Chapter 01

4. Why is a greater degree of involvement in employees’ personal lives inevitable in many

IHRM activities?

Answer: IHRM stands for International Human Resource Management. The HR department
must have the information about employee’s personal status like their marital status, how many
children they have etc. In the international environment, HR participation is huge. They provide
the level of support which are exactly needed the most. The degree of involvement in many
IHRM activities is more significant because the HR department must ensure that the
international assignee understands the different aspect of his relocation and must make sure that
he is working in a conducive environment as well as his family is well taken care of.

A greater degree of involvement in employees’ personal lives is necessary for the selection,
training and effective management. Expatriates are required to perform their best in international
countries and it has been found that a lot of international employees are unsuccessful as they
cannot adjust without their families or else spouses in an entirely new condition. It will assist the
company to access comprehensive details regarding the emotional stability of the employees,
their willingness to relocate to the new country, family stability, and family perspectives. It will
be a great help in planning the relocation and future performance of employees.

5. Discuss at least two of the variables that moderate differences between domestic and
international HR practices.

Answer: International human resource management is very different from the domestic human
resource management because it must consider more factors than the domestic human resources
management.

1. compared to domestic HRM, in international HRM, there are more and varied HR
activities. In international HRM, the volume of the same HR activities which are relevant
for domestic HRM too increases because these activities have to be performed in a
different context.
For example, when employee is chosen for an international assignment, he needs
additional training which would enable him to adjust in the new environment. This
 training will be in addition to training meant for skill development for performing the job
effectively.
2. compared to domestic HRM, international HRM requires much wider perspective in
respect of almost all HR activities. It implies that HR managers have to consider a variety
of factors in making decisions on any issue of international HRM. Many of these factors
are not relevant in the case of domestic HRM.
For example, while fixing international compensation packages, HR managers have to
take into account the cost of living of different international locations to bring some kind
of parity among employees working at different locations. Similarly, fringe benefits have
to be provided to suit conditions of different locations.
3. IHRM addresses a wide range of activities as compared to domestic HRM. For example,
IHRM deals with activities related to international taxation, foreign currencies, exchange
rates coordination, and international orientation of employees, whereas such activities are
irrelevant from the perspective of HRM.

Chapter 02
1. What are the stages a firm typically goes through as it grows internationally and how
does each stage affect the HR function?
answer: The first step to internationalization is export. Exporting is the mode of entry
that is characterized by the process of marketing and direct selling of domestically-
produced goods in another country. Exporting is often handled by a foreign agent or
distributor. At this stage, the role of the HR department is unclear.
The next step is the establishment of a sales subsidiary that will replace the foreign
agent or distributor. A multinational may be prompted to create a sales subsidiary if
there are problems with foreign agents, is it has more confidence in international
activities, if it desires greater control or if to want to give greater support to exporting
activities. Expatriates may be selected and sent to oversee the operations in the sales
subsidiary, thus requiring the HR department to be involved. During the international
division phase, creation of a separate division in which international activities are
grouped is already taking place. The international division resembles the operation
and activities of the domestic organization. Subsidiary managers’ report to head of
 international division. Objectives regarding foreign activities may determine
approach to staffing of key positions. When the subsidiary has reached a bigger size,
a global product/area division may be established. During this stage, the IHRM
department is more active.
2. What are the specific HRM challenges in a networked firm?
answer: Human Resource Management is the strategic approach to the effective
management of people in a company or organization such that they help their
business gain a competitive advantage. Its focus is to maximize employee
performance in service of an employer's strategic objectives. The duty of a HR
department is to hire the skilled workforce suitable for the operation and need of the
department.
The challenges faced in networked firm are:

1. Communication problems are majorly faced by employees. The communication of the

standards set by the management is difficult to maintain in a networked firm.

2. Problem are faced through culturalism. The HR department combinedly hire various
people from various places. For this the coordination sometimes may disbalance in such
work environment.

3. Decision making process might get delay. As individual department has to take
decisions that is why sometimes the decision from department to department might get
time to meet each decisions.

4. In network firm there must be needed for expert employees rather than trainees. For
maintaining those expertise the firm needs to pay more. This might get more expensive.

5. There are various employee in a network firm from different background and
operations this might be a challenge in higher diversification.

