Negotiating to Win: Strategies and Skills for Every Situation, Research Paper Example

Abstract

Leadership and management are linked together and are very complementary but they are not the same thing.  Leadership is inspiring, motivating and guiding while managing is coordinating, organizing and administering. The profession of human resource management (HRM) combines both leadership and management into an artful and scientific marriage which allows for nearly unlimited potential for career growth opportunities. The role of the international HRM places the International HRM in the front of a team to promote and achieve strategic international intent and leadership philosophy. It is the role of the IHRM to lead the planning, implementation, sustainment, training, on-boarding, resource allocation and leadership interactions for the entire team. The management of all of the moving parts involves tenacity, endurance, coolness under pressure and intelligence.  In order to achieve these laudable goals, the international HRM team needs to understand the internationally focused intent of the organization as well as the tactical and operational activities that are required to build the talent of the organization.

Human Resource Management

Within Global Leadership Development there is the opportunity to define, source and grow talent.  International Global Leadership Developmentis basically the intricate compilation of the employee’s skills, knowledge, cognitive ability and potential. The strategy of developing a highly effective global leadership framework revolves around providing the right capabilities and knowledge base to facilitate decision making. This includes communication, ability to adapt to changing environments and the ability to encourage and negotiate with others to follow their lead.  In order to understand the theories and framework around Global Leadership Development it is important to first understand what Global Leadership Development is.  The development and competitive advantage that is created out of nurturing the talent of expatriates and local resources provides leverage in the operations of the business.  Talent has different core meanings based upon who is looking for or defining the talent.  Each end business user has an idea of the type of talent that they need and will utilize the International Human Resource Management sector to find an organizational definition to provide that framework for that type of talent.  In this regard talent refers to the characteristics of the person but talent can also refer to the person themselves. This is where the internationally focused intent and framework for Global Leadership Development comes into place. These characteristics that are presented by an individual are not only inherent within the individual but also skills that were practiced and honed by that same individual.  The framework and theories of Global Leadership Development revolve around the ability for the person to commit their abilities to the organization, the fit of the individual with the organization and the organization with the individual and ultimately the ability to showcase and execute with the skills the individual has.Global Leadership Development is a primary responsibility of human resources and is becoming increasingly important in organization’s business strategy.

International HRM is a way to build and enforce the strategy and policies of the organization.  By building a talent pool that can execute the goals and objectives of the organization the opportunities for success are exponentially grown.  The ability to recruit, build and sustain talent in an organization falls primarily on the Human Resources department.  The Human Resource department has the direct and indirect capability to develop the environment for talent stimulation as well as by providing leadership the tools to promote talent throughout the organization.  Knowing the business is the best way to understand where the gaps are in talent and how to find the right people for the right positions.

Developing Talent through International Human Resource Management

The skills of the 21^st century are different from those of latter centuries.  The hard and soft skills must provide quicker reactions, more complex problem solving and include a globalized economy.  The shift from manufacturing and production based economic frameworks to a more knowledge and service based economic structure is driving changes to the skillsets and learning environments that students need to develop and teachers need to create. These skillsets focus more on the softer skillsets because these are only gained through experiences while some of the hard skillsets are taught in an academic setting.  While the hard skillsets are still a prerequisite, there is a need of the soft skillsets to be able to maximize the total package of skills.

The 21^st century there is a demand to bridge the gap between technical prowess and personal interactions and the increase of international relationships are growing closer every day.  Globalization, economic necessity, and low civicengagement compound the urgency for students todevelop the skills and knowledge they need for success.The interconnectedness of our global economy,ecosystem, and political networks require thatstudents learn to communicate, collaborate, andproblem solve with people worldwide (Templar, Herring, Thompson, &Fadem, 2012).  Specific technical or hard skills are necessary to fulfil job requirements but adding the addition of successive soft skills will enhance the individual’s ability to succeed in the 21^st century. The only way that the people entering business in the 21^st century must be prepared and the only way to be prepared is to take on learning and trying to immerse oneself in business interactions(Brislin, Worthley, &MacNab, 2006).  The only way to hone and polish soft skills is to utilize them in real life situations.

The key interdependencies between hard skills and soft skills are the main driver of success in the 21^st century. Leadership capability is especially important for global corporations in which organizational structures, processes and systems are hardly sufficient to cope with the ever-changing and highly complex business environments in different parts of the world (Yeung & Ready, 1995). The ability to utilize the ability to be a key contributor, pursued individuals to accept their ideas, and drive results all of which would be coupled with the ability to solve mathematical equations, utilize key software and derive information for key business decisions is an overall synopsis of what someone taking on the economic scene in the 21^st century needs.  These skills between hard and soft are blurry and creating a challenge in the academic environment.  Pushing the experiences for soft skills, honing hard skills and then enhanced with the technological advancements will create an environment for success.

