UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

FACULTY OF ACCOUNTANCY AND MANAGEMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014
TRIMESTER OCTOBER 2013
BACHELOR OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS (HONS)
YEAR 3
SUBJECT CODE: UKMB4014
SUBJECT TITLE: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
Tutorial 1: General Introduction Aspects
1. Tutor introduction to students.
2. Students introduction to tutor.
3. Tutorial expectations and participation.
4. Team formation for group assignment.
5. Tutor elaborates group assignment to students.

TUTORIAL

2: LECTURE 1INTRODUCTION TO HRM

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KKs Consulting Manager

Jen Ko graduated from City University in 2005. After considering several job offers, she
decided to go into business with her father, Jak Ko, KKs founder. Jak Ko opened his first
laundry store in 1995 and had expanded to six by 2005. The main business was dry
cleaning and pressing of clothes. Each store had its own on-site manager and about seven
employees.
Jens understanding with her father was that as the KKs Conulting Manager, she would
serve as a troubleshooter or adviser for the company. Her aim is to learn the business and
to introduce modern management concepts to run the business, and to manage employees
effectively.
(Adapted from: Dessler, G. & Tan, C. H. (2009). Human resource management: An Asian
perspective. (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall: Singapore)
1. What are the basic management functions that Jen Ko should make aware to the
site managers?
2. State the difference between line managers and staff managers. Is Jen Ko a line
manager or staff manager? Why?
3. Make a list of 5 specific HR problems you think KK Laundry has to deal with.
4. What would you do first if you were Jen Ko?
5. A HR consultant once said: HR professionals need to scan the environment
everyday whether by the Internet, newspaper, or magazines. Everything has
the potential to impact everything we do. How would Jen Ko explain this to the
site managers?

TUTORIAL

3: LECTURE 2 INTERNATIONALIZATION/GLOBALIZATION OF BUSINESS

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1. The conduct of business has become a truly global activity. Why?

2. What are the stages a firm typically goes through as it grows internationally
and how does each stage affect the HR function?
3. Discuss the impact of internationalization of business and HRM.
4. What are the growing demands on management as a result of international
growth? These demands are not mutually exclusive. Explain.
5. International business operations can take several different forms. What are
the 4 basic types of international organizations, and in what ways do they
differ?

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TUTORIAL

4: LECTURE 3 INTRODUCTION TO IHRM

LECTURE

5TERMS & CONCEPTS OF IHRM

1. What are the main similarities and differences between domestic and
international HRM?
2. Define these terms: international HRM, PCN, HCN, and TCN.

3. Discuss two HR activities in which a multinational firm must engage that

would not be required in a domestic environment.
4. Why is a greater degree of involvement in employees personal lives inevitable
in many international HRM activities?
5. Discuss at least two of the variables that moderate differences between
domestic and international HR practices.

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TUTORIAL

5: LECTURE 4 COMPETENCIES OF HR MANAGERS

LECTURE 5TERMS & CONCEPTS OF IHRM

1. What are the competencies required of a manager for effective HR

management? In your opinion, what is the most important competency or
proficiency that an IHR manager must possess?
2. In comparing with domestic HR managers, what additional competencies
should an IHRM managers should possess?
3. Define stakeholders. Who are the stakeholders of a multinational company?
4. Describe the strategic importance of HRM.
5. Describe HRs role in organizational ethics. Provide some examples of ethical
misconduct in HR activities, and discuss the consequences of such
misconduct.

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TUTORIAL

6: LECTURE 6 STAFFING INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS

1. Outline the main characteristics of the four approaches to international

staffing.
1. ethnocentric - MNCs following an ethnocentric staffing policy would appoint
mostly parent-country nationals (PCNs) to top positions at their subsidiaries. An
ethnocentric company believes that home-country management style, knowledge,
and practices are better than those in the host country.
2. polycentric - MNCs following a polycentric staffing policy would prefer to
appoint host-country nationals (HCNs). A polycentric company believes that only
host-country managers can really understand the culture and behavior of their
markets.Overseas operations should be managed by local managers.
3. geocentric - MNCs following a geocentric staffing policy would simply
appoint the best person, regardless of his/her nationality and that could include
third-country nationals (TCNs).TCNs are nationals of a country other than the
MNCs home country and the country of the subsidiary.
4. regiocentric - In this approach, managers are transferred on a regional basis,
such as Europe, North America, and Asia. It often forms a midway station
between a pure ethnocentric or polycentric approach and a truly geocentric
approach.

