Mkt304A Brand And Product Management Assessment Answers

Answer:

Online forum activity 1

The first online forum activity consisted of excavating the similarities and differences between domestic and international HRM. Domestic RM relates with the processes of allocating the resources to the personnel within the internal environment. On the other hand, international HRM is the process through which the standards of the business operations are enhanced in terms of achieving organizational excellence through the means of fulfilling the identified and the specified objectives (Collings, Wood and Szamosi 2018). The online forum activity projects the concepts of recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, rewards and policies, which are essential components of human resource management. Domestic HRM is devoid of cultural differences, as the employees belong to the local countries.

In domestic HRM mention can be made of the selection and recruitment policies; policies related to the reward management among others. Along with this, HRM practices like budgets for labour maintenance and the resources are executed within the internal environment of the workplace. On the contrary, in the international HRM, the activities are carried out through the assistance of third party involvement. Cultural differences prevails in the international HRM, as most of the employees belong to the foreign countries (Albrecht et al. 2015).

Domestic HRM narrows the perspective of the personnel as the scope and arena of the management activities are limited to the internal environment. On the other hand, international HRM broadens the scope and arena of the business. This is in terms of the activities like outsourcing and offshore manufacturing.

After reviewing the functionalities of both domestic and international HRM, it can be said that international HRM is effective for enhancing the productivity of the companies and organizations.

Online forum activity 2

The second online forum activity attempts to answer the question regarding the concerns of multinationals being concerned about expatriate failures. Expatriates are the representatives, who are sent to the other countries with high pay. Failure of the expatriates in fulfilling their duties is not just a financial crisis but also a loss in the social parameter of the host country. This failure demotivates them in terms of employment, self-confidence and capabilities. The reasons for the failure are: cultural adjustments, lack of proper training in the mother tongue, hurry to return back to the country of origin in a situation where the duration of stay in the unknown country is uncertain and lack of proper education in the country (Reiche, Harzing and Tenzer 2018).

Failure of the expatriates is challenging, as it deviates the organizations from the identified and the specified targets. One of the striking facts is the financial constraints regarding the travel expenses for the expatriates. The risks, which te expatriates take for living in an unknown country, separated from their family members is similar to the risks of a country, possessing inadequate weapons for fighting a war. The company needs to take initiatives in terms of enhancing the security of the expatriates. Financial assistance would help the expatriates to safeguard themselves in an unknown country. If budgets are prepared for organizing training for the expatriates, the company would become aware of the current financial condition and the additional resources needed for maintaining the expatriates. According to Marchington, Wilkinson, Donnelly and Kynighou (2016), policies are also needed in terms of enhancing the security and safety of the expatriates in the unknown countries. These recommendations affirms the proposed question of the online forum activity.

Online forum activity 3

The third activity deals with the challenges faced by the expatriates. Here, the focus is placed mainly on the challenges encountered in training the expatriate managers. Expatriate managers play an important role in improving the financial condition of the companies situated in the foreign markets. Time is one of the main challenges in the training the expatriate managers. Shortage in training time results in their deployment without completion of the training. Along with this, involvement of the family members is also a challenge in terms of relocating to the foreign countries. If the family members are to relocate with the expatriate manager, they need to undergo training. This strains the financial resources, if prior planning is not done (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016). The trainer also encounters language and culture issues, which aggravates the complexities in imparting the training to the expatriate managers and the family members.

These issues pose as a challenge for the company, if proper planning is not done. Planning involves preparation of the budget, which helps in stabilizing the financial parameter. Strategic approach is needed from the trainers in terms of averting the challenges. Inclusion of governmental assistance in planning for the training programs proves beneficial in terms of averting the illegal instances of conflicts, discriminations and harassments. Managing time is crucial in terms of maintaining the balance between the business activities. This brings scientific theory of management into the discussion. This is needed in terms of undertaking logical decisions for enhancing the safety and security of the expatriate managers (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang 2014).

Online forum activity 4

This activity deals with the view regarding internationalizing initiatives for criminalizing foreign bribery. Bribery attains negative connotations since the emergence of the concept. This is because, it involves the execution of activities against the prescribed norms. Through bribery, the intentions are to gain advantage by dominating over the innocents. Bribery is a crime, as it violates the laws and regulations. Involvement of the statutory bodies into the investigation process raises the standards and efficiencies of the legislature. Moreover, this intervention is needed in terms of ensuring public welfare. Here, the activity makes the mention of FCPA, which was enacted in 1977 to cease the bribery practices in case of US firms and nationals.

As per the arguments of Hollenbeck and Jamieson (2015), if complaints are made for bribery, the culprit would end up in jail. This is applicable on the basis of the intensity of the bribery committed. However, the punishment in case of international bribery are harsher than in the domestic cases.

Strategic planning proves beneficial also in the case of awarding punishment for bribery. Assessing the crime helps in deciding the appropriate punishment. Open forums and one-to-one discussion are effective in terms of providing opportunity to both the culprit and the victim in terms of voicing out their opinions on the crime. Inclusion of the plans regarding compensation to the victim is effective in terms of restoring the lost honour and justice. Involvement of the governmental agencies in the investigation process is assistance in terms of mitigating the illegal issues and scandals, which can degrade the standards and reputation of the nation (Kramar 2014).

References

Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.

Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.

Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.

Hollenbeck, J.R. and Jamieson, B.B., 2015. Human capital, social capital, and social network analysis: Implications for strategic human resource management. Academy of management perspectives, 29(3), pp.370-385.

Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.

Kramar, R., 2014. Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource management the next approach?. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), pp.1069-1089.

Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.

Reiche, B.S., Harzing, A.W. and Tenzer, H. eds., 2018. International human resource management. SAGE Publications Limited.