Managing Complex Employment Expectations: Local And International

Discuss about the Local and International for Managing Complex Employment Expectations.

The given article illustrates one of the most important factors that dominate the multinational companies in the current world. The agenda of expatriate employment and deployment at assignment in overseas projects are issues that are of major importance for the managements of the modern companies. These assignments can prove to be very profitable for the companies and yet again they can prove to be very expensive for the management as well. This is a realization that has dawned on to the managements of the contemporary business organizations in the very recent times. As a result they are now redesigning their expatriate benefit polices which will help them to manage the flow of expatriate employees at foreign locations and also maintain long term expatriates. The current article illustrates this particular aspect and also deals with concern of managing the expectations of the employees of the company – both the national and the immigrant elements (Coursehero, 2016). 

The paper will deal with this very sensitive and crucial aspect where managing of expatriate employees in a profitable manner is explained and discussed. The article will obviously illustrate the fact that if expatriate employee deployment is not done in an astute manner then the same can also pose a challenge for the company. 

The discussion will contain a summary of the article and a following section that will explain the research question. Next the paper will explain the theoretical framework and then a section explaining the significance and limitations of the article. The discussion will finally end with a summative conclusion. 

The article illustrates the case of Japanese women Akiko who has been place d in New Delhi for one of the overseas assignment. This had been a great career opportunity for the lady and she was much too satisfied with her work and profile. She had also proven to be an excellent resource of the company and has put up a good performance. However soon due to the career opportunities that have been provided to her husband, she would prefer to move to Singapore instead of moving back to Tokyo (Andresen, 2011). 

At this point Akiko is informed that this change, if is provided by the company, will bring in a different expatriate benefit policy. As it seems from the explanations that have been provided by Puja Mallik, the HR in New Delhi, that the company and the management is looking forward to an effective handling of the finance resources of the company, As a result expatriates need to move back to their home countries after their tenure of service contract is over. In case they wish to stay back or to move to another country, the benefits that they were drawing initially from the company would see a dramatic change. The new policy will be referred to a local international package. In essence the expatriate in this context will draw a lower salary to what he or she had been drawing as per the income standards of her home country. In this case the remunerative package and the benefit structure would be similar and fitting to the local context. This is a new arrangement that has been done so that the inflow of the expatriate employees can be managed in an effective manner and they are actually being encouraged to return to their home countries after they serve their tenure in the foreign location. This is one of the best options that the company can boost the morale of their local employees, and also cut down the high expenses of maintaining their expatriate employees (Burnes, 2013). 

Research Question

The article also deals with a slightly human aspect where the expectations of Akiko come in. This aspect clearly reveals the fact that changing from one location to another can bring a huge number of challenges for the person. These challenges happen to get all the more accentuated, in case the destination of change is a foreign country. Here in come the aspects of adjustment to a foreign environment, language barrier, looking for a suitable environment of growth for children and also managing the career of spouses. In cases where the change is being proposed by the management the benefits and the supports from the company are much more numerous and generous in their bulk. The situation could be quite different in case the expat is looking forward to stay back in the foreign company or move to another due to their own personal reasons. 

In this context we see that it is in the interest of the company, that the management shall be more generous to their expatriate employees. The discussion also illustrates a very interesting aspect that expatriate employees are proved to be very expensive option for the company management. They are brought from one country to another to serve some operational purpose of the company. These assignments are mainly kept in line for employees who are considered to be top talents of the company and are seen as a way they could be trained and groomed for the international market. This is one of the ways which can increase their skill sets so that they could be used in higher positions and profiles of the company. 

Nevertheless over entertaining these expatriate employees could actually de-motivate the local employees. This could mean disaster for the company. In the present age of globalization, where companies are making an advent for the international market, most of the global brands have their independent branches all over the world, scattered in the various nations. Hence keeping a totally centralized structure is quite difficult. As a result the management has to acknowledge some amount of authority and independence to the national branches. It is in this context that the local managers and the general employees become very important. Their expectations cannot be thwarted with more indulgence extended to the expatriates. This is yet again one of the reasons why the expats are being encouraged to return to their home countries after their tenure of contract is over. 

Theoretical Framework

This is critical yet less thought of economical and human angle that is present in all the companies of the modern era. Foreign location deployments are great opportunities but come with a cost for the company. Hence if such relocations are proposed by the expatriate employees they might be met with a slightly inferior policies and contracts by the management. The case of Akiko is an interesting one that illustrates this particular angle and also the fact that the expatriate employees has to deal with a large number of concurrent problems and challenges at the time of relocation. 