2. Which factors determine the choice of a staffing approach? Would a MNE

choose the same staffing approach worldwide? Place your arguments in the
context of the model outlining determinants of staffing choices.
1. Context specificities external cultural context, institutional context, staff
availability, and type of industry.
2. Company specific variables (internal) MNC structure and strategy,
international experience, corporate governance, and organizational culture.
3. Local unit specificitiesestablishment method (whether it is a green field
investment, a merger, an acquisition, or a shared partnership), the strategic role of
the subsidiary, its strategic importance for the MNC as a whole, the need of
control, and the locus of decision.
4. HRM practices

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Selection, training and development, compensation, and career management

including expatriation as well as repatriation play an important role in the
development of effective policies required to support a preferred staffing choice.
3. State the reasons for using PCNs, HCNs, and TCNs.
Slide 26 28.
4. Differentiate between workforce and labor force. What factors determine
the size of the labor force?
The term workforce refers to any firms employees.
The term labor force applies to the pool of potential employees, the labor
market, from which a firm hires its workforce.
5. What are the factors to be taken into consideration in global HR planning?
1. the quantity and quality of employment in a country.
2. the levels of employment and unemployment within a country.
3. the labor force participation rates of various segments of a countrys
population. For example, the participation rates of men and women in various
locations.
4. the occupational and industrial structures of employment in a country.
5. the quality and extent of education for various components of a countrys
population.
6. Whether the education or skills required for a particular job would require a
firm to seek job candidates from all over the world.
7. Whether mainly local people would be expected to apply for a particular job
due to individual employment preferences or host government requirements.

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TUTORIAL

7: LECTURE 7 INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT

1. What are the reasons for using international assignments?

2. Describe the different types of standard international assignments. What are
the differences between traditional and short-term assignments?
3. Describe the different types of non-standard international assignments. State
the main advantage and disadvantage of using non-standard international
assignments.
4. When an expat takes up an international assignment, he/she and the family
need to adapt and adjust to the new culture and working environment. What
are the adjustments an expat needs to go through during the process of
international assignment?
5. Why is it important to measure return on investment of international
assignments? Which indicators can be used?

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TUTORIAL
STAFF

8:

LECTURE

8 RECRUITMENT

AND SELECTION OF INTERNATIONAL

1. Define expatriate failure. Should multinationals be concerned about

expatriate failure? If so, why?
2. If you were an IHR manager, how would you select a candidate for an
international assignment?
3. What are the individual factors involved in the selection decisions?
4. What are the important contextual or situational factors involved in the
selection decisions?
5. Identify the common methods used to recruit and select expats for
international assignment.

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TUTORIAL

9: LECTURE 9--INTERNATIONAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

1. Assume you are an HR director for a small company that has begun to use
international assignments. You are considering using an external consulting
firm to provide predeparture training for employees, as you do not have the
resources to provide this inhouse. What components will you need
covered? How will you measure the effectiveness of the predeparture
training program provided by the external consultant?
2. How do MNCs prepare international staff for foreign assignments? What are
the objectives of prepare them for the overseas assignment?
Preparation involves the following:
3. Why do some MNCs appear reluctant to provide basic predeparture
training?
4. Why is it important to provide cross-cultural training to international
assignees? What are the objectives of cross-cultural training?
5. In your opinion, what are the major trends and challenges faced in training
expatriate managers?

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TUTORIAL

10: LECTURE 10--INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION

1. What should be the main objectives for a multinational firm with regard to its
compensation policies? On the other hand, what should employees try to
achieve from the compensation plan provided by the company?
2. Describe the main differences in the Going Rate and Balance Sheet
approaches to international compensation.
3. What are the key differences in salary compensation for PCNs and TCNs? Do
those differences matter?
4. What are the main points that MNEs must consider when deciding how to
provide benefits? What are the major types of benefits being offered by a
firm?
5. Why is it important for MNEs to understand the compensation practices of
other countries?

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TUTORIAL 11 GROUP PRESENTATIONS

TUTORIAL 12 GROUP PRESENTATIONS
TUTORIAL

13: LECTURE 10--INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

1`. Discuss the major factors associated with appraisal of expatriate managerial
performance.
2. Describe the 3 major activities of an effective performance management.
3. Why is it important to include hard, soft and contextual goals when assessing
managerial performance?
4. Define the term performance appraisal. Provide guidelines for the
performance appraisal process.
5. What is 360 degree appraisal? Do you think this method is appropriate to be
used to evaluate expats performance? Why or why not?

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TUTORIAL

14: LECTURE 12--GLOBAL HEALTH, SAFETY, SECURITY, AND CRISIS

MANAGEMENT
LECTURE

13--CHALLENGES OF IHRM

1. Differentiate the terms health, safety, and security. Why global health and
safety has become an important issue for MNCs?
2. What are the specific health and safety concerns when sending staff for
overseas assignments?
3. Suggest how a MNC deal with the health and safety challenges for travelers
and international assignees.
4. What are the stages of crisis management that MNCs typically go through
when a crisis actually occurs? Determine the components of crisis
management.
5. In your opinion, what is the most significant challenge of IHRM?

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