Page 138 - DMGT548_GLOBAL_HRM

Unit 7: Training and Development

Notes
Example: When Ford Australia began manufacturing the Capri model – a sports car
aimed at the U.S. market – Australian production and engineering employees spent time in
Ford’s U.S. factories to quickly gain the necessary knowledge required to meet U.S. safety
regulations.
4. The presence of HCNs may assist in broadening the outlook of parent-company employees
as HCNs have particular knowledge and skills that can be transferred into parent
operations.
Cultural adjustment is inherent in international staff transfers, regardless of the direction of the
transfer–that is, whether it is the PCN moving to a subsidiary, a HCN coming into parent
operations, or transferring to another subsidiary. In order to design and implement HCN pre-
departure training, local management, particularly those in the HR department, need to be
conscious of the demands of an international assignment.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

7. Most expatriates are selected from within the multinational’s existing operations.
8. Once an employee has been selected for an expatriate position, personality development
training is considered to be the next critical step.

9. The self-awareness is to provide the trainees with insight into their receptiveness and
propensity for successful cross-cultural assignments.
10. The specific knowledge acquisition phase includes area studies, language studies and host
attitude awareness.
11. It is not very significant for the trainee to become aware of the attitudes he or she will face
in the host country.
12. Trainees must also be alerted to possible negative attitudes toward nationality, race, or
gender.

7.3 Developing Staff for International Assignments

Foreign assignments are an important mechanism for developing international expertise – for
both management and organisational development. Many multinationals are conscious that
they need to provide international experience to several levels of managers and not just to a
small cadre of PCNs.
Techniques employed to develop the staff through international assignments are:

1. One technique used to develop larger pools of employees with international experience is
through short-term development assignment ranging from a few months to several years.

Example: The Swedish-Swiss conglomerate ABB, have carried on the practice of
developing small cadres of international employees rather than internationalising everyone.

2. International job rotation is also a well-established technique for developing multinational
teams and international operators. It is supported by PCN, TCN, and HCN attendance at
common training and development programmes held either in the parent country, or
regional centres, or both.

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