UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

MONA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Master’s in Business Administration

Part-time Cohort 20

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT

Course Code: SBIB6010

Lecture: Michael McAnuff-Jones

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Date: May 18, 2018

ID#:
00029882

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Table of Contents

Question 1: Review and outline the key differences between Domestic HR and International HR in
relation to both the Learning and Growth quadrant of the HR Scorecard, and the Customer Quadrant
of the HR scorecard. ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Question 2: Read the article on JP Foods at link below and provide your feedback to the CEO on what
HR competencies, (based on the work of Dave Ulrich) would serve the company well in its expansion
season, and why. ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Credible activist ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Strategic positioner .................................................................................................................................... 5
Capability builder ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Change champion....................................................................................................................................... 6
Human resource innovator and integrator .............................................................................................. 6
Technology proponent ............................................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 6
References ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

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Question 1: Review and outline the key differences between Domestic HR and International
HR in relation to both the Learning and Growth quadrant of the HR Scorecard, and the
Customer Quadrant of the HR scorecard.

The HR scorecard is a method for Human Resources (HR) to position itself as a strategic
planning partner with line managers and executives within an organization. The premise for an HR
scorecard is that HR can and should develop metrics to demonstrate how HR activities impact
profitability. HR scorecard has the following business imperatives: (1) aligned with the Strategic
Plan and Business Plan of the Company; (2) used by the entire organization, not just HR (e.g.
employee engagement and satisfaction metrics); (3) identifies the role employees outside of HR play
to impact results; and (4) aligned with the Strategic Plan and Business Plan of the Company.
Increasingly, companies are being enticed to expand into international markets and it seems
like globalization is now a facet of modern business model. Some underlying reasons for companies
going global are technologies advancement, cost efficiency and trade specialization. However, as
organizations reach outward for the market, many fail to recognize the importance of international
human resource management (IHRM). Those organizations which hold little regard or no
importance for IHRM often suffer setbacks and 'chain effect' consequences by applying Domestic
HR practices. By the name itself, IHRMs work internationally or beyond national borders, whereas
it’s domestic counterpart works within the set, local, national borders.
While there are some commonalities in IHRM and domestic HRM practices, particularly in
areas such as: HR planning and staffing, recruitment and selection, appraisal and development,
rewards, etc. the main distinctions lies in the fact that domestic HRM is involved with employees
within only one national boundary, while IHRM deals with three national or country categories, i.e.,
the parent country where the firm is actually originated and headquartered; the host country where
the subsidiary is located; and other countries from where the organization may source the labour,
finance or research and development.
To illustrate practical differences between IHRM and HRM, both the Learning and Growth
quadrant and the Customer quadrant of the HR scorecard will be examined. While the perspective
of these quadrants are similar for Domestic and International HR, there application is very different.
The Learning and Growth Perspective consists of training and improvement for your workforce
domestic and internationally. It ensures that your employees have the skills and development to keep
pace and exceed the competition. Practical KPI’s or Measurements for this objective would be: (1)
HR Employee Satisfaction; and HR Employee Development penetration (HR Competencies, subject
matter development etc.)
Also, the Customer Perspective is all about the value proposition that a company give to its
customers. From this, the company can target the market segment that it wants to address and
maximize its strategies. Practical KPI’s or Measurements for this objective would be: (1) Business
Partner Satisfaction Percentile; (2) All Employee Engagement/ Satisfaction Percentile; (3) Top
Percentile Employer of Choice; and (4) Turnover of key employees.

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 The differences between IHRM and Domestic HRM, lies within their applications. Firstly,
Domestic HRM department does not have to deal with cultural difference as majority of the
employees belong to the same social community. However, the IHRM department has to overcome
multi-cultural difference to run a local subsidiary of the parent company. Secondly, the perspectives
highlighted above are narrow as with respect to the domestic HR issues only. However, IHRM brings
with it a broader range of perspective than the domestic department of HRM. IHRM includes
activities such as international taxation, coordinating foreign currencies and exchange rates,
international relocation, international orientation for the employee posted abroad, etc.
International HRM requires greater involvement in the personal life of employees. The HR
manager of an MNC must ensure that an executive posted to a foreign country understands all
aspects of the compensation package provided in the foreign assignment, such as cost of living,
taxes, etc. The HR manager needs to assess the readiness of the employee’s family to relocate,
support the family in adjusting to a foreign culture through cross-cultural training, and to help in
admitting the children in schools. The HR department may also need to take responsibility for
children left behind in boarding schools in the home country by the employees on foreign postings.
In the domestic environment, the involvement of the HR manager or department with an employee’s
family is limited to providing family insurance programmes or providing transport facilities in case
of a domestic transfer.
There is heightened exposure to risks in international assignments. These risks include the
health and safety of the employee and family. A major aspect of risk relevant to IHRM today is
possible terrorism. Several MNCs must now consider this factor when deciding on international
assignments for their employees. Moreover, human and financial consequences of mistakes in IHRM
are much more severe than in domestic business. For example, if an executive posted abroad returns
prematurely, it results in high direct costs as well as indirect costs.
International HRM has to deal with more external factors than domestic HRM. For example,
government regulations about staffing practices in foreign locations, local codes of conduct,
influence of local religious groups, etc. If an American organization is sanctioned license by the
Indian government to set up its subsidiary in India, the American company is under legal obligations
to provide employment to local residents.

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Question 2: Read the article on JP Foods at link below and provide your feedback to the CEO
on what HR competencies, (based on the work of Dave Ulrich) would serve the company well
in its expansion season, and why.

