Petrocom Human Resource Development in a Global Context

This assignment sample is a case study solutions of Petrocom which is an International Oil Company. It is facing downfall in profitability and here is a related case study which focuses on Petrocom HRD in a global context. Along with a vivid description of company structure and status, you will get understanding and knowledge of development and learning approaches in a global context. Later on, this assignment will move you towards the Management and people development plans and strategies. What strengthens the understanding of an average reader is a detailed study of the theoretical application of organizational learning and development to the issue of listed case study issue. You will also get to know the impact of learning on the subsequent moves to the Philippines and Krakow.

Your role in Petrocom is Learning and Development (L & D) Consultant within the HR department at Headquarters.  You have been tasked by the Head of Talent Development to produce a discussion document, which will generate specific proposals on how best to support this transfer, concentrating on learning and development issues, initially for all the managers and team leaders.  Focusing on the first stage of the move to Mexico City you are required to develop a report for the VP.

1. Abstract

The report deals with the analysis of a case study and the issues in the learning and development in the global context. The case study is about Petrocom which is an International Oil Company. The company is facing the issues of declining profitability which has compelled the Chief Executive to devise a strategy of shifting the HR support and service operations from Houston to three important locations such as Mexico, Krakow and Philippines. The main reason behind this plan is to ensure cost-effectiveness and cost savings.
The Vice President has appointed Learning and development consultant to initiate the learning and development of the managers in the first hand. The training and development will be initiated to the employees of the organizations. In order to cope up with the cross-cultural challenges the analysis of the Hofstede model has been conducted and has been successfully applied to the case.  The report also includes a management and people development strategy that consists of training the newly recruited Mexican employees as well as the American employees transferred from Houston to Mexico.

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2. Introduction

The report talks about different elements of international human resource management and their application in the light of a real-life case study. The main purpose of the international human resource management is to guiding the employees of the organizations to get accustomed to the global context and evaluating their performances on a global platform. The role of learning and development in this respect is commendable (HRM, 2012).
In the context of global scenario, the role of the learning and development becomes indispensable as it provides the right knowledge to the workforce to deal with the challenges in the global environment and prepare them for the best outcomes (Whitmore, 2017). The global context includes the employees from host country nationals and expatriates. The management of both is essential in the multicultural working condition. There are different approaches that are adopted by the International HRM so as to extract the best from the workforce.
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The concept of cross-cultural learning and development challenges and approaches in relation to the same is very crucial for ensuring best outcomes (Sundar, 2013). The report deals with the analysis of these vital components in the light of the case study. The issues have been identified and the application of the relevant theories and approaches to overcome the issues has been discussed in the report. The report mainly deals with the development of the plan for the Vice President of the company focusing on the shift of the human resources from Houston headquarters to the new support centre in Mexico.
Apart from the training development plan the report also consists of career progression framework for the employees. Lastly, the knowledge gathered from this training and development module for the Mexican service centre will act as the basis of knowledge required in preparing similar training and development modules for the other two service centres located at Krakow and Philippines.

3. Discussion

3.1 Brief about the custody

Petrocom is an International Oil Company which is engaged in the exploration, drilling and sale of oil and petrochemical products on a wholesale and retail basis. It has been observed that the company has been suffering from reducing profitability when compared with its two major competitors in the similar sector. So the Chief Executive has made a declaration of implementing a strategy that will take care of the cost reduction and savings in the functions of the support system. The plan is to complete the strategy execution within 18 months. There have been some of the decisions taken as parts of the strategy among which the relocation of the headquarters from Houston, USA to three important and profitable different locations.
The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, the USA from where the major functions are conducted. The breakdown of the functions from a single location to three different locations has been planned to save the cost and to ensure cost savings. It includes the plan for relocating the operations of the support so that the operations could be facilitated better on an international platform and to retain the business leaders in the main location of Houston. The staffing has been planned to be reduced so that the cost can be accommodated by 32% for the long run. The headcount of the operational employees by 85% has been another important element of the strategy. The Vice President has recommended that changes in the operational structure of the HR in the first hand. The VP also demanded the HR to demonstrate best practices and to be in the responsible position to give support in transferring the finance and IT departments from the Houston office.
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Furthermore, it has been decided that there will be three different offices in Mexico from where the support will be given to America, Krakow, Poland from where the support to Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will be provided and the third one will be in Manila, the Philippines from where the support to Asia will be provided. It was planned that within first three years half of the major teams from the headquarters will be shifted to Mexico. The focus has been given to the initial stage of transferring the human resources from the headquarters to Mexico. In the following periods, the focus will be given to the service centre in EMEA and Asia.
The strategy included the capturing and sharing of knowledge from the centre and utilizing them within the new service centres. The company has appointed a consultant for the learning and development within the department of HR in the headquarters of the company. The main purpose is to provide an effective consultation that can propose best strategies and approaches to help the transfer of the human resources and to focus on the learning and development challenges. The training has to give to the managers in the first hand and then it will be provided to all the team leaders.

