to adoption of
new technology

Expansion and improvement of software


for meetings management such as Skype
and video conferencing

PESTLE analysis worldwide

PESTLE factor

Acceleration in applications which use


micro-technology
Innovations
Research grants
Data leaks (eg Wikileaks)
Legal (potential changes to legislation
with impacts on resources, taxation,
immigration, etc):

Tightening of immigration legislation may


have an impact on a companys ability
to hire workers, or fines from audits of
illegals

Increased employee protection

Increasing regulation in the West tempting


more companies to locate work in
developing countries

Immigration laws tightening


Discrimination legislation
International legal frameworks (eg WTO,
ILO, EU) and regulatory bodies

Employer and consumer brand implications


Local discrimination legislation may require
more care in hiring and termination of
particular types of workers

Industry-specific regulations
Different laws around work permits and
visas

Increasingly stringent health and safety


legislation may have an impact on costs
and therefore location of employees, and
training

Legal aspects around mobility within


countries

17
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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

PESTLE factor

Implications for your organisations


international HR strategy and policy
framework

Regulations around foreign-owned


organisations abroad

Local legal systems may have impact on


employees that are sudden, unwelcome or
unexpected eg visa restrictions, vetoes on
driving, drinking, anti-gay legislation, etc

Regulations around hiring local workers

International legislative areas and


agreements may place additional restrictions
on HR-related areas such as employment
restrictions
Environmental (natural disasters
and climatic trends, social and legal
movements):

Disaster planning policies to include both


data and business continuity and employee
safety and contingency planning

Climate change

Travel policies

Natural disasters such as hurricanes,


earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis

Repatriation and evacuation policies


Corporate social responsibility policies and
practices

Fair trade
Carbon offsetting
Disposal of waste
Ethical concerns
Greater emphasis on resource productivity
and conservation
More clean technology industries
More environmental regulation

Note
1 For a more detailed description of PESTLE, see the CIPDs Factsheet.

18
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Facilitators notes
Overview
The international HR professional needs not only to understand the implications for
their work of worldwide trends and changes, but to also have a deep knowledge and
understanding of the particular contexts in which their organisation operates. Those
at senior levels of HR must have a good grasp of the country-level factors that have or
may have an impact on business. Equally, its important that your local staff understand
the issues that shape the parent organisation, headquarters and the other countries
in which your organisation operates.
Like the previous Tool, this is a useful exercise to carry out with a group of individuals
who may be new to an international setting, though it definitely works best with groups
that specifically include employees from the countries around which this exercise is
based. Its even better still if the exercise is run in country and not at headquarters,
since the non-locals will get to experience at least some of the factors for themselves
first-hand!
Note that this Tool also works well when used across a product line which may be
dispersed across several different countries.

Aim of the Tool


To provide a model and a checklist to help you explore trends and changes that could
occur in a country or countries in which your organisation operates, so that the implications for your organisations international HR strategy can be developed in more
detail. In this way, it can help with the next step in developing a plan around which
to divide up HR policies and practices into ones that are global versus ones that are
more local or specific to individual countries. (See convergence versus divergence in
Tool 1.)

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

Tool 3
PESTLE analysis examples of
country-specific analyses

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

This version of the PESTLE analysis goes into more depth in terms of:
1
2
3
4
5

the likelihood of occurrence


the likely impact of the change, trend or factor
the timing of each factor
compatibility with existing HR policies and practices
priority for or emphasis on HR policy or practice amendments and adaptations.

Materials needed
Have the team members prepare for this exercise by gathering background information and data about changes that may be occurring in the country in question. If
this exercise includes employees from the particular countries concerned, brief them
beforehand to think about and gather as much information as they can around the six
components of PESTLE.

