International Human Resource Management

-Please answer all questions and reference any material you used (your book, other books, reports, journal articles, websites etc.). ONLY use academic or professional or organisational websites- not Wikipedia, glassdoor etc.) 1. (a) What are international assignments and why do Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) send their staff on international assignments? (30%) (b) What can MNEs do to prepare their staff for these international assignments (pre-departure and during the assignment)? (50%) (c) Imagine you are an HR manager in an MNE: what issues and challenges would you face training PCNs as well as HCNs and TCNs? [1b and 1c should focus on international training and development material) (20%) (word count for Question 1: minimum 600, maximum 800) 2. Read the case study below carefully and then answer each question, linking it to key theory we covered in class and in your book (Chapter 8). You can use additional material and reference it. Diane has been working for UAE Oil as Senior HR Director for 7 years. UAE oil was a large MNE in the oil and gas industry, with the Head office in Abu Dhabi. Diane was originally from Lancaster, a city in Northern England, UK, but she was a ‘seasoned’ expatriate who lived and worked in 3 other countries before being approached to work for UAE oil in Abu Dhabi 7 years ago. She loved her job but she also often faced high levels of stress, especially when it came to some challenging decisions on key HR functions. Today, was a particularly stressful day as her CEO who was currently visiting their Shanghai subsidiary for 2 weeks for some training for HNCs, got in touch and asked her to have a Zoom meeting. In the meeting, the CEO explained that plans were rapidly going ahead with the opening of a new subsidiary in Nigeria, West Africa. A key part of Angela’s job was to decide how PCNs, HCNs and TCNs would be compensated (i.e. how their reward management package would be decided). This left Angela feeling a bit anxious but also excited as this was the first time since she joined the company that a new subsidiary was opening for UAE oil and she had full control on how the reward management function would operate in Nigeria. She knew she had to properly analyse key factors in deciding the reward packages for all employees and she had to consult her team in order to better understand present salary scales in Nigeria but also for all the TCNs who would be joining the subsidiaries from other countries. She obviously knew much more about the current salary scales for PCNs in the Abu Dhabi Head Office (parent country) but she still had a lot of decisions to make on how different groups of employees would be paid in the Nigerian subsidiary. This would include also much more than just their salary as benefits and additional financial incentives would be key motivators for staff to want to move to this new subsidiary. 2a. In considering this case study, state what different reward management approaches can Diane and her team use in the new Nigerian subsidiary. (10%) 2b. Discuss each approach in detail and ensure that you discuss it specifically in the context of this case study, stating issues in Abu Dhabi, in Nigeria and for any countries any TCNs would be employed from. (40%) 2c. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? Discuss this for each group (PCNs, HCNs, TCNs), again in the context of the case study (30%) 2d. What other incentives, in addition to the main salary, could Diane suggest as part of the reward package for everyone (PCNs, HCNs and TCNs) working in the new Nigerian subsidiary?(20%) (word count for Question 2: minimum 600, maximum 1,000)