3.2 Knowledge and understanding of learning and development approach

Knowledge and understanding of learning and development approach in an international context applied to the case:
Learning and Development or L&D is another aspect of the training and development which is much crucial for any organization to enhance the resources of talent management. The main aim of L&D is to synchronize between the strategic objectives and goals of the organizations with the performance of the groups and individuals (Evans, 2015). The alignment between the performance of the human resources and the overall goals and vision of the organizations is very important in order to achieve the best from the strategies. The learning and development is the facilitation of the required knowledge and resources with the employees and the entire workforce as per the requirement of the organizations (Aguinis and Kraiger, 2009).
In the case study, there is a requirement of learning and development as the company is encountering with the issue of declining profitability plans to shift the support operations from the single headquarters to three important locations. The consultant has to understand the basic reasons behind the existing issues of the organizations. It is important to identify the gaps in the skills of human resources. The talent gaps in the groups and teams have to be identified so that the performance of the employees and the human resources can be made competent. It is important to remember that the procurement is another essential criterion for learning and development (Khan, Khan and Khan, 2011). The cost-effectiveness should be ensured in the process of learning and development.
The program must be as per the needs of the organizations. The managers in the first hand must be able to obtain the required skills and to apply them in their role and position for the achievement of the desired goals. Learning and development should also ensure flexibility and speed in workforce performance. The workforce must be able to learn the tactics of working in a global context (Younger, 2016).
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3.3 Theories and Ideas

Theories of organisational, team, individual and cross-cultural learning and development challenges and approaches applied in the case:
From the case study, it is seen that in the centre of Mexico the top management personnel will be shifted from the organization’s headquarters located in Houston and the lower-level employees will be recruited from the nationals of Mexico. There can be several challenges in the workplace when the nationals of the two different countries work together. The communication issue is one of the major issues that the organization faces in the global context.
The team leaders of the service centre will be recruited to the new office in Mexico on the basis of their competencies in the English language and their experiences in the service centre. The communication has to be clear and understandable so that there would be no conflicts or misunderstanding issues. The model of Geert Hofstede can be applied in this context. The model identifies the cross-cultural differences and the ways to manage them. There are certain dimensions that create differences (Hofstede, 2011). The culture of two countries and places are different and the individuals from the two different cultural backgrounds can face several issues while working together. These issues can be handled well if the dimensions are understood effectively (mindtools, 2016).

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3.4 Hofstede model dimensions

The Hofstede model groups the dimensions in the following way:

3.4.1 The relationship among the members of the organization

Two major differences in culture have been identified by the model. These two dimensions are individualism and collectivism. These dimensions measure the degree to which an individual likes to be integrated into a group or is interested in pursuing his or her goals. Individualism implies the intention of the individuals to look after his or her own goals and achievements while collectivism takes care of the integration of the individuals for some common goals and achievements. The new office in Mexico needs to establish collectivism as the members are supposed to be working in an integrated environment for the achievement of the overall success and mission and vision of the organization.

3.4.2 Orientation towards motivation

The model of Hofstede identifies three separate dimensions in this respect. These three dimensions are uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity versus femininity. Uncertainty avoidance implies the extent to which the employees of the organizations are comfortable in dealing with uncertain situations. There can be some members who can prefer to avoid uncertainties while there are some individuals who like to accept the challenges and fight back them. Each nation has its own Uncertainty Avoidance Index.
The power distance is the dimension that implies the extent to which a member of the organization is ready to accept the fact that the power is unequally distributed. This dimension is measured with the help of Power Distance Index or PDI. The masculinity is the dimension that measures the tough role of male gender and they are more focused while femininity implies the tenderness of the society or the nation. There can be individuals who are tough and strong in every situation while there are individuals who are tender and concerned for others. It is another cultural difference that is seen in the international context.