The research question in this case can be made from two angles. One can be the angle of the expatriate employee and the other will be that of the company who is bringing expatriate employees to overseas locations. The central research question will be “What is the main agenda in the minds of the company management when they send expatriate employees for foreign location deployment”. “What are the main expectations of the expatriate employees from their managements?” “Foreign country deployment – are those the opportunities for the expat employees or a form of compromise that they put up with” (Andresen, 2013). 

Overseas deployment is considered to be a great opportunity by most of the expatriates. However the aligned considerations of profit making and employee expectation management – both in the perspective of the expatriates and also that of the locals are a challenge which is to be managed by the company management on a daily basis. This is an aspect that is illustrated in the current topic. 

The given article reflects on a the blended aspects of the employee expectations versus that of the profit and the concerns of the company, This article is a classic example where we see that the concerns and the issues of the company as an entity has more preference and receives a greater priority. This is the main reason why an expatriate employee, if is being transferred by the management of the company, draws better benefits from the company when the relocation is required by him. The article is also a great reflection on the subject that managing employee expectations can become quite internally contradictive; especially when both the expatriate employees and the local employees come together (Viksnins, 2010).

The article deals with a highly interesting topic. The article illustrates the very important aspect where we see that the expectations of Akiko are dashed due to the international local expatriate contract. The nature of the contract reveals the fact that expatriate relocation is considered to be an expensive affair and is done only when it is absolutely required. In other cases such transfers are not exactly encouraged. This is due to two reasons, first the change comes with a cost factor and as a result of the same the management has to put upon with many costs. Again it also strikes interesting that such transfers can act as a de-motivating point for the national and the local employees. 

Significance and Limitations

The article is highly significant in terms of the issue or the angle that it has dealt with. The article illustrates a very particular aspect that is of prime concern to the multinational companies of the modern era. However this is a point that is not always considered in the HR articles of everyday journals. The article illustrates and reveals many thought processes of the managements of the contemporary multinational. It also reveals the thought processes of the expatriates who are relocating from their mother or home countries to foreign places. The article is very useful and gives us a great insight into the various problems and the challenges that are met by and also overcome by the foreign expatriates at the time of moving to a different location. The article has rightly emphasized on the issues of the family – husband and daughters of Akiko. In fact in the modern age of globalization where if both the parents are working and are mobile across the world, adjustment for the entire family and also the children can become a great problem. The article also mentions that how the daughters of Akiko had been taken away from their grandparents. This is again an emotional context that is very much a fact of the current times. It is a hard fact with which all of us have to cope with. The article yet again gives us a good amount of information about the dynamics of the high income countries and the low income countries and salary construction as per this equation. The notion of how expatriates can actually become poorer if they move to another country on their own requirement, if not supported by their management’s expatriate policies, is particularly interesting and also highly informative.

The article is very well written, composed and quite informative in its data. However the article does not highlight of the situation if Akiko would come back to her country and would not relocate with her husband at Singapore. 

Conclusions: 

The article has said earlier deals with a very interesting aspect. It says all about the management thought process when they deal with their expatriate employees. The discussion also treats the concern of the local employees fairly. In the era of globalization where the companies are enlarging their market share, the local employees of various national branches are equally important and their contributions to the company are just as important. As a result they need to be treated in a fair and sensitive manner. The discussion is very insightful into the psyche and the expectations of the expatriate employees along with the various challenges that they might face. The article is also very interesting in its revelations that there are large numbers of expatriates who are actually more interested to stay back in the foreign location instead of going back to their respective countries. The economic disparity between their home and host countries could be one of the prime reasons for the same.

References: 

Andresen, M., 2011. Local and international? Managing complex employment expections. [Online] [Accessed 13 April 2017].

Andresen, M., 2013. International human resource management. [Online] Available at: https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bamberg/frontdoor/index/index/year/2013/docId/3975 [Accessed 13 April 2017].

Burnes, M., 2013. Managing complex employment expectations. [Online] Available at: https://prezi.com/bl_rsr7_hbrz/case-5/ [Accessed 13 April 2017].

Coursehero, 2016. Local and International?Managing Complex Employment Expectations. [Online] Available at: https://www.coursehero.com/file/18030252/Seminar-5-Casedocx/ [Accessed 13 April 2017].

Viksnins, A.V., 2010. Managing Employment Expectations of Employee-Shareholders. [Online] Available at: https://mnbenchbar.com/2010/11/managing-employment-expectations-of-employee-shareholders/ [Accessed 13 April 2017].