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International and Comp HRM

1.     Introduction

The purpose of this report is to understand the implications of workforce diversity for the recruitment policy of an organization. This aspect of human resource management would be examined with reference to Amazon which is one of the largest multinational corporations. The report would start with a discussion on the importance of cultural differences in the international business context followed by the implications of such differences for recruitment. In this section there would be references to the recruitment policy of Amazon. The remaining part of the report would discuss the strategic orientation of recruitment policy in the context of Amazon’s workforce diversity and as well as the impact of diverse and strategic contexts on recruitment.

2.     Importance of Cultural differences in international business context

In the present era of international business, the importance of cultural differences is very evident. The large-scale migration of labors and talented workforce from several countries across the world has been the essential reason behind the present cultural differences. Also, the colonial practices resulted in large-scale migration in the business world. The international business community is very conscious about the cultural differences that are present within the various organizations. There is a proper mechanism to respect and recognize the contribution of the workers coming from multiple cultural background. It is evident that the big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Twitter have their CEO from Indian origin. It is of great significance that the various cultural traits have been found in the todays’ business community because of the successful implementation and promotion of the modern market economy with the liberalization and globalization of the world trade and commerce.

Hofstede’s Cross-cultural theory

Hofstede’s Cross-cultural theory

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The theory of cross-cultural dimension as proposed by noted sociologist Hofstede could be taken into consideration in this context to understand the present cultural differences within the international business. There are six factors in this theory including power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation, and indulgence. The above infographic has depicted the stated parameters for different countries of the world. It has been observed that the south American and Asian countries have a larger power distance within the population, very less individualistic than the western countries like America or Germany. This is a clear indication of an anti-business environment concerning the cultural dimensions. Whereas, it has also been observed that these countries have incorporated several changes to effectively cope up with the international business community. In terms of masculinity, all countries are almost at same level. Because of the patriarchal practices there is critical need to incorporate some feministic principles to give female employees equal rights and opportunities in the business world. The indulgence, uncertainty avoidance, and the long-term orientation are the most important aspect that are responsible to make the business affluent and profitable. Therefore, there is always an effort from the business communities to look into this matter with greater sincerity.

Lewis Model of Cross-cultural Communication

Lewis Model of Cross-cultural Communication

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Another model has been developed to emphasize on the cross-cultural communication, by renowned linguist Richard Lewis which is known as Lewis Model. This model has highlighted the cultural types across the world which is highly regarded by the international business community. There are three primary components of this model including linear-active, multi-active, and reactive. These are the categorization through the international business would find the suitable culture for their business.

3.     HR Recruitment Policy

In the present world of business, there is a critical need to maintain human resource development regarding organizational sustainability and stability. Human resource is the foundational pillar for or any Organization in international business and marketing. That is a critical need to emphasize the proper recruitment and retention of human resources regarding the reputation of the organization. In the present context, there is a scope to discuss the HR recruitment policy regarding the international business community and compare the Global standards with the HR policy of Amazon (Budi and Ardini, 2020). There are some specific guidelines in the international Arena regarding human resource recruitment. The recruitment and retention of employees with potential talent and compatibility that are of great significance for the organization would be given the most importance. In HR recruitment the emphasis on the reward and incentive mechanism has been given utmost importance to motivate the employees and create a healthy working environment (Nager et al. 2019).

(Source: Amazon.com, 2021)

(Source: Amazon.com, 2021)

Regarding the recruitment process of Amazon, there is a special program called pivot program that is designed to retain the underperforming Employees with additional coaching and training. In the domain of human resource development and recruitment Amazon is far ahead of any other company at the international level because of its visionary and creative policymaking. The pilot program is an integral part of amazon’s dedication to improving the work environment and opportunities at the company (Afroje, 2020). Through the performance improvement program or PIP, Amazon puts its employees into the performance assessment process. It is also used to mean termination was likely if there is any degradation in performance. With the implementation of the Pivot program employees could also seek advantage of coaching with the Carrier Ambassador who could help bring their performance up to power. There is a choice for the employees to quit with severance pay or ask for an appeal regarding their replacement in the performance improvement program (Wettstein et al. 2019).

