Research Proposal: Driving the Development of Leadership Talent in

Topcon Corporation

Table of Contents
Glossary......................................................................................................................................2
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................3
1.1.

Topic Introduction.......................................................................................................3

1.2.

Research Aims.............................................................................................................4

1.3.

Research Questions.....................................................................................................4

Chapter 2: Literature Review.....................................................................................................5

2.1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................5
2.2. Role of HRM in global companies..................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6
Appendices.................................................................................................................................7
Appendix- 1: Global sales of TopCon in FY 2015.....................................................................7

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Research Proposal: Driving the Development of Leadership Talent in

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Glossary
ASEAN

Association of South East Asian Nations

EA

East Africa

ECOWAS

Economic Community of West African States

EU

European Union

HRM

Human Resource Management

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement

SADC

Southern African Development Community

MNC

Multi- National Corporation

SHRM

Strategic Human Resource Management

IHRM

International Human Resource Management

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Research Proposal: Driving the Development of Leadership Talent in

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. Topic Introduction
Globalisation has emerged with opening the world's economy as a common
marketplace, but also poses challenges to the human resource management (HRM). These
challenges are pertinent to those national or multi- national organisations which are operating
across national boundaries. Globalisation has caused human as well as financial resource to
flow freely between all the economies and associations, including the developed nation of
European Union (EU), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community, (SADC) and East Africa (EA)
(Mzee, 2012, p. 208). These developments have marked the need to alter the business and
management practices to tune to the global markets so that the competitive edge of the
business can be maintained.
It is imperative to understand these changes since there are vast and vivid differences
between the countries, which influence the attractiveness of the Foreign Direct Investments in
all these nations. Further, the economic viability of operating in different nations are highly
influenced and framed by these factors, which in turn, poses impact on the HRM practices
(Mzee, 2012, p. 208). Further, the business environment has not just opened to make the
world economies as one marketplace, but is highly dynamic, turbulent and uncertain, adding
to the complexity. In the light of these developments, every business that wishes to survive,
stay competitive and capture the pie of the global market share must alter its HRM practices.

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Research Proposal: Driving the Development of Leadership Talent in

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The situation becomes more vital when it comes to technology- oriented companies
like Topcon Corporation. Founded in 1932, Topcon is operating in about 27 countries with 86
companies and employs a workforce of about 4,459 people globally (Topcon, 2016). The
business operations of the company constitutes positioning, eye care smart infrastructure and
other segments including healthcare, agriculture and infrastructure. Topcon earns majority of
its revenues from North America, followed by Europe, Japan, Asia/ Oceania, Sub- Saharan
region and China (Topcon, 2016). The global sales per cent is given in Appendix- 1.
The thesis studies the challenges faced by companies operating globally, with specific
reference to Topcon Corporation, and the HRM practices and strategies that the companies
can undertake to leverage their leadership talent and maintain their competitive edge.

1.2. Research Aims

The main objective of the business is to study and assess the blend of HRM practices
in global companies to drive the development of leadership talent and stay competitive in the
global world. In order to achieve this aim, a number of research objectives have been framed,
and are outlined as under:

Assess the need for developing and implementing HRM practices in the light of

changing and dynamic business environment

Evaluate the HRM strategies and practices that can be implemented by global

managers to maintain competitive edge

Study the impact of globalisation on Japanese companies by way of the challenges

faced and solutions implemented by them

Develop and recommend leadership planning framework for Topcon Corporation

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Research Proposal: Driving the Development of Leadership Talent in

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1.3. Research Questions
A number of research questions have been developed in order to meet the above stated
aims of the research. The major research questions are stated as under:

What are the major HR- related challenges faced by companies operating globally?
How successful is the development of leadership talent in organisations to meet these

challenges?
What strategic tools can be used by managers to develop leadership talent in global
organisations?

