Managerial Implications in the UAE

Introduction

In the paper, human resource management strategies of global companies operations in the information and technology sector are scrutinized using four cases and basing them on two research structures of human resource strategies. These research frameworks are subsidiary relative autonomy level and internationalization level approaches.

Human resource strategies identification and understanding can be done through looking at those adopted such as staffing, compensation, performance, training, and retention. The selection of these policies plays a very crucial role in the performance of the organization, thus serving as a tool gaining a competitive advantage over the other players in the market. Nevertheless, the human resource models of multinational corporations and domestic enterprises are very different and need to be studied separately.

Literature Review

Conley and Zheng (2009) indicate that the primary characteristics contributing to the competitiveness and competencies in the information and technology sector are knowledge and innovation. Other researchers, such as Haines and Lafleur (2008), go on to add that due to these competencies and the level of competition, the human resource strategies used in the multinational companies are aimed towards attracting and retaining employees who are innovative.

Research Aims and Objectives

The primary objective of the paper is to summarize the article on the human strategies of multinational corporations operating in the information technology sector by putting into consideration the two dimensions which are specific to multinational companies. These are the autonomy of subsidiary in relation to the development of human resource strategies and the analysis of the impact of different levels of policies on human resource internationalization. After the summarization of the article, the paper will go on and discuss the managerial implications of the adoption of various strategies such as the international Human Resource Strategy and the use of information within the organizations in the UAE.

Discussion

Industrialization as it is known arrived very late in Brazil compared to the other countries which are already developed. Industrialization in the nation was primarily based on the establishment of foreign multinational organizations in combination with the use of policies which protected the young domestic market from the competition brought by the companies from abroad. However, the opening of the markets in the late nineties led to the suffering of the local businesses from global organizations and also finding opportunities in the outside world. In the early years, the businesses suffering from inefficiency could still survive due to the protection by the economic policies. However, with the forces of globalization and physical national boundaries, companies that are unable to efficiently compete at the international level have been forced to close shop or be taken over (Khatri & Nanyang, 2000).

In the sixties, the Brazilian government created the inter-ministerial price council which made the dealings in the country be operated in a closed market with heave government involvement. The function of this committee was to determine the charges that would be set by each company regarding its products and services. After the opening of the market, domestic enterprises started facing numerous challenges in the development of appropriate technology for them to mount effective competition with other already established businesses. Human resource management was the most significant challenge faced.

Brazil had a problem with the level of qualifications of the professionals in the country which was very low as compared to other states which were already developed by then. Secondly, there was the issue with the language barrier which was related to the adjustment of the expatriates who were recruited and came to the country to help with the management of the domestic companies. It was found out that only a few people spoke English fluently as compared to countries such as India where English was the second language. Culture also posed a significant setback as Brazil was and is still known for having an emotional culture which is mostly based on the interpersonal relationship among the people.

By the use of the model where the level of secondary autonomy was looked at, the same compensation pattern as in the parent company, even when dealing with the expatriates is employed. Those who utilized it viewed it as treating all the branches equal. In addition the development and training adopted were provided by the parent company too to make the global strategy clear.

From the study it can be implied that the companies researched on having small subsidiaries developed most of the products and services domestically which was influenced by the internationalization levels and autonomy. Furthermore, from the interviews, cultural differences were identified when it came to the preference of employees. This put into the limelight the importance of understanding the culture of the employees and their needs. The study was of great importance as it helped to present to the various parties involved the need for choosing the best model for the international Human Resource management strategy to suit the diverse needs of each company (Muritiba, Muritiba, Campanário, & Albuquerque, 2010). The results obtained indicated that this method was very rigid and did not take into consideration the different operating environments which bear few similarities in the information technology sector.

The second model was based on the level of internationalization where each subsidiary in consultation with the parent company was allowed to create their human resource policies. This enabled making the process of hiring the best candidate easy as outsourcing became simpler and one was only selected for any position by merit. In addition, the use of expatriates was simplified as the companies were able to find talent within the workforce in the region or country. The method that facilitated the global training and staffing as well as ensured the competencies needed anywhere in the world was explored and moreover remuneration was considered (Muritiba et al., 2010).

Managerial Implications within the UAE

In all businesses, be they sole proprietorships, small companies, or multinational corporations, decisions must be made in regards to investment, a management style to consider, the way of offering services, the amount to invest, or the budget to allocate. All this depends on the information collected, stored, and analyzed which is mostly referred to as the managerial implication. This is the reaction or results caused by the adoption of specific strategies to decision-making within the organization.

