ASU Labor Market and HRM in The Republic of Kazakhstan Case Study

I need a paragraph on the case below

Team 2

1. Problem Identification

The current problems identified in Kazakhstan are 1) A small labor market for qualified candidates. 2) Unattractive production sites do not draw the attention of skilled employees. 3) There is a growing demand for personnel for the Diesel site. 4) The Russian language is the common language that is used in everyday business by most of the people in Kazakhstan

1. Analysis

Corporate Philosophy: The corporate philosophy places a focus on promoting the moral, physical, and intellectual development of the people. Bosch believes in the internal promotion of management positions and has invested in extensive development plans to achieve its goal. However, they also recognize the importance of recruiting college graduates and professionals to meet a wider variety of future managerial requirements. The JUMP and MDP programs are utilized for both objectives. Specifically, the JUMP program can be used to assist with bridging the skill gap of local candidates.

Environmental Conditions: Bosch, a German corporation, operates in a nation whose primary language is Kazakh and Russian. Islam is the dominating religion, and the country has a relatively high unemployment rate of 5.8%. The cost of labor is low, with an average salary of $527 per month. The country’s education system is of significant concern. However, the education system is undergoing a restructure. The problem of education quality potentially exists as the programs may not adequately prepare the students for the skill-set Bosch needs. Additionally, the potential for utilizing the external labor market for positions is limited, as the company will need to apply additional training to bridge the skill gap.

Evaluate Corporate Strengths and Constraints: Employees who have the skills to be managers must go through an employment development plan that Bosch has already put in place. The development plan for up and coming managers is conducted nationally, which keeps it consistent throughout the world. Managerial candidates who go through the program all get the same level of development throughout their careers, no matter their background. The development program constraint is that not everyone gets manager positions, and many will not get the same starting position upon entry to the program.

A corporate strength is Bosch hires managers internally rather than reaching out to external candidates. That process assures that the managerial candidates are extremely familiar with the company’s structure and will have a better chance of being an effective manager since the direct reports will respect their current knowledge. A downfall to this practice is having a pool of candidates who do not bring new ideas to the table and having a system of leaders who may not adapt to new situations.

A strength is that Bosch makes sure the managerial candidates have at least two years of international experience. A corporation as large as Bosch with 15,000 service centers in 150 countries shows that managers need to know how to operate in global business. Obtaining international experience is critical if the employees are expected to know the various business etiquette and have successful partnerships.

Develop Objectives and Goals:

1. The main goal of Bosch is to create a training environment where the development of employees can best be used to help the corporation perform at the highest level.
2. Keep morale high by promoting internally.
3. Keep the Kazakhstan employees content by utilizing all available resources to fulfill their needs to the best of our ability.
4. Ensure that there is continuity through the company’s operations and the employee management team at the corporation’s local office.

Develop Strategies: Review of Bosch’s goals indicates an ethnocentric strategy as the best approach. This strategy addresses the lack of qualified local candidates. It would ensure that all the managerial candidates work in an international assignment, covering one of the requirements when applying for the manager position. This will also ensure that host countries’ candidates get the same development as the parent country’s employees. Since Bosch already has a policy in place that requires current managers to work in an international assignment, then the risk associated with the ethnocentric strategy would be erased.

III. Options

The best approach towards this situation would be ethnocentric, geocentric, and regiocentric. Bosch typically looks internally when hiring and developing employees (Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2017). An ethnocentric approach would allow Bosch to be in direct control of their company’s staffing. Allowing them to place PCNs in strategic roles throughout the company. This could potentially eliminate the long hiring timelines for external hires. Also, a regiocentric and geocentric approach could assist in finding the best candidate for the position. Regardless of culture or background.

1. Recommendation

Issues identified include a small labor market for qualified candidates, unattractive production sites, growing demand of personnel for the Diesel site, and language barrier. Addressing these issues and the use of the ethnocentric approach will better assist with meeting managerial targets. Recommendation to recruit external candidates will be presented to the human resource talent and recruitment team. The presentation of the following ideas will allow the team to assess and implement the recommendations thoroughly.

The company is known for hiring internally and strive to grow and develop their employees as a primary goal. For internal employees to continue their growth and gain promotions, it is essential to hire external workers who can fill those new open positions to prevent a shortage in staffing. In this case, there is a need to assess external candidates that meet the company’s expectations. One major concern of the country is the education system. As a result, companies struggle to find candidates who are prepared and qualified enough to meet the needs of the company (Dowling et al., 2017 p.307). The issue gives Bosch Group an opportunity to take action and bridge the skill gap by providing training programs through schools so that future candidates can meet the experience and education requirements. To assist with early recruitment, the Bosch Group should also consider developing internship and apprenticeship opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience and grasp a better understanding of the company and its needs. The training program will consist of hands-on training that will allow these students to learn the job’s actual skills. Interns will leave with the full knowledge and skills required to meet company needs.

Along with learning the skills and knowledge needed for the company, the program will also offer foreign language courses and travel opportunities. There will be continuous training that will focus on providing individuals with an understanding of nations, culture, traditions, and values. When ethnocentrism is understood, it can be used to build and implement strategies (Michailova et al, 2017). Regarding the ethnocentric approach, “there are advantages of ethnocentric staffing policies such as having expatriates transfer and promote the norms and values of the parent company, enhancing communication between the HQ and subsidiaries and drawing on the expatriate expertise available to local subsidiaries” (Michailova et al, 2017). Including cultural learning in the training program will better assist with our ethnocentric approach to staffing.

Other ways to draw external candidates’ attention would be for the company to invest in revamping the production sites and offering incentives. Revamping production sites can be done through the quality of technology on the sites. Having the country’s most up-to-date technology and equipment to complete tasks more efficiently would attract skilled employees. Less pressure is put upon employees since a great deal of work is done by machines and software. Therefore, employees become more efficient and can put their focus on achieving the best-finished product to move the company forward (F450C, 2020). Incentives and bonuses can be offered to better promote and encourage staffing for the diesel site; this may include employee stock options, plans for shared profit, paid time off, or cash awards (Scott, 2019).

This action plan would help recruit and attract graduates and qualified local candidates to meet their needs. Recruiting external candidates would allow internal employees the opportunity to continue their growth and development within the company. This plan also allows graduates to gain the necessary skills of the company and enter the workforce earlier. As an international business, the ethnocentric approach would lead to an increase in cultural learning and knowledge for the current and future employees of the Bosch Group.

References

8 benefits of technology in the workplace. (2020). Retrieved from https://f450c.org/8-

benefits-of-technology-in-the-workplace/

Dowling, P., Festing, M., & Engle, A. (2017). International Human Resource Management

(7th ed.). Retrieved from https://ebooks.cenreader.com/#!/reader/ba43c801-5d…

Michailova, S., Piekkari, R., Storgaard, M., & Tienari, J. (2017). Rethinking Ethnocentrism

in International Business Research. Global Strategy Journal, 7(4), 335–353. https://doi.org/ 10.1002/gsj.1159

Scott, S. (2019). Rewards and Incentives in the Workplace. Small Business. Retrieved from

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/rewards-incentives…

Edited by Megan Parsons on Sep 10 at 9:19pm