Advanced Research Methods - Dissertation Example

? Running head: ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS Advanced Research Methods The globalization of human resource management has enhanced the capa of conventional HRM practices and HR professionals have to take care of employees from the home country as well as from diverse cultures and nationalities. With increasing globalization and the constant shift towards information technology, new issues are being created for HR professionals because employees are becoming increasingly diversified and difficult to manage. Companies are expanding operations in other nations and the increasing incidence of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures have increased the challenges before organizations in terms of managing a diversified and cross cultural work force. For example, an American company shifting its manufacturing and marketing facilities in China will have to integrate organizational HR practices in keeping with the lifestyle and culture of the local population. Such situations can result in cross cultural conflicts that can adversely impact organizational culture and productivity. It is very difficult for American executives to adapt to Chinese culture and systems of working. Such circumstances create responsibility for the HR department to ensure that cross cultural relationships within the organization are cordial and positive so that the company functions smoothly. This proposal is about a quantitative research that will be carried out in the area of human resource management in an organization that is shifting its manufacturing facilities from the US to China in order to benefit from the accruing economies of scale, low costs of production and cheap availability of raw material. The proposal will outline the research strategy on how to deal effectively with the emerging issues of training a culturally diversified workforce. Introduction The study will address some major issues in terms of the extent to which a cross cultural training strategy can work positively in improving the company’s performance in China. In order to achieve this objective, exhaustive research will have to be carried out on how expatriates and local employees have to be dealt with. Initially the company will have to ask Americans or nationals from other countries to work in China because key positions in the company cannot be performed by Chinese nationals. The research will ascertain the merits and demerits if cross-cultural training modules and also ascertain the approaches that will work best in the given environment. Another objective will be to develop theories of efficient cross-cultural modules for global human resource personnel. HRM is widely acknowledged as a management resource that imbibes the maximum possible management actions and decisions that impact relationships amongst the organization and workers (Beer et al, 1986). It is the process that coordinates the organization’s human resources in meeting organizational objectives. Therefore, the job of HR professionals becomes quite complicated because all aspects of the firm and workers have to be encompassed. It is believed that the most significant asset of the organization is its people that assist in achieving its goals, and this comprises the core of the HRM philosophy. Human resources are the most important asset and are the major force that drives human resource management in any organization. Human resource personnel have to take care of areas such as professional development, compensation, benefits, performance evaluation, recruitment, health and safety, job design, job analysis, labor relations and management of a diverse work force (Lipiec, 2002). According to Schermerhorn (2002), there is global inter-dependence in the global economy in terms of resources and markets whereby every business thrives because of competition. Internationalization has led businesses to act and think globally in order to succeed in a competitive environment. Some theorists have viewed globalization as providing massive growth potential for both developed and developing nations. Others view globalization as a negativity that encourages inequality because of enhanced competition and exploitation of developing nations by large multinational companies (Hoskisson, 2004). The impact of such changes is quite big in view of the focus that is placed on inter-dependence that encourages discussions of varied collaborative agreements amongst multinational companies. National boundaries are diminishing, which has necessitated that multinational companies take proactive steps in entering collaborations to enhance productivity and increase profits. This pattern has also impacted companies that are directly competing with each other (Johnson and Turner, 2004). Cross-cultural management implies that HR managers have to deal with people belonging to different cultures. In this culture, it is understood as the set of values and beliefs that are largely common in a given society at a specific point of time (McGuire et al, 2005). Culture also comprises of certain basic values that distinguish a given group of people from another (Laurent, 1989). Such values have the potential to act strongly on the management’s ideology, which in turn impacts practices and performance of the HR department in any organization (Hoffstede and Bond, 1990). According to Hutchings (2003), who examined the needs to carefully select foreign nationals in China, concluded that expatriates should be chosen only if they have the cultural knowledge of the area in which they are asked to work. 3. Method The methodology for this research is based upon the research philosophy that is about making analysis and application of HR interventions and focusing upon how they can be designed to increase performance in the organization. Such objectives have been achieved by examining the prevailing circumstances in the organization and how efficiently they cater to the needs and expectations of multinational companies in China. A critical evaluation is then possible of the different circumstances that prevail in the country in comparison to the developed world in ascertaining the problems that are prevalent in the system. This will also allow the research to recommend to the organization about the possible solutions for improving human resources in the company. The research design will pertain to a descriptive approach because it allows the research to present facts relative to the precise status and nature of the given situations as it prevails during the time of the research (Creswell, 1995). This will also take into account the existing practices and relationships, processes and belief systems that are part of the ongoing process, the impacts that are being perceived and