Chapter 03

1. Describe the formation process of cross-border mergers, acquisitions and

international joint ventures. What are the major differences?
 answer: The formation process of a merger, acquisition and international joint venture
involves the following:

 Planning: this stage involves the signing of the letter of intent, advisor
appointment, creating and documenting the timetable, transaction method and
expert report
 Resolution: this stage is also vital which involves meetings of Board of
Director, extraordinary shareholder, identification of opposition party and go
ahead from the antitrust authority.
 Implementation: this is a stage involving the enrolment of the merger deed in
the Company Register.
Alliances between strong and weak companies rarely work. They do not provide the
missing skills needed for growth, and they lead to average performance. Alliances
with an even split of financial ownership are more likely to succeed than those in
which one partner holds a majority interest. What matters is clear management
control, not financial ownership.
The major difference among these three are:
 Merger: A merger is when two separate companies combine with one another
to create a newly formed organization.
 Acquisition: An acquisition is when one business entity takes over another,
usually with the intent of adding the acquired entity as a subsidiary to its
business portfolio.
 Joint Venture: A joint venture involves two separate entities undertaking a
company or business together, sharing its profit, loss and control. The venture
is maintained as its own entity, separate from the other parties’ companies
business interests.
4. In which ways do cultural and institutional differences impact the HR integration in
M&As and in IJVs?
answer: Cultural and institutional differences may impact HR integration in Mergers and
Acquisitions (M&A’s) and in International joint ventures (IJVs) in many ways.
 One way is there being unfavorable conditions when it comes to behaviors in politics and
the legal environment of labor markets.

The participating organizations might have two different hiring and firing process. In
addition, new organizations may have issues when determining a new organizations
structure. That will be able to support and cope with the cultures of both organizations.
Furthermore, during organizational restructuring of the existing workforce, HR can face
challenges in the decision-making process of employee eliminations and new hires.

As one manager from one organization might have better management skill but another from
another organization might have better local language skill set which may help the team to
understand and cope with the new environment easily. In this situation, HR integration may
be affected and it may be hard to determine the best fit. A better manager or average manager
with better local cultural and language skill set. Also, HR integration may also get impacted
due to communication and policy structures when there are cultural and institutional
differences in International Joint Ventures.

Lastly, there may be conflict between two companies because they may be following
different sets of rules and or guidelines in regards to HR policies and procedures.

Chapter 04

3. What are the reasons for using international assignments?

Answer: Employees are sent on international assignments for various reasons, either
specific to the organization or the employee. There are three key organizational
reasons for sending employees on international assignments.
Position filling reasons concerns the transfer of technical and managerial knowledge.
Expatriates can be sent on international assignments to transfer their own managerial
knowledge and technical skills to workers in the host country. These assignments are
undertaken if there is a lack of available skills in the host country.
Expatriates are also sent on international assignments for management development
reasons to gain the international experience and career growth. This form of
international assignment is increasingly known to be a fundamental building block to
 leadership competency. International assignments have a strong influence on building
global and managerial competencies.
The third reason for international assignments is organizational development.
Expatriates undertaking an international assignment for organization development
reasons may gain a broader perspective and become familiar with more operations.

6. As a newly appointed Project Manager of a research team, you consider that you will
be able to manage the project virtually from your office in London, even though the
other six members are located in Munich. This will solve your personal dilemma as
your family does not want to be relocated. The project has a six-month deadline.
What factors should you need to consider in order to make this virtual assignment
effective?

Answer: Virtual project management is where the employees and managers are
located in different areas as in this case, the Project Manager’s office is in London
whereas the other six team members are in Munich.

General project management has five phases in life cycle: Initiation, Planning,
Execution, Monitoring and control and finally Closing of the project. Here the project
manager needs to develop the project plan, lead and manage the project team,
determine the methodology used on the project, establish a project schedule and
determine each phase, assign tasks to project team members and provide regular
updates to upper management. Everything has to be done virtually.
So, one of the biggest challenges for the project managers will be how to make sure
that their remote employees feel connected to the organization and are working
towards the same goal. For this reason, it is very important to establish clear goals,
clearly communicate to the employees what you expect from them and what they can
expect from you and hold online team meetings and conferences on a regular basis.

Communication is the key factor here. When you are interacting on calls or via chat
or emails, it means that you need to draft a detailed communication plan with clearly-
defined steps to ensure the free flow of accurate information across the team. The
below are the factors which needs to be implemented :

 Regular updates to the team on and review what each member has done –
providing them feedback and suggestions on a timely basis.

 Virtual teams run on technology. So, specific tools are required so that
communication and history of communication stays intact till project ends.
For example, Skype for chatting, Microsoft teams for virtual meetings,
Microsoft Flow for workflow management and scheduling through Doodle
 All should also know who they need to report to – to avoid any confusion.
Regular video conferences and review meetings can also help develop
familiarity among the team members.
In a virtual environment, where people often work on a flexi-hours basis, it is
not possible for a project manager to track the number of hours each person
has worked. In such a case, the performance of a person can be judged by the
quantity and quality of work done by an individual.
Besides the right tools, making communication a priority, and holding team
meetings on a regular basis to make virtual offices work, there are hundreds of
ways in which you can build a collaborative work culture in the virtual work
environments.