METHODIST UNIVERSITY COLLEGE GHANA

DEPARTMENT OF HRM AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES

MHRM 626: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

GROUP TERM PAPER

BY
NAME INDEX NUMBER

NAME OF LECTURER

APRIL, 2019

QUESTION:
Discuss the expatriate management policy and practices of a multinational organisation in
Ghana.

1
INTRODUCTION
As the world is becoming more and more global and successful, many companies compete
on the global playing field. This is due to the fact that costs associated with the development
and marketing of new products are too great to be amortised only over one market while
production costs elsewhere could be cheaper around the world. This globalisation of
companies is making it more important than ever to understand how multinational
enterprises can operate more effectively. One major component of this understanding is the
field of human resource management (HRM), and in particular, the field of international
human resource management.

As organisations become globalised, there is an increasing challenge to use expatriates on

international assignments to complete, strategically, critical tasks. Multinational organisations
use expatriates, not only for corporate control and expertise reasons in vital global markets, but
also to facilitate entry into new markets or to develop international management competencies
(Forster 2000).

While it is recognised that human resource management problems are more complex in the
international environment, there is also increased evidence to suggest that the management of
international human resources is increasingly being acknowledged as a major determinant of
success or failure in international business. Expatriate management practices, such as
selection, preparation, liaising with home country representatives, performance evaluation,
repatriation, and career planning, are often found to fall short of the wishes of the
expatriates.

Three major dimensions of expatriate managers includes the self dimension which thrives on the
skills that enable a manager to maintain a positive self-image and psychological wellbeing. Also,
the relationship dimensions which dwells on the skills required to foster relationships with the
host-country nationals. Lastly, is the perception dimension which builds on those skills that
enable a manager to accurately perceive and evaluate the host environment.

2
With the expanding global competition and the growing number of international assignees,
managing expatriates has been a major challenge that relates to the success or failure of an
organization’s implementation of international strategies. In this regard, this exercise discusses
the expatriate management policies and practices of a multinational organisation in Ghana using
MTN Ghana as the case study.

BRIEF BACKGROUND OF MTN GHANA

MTN Group was launched in 1994. The Group is a leading emerging market operator,
connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and is listed on the
JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.”

As of June 2013, MTN recorded 201.5 million subscribers across its operations in Ghana,
Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Guinea Bissau, Guinea
Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa,
Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. MTN’s brand is the most
valuable in Africa, and is ranked in the top 100 brands worldwide.

The Group as the leading provider of telecommunications services in Africa and the Middle East,
entered the Ghanaian market following the acquisition of Investcom in 2006. MTN’s overriding
mission was to be a vehicle for Ghana’s economic growth and development, helping to promote
Ghana’s strong development potential from the provision of world-class telecommunications
products and services, through to innovative and sustainable corporate social investment
initiatives.

As it stands now MTN Ghana has employed over thousands of Ghanaians and other nationals
across board. This makes the organisation suitable for this exercise.

STATUTORY PROVISIONS ON EXPATRIATE MANAGEMENT IN GHANA

The Constitution of Ghana, 1992 which came into force on 7 January 1993 serves as the supreme
law of Ghana. In chapter 5 which covers “Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms”,
provisions are made that protects the rights and interest of every person in Ghana, whatever their

3
race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, religion, creed or gender. Article 12(2) states
expressly that every person in Ghana shall be entitled to the fundamental human rights and
freedoms of the individual contained there in but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of
others and for the public interest”. Article 17(2) also ensures equality and freedom from
discrimination on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic, origin, religion, creed or social or
economic status, and Article 17 (3) amplifies this to cover place of origin and occupation. Article
24 lays down economic rights, including the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy
conditions and to receive equal pay for equal work; its section (3) states, among other things,
that: “Every worker has the right to form or join a trade union of his choice for the promotion
and protection of his economic rights and social interests”. Section (4) permits restrictions if
reasonably necessary in the interest of national security or public order, or for the protection of
the rights and freedoms of others.

In Chapter Six of the 1992 Constitution, Article 40 on international relations states that in its
dealings with other nations, the Government shall, (a) promote and protect the interests of
Ghana; (b) seek the establishment of a just and equitable international economic and social order;
(c) promote respect for international law, treaty obligations and the settlement of international
disputes by peaceful means; (d) adhere to the principles enshrined in or as the case may be, the
aims and ideals of (i) the Charter of the United Nations; (ii) the Charter of the Organisation of
African Unity; (iii) the Commonwealth; (iv) the Treaty of the Economic Community of West
African States; and (v) any other international organisation of which Ghana is a member.

The Labour Act (651) of 2003 further consolidates and updates the various pieces of former
legislation, and introduces provisions to reflect ratified ILO Conventions. The Labour Act covers
all employers and employees except those in strategic positions such as the Armed Forces, Police
Service, Prisons Service and the Security Intelligence Agencies. Major provisions of the Labour
Act include establishment of public and private employment centres, protection of the
employment relationship, general conditions of employment, employment of persons with
disabilities, employment of young persons, employment of women, fair and unfair termination of
employment, protection of remuneration, temporary and casual employees, unions, employers’
organisations and collective agreements, strikes, establishment of a National Tripartite

4
Committee, forced labour, occupational health and safety, labour inspection and the
establishment of the National Labour Commission.