Developing Skills for Different Cultures

Developing skills through the IHRM function is partially dependent upon the region of operation the employees will operate. The code of conduct and business functions in the United States is different from that of Afghanistan. This difference is more obvious for such culturally diverse nations but there are other nations that are different but only in key areas (Campbell, 2013).  To fully understand the risks and rewards choosing to either move business to other countries or establish project to utilize foreign countries resources it is necessary to look at multiple countries to get an understanding of the variables that will impact the human resource management operations (Yeung & Ready, 1995).The first example is the United Arab Emirates or UAE.The UAE is in a unique position in which they are creating an environment to be conducive for foreign investors to come into their country and enhance their global economic model.  The UAE and specifically Dubai offer tremendous opportunities for foreign investors to conduct business in their location.  The prerequisite for the business or conglomeration of investors is to have a steady and ample capital backing.  If the group has enough capital and is willing to work overseas, Dubai is a great location to provide high quality goods or services and take advantage of the conducive and entrepreneurial environment instilled by the country.  The benefits of doing business in the UAE include tax benefits offered to startups and large investment companies, free trade zones and distinct markets that cater to varying business types such as financial districts, manufacturing zones and other areas tailored to business growth.  The country provides the vessel to conduct business and the project manager’s role is to understand exactly what is required and the cost associate with meeting those requirements.  The benefits of the human resource management would come from the general culture of the area including the established business culture for change and grow regarding business ideas and implementations as well as the focus on driving success.  The UAE wants the companies to become successful in order to increase the benefits experience by their citizens and economic prosperity.

The disadvantages mostly reside in the same core areas that would be experienced by doing business in any other country that has a difference language, beliefs system, laws, business models or geographic separation from the other country looking to conduct business activities.  Language, customs, politics and religion all play a role in project execution but there are some other areas that also are limitation to project management in the UAE.  The hyper-competitive process of resource allocation for the project must be accounted for as a risk to the project.  Since the area of the UAE is conducive to new ventures there are limited resources available for new countries looking for a part of the market share.  The project manager must ensure that the resources required are readily available based on the needs of the project timing and implementation project schedule.

Another country that provides a multitude of business opportunities for business projectsand requires a strong leader in the human resource management field are the ventures in Japan.  Japan provides resources that are technological savvy, industrious, intelligent, and highly educated.  When projects are implemented in Japan it is the people and logistical placement within the globe that make the attractiveness so great.  Japan is limited in size but is strategically located in the East and provides the democratic governance that is advantageous to free trade and business growth.  Key benefits of expanding opportunities to Japan include the established business partnership between the United States and Japan as well as the forged path of success that has been blazed by other companies over the past few decades. There are lessons learned and knowledge available for the project team to learn and understand about Japan’s cultural differencesand other high impact low probability risks.  The formidable and highly capable workforce in Japan allows the project team’s efforts to be centrally controlled and decentralized executed which is tremendous benefit to the project manager considering the full utilization of the project team for key action to complete the project (Gray& Larson, 2011)

The foundation for a manger in the IHRM field is composed of multiple characteristic traits both tangible and intangible all of which synergize together to give certain individuals the ability to lead and promote ideas better than others.  Although not all of the qualities will be discussed here I will cover the five most influential and impactful traits that would impact the Human Resource profession as a whole and would be needed to achieve the upper echelon of HR management.  These are:

Communication

Communication is a fundamental competency as well as necessary for the international and regional functions of the organization. The main elements of communication include what needs to be conveyed, how it is conveyed and how it is received. Communication also comes in many forms and functions.  Mastery of the oratory communication skillset is only partial completion of the communication gamut.  Business communication includes web-based, texts, email, instant messaging, video conferencing, static reports, dashboards, business forums, presentations, white papers and last but not least, face-to-face meetings. Communication as a key member of the organization allows the thoughts, ideas and intent to be conveyed to peers, subordinates and leaders.  An understanding on how communication is important to business success is vital because communication is the life blood of the business as a whole and is increasingly important when crossing cultures and languages.  Communication up and down the chain of command as well as cross-functionally builds stronger relationships and provides the highways for the vessel of information to travel.The effects of poor communication have tremendous impacts on meeting or surpassing business objectives.  In order for the communication to be properly relayed it is imperative the message makes it through the noise of the business environment to the intended recipients as anticipated.  Poor communication leads to inefficiency, deceased innovation and poor products or services delivered to the customer.  Poor efficiency through communication occurs the communication presented is misunderstood, misinterpreted due to vagueness and requires clarification or presents the wrong idea altogether (Maxwell, 2008).

