7BSP1303-0105 International and Comparative HRM
7BSP1303-0105 International and Comparative HRM
Task 1
Introduction
Global expansion is one of the major objectives of every business as it can allow a business to develop to a great extent in every aspect. A business can successfully maximize its customer base, revenue, street of economic resources, and other important aspects of business through global expansion. This assignment has been revolving around the expansion of Smart Snacks in Thailand. It is an Australian company that is engaged in manufacturing and selling food products in Australia. The company now intends to expand in the Thai market to strengthen its customer base and revenue as well. Currently, the company is having two manufacturing units in the country where it manufactures different snacks such as chips and mix. It has gained fame in the country and successfully made a nationwide customer base as well. It is conducting business since 2005 and in the experience of 18 years the company has achieved huge success. The company practices a strategic business approach in every aspect that has been one of the major pillars of its success. The marketing, selling, Human resources management (HRM), and research and development practices of the company have been immensely successful from the beginning and have worked together to make the business a huge success.
In the last 18 years of business, it has successfully made a financial foundation that can be used now to expand globally. Thailand is one of the emerging economies of Asia that can be a perfect market doe the global expansion of Smart Snacks. The country has already allowed many global companies to succeed in its market and Smart Snacks can also take advantage of the Thai market and expand globally. However, the market dynamics of Australia and Thailand largely differ from each other and the company needs to make changes in its strategies to penetrate ion the Thai market with ease. The cultural, economic, and legal aspects pf the Thai market are largely different from the Australian market and the current strategies of the company are suitable for the Australian market. Changes are required to be made to be a perfect fit in the Thai market and test success by Smart Snacks.
Critically compare and contrast the cultural aspects of Thailand and Australia
The different factors related to the culture prevalent in Australia and Thailand have been compared in this section using the Hoff stead model of cultural comparison. As opined by Satam and Wisam (2019), this is a useful tool to compare the cultural aspects between two countries that uses six different scales to compare and contrast different aspects related to the culture of two different places.
In the above picture, the different cultural aspects of Australia and Thailand have been depicted with the help of Hofstede’s model of cultural comparison. It can be seen in the power distance scale that the power distance score is 38 in the case of Australia and 64 in Thailand. As opined by Deshmukh (2020), the power distance scale indicates the level of inequality prevalent in a country and the level of acceptability of the same in the country. The higher score of Thailand indicates that the society in Thailand is more unequal than that of Australia. Inequality can be caused on the basis of wealth and other aspects. It indicates that a system of hierarchy exists in the Thai society. On the contrary, the low scores of Australia indicate that the Australian society is more equal and the hierarchical system is not prevalent in the society.
It can be seen in the picture that the scores of Thailand and Australia on an individual scale largely differ from each other. Australia’s score on this scale is 80 whereas Thailand’s score is only 20. As opined by Satam and Wisam (2019), the individualism scale on Hofstede’s model indicates the importance of personal goals and collective goals. The higher scores of individualisms indicate that people in society prioritize personal goals more than collective goals. As Australia has a high score in this context, it can be said that most Australians try to attain their own personal goals in life. On the contrary, the low scores on the scale indicate that people in society prioritize collective goals more than their personal goals. The low score of Thailand on this scale states that the Thai people give greater importance to collective goals than personal goals.
On the Masculinity scale, Australia has made a score of 61 and Thailand has scored 34. As opioid by Deshmukh (2020), the distribution of different roles between men and women is done on this scale. In a country with a high score on the masculinity scale, the role o men and women are always decided differently. The roles of men and women are seen differently in such countries. For example, care work, household work, high modesty, and virtue are seen as feminine things whereas protection and supervisory kind of work are seen as masculine job roles. On this scale, Australia has scored higher than Thailand and that indicates that in a large Australian society, gender basic work is more prevalent than in Thailand.
On the index of uncertainty avoidance, Australia’s score is 51 and Thailand’s score is 61. According to SUTTON (2019), this scale indicates the ability of people to adjust to anxiety in the country. The high score of Thailand indicates that the Thai people can cope in an uncertain situation in a more effective manner. The moderate score of Australia states that the Australians’ reaction to the uncertain situation is not as efficient as the Thai people.
