Transcript Career Management

Ethics &
Career Management in IHRM
One of the myths about global business
ethics is that when you do business in other
cultures, they will have a whole set of
different ethical values and morals. That
simply is blown out of proportion.
W. Michael Hoffman
Executive Director of the Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College
Waltham, MA
What is business ethics?




Sense of right and wrong?
Legal vs illegal?
Moral vs immoral?
Something more?
Theories on Ethics

Utilitarianism




Decisions made to maximize benefits
Example 1: laying off 20% of the workforce to improve
overall profitability
Example 2: using child labor is cheaper and provides
opportunities for the children, and would lead to overall
profitability
Rights



Decisions made while respecting and protecting the basic
rights of individuals
Example 1: Right to unionize
Example 2: Right to privacy
Theories on Ethics

Justice




Impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially
Example 1: having a minimum wage requirement
Example 2: having a policy on sexual/racial harassment
Integrative social contracts


Decisions made on the basis of empirical (what is) and
normative (what should be) factors
Example 1: comparing yourself with what is being
practiced by other organizations in the industry
Theories on Ethics

Deontology




Moral obligation that an agent has towards
another person
Example 1: employer’s duty of care to provide a
safe working environment for employees
Example 2: employee’s duty not to steal from
employer
Foundation of legal framework
Stakeholder

Who or what is a stakeholder?

An individual or a group in an organization’s
environment that is affected by the organization’s
decision and policies
Who are the stakeholders?








Home/host country governments
Unions
Employees
Customers
Suppliers
Interest groups e.g. Greenpeace, environmental
protection agency, international labor organization,
human rights group
Competitors
Media representatives
What is the role of a business?

To generate profits in an effort to maximize
shareholder wealth OR optimize profits while
taking into account key stakeholders’
concerns?
Relationships between Staffing
Policies and Ethics





Organizations that employ an ethnocentric staffing
policy tend to use distributive justice
Home country nationals perceived to possess skills,
trained and loyal
Organizations that employ a polycentric staffing tend
to focus on moral rights
Seeks to preserve the rights of workers e.g. rights to
freedom, health, privacy etc
Rights of an individual/group ≠ Rights of another
individual/group
Relationships between Staffing
Policies and Ethics




Organizations that employ an geocentric staffing
policy tend to use utilitarianism
Assumes businesses seek to benefit society at large
Problem # 1: Depends on accurate measure of costs
and benefits
Problem # 2: What is good for one might be bad for
another, so rights of minorities might not be
protected
Types of Gifts

Tangibles


Intangibles




Cash, an expensive watch, shares
Recognition, affection, importance
Social exchange – maintaining strong
relationships
Is gift giving unethical?
Will gift giving build or destroy relationships?
Cultural nuances

More emphasis on developing relationship
before business – impact on gift giving



relevance to training & development, policy
development
Differences in the concepts of
appropriateness, proper intent and conduct
Respect, face saving & appreciation
Reciprocity



Doing favors to foster guanxi
Knowledge & Abilities  Who one knows - Who
one owes
D’Souza and Sansbury (2000)



Gift giving in India – 86% of respondents – a norm that
businesses should practice
80% feel obliged to buy from supplier who gave gifts
92% acknowledged they’d make better decisions without
gifts (cost effectiveness)
Bribery





Recipients of bribe (most attention is focused)
Givers of bribe (perceived as innocent)
Companies deducting bribes from their taxes?
(Powpaka, 2002)
Foreign Corruption Practices Act 1977 (US)
OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention 1988
Effects of locus of control on
perception of bribery

Externals
Exhibit harsher judgment of bribery
 Less willing to bribe
 Greater emphasis on rule-based decision making
Cherry and Fraedrich (2000)

Disadvantages of bribery






Inhibits economic development
Distorts competition
Disrupts distribution channel
Destroys incentives to compete on quality and price
Undermines market efficiency and predictability
Denies many people the right to a minimal standard
of living
Powpaka (2002, p. 227)
Global scandals




