INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

International Business Management

Name of the Institution]

Table fo Contents

Section A3

Introduction3

The global manager defined3

Selection criteria4

Critical Analysis6

Reflective Statement8

Section B8

Question1)8

HRM of Japanese Companies in the Global Competition Age of the 1990s9

Reflective Statement11

References13

International Business Management

Section A

Introduction

Many firms still view overseas assignments as luxury posts and/or reward for previous work (Black and Gregersen, 1999, pp:44). In effect, many are superficially enthusiastic regarding the necessity of global management development, making it difficult for human resources to secure funding for training and budgets. Current expenditures for one United States expatriate can range from US$300,000 to US$1,000,000 annually (Black and Gregersen, 1999, pp77). If an expatriation assignment fails, it leads to additional early repatriation costs that are estimated at US$150,000 to US$200,000 per manager, or nearly US$2 billion a year for American corporations (Harvey, 1996, pp133). Intangible costs such as damaged relationships can be even greater than the quantifiable budget expenses.

The global manager defined

Historically, managers were selected for overseas assignments based on their technical competence and/or fire fighting ability (Harvey, 1996, pp144; Black and Gregersen, 1999, pp:179). Much of the need for expatriation was to solve an immediate business problem (i.e. troubled plant starts, government tax issues, etc). Most of these assignments were considered somewhat short term and very little cultural training was offered. As a result, little attention was paid to creating candidate pools and development programs in an effort to grow business outside the home market. If a manager in another region was exceptional, it was more likely due to luck rather than deliberate selection.

This does not hold true for today's business environment. Markets are well outside the country of origin. Corporations have to take the time to assess why they are embarking on transnational management and apply appropriate candidate selection. If they are sending the employee overseas to fix an immediate problem the firm might be able to skip formal and expensive programs if it is a technical issue that can be worked through engineers with the same background and position in a matter of days or weeks. However, if the candidate is being sent over to train local managers and/or to get a plant started, skipping language and cultural training will prolong the learning curve for the host subsidiary. (Baruch, 2002, PP:36) If the firm is sending a representative overseas to generate knowledge of the market and/or to develop their leadership skills, careful planning should be put into place that measures the value of the assignment as it relates to the corporation. Very specific objectives need to be detailed. Assignments, interviews, living arrangements and goals must be worked out well in advance.

Successful endeavors in the new environment will require that the candidate develop trusting relationships with local colleagues and customers. This is difficult for many adults to do, especially if they have settled into predictable patterns. The reluctance can increase within unfamiliar surroundings. Sometimes the level or rank of the person is enough to garner cooperation at work. Keep in mind, however, that often more can be learned at the dinner table of a ...