INFLUENCES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION A STUDY OF MERCEDES-BENZ ANAMMCO

ABSTRACT

This project is a review of influences on human resource management in Multinational

Corporation, using a study of Mercedes-Benz Anammco

The problem identified was

I.        Intercultural difference

II.        Parent- subsidiary relationship and global business strategies

III.      Communication barrier.

IV.      Adjusting to the host country environment.

This write up showed the relevant literature concerning the project topic. It goes further to explain the human resource management at the Mercedes-Benz Anammco.

The descriptive survey method was used and the research tool was questionnaire. 200 staffs answered the questionnaire. Frequency percentages and criterion mean score of 2.5 were used in data analysis using Chi-square formula and presentation was done by the use of tables.

The  findings from the study showed that the factors of human resource management have considerable influences on multinational corporations.

Finally, solutions and recommendations were proffered, in which emphasis was made on the remedies. The write up is duly summarized.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY.

Globalization is becoming more and more important to companies all over the world. A major component of the globalization of business is the field of human resource management. A trend over the past few years has been to identify the linkage of human resource management with strategy not only on the national level but also on the international level.

Wikipedia   defines   Human   Resource   Management   (HRM)   as   the   management   of   an organization’s employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a “soft” management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. Effective human resource management also contains an element of risk management for an organization which, as a minimum, ensures legislative compliance.

Human resource management is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s  most  valued assets –  the  people  working  there  who  individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives.

Storey (1989) believes that (HRM) can be regarded as a ‘set of interrelated policies with an ideological and philosophical underpinning’. He suggests four aspects that constitute the meaningful version of (HRM):

1.  a particular constellation of beliefs and assumptions;

2.  a strategic thrust informing decisions about people management;

3.  the central involvement of line managers; and

4.  Reliance upon a set of ‘levers’ to shape the employment relationship.

Human resource management according to Fisher et al (1990: P6) involves all management decisions and practices that directly affect or influence the people who work for the organization. According to Ikeagwu (1999) the two terms human resource management and personnel management are synonymous but personnel management is the older and more an established name while human resource management is the more up to date title for the field.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a planned approach to managing people effectively for performance. It aims to establish a more open, flexible and caring management style so that staff will be motivated, developed and managed in a way that they can give of their best to support departments* missions. Good (HRM) practices are instrumental in helping achieve departmental objectives and enhance productivity.

Susan M. Heathfield (2011:12), Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed by line managers.

Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people  such  as  compensation,  hiring,  performance  management,  organization  development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.

Human Resource Management is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment. Effective (HRM) enables employees to

contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives.

Human Resource Management is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. (HRM) is now expected to add value to the  strategic  utilization  of employees  and  that  employee  programs  impact  the  business  in measurable ways. The new role of (HRM) involves strategic direction and (HRM) metrics and measurements to demonstrate value.

Gale (1991:56) sees Human Resource Management (HRM) as a term used to describe formal systems devised for the management of people within an organization. These human resources responsibilities are generally divided into three major areas of management: staffing, employee compensation, and defining/designing work. Essentially, the purpose of (HRM) is to maximize the  productivity of an organization  by optimizing the  effectiveness of its  employees.  This mandate is unlikely to change in any fundamental way, despite the ever-increasing pace of change in the business world.

As Edward L. Gubman observed in the Journal of Business Strategy, “the basic mission of human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent; align the workforce with the business; and be an excellent contributor to the business. Those three challenges will never change.”

Until fairly recently, an organization’s human resources department was often consigned to lower rungs of the corporate hierarchy, despite the fact that its mandate is to replenish and nourish the company’s work force, which is often cited legitimately as an organization’s greatest resource. But  in  recent  years  recognition  of  the  importance  of  human  resources  management  to  a

company’s overall health has grown dramatically. This recognition of the importance of (HRM) extends to small businesses, for while they do not generally have the same volume of human resources requirements as do larger organizations, they too face personnel management issues that can have a decisive impact on business health.

Irving Burstiner (1979:98), hiring the right people—and training them well—can often mean the difference  between scratching  out  the  barest  of  livelihoods and  steady  business  growth…. Personnel problems do not discriminate between small and big business. You find them in all businesses, regardless of size, be it a small or a multinational corporation

A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has defined an (MNC) as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one country, known as the home country, and operates in several other countries, known as host countries.

Malcolm Tatum (2003), Multinational corporations are business entities that operate in more than one country. The typical multinational corporation or (MNC) normally functions with a headquarters that is based in one country, while other facilities are based in locations in other countries. In some circles, a multinational corporation is referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE) or a transnational corporation (TNC).

The idea of a multinational corporation has been around for centuries. Some trace the origins of the concept back to the Dutch East India Company of the 17th century, as the corporate structure

involved a presence in more than one country. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the idea of a company that functioned in more than one nation became increasingly common. In the 21st century, this business model continues to be highly desirable.

There are several ways that an (MNC) can come into existence. One approach is to intentionally establish a new company with headquarters in one country while producing goods and services in facilities located elsewhere. In other instances, the multinational corporation comes about due to mergers between two or more companies based in different countries. Acquisitions and hostile takeovers also sometimes result in the creation of multinational corporations.

In a world that continues to become more interconnected each day, a multinational corporation sometimes has a greater ability to adapt to economic and political shifts those corporations that function in a single nation. Along with decreasing costs associated with producing core products, this business model also opens the door for diversification, which often makes it possible for a company to remain solvent even when one division or subsidiary is posting a temporary loss.