On the scale of long-term orientation, Australia scored 21 and Thailand scored 32. According to Deshmukh (2020), the scale of long-term orientation indicates time horizon people in society display. It indicates the importance of values and principles in people as the low score indicates the mire importance of principles. The scores of both countries indicate that the people in Australia give more importance to principles than the people in Thailand.
On the scale of Indulgence Australia has scored 71 and Thailand’s score is 45. As opined by SUTTON (2019), indicates a society that allows the people to be free to practice their own activities in their own way. The high score of Australia than Thailand on this scale indicates that the people in the society are happier in Australia than in Thailand and people have more freedom of speech as well.
Critically compare and contrast the equality law and Anti-discrimination laws
Both Thai and Australian legal systems have special importance to maintain equity in teh society and as a result, equality and Anti-discrimination laws have taken a special place in the legal system of both countries. In the Constitution of Thailand, equality has been depicted as a fundamental right of the Thai people. Section 27 of the Thai constitution states in Thailand every citizen is equal in the eye of the law. No disposition is allowed within the territory of Thailand on the basis of race, caste, creed, and place of origin, gender, political views, disability, wealth, mental condition, and religious beliefs (Unwomen.org, 2023). The Thai constitution has given importance to equality in section 68 as well as this section states that the State and its government are responsible to maintain true equality in Thai society from every aspect. Apart from the Constitutional guidelines the legal system of Thailand also gives importance to equality and the “Gender Equality Act, 2015” is a piece of legislation that has been legislated to enforce equality in the society. The literacy rate of women in the country is 92% whereas the male literacy rate of men is 98%. This indicates that 8% of Thai women are uneducated in the 21st century (worldbank.org, 2023). This indicates room for improvement as it shows that there is a need to increase the literacy rate of women so that women can match men in this context.
In Australia, the legal system supports equality as well and there can be seen a large number of different legislations to ensure that there can be true equality in the country. “Racial Discrimination Act 1975”, “Equal Opportunity Act 2010” “Sex Discrimination Act 1984”, “Disability Discrimination Act, 1992”, and “Age Discrimination 2004” are the major legislations that are prevalent in Austria as anti-discrimination laws (Gov.au, 2023a). The implementation of the legislation is the duty of the State and the Australian government takes special care in this context.
Australia is a Western country that treats men and women equally. The equality and anti-discrimination laws in the country work together to ensure equality. However, the practice of inequality has not been completely stopped in the country and the gender pay gap is the evidence to prove this fact. The gender pay gap in the country is high it is 13.3% (Bloomberg.com, 2023). However, the society in Australia is broadminded and Australian women made up half the national workforce. The legislations in Australia especially the “Equal Opportunity Act” for ensuring equality are unique in that provides guidelines for ensuring maternity leaves, paternity leaves, and a special working environment for women so that they can comfortably work (Gov.au, 2023b).
Staff Management Plan
Staff management is one of the most important aspects of business conduction as the workforce of the company is one of the most important determinants of the success of a business. Smart Snacks needs to manage its staff in Thailand in a strategic manner that suits the Thai culture of HRM so that the company can successfully manage its workforce in a way that can ensure the company’s growth in Thailand.
Smart Snacks can use the Murphy and DeNisi model to manage the appraisal management of its staff. Under this model, the performance is done on the basis of different scales (Ridgway et al. 2023). The performance of the staff members is measured under these scales. The data that are analyzed on these scales need to be authentic so that the people analysis can be possible. Not only the present data of the performance management done under this model but analyzing the data related to the performance of employees of the past. This model can help corporate leaders in the company to evaluate and monitor the performance of the employees of Smart Snacks. The company can be able to create such a working environment within the organization that can allow the employees to perform tier best performance as it is assured that their performance is evaluated adequately. This can be ab useful tool for Smart Snacks to increase productivity in Thailand. The use of The Murphy and DeNisi model of performance management of the employees can allow Smart Snacks to create eye-to-eye contact between the managers and the employees. To what extent the work of an individual is aligned with the core organizational goals can also be measured by using this tool.
