International Training Essay

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In today’s competitive  global business environment, international human  resources  management  (HRM) systems are of significant importance  for developing global managers. International training may be defined as any procedure  intended  to increase an individual’s ability to cope and work in a foreign environment. The importance  of training in preparing an individual for an intercultural work assignment has become increasingly apparent.  International and intercultural work has become the norm  for most large organizations. Managers are spending shorter  periods in any single country, and they often are moved from one location to another. Because their managers must often operate across borders in teams of internationally  diverse units, many organizations  express the need for managers who quickly adjust to multiple cultures and work well in multinational teams. This makes the challenge of international training increasingly difficult because conventional  methods  that  rely on country  specific knowledge often prove inadequate.

Adjusting to an international assignment can provoke feelings of helplessness in an unprepared manager, who may have difficulty sorting out appropriate from inappropriate behavior. Learning to manage in and cope with a foreign environment involves such a profound personal transformation that it has an analog in the process of human  development  throughout the life span. Expatriate  managers  are removed from the comfortable  environment of their parental culture and placed in a less familiar culture. A management  style that  works at home  may fail to produce the desired response abroad, or it may be even counterproductive.

A growing consensus  in the field of international training is that appropriate  pedagogy of any program must begin with a thorough  and suitable assessment of managers’ strengths  and weaknesses. Methods for individual  assessment   range  from  paper-and-pencil inventories  to elaborate  role-playing exercises to behavioral assessment centers. Once managers are assessed and selected for training programs, the key question becomes what design optimizes their training  and  development.  Organizations   can  improve the quality of managers by providing comprehensive training and development  activities after assessment and selection. Considerable evidence suggests that investments in training produce beneficial individual and organizational outcomes.

International competence  training  and a sensible repatriation plan  help  buffer the  stressors  encountered abroad. The willingness and courage to undergo the   profound   personal   transformation  associated with an international assignment  are essential for a healthy expatriate adjustment,  even after the expatriate’s return.  International training can partly remedy cross-cultural  insensitivity, but international competence involves more than a series of country statistics and cultural gimmicks learned in a short, pre-departure  training  session. Making executives aware that they will face different business and social customs is not sufficient, because awareness does not necessarily bring competence in the host culture.

Many  organizations  are  becoming  aware  of the need to provide continued  hands-on  training  rather than  just pre-departure awareness training.  In contrast  to  pre-departure  training,  post-arrival  training gives global managers a chance to evaluate their stressors  after  they have encountered them.  Documentary  and  interpersonal training  methods  have additive benefits in preparing  managers for intercultural work assignments.

Most  international training  programs  emphasize increasing a manager’s cultural competence  in dealing with others  from different cultural  backgrounds by enhancing  their  cognitive awareness and knowledge of the proposed host culture. The training format is mainly project  based, with participants  spending much of their time in their respective business areas. At regular intervals they are brought together to discuss their experiences under the guidance of facilitators. So, cultural differences are addressed when they surface in the context of working together. Experiential training  formats  also provide an opportunity to react to cultural stressors and receive feedback about the adequacy of one’s coping responses (i.e., cultural assimilator).

Employees need  to  actively support  the  adjustment  process  of their  expatriate  managers.  International competence–oriented training should be provided  before, during,  and after the assignment. In addition,  the  parent  firm should  be sensitive to the delicate balance between the interests of the parent and the host firm that executives need to maintain, listening and working with them to define and achieve common goals. Training for the global manager  should  include  metacognitive,   motivational, and behavioral components.

The effectiveness of global managers will be limited if they are not motivated  to perform  their jobs. The form and structure  of an organization’s HRM system can affect employee motivation levels in several ways. Continuous  training, job rotation, employment security, performance  appraisal,  and  compensation systems can motivate managers to engage in effective discretionary decision making and behavior in response to a variety of environmental contingencies.

Bibliography:   

  1. Clifford Adelman, “Learning without Borders: Training a Global Workforce Requires International Collaboration,” Community College Journal (v.78/2, 2008);
  2. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen, “The Right Way to Manage Expats,” Harvard Business Review (v.77/2, 1999);
  3. George W. Bohlander and Scott A. Snell, Managing Human Resources (South Western Educational Publishing, 2009);
  4. Christopher Earley, “Intercultural Training for Managers: A Comparison of Documentary and Interpersonal Methods,” Academy of Management Journal (v.30/4, 1987);
  5. Christopher Earley and Randall S. Peterson, “The Elusive Cultural Chameleon:  Cultural  Intelligence  as a New Approach  to Intercultural Training  for the Global Manager,” Academy of Management Learning and Education (v.3/1, 2004);
  6. Fred E. Fiedler, Terence Mitchell, and Harry C. Triandis, “The Culture Assimilator: An Approach to Cross-cultural Training,” Journal of Applied Psychology (v.55/2, 1971);
  7. LuAnn Irwin and Renie McClay, The Essential Guide to Training Global Audiences: Your Planning Resource of Useful Tips and Techniques (Jossey-Bass, 2008);
  8. Juan I. Sanchez, Paul E. Spector and Cary L. Cooper, “Adapting to a Boundaryless World: A Developmental Expatriate Model,” The Academy of Management Executive (v.14/2, 2000);
  9. Jan Selmer, “Effects of Coping Strategies on Sociocultural and Psychological Adjustment of Western Expatriate Managers in the PRC,” Journal of World Business (v.34/1, 1999);
  10. Rosalie L. Tung,  “Expatriate  Assignments: Enhancing  Success  and Minimizing  Failure,” Academy  of Management  Executive (v.1/2, 1987).

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