Building the ability to Manage Change and Become Adaptable Adaptability

Working within a multi-cultural environment brings up many difficult tasks and opportunities.  Developing employees in such a way that they enhance their ability to manage change and adapt to their environment will allow them to be more productive and attain greater impact on the organization (Story, Barbuto, Luthans, & Bovaird, 2014).  Adaptability is essential in all aspects of life but becomes even more inherent and important when international responsibilities are undertaken.  Adaptability and facilitating change management allows the individual resources in the organization to go to the problem area, recognize the issue, resolve the problem or build a mitigation plan to lessen the impact of the troubled area while also ensuring issues do not exponentially negatively impact the business or people as a result of the change implemented.  It is the responsibility to promote training and facilitate feedback to the talent of the organization to build and grow these traits.  It is imperative to understand the root cause of the change especially in a role that will have a great ripple effect on the business as a whole.  Remedying the symptoms will only lessen the pain for a short time but overall does not fix the problem at hand and could potentially lead to a larger unmanageable problem in the future.  Adapting to issues and variables in business is an advancement of the normal memorization educational background.  Change management and adaptability to the environment requires the person to figure out what happened, why it happened and how to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again.  Providing training and resources to the employ will give them the tools to do their job.  This also eliminates the need to put on daily fire watch and conduct immediate response fire drills to conduct business.  Constant fire-fighting puts strain on the employees and hinders productivity of the operating unit and business entity.Management in Human resources require the soft skills of adapting and overcoming issues on a daily basis because they medium of work is dynamic and multi-faceted.  In the HR role certain problems will arise due to the impression that employees are not doing their job either because they are capable or because they are cognitively negligent.  In either case it is up to the HR manager to utilize their management expertise to understand the actual issue, perform an informal or formal root cause analysis and carry out the actions either directly or by leading the correction team to the solution.

Persuasion and Negotiation

Tom Landry succinctly put it “Leadership is getting people to do what they do not want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve”.  In order to get people to complete task and objectives they do not want to do it is imperative that they are persuaded to do so.  Persuasion itself is guiding others toward the adoption of an idea, thought, or action.  Persuasion is a necessity in business to make ideas come to fruition.  Negotiating contracts and developing guidance documentation all require persuasion of one party to meet at a common goal.  Persuasion requires a multitude of different attributes including negotiation skills, listening skills, insight, knowledge, courage and confidence.  Emotionally connecting with people based on the ability to establish a close relationship provides a level of acceptance and increased capability (Morrison, 2000).

Persuasion and Negotiation

Within the process of developing a global leadership strategy, there are multiple phases including planning, design, implementation and monitoring and controllingStrategic planning is the organization’s way of creating a foundation and roadmap for where the organization wants to be, as an entire entity, within a defined number of years.  This plan defines the primary objectives, prioritizes the main focuses and creates the consensus of the stakeholders in the organization.  The plan will not defined each goal and objective that must be met along the road because it is a plan that is built further out in the future that the operational and tactical efforts that will need to take place for the organization to be successful.  With that being said, the strategic plan is fluid and dynamic which in turns means the organization will need to be adaptable and agile in turn.  The importance of the strategic plan besides the actual plan itself is the fact that the strategic plan is what brings the vision of the organization to a more tangible and actionable itinerary.  Understanding this purpose is important when reviewing the strategic plan and determining its significance.  When this type of plan is created, it is drawn up by the leaders of the organization.  This is done so by pulling in all the experiences regarding internal and external opportunities and threats, creates a plan that would be workable by the lower echelons of the organization and takes into consideration the current standing of the organization.  The strategic plan must show a value to the people of the organization and that is how it will be effective and drive the changes that are warranted by the leaders of the organization.  The strategic plan must follow a general set of principles that would create the framework for the document.  Planning the goals, aligning the goals with the organization’s goals and ensuring accountability will lead to gaining progress towards the strategy of the organization.

References

Brislin, Richard, Worthley, Reginald, &MacNab, Brent. (2006). Cultural Intelligence: understanding behaviors that serve people’s goals. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol 31, 1.

Campbell, Andrew. (2013). In-depth analysis of global leadership challenges. Journal of Business and Ethics. Indiana University.

Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2011). Project management: The managerial process (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Story, Joana, Barbuto, John, Luthans, Fred, & Bovaird, James. (2014). Meeting the challenges of effective international hrm: analysis of the antecedents of global mindset. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Templar, R., Herring, J. J., Thompson, L., &Fadem, T. J. (2012). Negotiating to win: strategies and skills for every situation (collection). FT Press. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=tPBSj1WlQpIC&oi=fnd&pg=PT1&dq=The+Truth+About+Negotiations+by+Leigh+L.+Thompson&ots=CrLodMnsdL&sig=Lgik2nUr2f21s8wEI_9SsPtNk5w

Maxwell, J. C. (2008) The 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Morrison, Allen. (2000). Developing a global leadership model. Human Resource Management. The University of Western Ontario.

Yeung, Arthur &Ready, Douglas. (1995) Developing Leadership Capabilities of Global Corporations: A Comparative Study in Eight Nations. 34, 4; Abi/Inform.