Page 84 - DMGT548_GLOBAL_HRM

Unit 5: Recruitment and Selection for International Assignments

Internal recruitment consists of promotion from within, job posting, and contacts and referrals Notes
by current employees. Another especially good source of recruitment candidates is through the
collection of temporary, part-time, and contract workers that has become known as the “temps”.

Did u know? One technique of the recruitment process is known as the Realistic Job Preview
(RJP), by which every candidate is given all the pertinent and realistic information about
both the job and organisation. Both the positive and negative sides of the job and the firm
are included. In this manner, a candidate can make a more-informed choice and select jobs
for which, he or she is better suited. In the long run, the RJP helps to improve overall job
satisfaction and performance. It also avoids situations where dissatisfaction and poor
performance results from a person finding that the job and its environment were not as
advertised.

5.1.1 MNCs International Staffing Approaches

The four approaches to multinational staffing decisions—ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric,
and regiocentric—tend to reflect the managerial philosophy towards international operations
held by top management at headquarters.

Ethnocentric Approach: An ethnocentric approach to staffing results in all key positions in a
multinational being filled by Parent-country Nationals (PCNs). While this approach may be
common for firms at the early stages of internationalisation, there are often sound business
reasons for pursuing an ethnocentric staffing policy.
1. A perceived lack of qualified Host-country Nationals (HCNs), and
2. The need to maintain good communication, coordination, and control links with corporate
headquarters.
For instance, when a multinational acquires a firm in another country, it may wish to initially
replace local managers with PCNs to ensure that the new subsidiary complies with overall
corporate objectives and policies, or because the local staff may not have the required level of
competence.
An ethnocentric policy, however, has a number of disadvantages. Zeira (1976) has identified
several major problems:

1. An ethnocentric staffing policy limits the promotion opportunities of HCNs, which may
lead to reduced productivity and increased turnover among that group.
2. The adaptation of expatriate managers to host countries often takes a long time during
which PCNs often make mistakes and make poor decisions.
3. When PCN and HCN compensation packages are compared, the often-considerable income
gap in favour of PCNs is viewed by HCNs as unjustified.
4. For many expatriates a key international position means new status, authority, and an
increase in standard of living. These changes may affect expatriates’ sensitivity to the
needs and expectations of their host-country subordinates.
Polycentric Approach: A polycentric staffing policy is one in which HCNs are recruited to
manage subsidiaries in their own country and PCNs occupy positions at corporate headquarters.
The main advantages of a polycentric policy are:
1. Employing HCNs eliminates language barriers, avoids the adjustment problems of
expatriate managers and their families, and removes the need for expensive cultural
awareness training programmes.

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