Essay On International HRM: Flextronics Case Study Highlights Key Issues.

Customer related issues

There has been so much focus on Globalization by several firms world over in an attempt to improve profitability and market share. As part of this strategy, organizations have opted for newer markets and diversification of operations in order to realize this goal and achieve a competitive advantage over its rivals (Wilkinson & Johnstone,2016).  However, as organizations shift their focus on the international market; numerous challenges have confronted them in terms of managing of their Human resources in the global context. Majorly these issues have had to do with Organization culture. International human resource management is a term that has been used to refer to all activities focused on managing employees at the international level. Flextronics is an example of a global enterprise which has a global presence. The Electronic Manufacturing service provider was established in 1969 and has since expanded its operations in more than 30 countries and has a workforce of more than 162,000 in its various branches. The Company had revenue of $27.6 Billion as per 2008 statistics. It has its operations in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Ukraine, Malaysia, India Hungary and China. This report aims at analyzing the various issues experienced by Flextronics Electronic Manufacturing service provider as per the case study provided. The scope of the report will involve exploring the issues experienced by the organization, an exposition of how the identified issue can be dealt with and finally recommend the strategy for elimination of the issues.

The company is facing a number of International management issues that include Cross-Cultural operations issues, customer related issues and staffing issues.  

Customer related issues

Customers are the basic reason why organizations exist. It is from the demand of goods and services from consumers generate profits and hence are able to survive. In the absence of customers, business would basically close down. This, therefore, means that consumers are an important component of the success of any organization. An organization that takes care of the needs and expectations of its customers can be said to be taking care of its current and future success (Valentine, Mathis & Jackson, 2013). There are several issues that can affect the relationship between an organization and its customers including unmet customer expectations, poor quality of goods and services, broken promises, unsupportive and rude human resources among other issues. The impact of these issues is that they can lead to loss of customers and have a negative impact on the reputation of an organization. Flextronics has faced serious complaints from its consumers who have accused it of being unreliable in terms of provision of goods and services. These Complaints have been partly as a result of disparities in the production processes, service orientation and quality standards of the company. There are various expectations that Consumers place on global enterprises such Flextronics which cause such complaints if they are not satisfied (Stahl & Bjo?rkman,2007). As a global organization operating in more than 30 countries, Flextronics is competing with other big players in the industry and therefore it is expected to maintain similar standards in order to compete effectively. Such complaints can greatly hurt its operations and therefore, it is faced with the responsibility of responding effectively and timely to such issues to prevent them from escalating and maintain its international reputation.

Cross-cultural issues

Cross-cultural issues

A key issue that continues to affect organizations operating in the global environment in the fact that Cultural differences exist between nations in which these Organizations operate, or intend to venture into. These differences exist mostly in terms of national values and attitudes. How people organize, manage and conduct work is greatly affected by the values to which they subscribe. Since different nations subscribe to different values which may have an impact on the operations of employees in these countries. Other HRM practices that may differ from country to country include practices such as recruitment and selection, compensation and performance reviews and employee training and development (Swanepoel,Erasmus & Schenk,2008).  It is therefore important for organizations to put in place measures that enable integration of different perspectives within international organizations.  There are a number of issues facing the Flextronics Including Cultural idiosyncrasies and issues to do with differences between learning and communication styles. Flextronics has its Headquarters in Vienna, Austria and primarily operates in Austria and Hungary. Implementation of programs in the organization with employees from different countries can encounter challenges because of differences in the value systems between these countries. This is one of the issues facing Flextronics in as far as implementation of its high potential programs which is designed to develop a future cadre of line managers. As identified earlier on, employees can affect their perception of Human Resource Functions such as training and development as in this case. Hungarian participants have been identified as less likely to complete the program or even stay with the organization after having completed the program. This is a cross-cultural management issue. Another cross-cultural issue facing the organization is disparities in learning and communication styles between Austrian and Hungarian participants. People from different cultures may possess differences in terms of how they communicate and learn (Condrey, 2010). This can be a real challenge for organizations with many employees from different cultures. Apart from communication barriers experienced by global enterprises, this case supports the fact that cultural differences can also bring about communication challenges which mean that there is a great need for organizations to take consideration of cultural differences. The organization is faced with serious learning and communication challenges that have affected the interactions between employees from Austria and Hungary. An example of this is the fact that unlike Hungarians, Austrians are more direct and concerned with formal and distant behavior. This challenge can lead to a disconnect between the operations of the company as well as affect its productivity. This has perhaps had a role to play in the complaints that have been experienced in the company (Mathis & Jackson, 2009).  