Procedure
Decide on a country to analyse. Complete the appropriate factors under each of the
PESTLE headings. Score each of them according to the five criteria. Those factors that
score the highest are those which are likely to have the maximum implications for your
HR policies and practices.
Examples from India and from the USA are given below. If analysing either of
these countries, you can use the templates below and add to them. For the sake
of illustration a worked example is given for the Social section, for a make-believe
organisation.

Evaluating its use


The usefulness of the Tool lies in the outputs from the last four columns and the
resulting ability to help set the framework for establishing an international HR strategy
or framework. To be really useful, it needs to be revisited often to check that your
organisations HR framework is based on solid foundations it is easy to overlook
changes and to continue to operate as is, with some likely surprises further down the
line because of mismatches between the realities of today and of the possible future
scenarios (what ifs).

20

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CD30006.indb 21

poor relationship with some of its


neighbours

lack of international representation on some


intergovernmental bodies and organisations,
so less clout globally

image enhanced by holding Commonwealth


Games in 2010

terrorism especially from religious


extremist groups

power is shared between the central


government and 28 states

government is still bureaucratic and there is


a lot of red tape and corruption (including
bribes) less corruption in the Indian
private sector

Political:

PESTLE factor for India

The Tool
(high (3), medium
(2), low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact
(+ (3),
(1) or
neutral
(2))
(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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21/12/2011 13:32

CD30006.indb 22

increased use of credit cards India will join


top league for consumer products by 2035
(McKinsey Global Institute report 2007)

increase in consumer finance resulting in


explosion of consumer buying

growth of the Indian stock market

former colonial ties to UK mean some


similarities in civil service administration and
regulation which aids understanding and
communications, especially with the UK

lack of transparency in business dealings

lack of investment in infrastructure not


keeping up with growth of economy

distance to market an issue for US


organisations

has had, until recently, a highly regulated


market this has started to be liberalised
and is moving towards a capitalist and
market-based system (encouraged by the
IMF and World Bank)

Economic:

PESTLE factor for India

(high (3), medium


(2), low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact
(+ (3),
(1) or
neutral
(2))
(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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CD30006.indb 23

Social:
a vast and growing population (2nd largest
in the world)
the largest percentage of young people in the
world (over 50 per cent below 25 as at 2011)
English spoken widely
acceleration in the numbers of educated
women
increase in numbers of unskilled expatriate
Indian workers in the Middle East resulting
in families which are better off
lifestyles are becoming more Westernised
70 per cent of families live and will continue
to live in urban areas, leading to greater
cosmopolitanism
explosion in the use of cell phones
Hofstedes Power Distance ratio is around
77 per cent, which is higher than the
worldwide average meaning a high level of
inequality of power and wealth in society
discrimination based on the caste system is
now illegal, but continues to exist in reality
non-beef-eaters (Hindus) and non-porkeaters (Muslims)
has a large movie industry

PESTLE factor for India

(high (3), medium


(2), low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact
(+ (3),
(1) or
neutral
(2))
(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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CD30006.indb 24

old-fashioned legal employment framework


tends to lead to overstaffing in large
public-sector Indian bureaucracies as jobs
are protected

much red tape for new and existing foreign


organisations

Legal:

significant receiver of outsourced UK and


US IT jobs

bandwidth is now increasing

offer of IT consulting services abroad (eg


Tata Consulting)

salaries for IT experts rising due to shortage


of talent

many well-trained Indian IT engineers and IT


experts, especially in software development
and BPO

Technological:

PESTLE factor for India

(high (3), medium


(2), low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact
(+ (3),
(1) or
neutral
(2))
(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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CD30006.indb 25

air quality poor; slow improvements to


water quality

growth in population will bring even greater


environmental degradation and pressure for
resources

Environmental:

PESTLE factor for India

(high (3), medium


(2), low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact
(+ (3),
(1) or
neutral
(2))
(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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CD30006.indb 26

English spoken widely

Increase in numbers of unskilled expatriate


Indian workers in the Middle East

(high (3),
medium (2),
low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase

