Assignment #3

Assignment #3

• Importance of Training. Explain why training is such a critical factor in expatriate success.

Expatriate training programs are vital for managers working in foreign countries. In this case, the six managers to be hired from the US will need pre-departure training to assist them in settling in Brazil. Li (2016) underscored that expatriate training expedites the translation process by equipping foreign employees and their families with the mindset and necessary skills to interact with people from other cultures. Therefore, the primary goal for expatriate training is to help foreign employees acclimatize to the new working and living environment by assisting them in adjusting to the anticipated cultural and geographical change quickly. Other importance of expatriate program includes the following:

Cross-culture enhancement: 

Cross-culture training is the practice of increasing the individual’s ability to understand and cope with the values, ethos, and way of life of another culture. Cross-culture training helps emigrants and their families to understand cultural differences in their new country to reduce stress relocation and offer coping strategies (Min, Magnini, & Singal, 2013). Emigrants receive training in various fields such as business etiquette, leadership style, and work relations.

Boosts Integration process

Employees who are sent abroad must be trained on how to integrate and settle in the new countries with little difficulties. Cross-culture training is one of integration learning skills, where expatriates are trained on how to appreciate and respect other peoples’ cultures (Li, 2016). Better integration is accompanied by providing a detailed overview of the expected differences between home and host country’s culture. Moreover, workers must be taught to develop emotional flexibility in accepting strange behavior and values in the host countries. For instance, dietary changes are among unfamiliar changes that expatriates must be willing to take.

Improved Communication Skills: 

Based on Myers and Hofstede’s cultural dimensional models, there is a cultural difference in how Americans and Brazilians communicate. For example, Americans are direct and like constant eye contact, which is not the case for Brazilians (Telles & Flores, 2013). Moreover, Americans love short negotiations, unlike Brazilians whose negotiations take time. Therefore, as a manager, it is paramount to understand the communication style of the new country to be an effective negotiator in business operations. The language barrier is another expected hindrance, not only by the fact that Americans are English-speaking while Brazilians are Portuguese-speaking but also other differences in non-verbal communication (Telles & Flores, 2013). For example, one needs to be trained on the meaning of smiling or nodding to someone.

Enhanced Human Resource Integration: 

A foreign manager is expected to deal with host employees. Consequently, it is paramount to train the expatriate managers on human resource policies adopted in the host country. For example, the selection and recruitment policy, taxation policy, promotion guidelines, and termination policies in the host country (Lowe, Milliman, De Cieri, & Dowling, 2002). Moreover, pre-departure training of human resources should focus on how foreign workers should relate to the host. For example, how do locals perceive a female boss? Are intermarriages welcome? Among other considerations.

• Importance of Intercultural Competency. Describe intercultural competency and why it is essential for these managers. How is intercultural competency developed?

Intercultural competence is a term that is used to describe the ability to function effectively across different cultures. The term is used synonymously with multiculturalism. The competent intercultural employee is one that can perform, act, think, communicate, and work effectively with other people from another culture both at home and abroad. Intercultural competence is vital for managers as it reduces intercultural conflict, thereby enhancing teamwork and collaboration in an organization. Therefore, intercultural competence is a critical asset in an increasingly globalized world where people can interact with other people from different countries and culture. Indeed, intercultural competence helps in inculcating cross-culturalism in society. Intercultural competence has numerous benefits:

Knowledge of the local market:

Intercultural competence gives a multinational company advantage when expanding into new markets. Often when a competent intercultural manager leads product promotion, research has shown that such products are likely to succeed (Souiden, M’Saad, & Pons, 2011). Intercultural competence helps an individual to understand the customs, regulations, market dynamics and prevailing laws which benefits the expansion program.

The motivation of employees:

One of the failures of multinational companies and expatriate managers is the failure to understand the needs of the local employees (Li & Scullion, 2010). However, competent intercultural managers understand local employees and can motivate them accordingly using appropriate problem-solving skills that relate to their culture.

More significant opportunity for personal growth and development:

When recruiting for a manager to be sent abroad, the firm’s senior management always selects who is perceived to be interculturally competent. This selection is the first step towards the career development of the selected individual (Li & Scullion, 2010). Fundamentally, expatriate managers are chosen from ambitious, talented, and globally-minded professionals who like new challenges.

The following steps are used in developing intercultural competence (Li & Scullion, 2010):

Step 1: Understand your own culture first.

The first step to becoming an active intercultural competent individual is by understanding one’s culture. An individual need to know how he or she is defined and program by his or her culture. This is achieved by answering the following questions:

• What kinds of behavior do you perceive acceptable?
• Do you like to communicate with people directly or you allow them to read between the lines?
• Do you like silence or seek confrontation and argument with other people?

Step 2: Listen, observe, and learn.

Before giving personal opinions on an issue, it is paramount to listen to the views and ideas of other people, then observe their verbal and non-verbal communications to understand what they reflect. These ideas will help an individual to learn other people’s culture. The more we learn to listen and observe other peoples’ culture, the more we eliminate cultural conflicts hence improving our cross-cultural competence skill.

Step 3: practice

This step includes practising what has been identified in step 2. A person that listens and appreciates other people’s culture is said to embrace multiculturalism or has developed intercultural competent.

• Proposal for the 5-day training. Create a 5-day training agenda. Choose five topics to focus the expatriate training on. Justify the selection of these topics with literature. Describe how each topic will be presented, practised and assessed.

The proposed expatriate training program below is aimed at helping the American managers to be seamlessly integrated into the new society. The program is designed to take to 5 days comprising of morning and afternoon sessions as shown on the chart below;

Expatriate Training Program for Holiday Villa Hotel

Venue: Holiday Villa Hotel’s Board Room

Date: 8^th June – 13^th June 2020

No of Participants: 6

Facilitator: Human Resource Manager

References:

Li, S., & Scullion, H. (2010). Developing the local competence of expatriate managers for emerging markets: A knowledge-based approach. Journal of World Business, 45(2), 190-196.

Li, Y. (2016). Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate Learning. In Expatriate Manager’s Adaption and Knowledge Acquisition (pp. 7-72). Springer, Singapore.

Lowe, K. B., Milliman, J., De Cieri, H., & Dowling, P. J. (2002). International compensation practices: a ten‐country comparative analysis. Human Resource Management: Published in Cooperation with the School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan and in alliance with the Society of Human Resources Management, 41(1), 45-66.

Min, H., Magnini, V. P., & Singal, M. (2013). Perceived corporate training investment as a driver of expatriate adjustment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Souiden, N., M’Saad, B., & Pons, F. (2011). A cross-cultural analysis of consumers’ conspicuous consumption of branded fashion accessories. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(5), 329-343.

Telles, E., & Flores, R. (2013). Not just color: Whiteness, nation, and status in Latin America. Hispanic American Historical Review, 93(3), 411-449.