Write a consultancy report for a United Kingdom based MNC seeking to establish a subsidiary abroad.

Description of the assignment:

You are an independent, external HR consultant employed to advise a UK based MNC on what they

need to consider in order to establish a subsidiary in Brazil, China, India or Nigeria $($Select ONE

country$).$

You are expected to write an $1800(+/-10\%)$ word report $($excluding the cover sheet, table of contents,

any appendices and references$).$

Ensure that you cover the following from a HR perspective:

$1.$ What are the important factors Multi$-$National Corporations $($MNCs$)$ have to consider when setting

up in different geographic locations internationally? Explain why these factors are important.

$2.$ Apply your understanding of these factors to recommend which of your MNC$$s functions should be

managed from the UK Headquarters $($HQ$),$ and which functions should be managed locally, in your

chosen country. Provide a rationale for your recommendations. You must select the functions, but

they might include recruitment, performance management, learning and development, functional

and general management roles in the company etc.

Additional instructions:

The coursework has been designed to be as wide$-$ranging as possible both in terms of HR functions

and offering students the opportunity to display their knowledge of cross$-$cultural issues, the role of

expatriates and the role of national managers. Utilise a range of academic and industry sources to

support your argument.

It is not necessary for students to write about every factor that an MNC will take into consideration, but

to choose those which are critical to decisions and relevant to HR considerations. This offers the

opportunity to write in depth on several key topics, rather than writing very little about very many topics

and failing to critically analyse the important issues in detail.

You can choose a fictional MNC or a real one $-$ but please bear in mind we are interested in how you

apply ideas rather than the specifics of the company involved. The country's context is more important

than the nature of the business. You do not need to research what a real company already does, but

comparisons derived from industry sources can be used. State any assumptions you make in relation to

the company.

Theoretical underpinning

As a starting point, you might consider the following chapter in the module$$s recommended text which

provides the academic focus for this coursework:

Hollinshead$$s $$International and Comparative HRM$$ Chapter $4$Staffing the multinational

enterprise: expatriation and managing across borders$.$

Issues that you may want to consider:

$$ Sustainability $$ what risk factors will MNCs take into consideration when deciding to move into a

foreign country? This should underpin the remainder of the discussion since no MNC will move

without scoping and assessing the risk of failure.

$$ Hofstede$$s theory and notions of cultural familiarisation and adaptation

$$ The functions of IHRM $$ which will link to what the critical factors are in decision making before

moving to a new location and possible discussions of systems and good practice convergence

$2$

$$ Cross cultural issues that required knowledge, understanding and adaptation for MNCs to be

successful; possible host country effects

$$ Legal requirements and local processes, systems and procedures; government and local

government requirements e$.$g$.$ labour market, industrial relations, health and safety regulations,

work practices

$$ The four influences framework $-$ country of origin, dominance, international integration and host

country effects

$$ Application and discussion of ethnocentrism, polycentrism and geocentrism, with application to the

practical examples being cited

$$ A definition of $$host$$ and $$local$$ managers and the importance of deciding which to use in moving to

a new location

$$ A discussion of $$glocalisation$$ in the merging of MNCs$$ host country expertise and the employment

of local managers

$$ Where appropriate, better answers may discuss the specific issues of moving into a developing

nation and the impacts of Foreign Direct Investment

$$ Black$$s model of in$-$country adjustment