The largest percentage of young people in


the world (over 50 per cent below 25 as at
2011)

A vast and growing population (2nd largest in


the world)

Social:

PESTLE factor for India fictitious


fast-food restaurant

2 (might not
wish to work
for the wages
of a low-paid
fast-food
chain)

Impact (+
(3), (1) or
neutral (2))

(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices

May not be
an attractive
proposition
salary-wise for
some

Language
training for
some and
idioms training
for others

Large population
from which to
recruit

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Below is a worked example for socio-cultural factors for a fast-food organisation which is potentially looking to expand into India.
Many of these factors would have been ones that McDonalds had to contend with, for instance, when it sought to enter the Indian
market its first restaurant was opened there in 1996.

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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CD30006.indb 27

Lifestyles are becoming more Westernised

70 per cent of families live and will continue


to live in urban areas, leading to greater
cosmopolitanism

Explosion in the use of cell phones and social


networking

(high (3),
medium (2),
low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase

Acceleration in the numbers of educated


women

PESTLE factor for India fictitious


fast-food restaurant

2 (might
have better
opportunities
elsewhere)

Impact (+
(3), (1) or
neutral (2))

(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices

Ease of
communication

Good
catchment areas
for potential
recruits

Cache and
brand image
may be a plus
if we can win
them away from
McDonalds!
Will likely have
to Westernise
HR policies

Implications
around working
harder to
attract women
(perhaps
target female
students?)

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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CD30006.indb 28

(high (3),
medium (2),
low (1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase

2 (new,
younger
employees
may not want
to conform
to power
hierarchies)

Impact (+
(3), (1) or
neutral (2))

(now (2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international HR
policies and practices

A client
policy, but
would attract
vegetarian
employees

May need
to work on
succession and
management
development
policies to get
around cultural
norms around
seniority based
on age

Good way
to attract
employees

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Looking at the example above, it appears that the two highest scores are for the factors around increasing numbers of educated women
and the high Hofstede Power Distance ratio. This has particular implications for your organisations recruitment and development
policies under this dimension of PESTLE.

Non-beef-eaters (Hindus) and non-porkeaters (Muslims)

Hofstedes Power Distance ratio is around 77


per cent, which is higher than the worldwide
average meaning a high level of inequality of
power and wealth in society

PESTLE factor for India fictitious


fast-food restaurant

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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CD30006.indb 29

election in 2012

resistance to tax increases and fiscal policy


makes it hard to provide other necessities
such as prisons

foreign policy is often based on ideals (eg


democracy, freedom, etc)

9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center


have led the USA to pursue major
anti-terrorist measures

Political:

PESTLE factor for USA

(high (3),
medium (2), low
(1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact (+
(3), (1)
or neutral
(2))
(now
(2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international
HR policies and
practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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CD30006.indb 30

health care is a big issue in the USA. It


is the only industrialised country not to
provide health care to all its citizens. It
also costs more than anywhere else in the
world to provide

military spending is the highest in the world

effects of the 2008 global financial crises


continue to have major impact on the
economy, with knock-on effects

high levels of economic freedoms

the US economy is driven by consumption


rather than exports (unlike, say, Germany),
making it difficult to stimulate

for non-bank multinationals sales from


foreign-earned affiliates jumped from 33
per cent to 62 per cent between 1989 and
2009.

GDP is of the worlds total private


sector represents half of the size of the
economy

largest importer of goods and third largest


exporter of goods

Economic:

PESTLE factor for USA

(high (3),
medium (2), low
(1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact (+
(3), (1)
or neutral
(2))
(now
(2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international
HR policies and
practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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21/12/2011 13:32