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1. Introduction
This chapter focuses on the literature given by academicians, researchers and analysts
to gather the theoretical framework with respect to the need for global human resource
management practices in the organisations operating on a global framework. The aim of the
chapter is to gather the vast literature from well- studied and researched that can be taken
forward to assess and evaluate the objectives of the research. The chapter will focus on the
need of formulating and implementing the HRM practices in the light of the changing
business environment. It will study the need for change in the role of human resource
management for the globally operating organisations so as to maintain their competitive edge.
Further, the concept of international human resource management, the associated challenges
and the solutions to overcome those issues will be assessed. Further, the chapter will analyse
the need for newer developments and evolutions in the concept of human resource
management. In the light of this, the new developments like strategic human resource
management, sustainable human resource management, high performance work systems, eHRM would be discussed in detail.
Further, the chapter will also throw some light on the work practices by the Japanese
companies in general and the impact of globalisation on them. The impact of globalisation on
the operations and competitiveness of the Japanese organisations would be studied to
understand the magnitude of impact, challenges faced and the solutions implemented to
overcome those challenges.

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2.2. Role of HRM in global companies
Global competition has become a norm and it had been forecasted that in the coming
years, the trade between nations will excel and surpass the trade and commerce within the
national boundaries (Daft, 1997). As per Gregerson et al. (1998), the global organisations, in
order to survive, must have to scan for competitors, consumers, suppliers, technology and
human resources. Further, the authors view that the technology oriented industries like
semiconductors, telecommunications, commercial aircraft, computers, consumer electronics
etc. the situation would be tougher. Hence, the global organisations or multi- national
corporations (MNC) are often encountered with the challenge of selecting and implementing
various management approaches that helps to achieve their organisational goals (Dupuis,
2014). The role of HRM has been augmented since the causation of global crises, surge in
international competition, rapid structural changes in organisations, and rise in strategic
management complexity across various cultures (Savaneviciene and Kersiene, 2015). These
changes have called upon the need to focus and transfer the HRM practices throughout the
organisation. Harvey and Novicevic (2003) support the argument and states that the success
of the firm is highly influenced by the effectiveness of the global human resource
management; which at the same time is highly complicated and tough to manage.
It has been observed that the organisation and HR department which fails to integrate
strategically and continues to be highly involved with the administrative approach are not
able to compete effectively and loose its relevance in the global market (Krishnan and Singh,
2004). But it is not an easy task since all the subsidiary companies operating in different
countries have contrasting cultural differences. The key is to form strategies for the
integration and interaction between all these cultural differences to form one culture, which

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Topcon Corporation
can help the organisation to reap the benefits of all the cultures using shared values,
knowledge and experiences (Sderberg and Holden, 2002).
Researchers like Armstrong and Baron (2004) have stated that an organisation can
maintain competitive edge and attain organisational success when the skillset, abilities and
experiences of the human resource are combined with the interest of the organisation. The
authors have further stated that the focus on strategic management leads to attain competitive
advantage (Armstrong and Baron, 2004). As the organisations and the market place grow
exponentially, the HR of the organisation must look into new developments to embrace the
goals and objectives of the organisation. Some of the challenges and developments in the
HRM are discussed in detail in the next sections of the literature.

2.3. Challenges of International HRM

It has been studied and found that the role of HRM has been changed and increased
with the opening up of the global markets, as the competition rises, and it becomes
challenging to maintain the competitive edge. It is important to note that the business as well
as HRM strategies adopted by the organisation operating on a global arena would
significantly differ from a firm operational within the national boundaries of an economy.
Morris et al. (2009) have found that due to the nature of HRM be complex and contentspecific, global organisations often fail to imitate their business practices across their
subsidiaries that are not only geographically but also culturally dispersed. This means that the
organisations operating on the global arena must focus on international HRM instead of
HRM. However, there are many issues faced by such organisations which include
reproducing the IHRM practices to subsidiary companies operating across the world,
management of global talent and management of culturally- diverse workforce (Morris et al.,
2009; Gordon, 2010; Scroggins and Benson, 2010). Other than these issues, when the
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business grows, the HRM practices are also affected including rewards, compensation and
union issues (Friedman, 2007).
As stated, one of the most important issues of IHRM is the reproduction of IHRM
practices across global boundaries. Chambers (2013) believes that international often fails
and faces this issue due to the absence of proper foresight and planning capabilities with
respect to human resources of the organisation. Friedman (2007) has stated that replication
should be not just about the application of host country's HRM policies to the global
organisations, but replicating the best practices in the subsidiaries. By doing so precisely and
consistently, firms would be able to achieve competitive advantage on the global arena. The
skilful execution of knowledge transfer and management can also help the organisations
attain transformation and replication of global strategies (Lee and Wu, 2010).
The next identified challenge faced by the international firms is the management of
global talent. China Business Newsweekly (2010) has published that as the global world is
recovering from the recent financial crises, the challenge of recruiting talent in the emerging
markets has been growing.