3.4.3 Behaviour and attitudes towards the time resource

The model has also recognized two more important dimensions towards the cross-cultural differences. The dimensions are short-term orientation and long-term orientation. The long-term orientation is more responsive to the long term success and achievements. The short term orientation is responsive to short term success and achievements. The long-term orientation is more directed towards the success to be achieved in the future. The short term orientation is mainly the focus on the present rather than the future. The organization can be more careful about the immediate gratification rather than the fulfilments in the long run (Podrug, Pavicic and Brati?, 2006).

3.5 Theoretical application of organizational learning and development

In case of Petrocom that has planned to create 3 HR service centres in Mexico, Krakow and Philippines in order to reduce the HR costs and number of HR personnel, by recruiting workforce from the localities which will be much cost-effective than transferring personnel from the HQ at Houston, there is the need for learning and development of the employees those will be recruited from Mexico to serve as HR personnel in the service centre. The issue that these newly recruited employees will face is the discrepancies arising due to the difference in the cultural dimensions between the USA and Mexico.
As per the proposed strategy, 50% of the top-level management and team of the organization in Mexico will come from the HQ at Houston. They will consist of the Head, Deputy Head and one Team Leader those will be transferred from the HQ at Houston. Thus, in such a situation, this HR personnel will be facing problems getting accustomed to the Mexican culture and language. There might be communication problems between them and the employees those would be recruited locally from Mexico.

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3.6 Cultural dimension by Geert Hofstede

This can be described by applying the famous model of national cultural dimension by Geert Hofstede. The model proposed by him and others assisting him to put forward that there are six elementary cultural aspects or dimensions that need to be considered and get adapted by people for achieving an organized cultural setup. Each of these cultural dimensions is rated on a scale from 0 to 100 in order to identify which are the major dominant cultural dimensions in a particular scenario (GEERT HOFSTEDE, 2017). These dimensions are discussed as follows:

3.6.1 Individualism

It is the dimension that determines the degree to which people in a society feel independent and free and not interdependent on the other members of the larger society in that particular culture. It is the opposite of Collectivism that refers to the scenario where a person is certain about his position in society. Thus, it is going to be an important factor for both the employees from American and Mexican origins. Any lack of proper communication and understanding might lead to conflicts.

3.6.2 Power Distance

It is the acceptance of the fact that the more powerful will lead those who are less powerful in society. The scenario is the same for the organization in this case as the success of the new organizational structure will depend upon the degree to which the lower level Mexican employees can accept the leadership of the Americans at the service centre in Mexico.

3.6.3 Masculinity

This dimension refers to the degree to which the implementation of force can be endorsed socially within the society or in a multicultural organization. In the case of the service centre of Petrocom in Mexico, there might be differences emerging between the American and Mexican employees regarding the legitimate and ethical endorsement of power. If not handled effectively, it might lead to conflicts within the organization.

3.6.4 Uncertainty Avoidance

It refers to the degree to which an individual or the society is tolerant towards uncertainties and ambiguities. Here the tendency of the people in the society or organization to deal with anxiety and distrust on others in case of the unknown is reflected. Thus, for the organization, the degree of tolerance in case of uncertainties will matter and any lack of trust between American and Mexican employees might be ominous for the progress of the business in the region.

3.6.5 Long-term Orientation

This cultural dimension emphasizes the need for change in society or in the context of organizational culture. It is achieved in long-term and an employee in the organizational context must change his values of culture and must respect and be tolerant to cultural diversity for ensuring the seamless flow of business operations in case of international business organizations. In case of Petrocom, both the American and Mexican employees need to change their mind-set and observation of cultural stereotypes such that they can accept each other’s culture; otherwise, it will be a bottleneck for the business to operate seamlessly.

3.6.6 Indulgence

In this cultural dimension, society is viewed ideally as a place where people can be free and indulge in activities they want to do and acting on the basis of their impulses. It highlights the importance of friendship in society or in an organizational context. Thus, in the said case there needs to be an ambience of indulgence and not restraint in case of employees belonging to American as well as Mexican origins.
In designing the organizational learning and development policies for the employees in the Mexican service centre of Petrocom, the Hofstede Model of National Culture will be a useful tool for understanding the various differences between the two cultures and the training and development programs will have to focus on the learning of both the American employees in the top-level management and teams and that of the lower-level employees those are Mexicans by origin.
In designing the organizational learning and development policies for the employees in the Mexican service centre of Petrocom, the Hofstede Model of National Culture will be a useful tool for understanding the various differences between the two cultures and the training and development programs will have to focus on the learning of both the American employees in the top-level management and teams and that of the lower-level employees those are Mexicans by origin.

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