CD30006.indb 31

rise of grassroots movements such as the


Tea Party

population is growing and the average age


is rising making it difficult to know how
the social security gap will be funded

education is available to all but expensive


for good universities, although scholarships
are available

gun policies and link to high crime rates

race is still an issue (despite civil rights


legislation from 1964 onwards)

highly skilled temporary and permanent


immigrants in the USA now outnumber
lower-skilled ones 30 per cent have at
least one degree

freedom of expression is one of the


constitutional rights

individualism rather than collectivism


(scores very high) on Hofstedes
individualism scale (91))

third largest population in the world

Social:

PESTLE factor for USA

(high (3),
medium (2), low
(1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact (+
(3), (1)
or neutral
(2))
(now
(2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international
HR policies and
practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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CD30006.indb 32

employment law is less regulated than


some other countries, with the result of
being a hire and fire workplace culture
(however: highly litigious in certain areas)

capitalistic economy with a few federal


regulations which govern ethical and fair
practice

Legal:

GPS system is operated by the US Air


Force

Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google: all US


technology companies that dominate the
computing and social networking arena
but is Silicone Valley running out of new
ideas?

by 2008, 73 per cent of Americans had an


Internet connection

Technological:

PESTLE factor for USA

(high (3),
medium (2), low
(1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact (+
(3), (1)
or neutral
(2))
(now
(2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international
HR policies and
practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

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21/12/2011 13:32

CD30006.indb 33

tornadoes and inclement weather generally


causing destruction

environmental issues with BP oil spill in


Gulf of Mexico

it is the largest user of oil. Oil stocks are


decreasing and there is stronger support
of alternative energy sources such as wind
power and geothermal energy

the Environmental Protection Agency has


some teeth in regulating the environment

there are many national and locally based


environmental NGOs which lobby hard to
improve environmental issues

the USA is the only country that did not


sign up to the Kyoto Agreement, limiting
carbon emissions, etc, which means it
feels less pressured to enact laws to curb
greenhouse gases

Environmental:

PESTLE factor for USA

(high (3),
medium (2), low
(1))

Likelihood of
(re)occurence or
increase
Impact (+
(3), (1)
or neutral
(2))
(now
(2),
future
(1))

Timing

(high (1), medium (2),


low (3))

Compatibility with
existing international
HR policies and
practices
Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

PESTLE analysis examples of country-specific analyses

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Tool 4
Linking global variables to
roles for international HR
professionals
Facilitators notes
Overview
The PESTLE analyses from Tools 2 and 3 provide rich data for starting to think about
the kinds of functions required for an international HR team. It also encourages
some thinking around the best location for those individuals. In addition, it may assist
with thinking about other kinds of issues that are related to HR, and for which there
needs to be an expert or specialist to provide support (eg local legal specialists,
people with corporate social responsibility backgrounds, security, and language and
culture trainers, etc).

Aim of the Tool


This Tool assists HR directors in thinking through the roles required in an international
HR team. It aims to go beyond identifying the functions of an HR team based solely
in a home country by focusing on the additional or more specific functions that an
international HR team requires.

Materials needed
The PESTLE analyses table, completed for your organisation on a worldwide basis and
individually for each country your organisation operates in. See the worked example
below, which can be adapted for your own organisation.

Procedure
With the table or tables for the PESTLE analyses, add the relevant HR function. To
make it easier to complete, a suggested list of HR functions that might exist is included
below.
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CD30006.indb 34

21/12/2011 13:32

many opportunities for hiring local employees (need a recruitment specialist on the
ground local HR hire)
language/culture training (need language trainers potentially in country eg for
offshored customer-service-centre employees)
implications around working harder to attract women (perhaps target female
students?) (need diversity expert to devise suitable policies to attract women)
may not be an attractive proposition salary-wise for some (need compensation
experts on the ground for local hires and an HQ-based expert for expatriate hires)
cache and brand image may be a plus (can capitalise on these for hiring strategy
internal/external communications expert may be needed)
good catchment areas for potential recruits (as above local recruitment specialist,
or could outsource locally)
social networking a good way to attract employees (recruitment specialist with IT
and social networking skills)
may need to work on succession and management development policies to get
around cultural norms around seniority based on age (career development specialist,
diversity expert).
In addition, it will be clear from having worked through the entire PESTLE analyses for
India that there will be a need for security experts (because of terrorism in particular),
people who have knowledge of and contacts with government (not necessarily HR
experts, except in areas which concern them, such as immigration and visa authorities,
employment organisations, etc). In addition, business partners locally will be important
in this example.
Having worked through this exercise, you will have derived a list of ideal job functions.
The final step is then to:
1 Cost out the salaries and hiring costs.
2 Decide on whether, instead of hiring, such roles can be outsourced or could be
combined with existing roles within the organisation (eg mainline company legal
experts could include local employment legislation as an area of expertise they
need to add on).