2.4. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Strategic Human Resource Management is one of the concepts and developments in
the field of human resource management that has emerged to augment the performance of the
organisation and maintain competitive edge in the global market place. The phenomenon of
SHRM was propounded during 1970s and 1980s with the aim to manage employees in the
business environment characterised by uncertainty and rapid changes. Hendry and Pettigrew
(1986) defined SHRM as a process in which the people are viewed as a strategic resource
who leads to building competitive advantage for the organisation. Schuler and Walker (1990)
viewed SHRM as the integration of the organisational processes and activities by both human
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resources as well as line managers with the aim to solve business issues related to people. The
concept of SHRM has also been identified by Bulter et al. (1991) as a macro- organisational
approach that views the overall roles and functions of the human resources in the large
organisations. Further, SHRM is considered as an approach in which the organisation is able
to achieve its goals by planning the deployments and activities of the human resource. Purcell
(1999) states that SHRM is about the activities that helps to achieve a competitive advantage.
Another definition of SHRM has been provided by Batt (2007) which talks about the
alignment between the strategy of the human resource management and the organisation.
The researchers have identified various definitions of SHRM on the basis of focus on
strategy, decision, content and implementation (Kazmi and Ahmad, 2001). The strategy
focused approach of SHRM had been given by Mathis and Jackson (1985) and identifies it to
have strategic linkages and that the core nature of HRM is strategic. Devanna et al. (1981)
formulated the decision- focussed approach of SHRM and considers that the organisation has
to undertake decisions at different levels that are operational, managerial and strategic, and
HRM is responsible for strategic decision making. Further, Torrington and Hall (1995)
proposed the centred- focussed approach of SHRM which is characterised by the aligning of
the elements of HRM with the overall strategy of the organisation. Finally, the
implementation- focussed approach of SHRM deals with the case when the HRM systems aid
in formulating and implementing the business strategies (Miles and Snow, 1984). However,
all these definitions have one thing in common, that the HR activities of the organisation are
to be aligned with the strategy of the organisation, so that it can remain competitive in the
global market place and deal with the uncertainties of the turbulent business environment
effectively.

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SHRM have been adopted to synchronise between the organisational goals with the
people management policies and practices (Kramar, 2014). SHRM has been practiced by
organisations to study and manage the employment policies on the behavioural aspect of the
individuals, employee productivity and outcomes; with the aim to attain the organisational
gaols more effectively and efficiently and surge performance (Lundy and Cowling, 1996).
The research by Pfeffer (1998) and Macky and Boxall (2008) conclude that SHRM is closely
related to the financial outcomes of the organisation. Further, Ulrich (1998) posits that the HR
department of any organisation must assume four roles, including becoming strategic
business partner. Another research by Youndt and Snell (1996) concluded that the firms
which align the organisational strategies in its HR practices tend to enjoy perpetual
performance.

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References
Dupuis. J.P. (2014) New approaches in cross-cultural management research- The importance
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Cross Cultural Management, 14 (1), 67-84
Chambers, M.S. (2013) An Exploration into the Challenges Facing Practitioners of
International Human Resource Management: A Literature Review International Journal
of Business and Social Science, 4(6), 21- 27
Lee, C.Y., and Wu, F.C. (2010) Factors affecting knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity
in multinational corporations Journal of International Management Studies, 5(2), 118-126
China Business Newsweekly (2010, December 15) Towers Watson: Companies worldwide
view talent as biggest obstacle to future growth, towers Watson survey finds China
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Friedman, B.A. (2007) Globalization implications for human resource management roles
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Daft, R. (1997) Management New York: Dryden
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Scroggins, W.A. and Benson, P.G. (2010) International human resource management:
Diversity, issues and challenges Personnel Review, 39(4), 409-413
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Gregersen, H.B., Morrison, A.J. and Black, J.S. (1998) Developing Leaders for the Global
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(2016)

TOPCON

at

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Appendices

Appendix- 1: Global sales of TopCon in FY 2015

Source: Topcon, 2016

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