Possible advantages of a multinational corporation are:

1.  Multinational Companies are able to sell far more than other type of company.

2.  Multinational companies can avoid transport costs.

3.  Multinationals can take advantage of different wage levels in different countries(as in some countries only women and children work, so the wages can be low)

4.  Multinationals can achieve great economies of scale.

5.  Multinationals have less chance of going bankrupt than small companies.

6.  Multinationals can carry out a lot of research and development.

The analysis of the publications in the area of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) since 1980 reveals an interesting trend. In the 1980s, the interest was very much focused on the improvement of HRM measures such as international staffing, repatriation, international compensation, or cross-cultural training.(1) The only concept that has been used to address the strategic orientation of (IHRM) was the EPRG-profile developed by Heenan and Perlmutter (1979).(2) Then, since the beginning of this decade, the focus of (IHRM) research has become more comprehensive and more context oriented.(3) The result has been a growing number of papers which address (IHRM) issues.

Costs are a very important factor when deciding about assigning people to foreign subsidiaries and about the management of the human resources function in a multinational corporation.

For a multinational corporation aiming at efficiency this means that the international human resource  management  strategy should  match  the  requirements of  the  nature  of work.  The criterion of efficiency is conceptualized by the sum of production and transaction costs. An example for production costs in labor market transactions would be the wage of an expatriate. Transaction costs are the costs associated with negotiating, monitoring, evaluating, and enforcing exchanges. They can occur for example when recruiting or controlling employees in the multinational corporation.

Global human resource management (GHRM) includes the same functions as domestic HRM, plus several aspects unique to international management

    “people challenge” the most difficult for firms becoming international

    most critical to success, acquiring a competent workforce

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Frequently, Multinational Corporations are faced with challenges that hampers the attainment of set goals due the issue of human resource management in host country especially the developing countries. This supports the saying that, the success of any business organization whether small, big or mega depends largely on the performance of its people (i.e. the management and the subordinates). For this success to be attained and sustained over a period of time, the corporation should aim at ways of managing the personnel and other resources in such a way that these personnel would contribute their best to the achievement of the organizational objectives.

To ensure the achievement of this organizational objective in Multinational Corporation, this research has been proposed to address the following issues:

I.     Intercultural difference

II.     Parent- subsidiary relationship and global business strategies

III.     Communication barrier.

IV.     Adjusting to the host country environment.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

Based on the research title and research questions in the preceding exercise, and going by the above given guide, the following general and specific objectives could be stated.

1.3.1 General Objective of the Study

The general objective of the study is to determine the factors that influence the human resource management in multinational corporations.

The main aim of this study is to find out these factors and the ways they affect human resource management in these multinational corporations.

1.3.2 Main Objectives of the Study

To meet the main objective, the study will focus on the following sub objectives:

I.     To identify the influence of intercultural differences on human resource management in multinational corporations.

II.     To   determine   how   Parent-   subsidiary   relationship   influences   human   resource management in Multinational Corporation.

III.     To determine the effect of Communication barrier on human resource management of

Multinational Corporation.

IV.     To examine how host country influence human resource management of multinational corporation.

1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Given the objective of the study, the following hypotheses are formulated:

Ho1. There is evidence to show that Intercultural differences are a factor of influence in human resource management of Multinational Corporation.

Ho2. There is evidence to prove that Parent- subsidiary relationship and global business strategies contributes to factors that influence human resource management in Multinational Corporation.

Ho3. There is a significant relationship to show that Communication barrier affects the human resource management in Multinational Corporation.

Ho4. There is evidence to show that adjusting to host country environment is a factor of influence on human resource management in Multinational Corporation.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

1.  The  findings of this  study will enable management of Multinational Corporation to appreciate better the need of cost management, employee retention in solving the influence of human resource management.

2.  This   study   reveals   how   human   resource   management   relates   to   Multinational

Corporation.

3.  The findings of this study will enable for proper adjustment to host country environment and  policies  by  intending  Multinational Corporation thinking  to  enter  a  country in improving their human resource management.

4.  The study will enable me contribute my own views and ideas on influences on human resource management in multinational corporation.

5.  The study will be of immense help to other people and students who wish to carry out other research in the field or related field.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The  scope  of  this  research  is  limited  to  influences  on  human  resource  management  in

Multinational Corporation.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In carrying out this research many factors served as constraints:

1.  The limitation of the research scope to just human resource management in Multinational

Corporation.

2.  Time Limitation: time factor constitutes of the major limitation of this research study. It relates to the fact that the time for this research work was short due to combination of lectures, studies and examination.

3.  Negative attitude of respondent.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following significant words in the research title can be defined as follows:

A.  INFLUENCE:

1. effect on something: the effect of something on a person, thing, or event

2. power to sway: the power that somebody has to affect other people’s thinking or actions by means of argument, example, or force of personality

3. special advantage: the power or authority that comes from wealth, social status, or position

4. somebody who can sway another: somebody or something able to affect the course of events or somebody’s thinking or action

5. stars’ effect on people: in astrology, an emanation that is believed to come from the stars and planets and to affect human characteristics, personality, and actions

B.  HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

I.     Human resource management is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objective

C.  MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION:

I.     A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation.

II.     The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines an (MNC) as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one country, known as the home country, and operates in several other countries, known as host countries.

₦5,000.00 – DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT Added to cart

---

---

---

---

Related Project Topics :