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International Pay Systems. Chapter 16. Chapter Topics. Managing Variations: The Global Guide The Social Contract Culture Trade Unions and Employee Involvement Ownership and Financial Markets Managerial Autonomy. Chapter Topics (cont.). Comparing Costs Comparing Systems
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International Pay Systems Chapter 16
Chapter Topics • Managing Variations: The Global Guide • The Social Contract • Culture • Trade Unions and Employee Involvement • Ownership and Financial Markets • Managerial Autonomy
Chapter Topics (cont.) • Comparing Costs • Comparing Systems • National Systems-Comparative Mind-Set • Strategic Market Mind-Set • Expatriate Pay • Borderless WorldBorderless Pay? Globalists • Your Turn: Coke and IBM
Understanding international compensation begins with recognizing variations (differences and similarities) and figuring out how best to manage them.
Managing Variations • How people get paid around the world depends on differences (and similarities) in the following general factors • Economic • Institutional • Organizational • Employee
Variation in International Pay Practices • Social contracts • Cultures • Trade unions • Ownership and financial markets • Managers’ autonomy
The Social Contract • Viewed as part of the social contract • Employment relationship is more than an exchange between an individual and an employer • It includes • The government • All enterprise owners • All employees • Relationships and expectations of these parties form the social contract
Culture • Shared mental programming rooted in values, beliefs, and assumptions shared in common by a group of people • Influences how information is processed
Culture and Managing International Pay • Assumption that pay systems must be designed to fit different national cultures is based on the belief that most of a country’s inhabitants share a national character • Job of a global manager • Search for national characteristics whose influence is assumed to be critical in managing international pay systems
Culture Matters, but So Does Cultural Diversity • How useful is the notion of a national culture when managing international pay? • Only a starting point • Can be thought of as the “average” • Provides some information about what kinds of pay attitudes and beliefs you are likely to find in an area • Over reliance on the “average” can seriously mislead
Culture Matters, but So Does Cultural Diversity (cont.) • Interplay among various conditions within each nation or region, taken as a whole, form distinct contexts for determining compensation • Economic • Institutional • Organizational • Individual
Factors Affecting International Pay • Ownership and capital markets • Managers’ autonomy
Comparing Costs • Factors affecting wage comparisons • Standard of livingcosts • Purchasing power • Working time required
Exhibit 16.8: Strategic Similarities and Differences: An Illustrated Comparison
Strategic Market Mind-Set Localizer: “Think Global, Act Local” • Designs pay systems to be consistent with local conditions • Business strategy is to seek competitive advantage by providing products and services tailored to local customers • Operate independently of corporate headquarters
Strategic Market Mind-Set (cont.) Exporter: “Headquarters Knows Best” • Basic total pay system designed at headquarters and is “exported” world-wide for implementation at all locations • Exporting a basic system makes it easier to move managers and professionals among locations • One plan from headquarters gives all managers around the world a common vocabulary and a clear message what the leadership values
Strategic Market Mind-Set (cont.) Globalizer: “Think andAct Globally and Locally” • Seek a common system to be used as part of “glue” to support consistency across all global locations • Headquarters and operating units are heavily networked to shared ideas and knowledge • Performance is measured where it makes sense for the business • Pay structures are designed to support business
Types of Expatriates • Expatriates - Individuals whose citizenship is that of employer’s base country • Third country nationals (TCNs) - Individuals whose citizenship is neither employer’s base country nor location of subsidiary • Local country nationals (LCNs) - Individuals who are citizens of country in which subsidiary is located • Advantages of hiring LCNs • Advantages of bringing in expats or TCNs
Elements of Expatriate Compensation Salary Taxes Allowances and Premiums Housing
Common Allowances in Expatriate Pay Packages Financial Allowances Social Adjustment Assistance Family Support
Balance Sheet Approach • Premise – Employees on overseas assignments should have same spending power as they would in their home country • Home country is standard for all payments • Objectives • Ensure cost effective mobility of people to global assignments • Ensure expatriates neither gain nor lose financially • Minimize adjustments required of expatriates
Other Approaches: Compensation for Expatriates • Negotiation • Localization • Modified balance sheet • Decrease allowances • Lump-sum/cafeteria plan
Expatriate Systems → Objectives? • How the expatriate pay system affects competitive advantage, customer satisfaction, quality, or other performance concerns • Lack of attention to aligning expatriate pay with organization objectives • Employee Preferences
Borderless World--Borderless Pay? • Corporations attempting to become “globally integrated enterprises,” are creating cadres of globalists: • Managers who operate anywhere in the world in a borderless manner • To support a global flow of ideas and people, companies are also designing borderless, or at least regionalized, pay systems • Testing ground for this approach - European Union