Linking global variables to roles for international HR professionals

For example, using the worked part of Tool 3 for a hypothetical fast-food organisation
setting up India for the social factor of the PESTLE analysis, you might come to the
following conclusions:

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21/12/2011 13:32

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

3 Begin to decide whether the roles can be managed from HQ or need to be located
on the ground (this largely depends on your business strategy, ie are you intending
to be a global or a multi-domestic organisation? (see Tool 7)). It also depends on
cost and resource availability factors. If you have more than one location abroad,
you may want to establish regional HR presence. Tool 5 goes into more detail
about how to do this.

Evaluating its use


This Tool will encourage a more strategic approach to be adopted towards the
types of roles that your HR function is likely to require, and enable you to be more
economical with regards to the hiring of such individuals, since you will have a good
idea of the roles required up front.

Notes
Typical types of mid-level or senior-level roles for an international HR function for
a mid- to large-size MNC might include some of the following:

















head of HR; HR director; group HR director; group people director


HR manager country, region or product line (eg HR manager Asia)
business partner; senior business partner (at HQ or local)
global mobility expert
compensation and benefits director; global reward director; reward director;
international compensation and benefits manager
head of shared services centre
head of leadership capability
international recruitment manager; regional recruitment manager
group policy manager
international OD and performance manager
worldwide HR systems development co-ordinator
global healthcare manager
expatriate adviser
group pensions benefits manager
country employee engagement manager
global talent management director
employment law advisers group and local
international communications expert

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CD30006.indb 36

21/12/2011 13:32

diversity specialists
security advisers
global skills and management trainers
IT or social networking gurus
international workforce planning leader.

Linking global variables to roles for international HR professionals

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21/12/2011 13:32

Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

The Tool example


PESTLE
factor for India
fictitious
fast-food
restaurant

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Roles
required

Location

COST
examples
for
illustration

A vast and
growing
population (2nd
largest in the
world)

Large population
from which to
recruit

Recruitment
specialist

In country

Eg 20,000

The largest
percentage of
young people in
the world (over
50 per cent below
25 as at 2011)

Large potential
population from
which to recruit

As above

In country, and
HQ for graduate
management
trainees for
grooming for
supervisory and
international
roles

20,000
in country,
40,000 at
HQ

English spoken
widely

Language training
for some and
idioms training
for others

Language
trainers

In country
initially, then
from HQ as
and when large
batches of new
recruits arrive in
future

30,000

Increase in
numbers
of unskilled
expatriate Indian
workers in the
Middle East

May not be
an attractive
proposition
salary-wise for
some

Compensation
specialist
under
direction of
global reward
director

In country for
local hires. Add
to role of HQ
compensation
specialist for
expatriate hires

50,000

Acceleration in
the numbers of
educated women

Implications
around working
harder to attract
women (perhaps
target female
students?)