(Source: Lund et al. 2018)

(Source: Lund et al. 2018)

In several aspects, Amazon is far ahead of any other company where gender diversity could be also seen with much more percentage than other companies. It has a gender diversity with 63% of male employees and 37% of female employees. Amazon also represents a greater ethnic diversity than any other company (Lund et al. 2018). It had almost 60% of its white employees 14% black employees 9% Hispanic employees 13% Asian employees and 4% from other ethnic backgrounds. Though there is White Supremacy within the employee structure Amazon performs much better than other Tech companies like apple Microsoft and Google in gender and ethnic diversity (Boddy and Boddy, 2021). It is reported by the US census bureau that Amazon has a more transparent and accountable human resource recruitment policy than any other big take company in the world at present times. This signifies the impact and domination of Amazon over other business communities around the world. So that there is a critical need for other business communities to learn these recruitment policies from Amazon and incorporate them in their HR recruitment policy (Mao et al. 2020).

4.     Strategic orientation of recruitment policy with Amazon’s strategy

According to exiting research on HRM, workforce diversity can be defined as the composition of human resources of an organization in terms of their cultural or demographic origins(Yadav, and Lenka, 2020). The fundamental premise of diversity management is the acceptance of the fact that people differ from one another in several ways. The discussion in a preceding section highlights the importance of recognizing cultural or demographic differences in the context of international business. Due to the widespread and quick impact of globalization on international business in the last few decades, all multinational corporations have a diverse workforce in terms of cultural differences. Such organizations recruit deserving candidates from different parts of the world. These candidates are from those countries where their employer organizations operate. Apart from that such organizations also transfer or promote existing employees to locations in other countries. This is the reason why workforce diversity has emerged as an important issue in recruitment(Onday, 2022)

Data Analysis and Findings

The strategic aspect of recruitment with respect to workforce diversity and inclusion is reflected in the application of two legal enactments in the US. These are the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA). These enactments have served as reference points for different multinational corporations operating in different parts of the world. The EEO is concerned with providing equal opportunities to all candidates from different cultural backgrounds. This is to ensure that all employees in an organization are on an equal footing right from the beginning of their employment in a particular organization. Coca Cola already follows a policy of ensuring that at least 38% of its new hires are diverse. Similarly, the law on affirmative action is also related to ensuring that the recruitment policies of an organization promote inclusion in the workforce. However, the concept of affirmative action has some differences with the notion of equal opportunity. Affirmative action refers to recruitment policies which give preference to candidates from those communities which have faced discrimination and prejudice for a long period of time till now. The rationale of affirmative action likes in the fact that in order to bring people from diverse cultural or demographic backgrounds on an equal footing with each other, it is important to give some preference to discriminated communities for a specific period of time. This period of time is as per the discretion of the employer organization.

The concept of promoting workforce diversity and inclusion in this context would become clearer with the example of Amazon which is one of the largest multinational corporations in the world. In May 2020, Amazon officially announced its solidarity as a corporate organization with the global fight against systemic racism and injustice. However, the company has been criticized by various stakeholders in the last 1 year for failing to take adequate steps. At the end of the year 2020 70.7% of the company’s global managers were men in comparison to the 55.4% of the company’s global workforce(Ehsan, 2021). Furthermore, 56.4% of the company’s managers in the US were whites in comparison to 32.1% of the company’s workforce in the US. Various stakeholders in the business have already started to various steps to ensure that the management at Amazon addresses the problems of inequality in its workforce. In the AGM of the company for the year 2021, the shareholders of the company jointly submitted a set of proposals to the management of the organization These proposals asked the management to provide investors with relevant information on steps taken by Amazon to address the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion including gender diversity.

5.     Impact of comparative and diverse contexts on recruitment

According to experts on HRM, corporate organizations are complex in nature and function as per their specific internal logics, dynamics and cultures(Diversity and Inclusion Efforts That Really Work, 2022). Hence a standard policy or programme of action can never be suggested for all organizations. Hence the comparative and diverse contexts of different organizations also have a bearing on their recruitment policy which needs to be tailor-made to the specifics of a particular organization. In the light of these facts, it can be asserted that a corporate organization must involve its managers in the formulating of recruitment policy right from the start of policy formulation to ensure that factor of diversity is not overlooked.

6.     Conclusion

After a comprehensive discussion on a specific policy or approach regarding the international business community, it is evident that this report has achieved decent credibility concerning the efficacy of the present context. In the present context, the Global HR recruitment policy has been considered to be discussed, and also the cultural differences that are present within the international business have been discussed with great sincerity. It has been found that it has been imperative to respect and give significance to the cross-cultural differences and communication in the international business arena. Moreover, the major recruitment policy at the international level should be e enhanced and modified taking a lesson from Amazon. Several innovative measures could be taken to uplift the strategic orientation of recruitment policy. It is also found that the impact of comparative and diverse contact on recruitment could be e positive and profitable for the international business community which should be embraced and nurtured by the international business management.

References

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