单项选择题

Staffing in a Foreign Subsidiary If you travel to another country, you will be struck at how the whole feel of the place is different. You will therefore not be surprised to learn that in general, the nature of institutions, the structure of commerce and work organization and the behavior of people in the workplace differ from country to country. These national differences form a crucial part of our understanding of the International Human Resource Management(IHRM). The role of Human Resource(HR)manager of a foreign subsidiary is to develop HR practices that are(1)acceptable within the local culture and(2)acceptable to management at the headquarters of the multinational corporation(MNC). However, the balancing of these two requirements is a difficult task. Whether subsidiary HR managers are home, host, or third country nationals, they bring their own " cultural baggage, " which may affect their ability to accommodate cultural differences in the host work force. Employees in a subsidiary may consist of a mixture of home, host, and third country nationals—all with their own distinct cultural backgrounds and preferences. The subsidiary"s HR manager must help all employees adapt to the HR practices operating in the subsidiary, even though these practices may be derived from the cultures very different from their own. The following text will focus on staffing in describing the difficulties faced by subsidiary HR managers in developing an effective HR system. A subsidiary HR manager ought to use a hiring process that fits the local labor market. For example, an MNC may need the services of a local personnel selection agency to identify the sources of skilled employees. Local employment laws must be adhered to, and premium salaries may have to be offered to lure highly qualified individuals away from local firms. In Japan, the collective nature of Japanese society traditionally has made it difficult for foreign companies to hire qualified Japanese employees. These individuals tend to "stay in the family" and work for Japanese, not foreign, employers. Although during the downturn in the Japanese economy during the early 1990s this attitude became less prevalent, it still remains a problem. In some countries, hiring may require using a government-controlled labor bureau. This may be particularly prevalent in hierarchical cultures with high power distance. In Vietnam, for example, local labor bureaus are heavily involved in the hiring process. Sometimes the local bureaus may supply a foreign subsidiary with employees who are not adequately skilled for the job, and it may be difficult for the subsidiary to refuse employment. Important staffing issues may have to be approved by very high government officials. The development of a selection system may be complicated by the fact that selection tests used in the home country of the MNC may be culturally biased and inappropriate elsewhere. For example, many personality tests were developed using Western samples. The personality profiles provided by such tests, and certainly their normative data, would be meaningless in trying to understand the behavior of Japanese or Thai job applicants. Assertive individuals who take initiative and stand out from the crowd may appear well adjusted according to the norms of Western personality tests. However, a Japanese job applicant with a similar score might be a disaster if hired to work in the MNC"s subsidiary in Tokyo because " standing out" as an individual is inconsistent with the more collectivist Japanese culture. Even if the concepts measured by the tests are applicable, there are difficulties in getting many tests adequately translated into the host country language. Issues of race, age and sex discrimination can cause considerable difficulties for the subsidiary HR manager. In Singapore, a fairly hierarchical and masculine culture, it is acceptable and legal to place job advertisements that specifically state the race, age range, and sex of employees being sought. This would blatantly violate American EEO laws. An American working as HR manager in a Singapore subsidiary could experience a considerable moral dilemma in following practices that are in line with local laws and culture but conflict with home country laws and home country organizational culture. There also can be unexpected disadvantages associated with hiring particular types of local employees. For example, in a multicultural society, the use of an employee from one ethnic group in a managerial position may not be acceptable to members of other ethnic groups. In India, the caste system, which historically has played a prominent role in Indian society, could make it inappropriate to hire someone from a lower caste to supervise employees of a higher caste. In some countries(Japan, for example), it may be inappropriate to hire a younger person for a job that has supervisory responsibilities over older employees. What is the central idea of this passage