According to Dave Ulrich, there are a number of Human Resource (HR) competencies a
company should develop in order to tackle the challenges of expanded internationally, namely: the
worldwide economic crisis, globalization, technological innovations and other changes. From the
Jamaica Observe article titled, “Jeffrey Hall: Taking Producers Group to new heights”, it was clear
that Jamaica Producer (JP) exhibited signs that the company connected individual and integrated HR
practices to business success through strategic HR; and uses these HR practices to derive and respond
to external business conditions. However, in order for JP to continue its success in expansion
internationally, its HR professionals must master specific HR competencies. These competencies
are based on research from more than 20,000 respondents around the world. These 20,000
respondents (HR professionals and their line and HR associates) completed assessments of HR
competence on 140 behavioral and knowledge items. From the article is was apparent that Mr. Hall,
the company’s CEO has demonstrated having some of the very key HR competences elaborated on
in the aforementioned article. However, if JP is to continue being successful, it is important that its
HR professionals also develop the following competencies.
Credible activist
JP’s HR professionals should function as credible activists. They should always do what they
say they will do. Such results-based integrity will serves as the foundation of personal trust that, in
turn, translates into professional credibility. They have effective interpersonal skills. They are
flexible in developing positive chemistry with key stakeholders. They translate this positive
chemistry into influence that contributes to business results. They take strong positions about
business issues that are grounded in sound data and thoughtful opinions. Although JP CEO is not a
HR professional, he has fostered an environment that empowers his HR strategist, to become
competent in this area.
Strategic positioner
JP’s HR professionals should understand the global business context – the social, political,
economic, environmental, technological, and demographic trends that bear on their business – and
translate these trends into business implications. They must understand the structure and logic of
their own industries and the underlying competitive dynamics of the markets they serve, including
customer, competitor, and supplier trends. They should then apply this knowledge in developing a
personal vision for the future of their own company. As such JP’s HR professionals should
participate in developing customer-focused business strategies and in translating the business
strategy into annual business plans and goals.

Capability builder
JP’s HR professional should put great focus at the organizational level, by creating, auditing,
and orchestrating an effective and strong organization by helping to define and build its
organizational capabilities. Capability represents what the organization is good at and known for.
These capabilities outlast the behavior or performance of any individual manager or system. Such

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capabilities might include innovation, speed, customer focus, efficiency, and the creation of meaning
and purpose at work. HR professionals can help line managers create meaning so that the capability
of the organization reflects the deeper values of the employees.

Change champion
JP’s HR professionals must develop their organization’s capacity for change and then
translate that capacity into effective change processes and structures. They ensure a seamless
integration of change processes that builds sustainable competitive advantage. They build the case
for change based on market and business reality, and they overcome resistance to change by
engaging key stakeholders in key decisions and building their commitment to full implementation.
They sustain change by ensuring the availability of necessary resources including time, people,
capital, and information, and by capturing the lessons of both success and failure.
Human resource innovator and integrator
Again, at an organizational level, the HR professional should innovate and integrate HR
practices around a few critical business issues. The challenge is to make the HR whole more effective
than the sum of its parts. As such, its HR professional should ensure that the desired business results
are clearly and precisely prioritized, that the necessary organization capabilities are powerfully
conceptualized and operationalized and that the appropriate HR practices, processes, structures, and
procedures are aligned to create and sustain the identified organizational capabilities. As they do so
with discipline and consistency, they help collective HR practices to reach the tipping point of impact
on business results.
Technology proponent
For many years, HR professionals have applied technology to basic HR work. HR
information systems (HRIS) have been applied to enhance the efficiency of HR processes including
benefits, payroll processing, health care funding, record keeping, and other administrative services.
At the organization level, JP’s HR professionals should be involved in two additional categories of
technological application. First, JP’s HR professional should apply social networking technology to
help people stay connected with each other. They help guide the connectedness of people within the
firm and the connectedness between people outside firms (especially customers) with employees
inside the firm. Second, JP’s HR professionals should increase their role in the management of
information. This includes identifying the information that should receive focus, bundling that
information into useable knowledge, leveraging that knowledge into key decisions, and then
ensuring that these decisions are clearly communicated and acted upon. This updates the operational
efficiency competency and will add substantive value to their organizations.
Conclusion
It is a great time for JP to embrace HR as a strategic executor of the company’s business
strategy as this holds not only a promise, but a pathway to business impact. If JP’s HR professionals
master these six competencies, they will not only be seen as more effective HR professionals, they
will add explicit value to JP’s business. Dave Ulrich’s research shows that being a credible activist
helps HR professionals gain personal credibility, but being capability builders, HR innovators and
integrators and technology proponents have more impact on business performance.

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References
Personnel Today. (2012, November 13). Personnel Today. Retrieved from www.personneltoday.com:
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/whats-next-for-hr-the-six-competencies-hr-needs-for-
todays-challenges/

http://www.differencebetween.net. (2018, May 15). Difference Between IHRM and Domestic HRM.
Retrieved from http://www.differencebetween.net:
http://www.differencebetween.net/business/management-business/difference-between-ihrm-
and-domestic-hrm/

http://www.whatishumanresource.com. (2018, May 15). Difference between Global or IHRM and

Domestic HRM. Retrieved from http://www.whatishumanresource.com:
http://www.whatishumanresource.com/difference-between-global-or-ihrm-and-domestic-hrm

JACKSON, M. (2017, November 9). Jeffrey Hall: Taking Producers Group to new heights. Retrieved from
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/jeffrey-jeffrey-hall-
taking-producers_116497?profile=1373

Woodhouse, M. (2017, October 27). dave-ulrich-the-2017-hr-competency-study-what-it-means-for-you.

Retrieved from tucana-global.com: https://tucana-global.com/2017/10/27/dave-ulrich-the-2017-
hr-competency-study-what-it-means-for-you/