In the above picture, the different aspects relayed to the performance management of employees under the Murphy and DeNisi model have been depicted (Sharma, 2016). It can be seen that the use of this model is simple to be used that can be easily used by the management of Smart Snacks. The management of work forms and the recommendation of a new course of action is also possible under this model effectively. Making any decision by the management that is related to the enhancement of the performance of employees can be easier under this model.
As opined by Sharma (2016), the creation of continuous accountability is possible through this model as it creates a healthy atmosphere within the organization. In this model, more importance is given to regular meetings to ensure that a high level of transparency can be maintained within the organization. Hence, in the end, it can be stated that performance management is an important aspect of HRM practices that can be done through the use of the Murthy and DeNisis model by Smart Snacks in Thailand.
HRM Practices
As there are many differences between Thailand and Australia in their culture, economy, and legal structure, Smart Snacks needs to change its HRM practices to take advantage of a highly productive workforce to grow its business in Thailand. It has been seen in the cultural dimensions model of Hofstede that the Thai people give more importance to collective goals than individual goals the company needs to design its HRM objective that is determined to achieve collective goals (Chukuigwe, 2022). For this purpose, the company always needs to focus on dividing the work into different groups and need to take action to maintain high team spirit within the team.
It has also been seen in the analysis of cultural dimensions that the Thai culture supports the hierarchical system. However, the organizational structure of Smart Snacks is flat and engages a lesser number of managerial levels. In a hierarchical system, there are more levels of management and the work of the employees are done under the control of the hierarchy (Joseph and Gaba, 2020). However, in an organization that has a flat structure, the employees work without supervision. The company needs to change its organizational structure and install a hierarchical structure to make the employees more productive.
The unemployment rate in Thailand is more than that of Australia and the company needs to make the jobs more secure in Thailand. As opined by Chukuigwe (2022), within a safe environment employees can be more productive and job security can make them feel safe. For this purpose, the company needs to make its termination clauses more liberal in Thailand.
Conclusion
As global business is coupled with many advantages, every business wants to make itself an international organization and Smart Snacks is not an exception to this. The quick success of the organization and establishment of a popular nationwide snacks company in the highly competitive food industry of Australia has been possible due to the use of strategic tools and techniques. The company now intends to expand in the global market by expanding in the Thai market. The use of strategic moves, in the same way, can offer the company huge success in the global market as well however the features of the Thai market are different from the features of the Australian market, and hence the company needs to change its strategies to make itself successful in the Thai market. In this assignment using the Hofstede Model of cultural model the different aspects of Thai and Australian culture have been compared and contrasted in this assignment. The comparison and contrast of legal aspects have also been done here. A performance management plan has been suggested here for the company to manage employee performance and suitable HR practices have also been suggested for the company in this assignment. Therefore, in conclusion, it can be said that this assignment is a complete document to support the expansion of Smart Snacks in Thailand.
Task 2
Self-Reflection
I have presented my self-reflection, in this section that has described my experiences of working on this project. I have conducted this self-evaluation to identify my own abilities and strengths and to understand my weaknesses as well. In this way, I can be able more accurate in my future work and can deliver projects that can be higher in quality. For this purpose, I have used Gibb’s model of self-reflection to present this self-reflection in an effective manner.
In the above-depicted picture, Gibb’s model of self-reflection has been depicted (). It can be seen in the above picture that the model has six different stages and I have made use of each step to ensure an effective self-reflection of my own. In the description stage, I portrayed the description of the entire work and the procedure that had been followed by me to complete the work. In the feelings stage I have talked about my feeling while conducting this work and justified them as well. In the evaluation stage, I made an overall evaluation of the entire work and analyzed the same in the analysis stage. In the conclusion stage, I finally concluded the work and pointed out the most important parts of the work. In the action plan stage, I have made a future plan that I can follow in my future projects.
