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Seat No.: Enrolment
GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
MBA SEMESTER 03 • EXAMINATION SUMMER 2017
Subject Code: 2830503 Date: 12/05/2017
Subject Name: International Human Resource Management
Time: 02.30 PM TO 05.30 PM Total Marks: 70
Instructions:
1. Attempt all questions.
2. Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.
3. Figures to the right indicate full marks.
Q.1
Choose the correct option.
06
1.
The country where the headquarters of a multinational company is located is known as
A.
Host country
B.
Home country
C.
Third country
D.
None of above
2.
Where the MNE divided its operations into global context and moves staff within particular region?
A.
Polycentric approach
B.
Ethnocentric approach
C.
Geocentric approach
D
Region centric
3.
TCNs is defined as
A.
Trans country nationals
B.
Third country nationals
C.
Trans country career
D.
Multi career national
4.
Which of the following dimensions from Hofstede's would not describe India
A.
Long term orientation
B.
Collectivism
C.
Individualism
D.
Masculinity
5.
An example of a third-country national is:
A.
A dual citizen (for example, holding Canadian and U.S. citizenship) working for a Mexican company in Mexico.
B.
Canadian citizen working for a U.S. company in Mexico
C.
A U.S. citizen working for a U.S. company in Canada.
D.
A Canadian citizen working for a U.S. company in Canada
6.
Which of the following factors is not related directly to the success of expatriate assignments?
A.
Personality of expatriate
B.
Intension of expatriate
C.
Inability of the spouse to adjust
D.
Nature of products produced
Q.1

Define the following terms.
1. Expatriate
2. Cultural shock
3. Ethnocentric
4. Dual career couple
04
Q.1

Explain concept of PCNs, TCNs and HCNs
04
Q.2

What are the different approaches of International compensation management? Discuss the merits and demerits of any 3 approaches.
07
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Explain the strength and weaknesses of workforce diversity with relevant examples.
07
OR

As a newly-appointed Project Manager of a research team, you consider that you will be able to manage the project virtually from your office in London, even though the other six members are located in Munich. This will solve your personal dilemma as your family does not want to be relocated. The project has a six-month deadline. What factors should you need to consider in making this virtual assignment effective?
07
Q.3

What is exporting? How do the firms enter international markets through exporting strategy?
07

As an HR manager, what programme would you establish to reduce repatriation problems of returning expatriates and their families?
07
OR
Q.3

Define IHRM. Differentiate between domestic HRM and International HRM
07

What are the significant trends in IHRM practices in recent time?
07
Q.4

Explain the variables affecting expatriate performance.
07

What are the additional allowances paid by MNCs to expatriates that are distinctive from that of pure domestic companies? How will you consider taxation on such allowances?
07
OR
Q.4

Are Female expatriate different from Male expatriates? Explain Barriers to females taking international assignment.
07

As an HR manger, design the cultural training module for a set of your employees who are going for an overseas assignment of your organization. (Assume any organization of your choice.)
07
Q 5 Read the following case study and answer the questions. 14
International Staffing Policy
John was based in Chicago and worked for a multinational chemical company. His wife, Mary, was an engineer. One evening, John arrived home with the news that he was being posted as local manager to a poor Central American Country X. the appointment was being made in at short notice because of recent policy changes. No one doubted John's technical qualifications for the job. He was scheduled to be at post within the month.
The company had not consulted his wife, Mary, about the decision. But she felt that she could not object to a move which would enhance his career. She gave up her own job, took their two young children out of their school and arranged to go with him.
At post, Mary discovered that the culture did not tolerate women working in a profession such as engineering. In addition work permits were not available to a dependant spouse.
When John left for work in the morning, she took the children to their new school, communicated with a domestic servant who spoke no English, and shopped in the market.
Otherwise she had little to do, and was bored and depressed. Her social circle was restricted to the wives of her husband's colleagues. In the evenings their social life was limited to business functions, where typically she was excluded from the main topic of conversation the company. She knew that she was drinking too much. Also, she knew that her depression worried John and made it harder for him to perform well at work. An acquaintance had reported that local staff was beginning to question his expertise and to query why he had been appointed in preference to a local candidate.
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Their marital disputes were becoming more acrimonious, and all members of the family were suffering. Within the year, John resigned his appointment.
Questions
Assume that you are the local human resource manager in the subsidiary.
What could you have done (if anything) to improve the situation after the family's arrival at post?
Headquarters has asked you to propose new regulations governing expatriate appointments. What proposals do you make?
OR
Q 5 Read the following case study and answer the questions. 14
Troubled Team
Your company, a major international software developer, needed to produce a new product quickly; you assembled a team of employees from India and the US. From the start, the team members could not agree on a delivery date for the product. The Americans thought the work could be done in 2-3 weeks; the Indians predicted it would take 2-3 months. As time went on, the Indian team members proved reluctant to report setbacks in the production process, which the American team members would find out only when work was due to be passed to them. Such conflicts, of course, may affect any team, but in this case, they arose from cultural differences. As tensions mounted, conflicts over delivery dates and feedback became personal, disrupting team members' communication about even ordinary issues. You decide to intervene-with the result that both the American and the Indian team members came to rely on you for direction regarding minute operational details that the team should have been able to handle itself. You became so bogged down by quotidian issues that the project careened hopelessly off even the most pessimistic schedule and the team never learned to work together effectively.
Questions:
1. What mistakes, you think, did you commit while constituting team?
2. Explain Hofstede's framework of cultural difference. Which of the dimension (Hofstede's cultural dimension) do you recommend to bring the team back on track?