Staffing issues

Staffing issues

Staffing is management function that is basically concerned with ensuring that organizations have the right employees doing the right thing at the right time. It is a process that is concerned with the acquisition of people to fill vacant positions within an organization, their training and development, compensation as well other matters that have to do with human resources. Human resources are very important for any organization and the effective utilization of other resources within an organization is entirely dependent on how effective and efficient human resources are (Deckop, 2007). If therefore an organization has the right employees at the right place doing the right thing at the right time, its resources will be used in the best way possible. Flextronics is facing a number of challenges in as far as the staffing function in the organization is concerned. The first issue has to do with recruitment and selection both in Austria and Hungary. As an international organization, it expected to have a standard recruitment and selection practice in all its branches to eliminate any performance and productivity related challenges in any of its constituents.  There is, however, a huge disparity in terms of the capabilities of people working in Austria and those working in Hungary. The Company lacks adequate sufficiently trained employees in Hungary which can lead to an imbalance in its global operations. Employee turnover has also been an issue facing the organization with its former employees joining competitors or entirely changing their industry. Employees leave their employers in cases where they are not competitively compensated or in instances where there are no opportunities for growth and development. Training and development is a staffing function that is majorly focused on equipping employees with the necessary skills so that they are able to perform their duties effectively (Aswathappa,2013).  This, therefore, means that without training and development, employees will lack the skills needed to perform their duties and responsibilities effectively leading to a workforce that lacks motivation, is disengaged and lacks commitment to their work. With the disparities in communication and learning, it is a difficult task implementing a training and development. There is an issue with training adopted by the organization in that it is majorly centered on line managers. While the role of line managers in the organization cannot be ignored, training would not be appropriate if it is one sided. Therefore both employees and subordinate staff need to be trained in order to eliminate disparities that may arise. As an international enterprise also, there is the need of having a standard training program that takes into consideration all the aspects of the organization including its constituent branches (Lawler & Boudreau, 2012).

Performance management issue

The organization lacks an inclusive and standardized training and development program

Performance management issue

Performance management can be defined as the continuous process of communication between employees and their managers and supervisors that is intended at providing employees with the necessary skills to make them capable of achieving individual as well as organizational goals (Amos,2008). Recently, there has been a general increase in emphasis on performance management by organizations as they seek to stay ahead of their competitors. Performance in organizations is largely influenced by availability or lack of effective communication, organization culture, availability or lack of employee growth and development programs, lack or availability of employee feedback programs as well as whether there is teamwork or individualism in an organization. The training program adopted by the organization has been designed to meet the training need of a few selected individuals within the organization. While all employees are important to an organization, it is important to provide training to all levels within an organization to equip them with the necessary skills for them to be in a position of meeting the required international standards. Lack of consideration for the culture of different groups within the organization as it is the case with the training program adopted by the organization also means that the effectiveness of the program is affected. There is also an issue with the acceptance of certification programs by people from different cultures whereby some have viewed it as a form of appraisal that lacks any potential benefits at the end of its all (Fitz-enz, J., & Davison,2012).

Training and development issue

Training and development are integral to the success of an organization. The organization is also facing serious challenges to do with its training and development approach. Most importantly is the lack of a standardized training program that did not consider cultural differences within the organization during the time of its development. There are also disparities in the competencies of Austria’s workforce against Hungary’s workforce (Baker & Doran,2007).

As identified, some of the issues facing the organization are as a result of lack of a standard learning and communication style. The organization can prevent the occurrence of this by developing a standard communication and learning plan that takes care of all cultural diversities (Price,2011).

Offering training at all levels

.The organization should also ensure that it provides effective training to all its employees at all levels and branches to deal with any skill disparities.

The organization should ensure that it adopts performance review and management program that is acceptable across all cultures

Some of the problems in the organization such as employee turnover can be attributed to lack of effective training and development programs. Implementation of such would, therefore, ensure that the problems are not witnessed in future (Niles,2013).

Cultural consideration

The organization also needs to consider different cultures within it during the development of various programs in order to avoid disadvantaging some groups as it was the case with the training program for line managers.

Meeting all requirements

The Organization should also ensure that all their goods and services meet international standards at all time to avoid recurrence of customer complaints such as the ones experienced. This can also be achieved by adequately training employees as per the international standards.

Diversity management  

As identified in the case diversity management is an issue that needs to be considered by the organization. The organization should put in place strategies that encourage acceptance of different cultures and which support diversity to ensure that all groups get the same treatment and opportunities in the organization (Sims,2007).

Adoption of proper communication mechanisms

Communication challenges have also been identified as affecting the organization. The organization should implement strategies to facilitate, effective, timely and accurate information with the organization to deal with the communication challenges that the organization is facing.

Encouraging feedback

Feedback can be a good strategy to deal with turnover and problem-related issues facing the organization. The organization should, therefore, make it a requirement for managers and supervisors to regularly give feedback to employees concerning their performance to ensure that performance related issues and customer complaints are dealt with.

Part of the Challenges facing the organization has been resistance to the use of certifications by some employees. While this is not a performance review too, some employees have actually mistaken it to be a tool for reviewing their performance. The organization should, therefore, adopt a standard performance review strategy that is acceptable by all employees to do away with the confusion and provide a common ground for reviewing the performances of employees (Perkins, Shortland & Perkins,2007).

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the organization is facing a number of issues including lack of experienced personnel, employee turnover, diversity challenges, lack of training and development programs for all employees and consumer complaints. These among other challenges have had a hand in the current challenges facing the organization including consumer complaints that have been experienced. The organization should implement the recommendations that have been identified above in order to effectively deal with the challenges.

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