the trends that are taking shape. According to Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias (1993), this approach allows the study to explain the prevailing circumstances and systems on the basis of the reaction and impression of respondents in the sample survey. A purely quantitative approach will be adopted in the study while collecting data. Quantitative approach is suitable for this research because it permits the research questions to be examined thoroughly in terms of the given circumstances (Best, 1975). Additionally, the quantitative approach will clearly and distinctly specify the independent and dependent variables being investigated (Kealey and Protheroe, 1997). The approach decisively follows the original objectives of the research in arriving at clear outcomes while testing the given hypothesis. It also effectively determines the issue of causality and minimizes or removes subjectivity in judgments (Matveev, 2003). This approach further permits the application of longitudinal concepts of subsequent response by the subjects in the research. Eventually it enables the achievement of higher level of authenticity of collected data because of mass surveys, lab experiments and restricted observation (Balsley, 1971). 3.1 Research design overview This study will employ a quantitative research design for purposes of structuring the research process. According to Beer et al. (1986), this type of research design will help the researcher to examine the issues at hand since the research is largely interested in evaluating the relationship between variables. Quantitative studies are either descriptive or experimental, but this particular study will employ a descriptive approach since the subjects in this case are employees of a multinational company that will shift some of its production facilities to China and these variables will only be measured once (Sekaran, 2006). Primary data will be gathered by means of interviews and by undertaking an online survey specifically designed to measure the respondents’ perceptions, values, satisfaction, and opinion towards the working of the organization in China. According to Sekaran (2006), a survey is effective when the researcher is particularly interested in descriptive assessment of a particular phenomenon as it is the case in this study. Secondary data will be collected by means of undertaking a detailed review of related literature. This research aims at achieving the objectives of making adjustments about the current activities in the multinational company in China and identifying the barriers in the sector while making comparisons amongst them. On the basis of the literature review and the answers to questions that will be forwarded to individual respondents via e-mail, it is proposed to ascertain the following: Whether culture is an important determinant of employee adaptability in organizations in China Whether there are any cultural barriers to multinational companies in China Whether more and more multinational companies are shifting their manufacturing facilities to China and whether they prefer to use Hr interventions to improve their productivity. Whether the use of HR structures is growing in China consistently This research will use different characteristics that are present in every chosen company for the purpose of this survey. Individuals will be chosen from diverse backgrounds in order to a have a wide cross section of respondents in enabling the study to have a broad perspective while concluding the findings. Industry groups will be chosen that belong to areas in which multinational companies prefer to operate from multinational companies that have recently entered the country through the FDI route. Different individuals will be invited to respond and the sample population will comprise of individuals that are professionals, managers and workers in different sectors in China. There will be 20 individual respondents chosen from the industry that represent business houses and 10 independent respondents will be chosen in responding in the context of their individual perceptions. Company representatives from multinational companies will be required to respond in regard to their activities and their performance in relation to varied parameters that will be outlined in the questionnaire. Fifteen questions will be asked in the questionnaire that will be focused upon extracting information pertaining to the performance of the organization in China. The questionnaire will be designed after conducting a mock pre-test by way of in-depth interviews amongst decision makers in different multinational companies already operative in China as well as amongst people from government offices. Attempts will be made to represent the widest possible cross section of individuals and businesses in relation to HR activities of multinational companies. The criteria used for selecting respondents will rest on the willingness of a given firm’s manager to be interviewed and that the firm should have been conducting business activities for at least three years. Individuals will be selected amongst a wide base in attempts to include people that are aware of and directly involved with a multinational company. Some individuals that have been involved in the given sector but have subsequently changed their functions subsequently will also be included. The average age of interviewed respondents will be 34 years and 61 percent. Respondents will also be chosen from local industries other than multinational companies. 3.2 Participants The target population for this study will comprise of people that are directly engaged with operations in multinational companies in the given sector as well as those that have been previously employed in such companies in China. To get responses from individual respondents the email option is considered most meaningful because it allows having specific information from the perspective of respondent’s confidentiality. Purposive and convenience sampling approaches will be utilized for purposes of coming up with the desired sample. Purposive sampling will be used to assist in the process of selecting a sample that has prior knowledge and understanding of the working environment in the given sector (Cohen et al, 2007). Afterwards, the subjects will be requested to respond to the questionnaire by virtue of being in the right location at the right time, otherwise known as convenience sampling (Sekaran, 2006). 