Diversity
expert

Add on to
existing role for
diversity director
or global talent
management
director at home
base

No
additional
cost

38
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21/12/2011 13:32

Implications
for your
organisations
global HR
strategy

Roles
required

Location

COST
examples
for
illustration

Lifestyles are
becoming more
Westernised

Cache and brand


image may be
a plus if we
can win them
away from
McDonalds! Will
likely have to
Westernise HR
policies

Compensation
and benefits
expert

In country
combine
with role
above. At HQ,
compensation
policy role
addition to
existing role for
department of
global reward
director

As above

70 per cent of
families live and
will continue to
live in urban areas,
leading to greater
cosmopolitanism

Good catchment
areas for
potential recruits

May need
service of
recruitment
agency in big
cities

In country
outsourced to
agency

200,000
for 20
recruits

Explosion in
the use of cell
phones and social
networking

Ease of
communication

Recruitment
expert

In country
same one as
above ensure
they have IT skills

As above

Hofstedes Power
Distance ratio
is around 77
per cent, which
is higher than
the worldwide
average meaning
a high level of
inequality of
power and wealth
in society

Good way
to attract
employees. May
need to work
on succession
and management
development
policies to get
around cultural
norms around
seniority based
on age

Career
development
specialist

HQ-based policy,
but may need
in-country HR
business partner
to help make it a
reality

30,000

Non-beef-eaters
(Hindus) and
non-pork-eaters
(Muslims)

A client policy,
but would attract
vegetarian
employees

Linking global variables to roles for international HR professionals

PESTLE
factor for India
fictitious
fast-food
restaurant

39
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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Tool 5
Linking roles to the required
competencies for HR
professionals
Facilitators notes
Overview
This Tool follows on from Tool 4.
Having derived a list of required functions for the HR team, it is time to move to the
next step that of assigning competencies to each of the roles.
In some cases, there are likely to be competencies that cover all roles. But in the case
of specialist HR roles, there is likely to be a subset.

Aim of the Tool


To establish a concrete set of competencies based on the functions of your international HR team. These, in turn, will have been derived from your organisations
strategy.

Materials needed
Start with your list of HR roles.
Print off the table with the three columns below. Blank out column 3, which has been
completed with examples just for illustration.

Procedure
Use the table of international HR competencies (which have been derived from a
number of both private and public sector MNCs and organisations with international
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After you have completed the table, list the competencies you have come up with
under each role. Decide on the most relevant or important. Some can be combined
under one overall competency, where they fit logically. As there are many ways of
grouping these competencies, there is no definitive example given here, but it could
include the following.
Business partner competencies (at HQ):
able to link the organisations international strategy and objectives with HR
practices
able to manage and communicate with different cultures and across boundaries
cross-cultural team facilitation skills
forecasting and planning skills to cover worldwide presence
organisational design and restructuring skills across national boundaries.
Business partner competencies (in local or host country):
local business knowledge and networks
understanding of the local recruitment market
comprehension of the overall business strategy for an organisation and of the HR
objectives for that organisation; plus links with key individuals at HQ and across the
organisation
ability to communicate across a wide range of media with HR functions at HQ and
in other countries
local language skills
initiative not just waiting for HQ to lead especially if there is an issue that needs
resolution fast
good information-seeking skills
knowledge of local customs and norms
ability to intervene in local conflicts between locally based employees
negotiating skills with an understanding of cultural differences and their impact on
the negotiations

Linking roles to the required competencies for HR professionals

HR functions). In column 3, add in the function that you believe requires this skill or
competency. It could be All or just a single function, across multiple functions, or one
that is required for a local HR hire only. Bear in mind, though, that not every role
requires every competency. Decide on the most important.

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

local coaching and mentoring


contribution to the wider international strategic agenda through ideas and
suggestions for change
ability to synthesise changes to the international HR agenda and policies, and
disseminate, communicate and explain them in own country.
Similar groupings with other competencies could be made, for example, for roles such
as:
strategic leadership roles (for HR director and senior HR team members)
specialist positions requiring in-depth knowledge (eg recruitment, compensation,
ethics management, security management, etc)
training and knowledge management roles
change management consultants
shared service centre and helpdesk roles.
Another way of grouping competency sets is to determine those which are core
and then add on the ones that relate to particular roles, according to each specialist
position. These core skills might include:
global mindset
an open mind
ability to multi-task
ability to deal with ambiguities
able to link the organisations international strategy and objectives with HR
practices
able to demonstrate and uphold organisational values across international borders
stamina and ability to manage stress.

