Question

Task 3 The organization has decided to go with home country nationals and has hired six hotel managers. The success of these managers is vital to ensure the success of the expansion into the international market. They ask you to propose the content and format of a 5 day training program for the new managers. Typically, this will consist of some pre-departure training, as well as some in country training upon arrival. Your task is to put together a proposal for the training program. Your proposal should Include: a. Best practices in expatriate training (why is training so important and that does the literature tell us is important in expatriate training? b. an agenda for the 5-day training with an explanation of each training activity and its purpose

Answer 1

Proposal for training program of expatriates:

For a successful global business, it is very critical that the expatriates get adapted comfortably in the culture of the host nation. The performance of expatriates gets directly translated on the global business performance. Hence, it is essential that the home country take efforts to train the expatriates about the cultural dimensions and business values of the host country.

Importance of expatriate cross-cultural training:

• Prepares the expat about the assignment
• Reduces the cultural shock that an expat can have, due to difference of culture between the home and host country
• Facilitates easier integration of expats in future roles
• Reduces rate of expatriate failure and thus reduces cost of overall project
• Improves the global business perspective of business

Agenda for 5-day training:

• Day 1:
  • First Half: Introduction of the cultural dimensions of the host country: to make the expat prepared about how it will be in the host country
  • Second Half: Overview of the cultural differences between the home and host country: gives a perspective to the expats in comparison format about the cultural differences. This also reduces the extent of cultural shock that an expat might experience
• Day 2:
  • Full Day: Language Training of host country: to prepare the expats with the basic common dialect of the host country
• Day 3:
  • First half: Overview of language training: Evaluation of the extent to which expats were able to grasp the new dialect
  • Second Half: Business protocol and etiquettes of host country: This makes the expats aware about the business protocols being followed in the host country
• Day 4:
  • First Half: Negotiation style of host country: In their assignment, the expats may have to negotiate with the local suppliers or local government. Hence, they should be aware of the local negotiation style and BATNA format of host country.
  • Second Half: Conflict management in host country: This helps the expats in managing conflicts of the local employees of the host country.
• Day 5:
  • First Half: Decision making techniques for the host country: This will help the expats in doing business in the host country
  • Second Half: Revision and conclusion of the training program