1995 – US Dept of Labor report – child labor
abuses in 56 countries (mining, textiles)
Payments to 3rd party to ‘facilitate’ business
transaction e.g. China
Environmental abuses
Implications for HR managers? Play an active
role – define and achieve ethical behavior,
making policies into living documents
An approach to establish an ethical
organization
(1) Clearly stating company values
 Code of conduct
 Booklet for everyone
 Recruitment, selection, training
(2) Communicate
 Newsletters, e-mails, training programs
 Multiracial team after apartheid in South Africa –
Levi Strauss
An approach to establish an ethical
organization
(3) Communicate standard to partners (or subsidiaries)
 environmental requirements
 occupational health and safety
 Levi not wanting to hire any more teenage
workers who cannot produce birth certificate in
Bangladesh, $ for schooling and working for Levi
after turning 14
 shorter working hours, reinforced
infrastructure to improve workers’ health and
safety, fire extinguishers installed, and make sure
contractors meet environmental guidelines
An approach to establish an ethical
organization
(4) Translate ethical behavior to performance
 Ties compensation to performance,
including ethics (Levi)
 Annual PA includes questions about
ethical dilemmas
Career & career planning

Career


Sequence of jobs that make up what a
person does for a living
Career planning

Systematically matching career goals,
individual capabilities and
opportunities for fulfillment.
Sustainable career advantage

Sustainable career advantage


Combination of personal attributes, skills and
capabilities that allow a person to consistently
outperform others
Revolves around professionalism, leadership,
self-management, communication, critical
thinking, teamwork and continuous learning
Source: Schermerhorn, J.R. Jr., Campling, J., Poole, D. and Wiesner, R. (2004). Management: An Asia-Pacific
Perspective, Milton, Wiley
What are expats feeling?






75% feel “out of sight, out of mind”
50% feel international assignment provide career opportunity
22% feel their assignments are not rewarded sufficiently
82% want companies to place more emphasis on career
pathing
45% want more trips back to home office to have positive
effect on careers
67% feel a coach/mentor program is critical to successful
career development
Source: Survey by Prudential Relocation International. Based on a survey of HR executives from 114 Fortune
500 companies.
Expatriate career perspective





Expatriation – strategy for developing leaders,
rewarded more, opportunity to utilize skills
Repatriation – unrealistic expectation about new job
(e.g. job scope, pay)
Disillusionment – other executives who did not take
an international assignment progressed in their
career
Country of origin and organization have changed
(reverse cultural shock)
20-30% reported positive career impact; 10-25% left
company within 1 year after repatriation
Career management systems



Integrate international assignment with career
development, succession planning and performance
management system
Have more appropriate and wide variety of selection
criteria e.g. technical ability is a poor indicator while
personality and family adaptability are better
indicators
Ongoing repatriation programs i.e. regular
discussions between HR/business unit manager and
expat about skills utilization after repatriation;
suggesting the use of leave to visit home country
Career management systems




Prior to repatriation, expat prepares summary, case
studies and other tools to help home office to
highlight key activities and help expat readjusts.
Pre-departure discussions with expat – new roles,
provide expat with a sense of reality
Regular communication with expat
Help expat develop realistic expectations about their
work and non-work lives before repatriation
Source: Hauser (1999). Managing expatriates’ careers. HR Focus, Feb, 11-12.
Career management systems




Re-entry counselling for expat and family members
Help expat see how the experience gained will affect
future career development and match returning expat
with a job that utilize the experience
Organize a contact person in home office for the
returning expat
Dual-career couples – resistance to take up a foreign
assignment
Who is responsible for the expat’s career?



The organization – career pathing, career
planning, succession planning, identify career
opportunities, help lessen stress due to career
adjustment and help expat with career selfmanagement
The expat
Perceived matching between org and
individual career plans may encourage
commitment and better work adjustments
Five organizational strategies that can facilitate
or impede an expat’s success during job
transition





Free choice
Ensure potential expat has realistic expectations
Engage in succession planning and definite time
frame for assignment
Organize a mentor in home office
Connection between overseas assignment and longer
career paths
Feldman, DC (1988). Managing careers in organizations. Glenview, Ill, Scott Foresman.
Hall, DT (1976). Careers in organizations. Pacific Palisades, CA, Goodyear Publishing.
Wanous, JP (1980). Organizational entry. Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley
Individual career management strategies





Actively seek task help
Actively seek socialization
Seeing the positive sides of the assignment
Focus on temporariness of the assignment
Palliative coping