Impact of National Culture on Employee Behaviour

Facilitator
Professor Paul Sparrow

Who should attend
The masterclass will be of most value to those professionals who are involved in international HR interventions, or who deal with cross-cultural employment issues. In addition, experience of company initiatives in these areas will be valuable in focusing discussion. No prior theoretical knowledge is essential, although a grounding in psychological work outcomes as they relate to HR practice would be an advantage.

Masterclass overview
The masterclass will explore the impact of national culture on employee behaviour. It will examine how individuals from different cultures behave in organisations, the consequences for organisations in terms of performance and their ability to execute strategies internationally, and the implications for the management of international employees (whether on an individual basis or in multi-cultural teams). There are a number of important agendas emerging inside organisations as they globalise. Organisations have to examine their employee engagement data across operations and see if it is possible to develop a consistent employment brand. They have to recruit, select, train and develop an ever-wider set of international employees. This does not just include expatriates, but might also now involve frequent international commuters, individuals sent abroad on short-term business projects, immigrants, or domestic employees dealing with customers from overseas markets. They are managing through more internationalised processes such as multi-cultural teams. The need for greater insight into employee behaviour has therefore arisen through a number of developments, such as growth in international mergers and acquisitions, organisations coping with skills shortages through overseas recruitment activities, and the development of a more diverse domestic workforce. Throughout the day the implications for practice will be explored, what organisations and managers do in response to the issue and how participants can put the information into practice. How can occupational psychologists influence the area?

Aims of the masterclass

• Explore the nature of national culture as it affects employee behaviour.
• Understand the business case for why national culture has important implications for organisations.
• Bring participants up to date with the latest thinking in the field of global human resource management.
• Examine a range of specific areas of domestic and international management that draw upon the expertise of occupational psychologists and their research into national culture and employee behaviour.

Projected outcomes and benefits of attending

• An ability to see the immediate and long-term strategies that organisations need to put in place to manage international employees.
• Insight into a range of frameworks that capture the skills and competencies that become important for different categories of international employees.
• A critical understanding of key concepts in the field such as models of national culture, cross-cultural adjustment, and cultural intelligence.
  

Psychological theory underpinning the masterclass
A number of concepts and theories have relevance to the masterclass, including adjustment theory, agency theory, cultural value orientations, psychological contracting theory, cultural intelligence and institutional theory. The strengths and limitations of these will be explored, as well as the ways in which they are used by practitioners to design interventions inside organisations.

Pre/post work required
N/A

Date and venue
31 May 2007, 9.30 - 17.00

The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG

Facilitator details
Paul Sparrow is Professor of International Human Resource Management and Director of the Centre for Performance-led HR at Lancaster University Management School. Whilst at Manchester Business School he took up the Ford Chair from 2002-2004 and was Director, Executive Education 2002-2005. He has consulted with major multinationals, public sector organisations and inter-governmental agencies and is Expert Advisory Panel member to the UK Government’s Sector Skills Development Agency, on the US Academy of Management’s HR Division and a member of the Human Capital Institute’s Global Talent Management Panel. His research interests include cross-cultural and international HRM, HR strategy, cognition at work and changes in the employment relationship. He has published over 100 articles and chapters and authored several books. He is currently and has recently researched Globalising Human Resource Management and International recruitment, selection and assessment for the CIPD.