Evaluating its use


To assess the validity of the competencies agreed upon, you can test whether they are
the most appropriate by later on interviewing your best performers in HR, and then a
group of weaker performers. Use an external facilitator so that its not apparent who
is a high performer and who is not. Assess each individual against the competencies
chosen. This will provide a guide as to which are likely to be most positively associated
with success on the job.
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Competency

Exemplified by:

Examples

A global mindset

Taking an interest in
international affairs generally;
interest in travel; a curiosity
about different cultures
generally

All

An open mind

All

Ability to deal with ambiguities

All

Ability to work across time zones

Business partners

Ability to multi-task

All

Interest in and ability to learn foreign


languages

Local regional HR
business partners

Able to manage and communicate


with different cultures and across
boundaries

All, especially HR
director and business
partners

Able to see the wider picture

HR director

Able to link the organisations


international strategy and objectives
with HR practices

All

Can negotiate across cultures,


including ability to deal with
governments and other organisations

HR director,
employee relations
employees

Can deal with cross-cultural ethical


issues

Employee relations
officer

Cross-cultural team facilitation skills

HQ and local training


and development staff

Forecasting and planning skills to


cover worldwide presence

HQ planning and
specialist (could be
part of the role of the
HR budget officer)

Organisational design and


restructuring skills across national
boundaries

HQ OD expert

Linking roles to the required competencies for HR professionals

The Tool

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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

Competency

Exemplified by:

Examples

Understanding of local country


employment issues

Local business partner


and local recruitment
employees

Able to demonstrate and uphold


organisational values across
international borders

All

Able to build trusting relationships


with others in different cultures and
countries

This is an extension of the


business partner role

Business partner

Coaching and mentoring skills across


different cultures

Learning and
development experts,
business partners

Knowledgeable about compensation


and benefits on an international basis

Compensation
specialists

Able to establish and manage


international performance
management systems and standards

This requires an
understanding of the way
different cultures behave
and respond to performance
management in general; not
having a blanket approach
to all cultures, but flexibility
to take into account cultural
norms and differences within
the wider organisational
framework

Performance
management experts,
business partners

Stamina and ability to manage stress

Given the increased


likelihood of unexpected
events, greater complexity,
and working across different
time zones, international HR
professionals have to be able
to manage their time and
their sanity!

All

Understands how to recruit


internationally

Understands the differences


across employment
markets; understands
cultural differences so does
not discriminate; able to
interview and assess remotely

HQ recruitment
specialists

44
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Exemplified by:

Examples

Understands the safety and security


implications for employees based
abroad

Keeps abreast of security


issues in countries of
relevance; involved in
contingency planning
team (eg for emergency
evacuations, terrorist attacks,
etc)

Security experts

Able to design and run learning


events for employees dispersed in
different countries

Learning specialists

Able to manage consultants and


outsourced employees

HR director

Strong networking skills on an


international basis

HR director, business
partners

Knowledge and understanding of the


organisational and HR competencies
in other similar organisations

Being on top of what other


organisations do through
their HR functions to bring
the organisation success
is key, as well as knowing
what the competencies are
for HR functions in similar
organisations

HR director, OD
experts

Knowledge of how to develop and


use relevant supporting HR systems

Requires an understanding
of different hardware and
software, and broadband
constraints in each country

HR IT systems expert

Ability to capture and use relevant


knowledge to enhance knowledge
management systems internationally

Knowledge
management expert

Ability in solving complex peoplerelated problems

Business partners

Linking roles to the required competencies for HR professionals

Competency

45
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Making the link between global strategy and an international HR framework

HR role

Competencies

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

46
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