Describe
This project has revolved around the different cultural, economic, and legal aspects of Thailand and Australia, and hence I have started the work from underlying the basic features of these two countries. I have made online research to understand the key similarities and differences between these two countries and then started to collect data related to this context. I have collected data for this work from journal articles written by experts and scholars in this context. I have also used government data and industry reports. To make my work completely relevant to the contemporary time I have only used data that are not older than 5 to 6 years. To collect data I have utilized the keyword search process in the search engines such as Google and Google Scholar. After the collection of an ample amount of data, I started to analyze the same. The thematic analysis process has been followed by me to analyze the collected data. In the thematic analysis process, I divided data into different themes and gathered the most useful ones. It has been very useful yet very simple to be used. The data collection analysis process has been followed by the evaluation process that has found out the main findings. Finally, I presented the work in words in a systematic manner by dividing the entire discussion into different sections.
Feelings
Research that involves the study of market dynamics is a matter of great interest to me. These subjects attract me as I get the chance of learning many new things about the market of a foreign country. I felt interested to do the work after the topic section and my excitement has been immense. With great interest and excitement, I started the work by initiating the data collection phase. At this stage, I understood that the area of study is huge and I have to be very serious throughout the work. I felt a little anxious and started to give extra effort into the work. As a result, I used more time in this stage than the expected time.
Evaluation
In the entire process, my best quality of myself has been the ability to keep cool while working under pressure. My calm nature has helped in this work from the beginning to the end of the work. My time management skills are poor and this has caused a lot of challenges in my work. I used a lot of time in the first phrase of the work that has been data collection and as result I had to finish the other phrases in a short time.
Analysis
The entire work has been satisfactory for me except for some challenges. In case I can manage my time management skills I can improve my quality of work in the future as the other required skills are already passed by me.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be stated that the overall work has been up to the mark. I have completed the work within time however, the quality of the same could have been a little bit better inc and I could use some more time for the same.
Action Plan
In future, I have made an action plan to improve my time management skills. It can help both in my professional and personal life and can allow me to deliver better quality research works.
References
Bloomberg.com (2021). Thailand Plans New Pension Fund to Support Its Aging Population. Available from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-30/thailand-plans-new-pension-fund-to-support-its-aging-population#xj4y7vzkg . Accessed on 25.04.2023
Chukuigwe, N., 2022. JOB SECURITY AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY IN ORGANISATION. BW Academic Journal, pp.7-7.
Deshmukh, R., 2020, September. Understanding the Cultural Factors to Build Innovation in Organizations. In The Tenth International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3687709
Gov.au, (2023a). Rights of equality and non-discrimination. Available from https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/human-rights-and-anti-discrimination/human-rights-scrutiny/public-sector-guidance-sheets/rights-equality-and-non-discrimination#:~:text=Under%20Commonwealth%20law%2C%20the%20prohibited,out%20what%20constitutes%20prohibited%20discrimination. Accessed on 25.04.2023
Gov.au, (2023b). Equal opportunity. Available from https://www.studymelbourne.vic.gov.au/living-here/legal-support/equal-opportunity Accessed on 25.04.2023
Hofstede-insights.com (2023). COUNTRY COMPARISON TOOL. Available from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=australia%2Cthailand . Accessed on 01.05.2023
Joseph, J. and Gaba, V., 2020. Organizational structure, information processing, and decision-making: A retrospective and road map for research. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), pp.267-302. http://aom.org/memberservices/
Ridgway, M., Shipton, H. and Sparrow, P., 2023. Performance Management Systems in the UK. Performance Management Systems, pp.169-189.
Satam, H. and Wisam, H., 2019. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (Masculinity Vs. Femininity) And Its Impact On Earnings Management. Opción: Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, (35), p.2953.
Sharma, N.P., Sharma, T. and Agarwal, M.N., 2016. Measuring employee perception of performance management system effectiveness: Conceptualization and scale development. Employee Relations. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2015-0006
Sor.org, (2023). Reflection. Available from https://www.sor.org/news/students/reflection-means-more-than-keeping-a-diary. Accessed on 25.04.2023on
SUTTON, M.Q., 2019. A New Possible Function of Crescents. Journal of California & Great Basin Anthropology, 39(2).
Unwomen.org (2023). Constitution of Thailand 2017. Available from 25.04.2023 https://constitutions.unwomen.org/en/countries/asia/thailand?provisioncategory=b21e8a4f9df246429cf4e8746437e5ac. Accessed on 25.04.2023
Worldbank.org (2023). Available from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Available from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS?locations=TH. Accessed on 01.06.2023.
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