These statutory provisions seek to protect the interest and rights of persons residing in Ghana.
For that matter the interest and rights of the employee is as well protected under these provisions.

EXPATRIATE MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES AT MTN GHANA

Policies are described in broad terms as a line of argument rationalising the course of action of a
government or a plan of action adopted by an individual or a social group. It can also be
described as a plan of action; a written statement of a contract; a written document that serves as
evidence; guiding principle designed to influence decisions, actions, and the like; any standard,
statement, or procedure of general applicability; or, a plan or course of action or a written
principle or rule to guide decision-making. In organisational thinking however, it is described as
the philosophy of the organisation on how to undertake a particular function.

In Ghana expatriation is perceived as an attractive method for accumulating foreign exchange.

Successful international assignments increase international reputation and profits. It is therefore
key in MTN Ghana’s expatriate management policies and practices that training and retaining
people are an important aspect of operational efficiency. The dimensions of policies that have
impact on expatriate management in MTN Ghana include selection, culture, training, adjustment
and repatriation. The values expressed in the overall policy are implicitly or explicitly refer to the
under listed and protected by the 1992 Constitution and the Labour Act (651) of 2003 of Ghana:
Equity: treating employees fairly and justly by adopting an ‘even handed’ approach. This
includes protecting individuals from any unfair decisions made by their managers,
providing equal opportunities for employment and promotion, and operating an
equitable pay system.

Consideration: taking account of individual circumstances when making decisions that affects
the prospects, security or self respect of employees.

5
Organisational learning: a belief in the need to promote the learning and development of all the
members of the organisation by providing the processes and support
required.

Performance through people: the importance attached to developing a performance culture and
continuous improvement; the significance of performance
management as a means of defining and agreeing to mutual
expectations; and the provision of fair feedback to people on how
well they are performing.

Work-life balance: striving to provide employment practices that enable people to balance their
work and personal obligations.

Quality of working life: consciously and continually aiming to improve the quality of working
life. This involves increasing the sense of satisfaction people obtain
from their work by reducing monotony, increasing variety, autonomy
and responsibility, and avoiding placing people under too much stress.

Working conditions: providing healthy, safe and practicable pleasant working conditions.

These values are espoused by many organisations in one form or another. However, the
outstanding issue is to what extent they are practiced when making ‘business-led’ decisions,
which can have detrimental effects on expatriates.

Other specific expatriate management policies at MTN Ghana provide how activities should be
managed. These include managing diversity; age and employment; promotions; reward;
involvement and participation; employee relations; use of new technology, discipline; grievance
management; redundancy; sexual harassment; bullying and substance abuse.

Although expatriate management policies vary considerably between companies based on their
age, size, nature of workforce, position of union amongst others there is a simple policy

6
development procedural framework where certain factors which will determine the modalities of
the policy are defined at MTN Ghana. These include the organisation’s vision; mission; culture;
objectives; and human relations strategies.

Following this was the regulations and documents which needed to be considered. That is
conditions of service; collective agreement; issues in the organisation; government policies,
regulations and decisions; company directives and notices; and decisions of the board of
directors. These help in building up the policies, procedures and practices which are the
guidelines to expatriate management and the instructions for implementation.

In conclusion, it is good to note that it is an important fact that when addressing expatriate
management at MTN Ghana more attention is focused on clear directions about the expatriate’s
job tasks and well-developed training programmes should be provided for the expatriate and
his/her family. The cultural training and adjustment are very important and the expatriate and
his/her family should get help with these issues both from the home country company and the
host country before departure.

Expatriate management policy is the main aim of the training to improve the employee`s overall
working performance and adjustment ability. This provides the expatriate with a smooth
transition to a foreign location consisting several elements such as cultural awareness training,
preliminary visits, language instruction and assistance with practical day-to-day matters.

Cultural awareness is similarly very imperative for expatriates working in the host country.
Cultural training helps the expatriates to be more effective in communication and understand
people from different cultures. Properly designed cultural awareness training enable expatriate to
be aware of the host country`s culture which will helps them to facilitate cultural shocks more
easily and also helping them to create more realistic expectations in a different cultural
surrounding.

It is anticipated that high rate of turnover of expatriates can be seen as they would have gained
valuable international experience upon their return which leads to a great loss for the company if

7
they leave. Therefore the expatriate management policies and practices advises that firms
develop an effective repatriation strategy to tackle these problems. Repatriation is seen as the
final link to the completion of international assignment and it is also seen as importance for the
firm to examine the repatriation phase in order to increase the retention rate of expatriates. The
firm must understand that repatriation period will have impact on expatriates both professionally
and personally on which they must pay attention to three factors which is work environment,
socio-cultural and family, for a successful repatriation process.

8
REFERENCES
International Labour Organisation (2006). ILO Integration: Country Brief on Ghana’s Decent
Work Pilot Programme, forthcoming.
The Constitutions of Ghana (1992)
The Labour Act (651) of 2003
www.mtn.com.