3.3 Materials Primary data for the study in the case of individual respondents will be collected by means of an online semi-structured questionnaire schedule. A questionnaire is desirable in a descriptive study basically because it is easy to administer the tool in an online setting. The tool has been designed to measure the respondents’ perceptions, attitudes, and values regarding working environment and HR practices in multinational companies in China. The responses will be measured using a five-point Likert-type scale, and how these variables combine to enhance or lessen their opinion in the context of working in multinational companies in China. Apart from the ability to attain a high response rate, it is also easy to undertake a comparative analysis when using a questionnaire due to the fact that most items consist of closed-ended questions. The questionnaire used in this particular study will also be subjected to thorough testing to ensure that issues of data validity and reliability are appropriately dealt with. Secondary data for this study will be collected through a comprehensive review of literature, sourced from reliable sources, including textbooks and journals. The data for the research will be collected by means of surveys that have been chosen because of their ability to generalize outcomes to larger populations. The main benefit of surveys is that they generalize outcomes as they pertain to collecting data from larger numbers of respondents as against requiring intensive and detailed data from only a few respondents. As a result, while designing the survey for the study it is required consider the size of the sample as well as the sampling procedures. The size of the sample has to be appropriate in allowing generalization of the outcomes and the sampling process has to be evolved in a way tat small groups in the given population can be effectively represented in the sample population. This is essential to avoid errors in the sampling process so that generalization of outcomes is justified; otherwise the value of the survey will be reduced. 3.4 Procedure The study will employ quantitative data assessment techniques for gathering primary and secondary data. Quantitative assessment involves coding the data contained in the questionnaires and entering them into a statistical package known as SPSS. Afterwards, cleaning and analysis of the data will be performed using the same package to generate frequency distributions and descriptive statistics that will be used to answer the study’s main objectives. Data will be presented in different forms and the qualitative data generated by the open ended questions will be analyzed by using a process known as qualitative content approach. This method involves cleaning, coding, and evaluating responses that are given in either verbal or written communication so as to permit them to be considered quantitatively. The collected data and information will be compiled in a table showing the number of respondents who asserted to or confirmed the providence of each theme in the context of their agreement with the prevailing environment and circumstances in the multinational company relative to the performance of the HR department. The responses from 1 to 5 will pertain to the following: 1 Strongly Agree 2 Tend to Agree 3 Neither Agree nor Disagree 4 Tend to Disagree 5 Strongly Disagree All the people surveyed, will be based in China and will have been involved in multinational companies for at least three years. 4. Results (Proposed Analyses) It is already evident from past research that reducing costs and catering to new segments are the main motivating factors for most companies. Next in importance for firms is to increase their respective market shares. Thus, it appears that cost saving is a major objective of multinational companies that are functioning in China. The main barrier for firms is identified as technology in terms of inadequacy and availability, which are considered as the most crucial by firms because they have been discouraging them from conducting some functions on a large scale. The issue of funding was followed by organizational culture, lack of willingness to adopt latest technology, cost of technology and confidentiality, most of them being HR issues. It is thus very important to investigate these issues thoroughly in the light of perceptions associated amongst employees relative to working in multinational companies in China. Therefore it appears that although security is considered a technological barrier, multinational firms in China are open about conducting business by employing more local employees and professionals. This is primarily because in most companies there is good infrastructure in terms of means of potential for production activities. The high potential for relocating production facilities in China is present because of future possibilities of minimal technical complexities. Although it cannot be said that there are no barriers for multinational companies in China, the present environment in terms of technology issues and availability of adequate funding for local companies are making many firms to desist from excessively investing in logistics for their business respectively. A major difference between the local and multinational companies in China pertains to the difference in the structure of establishments. Multinational firms are characterized with high technology and willingness to make huge investments in their respective activities and production processes, while local companies are mostly dependent upon local resources for their functions. For multinational companies to be successful in China they have to provide high levels of internal service to their employees. They have now begun to make use of better HR practices in order to satisfy their internal customers. Thus it is true that more and more companies in China have begun to provide a better HR environment in their establishments in China. The Chinese industrial sector is characterized differently in the context of other developed nations in view of its past traditional systems of working. In being an emerging economy, the entry of multinational companies has not been widespread so far but there is immense potential for their development in the country as more and more multinational companies establish facilities through the FDI option. Given that China is ready to become the biggest market in the world, new operational networks have been put in place and the industries are looking forward to set up additional companies in different sectors to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency, which has become vital though complex requirement in the country. List of References Balsley, H. L. (1971). Quantitative research methods for business and economics. London: Random House. Beer, M. et al. (1986), Managing Human Assets, Free Press, Vol.27, p. 12 Best, John W. (1975). Research in Education, Englewood Cliffs, New York: Prentice Hall. Creswell, J.W. (1995). Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. New York: Sage. Frankfort-Nachmias, C., and Nachmias, D. 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