The importance of managerial implications is to assist the human resource managers in dealing with the expatriate performance management working in the UAE, including those who have been assigned to work on other worldwide assignments for the parent company based in the country. There are various hitches faced which include family lifecycle, taxation, repatriation, and housing among others. The business environment there is highly competitive, which is proven by a large number of companies setting up shop in the country and their sizes, with one company occupying over five floors of space and employing a little over two thousand employees both from the UAE and from other countries. The standards of living in the UAE are also quite high as compared to other countries in the region. Owing to this specific fact, companies in the UAE are forced to pay high salaries and offer top remuneration packages to the expatriates hired to come and bring their expertise and competence. It is done to lure them to leave jobs in their countries and take up this new opportunity in a foreign one.

In many cases, it seems that the salaries that these companies will have to offer to the expatriates outsourced will be way much higher than even the normal company standards. This in turn affects the company’s balance sheet negatively. Therefore, firms in the United Arab Emirates have to pay excessive amounts of money only for the expatriate to agree to move to and work in their country.

Another factor that plays a role in making it difficult to acquire the much-needed expertise from other countries in the world is the climatic conditions of the country. As it is well-known, the climate in the UAE is very hot, which poses a risk of developing health problems by the foreign workforce moving into the region. As such, these elite workers may experience difficulties in the adjustment to the weather in this area, which in turn will affect their job performance negatively. This comes as a blow to the companies as the foreign employees may feel unprepared to relocate to the region with the potential threat to their health.

As a region which is still a work in progress, there is a lack of private healthcare facilities in some parts of the country which may become a vital factor looked at by the expatriates It could simply become tough for the foreign employees to access the kind of treatment that they require or are subjected to in their mother countries.

Information is a very fundamental aspect in the making of any choice. Countries like the United States and others in Europe have already declared the use and availability of internet to their citizen as a basic human need. In the UAE, this level has not been attained here which means access to all the information needed to make decisions about moving into the place via the internet about the region is very hard. From a survey done by the foreign labor working in UAE, it was found out that a large percentage of the expatriates living and working in UAE including those who were yet to move into the region did not have enough information about the place before they moved in.

According to a Briton by the name Sarah Wingate who works in Abu Dhabi despite the lots of researches done by the expatriates before moving UAE is not abler to prepare them enough for the working and living life in the UAE.

It has been documented that the success of today's businesses largely depends on the intellectual assets a company has rather than the amount of physical assets or money owned. Among other factors, this asset includes the knowledge gained, skills of the workforce, the attitude of the management and the staff. These assets according to the American society for training and development are regarded as measurable knowledge, abilities, skills and personal attributes that contribute to more enhanced employee performance and ultimately result in the success of the organization. They encompass the various areas of the capabilities of the individuals to be able to perform and execute correctly the tasks given to achieve the set and expected objective. Nevertheless, something very crucial to have a synergy in the workplace is the culture be it organizational culture or the people’s culture.

Being identified with a specific culture plays a very significant role in ensuring the staff in the organization are working together in harmony. Having to outsource from outside the UAE brings in the dilemma where people from a different culture are brought in to work together. In countries like Japan and United States of America the work ethic instilled is that people stay up late to complete the set task for the day wherein some countries as soon as the time is up, employees down their tools and go home regardless whether the job is completed or not. This kind of culture class brings in a lot of problems when such people are put in charge and difficulties may arise.

The culture of the people in the region based on religion is also another factor that causes clashes. This calls for compromise where the companies should put into place mechanisms or programs where culture can be shared among the employees through celebrating each other’s holidays and events or training which in some cases is very expensive to implement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that due to the nature of the ever-changing business environment and the competitiveness, companies need to attract a high caliber of employees with enough experience to be able to grant them a competitive edge over their counterparts in the industry, especially in the information and technology sector where innovation is highly demanded. In addition, to be able to efficiently outsource labor, the companies should consider the adoption of an effective human resource strategy that suits their need. This is done by putting into place a framework that will be followed in the recruitment process instead of each employee having to choose their own terms of employment which is detrimental to the survivability of the business. Moreover, if they are not able to do this, they should consider forming partnerships and collaborations where local citizens can go and be trained in various technologies, management, and business procedures to get the the much-needed experience to operate in the local companies. This will help them eliminate the need for the lucrative salaries and remuneration packages. Finally, as the citizens in the UAE are already used to the culture and weather in this region, there will be no need to adjust to the vulnerable foreign workforce.