Benchmarking Analysis

In a complex, dynamic, fast-changing environment, companies must strive for superiority in order to survive. Competitive edge cannot be achieved or maintained by setting goals based on past or even present performance. Benchmarking is a management practice that can be used to pursue excellence. It does this by identifying, comparing and emulating best practice wherever it occurs.

Read More:  Benchmarking as a Strategic Business Tool

Benchmarking is defined as a continuous systematic process of evaluating companies recognized as industry leaders, to determine business and work processes that represent best practices and establish rational performance goals. It is a search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance.… Read the rest

International Compensation Management

Designing and developing a better compensation package for HR professionals for the international assignments requires knowledge of taxation, employment laws, and foreign currency fluctuation by the HR professionals. Moreover, the socio-economic conditions of the country have to be taken into consideration while developing a compensation package. It is easy to develop the compensation package for the parent country national but difficult to manage the host and third country nationals. When a firm develops international compensation policies, it tries to fulfills some broad objectives:

  1. The compensation policy should be in line with the structure, business needs and overall strategy of the organization.
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International Human Resource Selection Procedures

Multinational Corporations (MNCs)  use a number of selection procedures. The two most common are tests and interviews. Some international firms use one; a smaller percentage employ both. Theoretical models containing the variables that are important for adjusting to an oversea assignment have been developed. These adjustment models can help contribute to more effective selection of expatriates. The following sections examine traditional testing and interviewing procedures, then present an adjustment model.

Testing and Interviewing Procedures

Some evidence suggests that although some firms use testing, it is not extremely popular. For example, an early study found that almost 80 percent of the 127 foreign operations managers who were surveyed reported that their companies used no tests in the selection process.… Read the rest

Selection Criteria for International Assignments

Making an effective selection decision for an overseas assignment can prove to be a major problem. Typically, this decision is based on international selection criteria, which are factors used to choose international managers. These selections are influenced by the  Multinational Corporations experience and often are culturally based. Sometimes as many as a dozen criteria are used, although most  Multinational Corporations give serious consideration to only five or six.

1. Adaptability to Cultural Change

Overseas managers must be able to adapt to change. They also need a degree of cultural toughness. Research shows that many managers are exhilarated at the beginning of their overseas assignment.… Read the rest

Business and Globalization: National Differences Facing Operations

Working in another country or with an organization from another countries demands knowledge and consideration of their environmental forces in order to create a good strategic plan. To be successful in international business manager must be aware  of the culture with which they deal. International operating companies must have a strategic management plan that takes in to consideration the real and potential forces in a foreign environment, as well as the forces at work in the domestic environment. A manager has to understand the new environment, which means understanding the people and their culture. Physical forces and geographic factors determine transportation and production cost.… Read the rest

EFQM Excellence Model

The  European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model was introduced in 1991 as the framework for organizational self-assessment and as the basis for judging entrants to the European Quality Award, which was awarded for the first time in 1992. A number of factors have encouraged many western countries to introduce quality awards. Among these were: the importance of quality for competitiveness, and contribution of benchmarking and self-assessment techniques to improving performance. The award models are used extensively throughout the world by leading companies and can thus be used for international benchmarking comparisons.

A framework designed to assist organisations achieve business excellence through continuous improvement in the management and deployment of processes to engender wider use of best practice activities.

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