International Human Resource Management

Term Paper
1st Submission
Dated: 20/09/2011
Submitted To: Submitted By:
Prof. Sukhjinder Baring Sahil Goyal
Course Instructor MBA-2B
IHRM

Contents

* About LG * Global Presence * HR policies of Different Countries * PCN Strategies * Studies

About LG: LG Electronics was founded in 1958 at Seoul, South Korea. This multinational company is the 2nd largest electronic products maker of South Korea and third largest appliance maker in the world. Yong Nam is the CEO & Vice Chairman of the company who is making it possible to spread the network of LG throughout the world. Headquarter of LG Electronics is in LG Twin Towers at Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is the owner of Zenith Electronics and has a joint venture with Philips Electronics under the name of LG Display. Both the companies are putting their effort in manufacturing and developing the quality of their products. Some important subsidiaries of LG Group are LG Electronics, LG Telecom, LG Chem. and Zenith Electronics in more than 80 countries. LG Electronics was established in 1958 as GoldStar. LG Group is the merger of Lucky and GoldStar, two Korean companies. L is taken from Lucky and G from GoldStar which formed LG Group. "Life's Good" is the slogan of the LG Electronics. In 1995 GoldStar was renamed as LG Electronics and owned Zenith Electronics of USA. Global Presence: LG Electronics plays an active role in world markets with its assertive global business policy. As a result, LG Electronics controls 114 local subsidiaries worldwide, with roughly 82,000 executives and employees. Continent: Europe * Netherland * Germany * Hungary * England * Sweden * Spain * France * Italy * Greece * Austria * Romania * Poland * Czech Republic * Norway * Portugal CIS (Commonwealth of Individual States) * Russia * Ukraine * UAE * Latvia * Kazakhstan North America * Canada * Mexico * USA Central and South America * Panama * Brazil * Argentina * Colombia * Peru * Venezuela * Chile * Guatemala Asia and Pacific * India * Vietnam * Indonesia * Australia * Singapore * Japan * Philippines * Thailand * Malaysia http://www.lg.com/us/about-lg/corporate-information/overview/global-operations.jsp PCN Strategies: Our Human Resources- LG Electronics creates working environments that enable its employees to demonstrate their capabilities, focus on their work, and create value for their customers. Employees are encouraged to take a creative and individual approach to challenges, with a strong emphasis placed on performance and skill? and equal, merit-based opportunities across the board. Creativity and autonomy:
An individual's creativity is the basis for value creation. LG Electronics respects diversity and autonomy, allowing each of its employees to exercise their creativity to the full. Emphasis on competence:
Competence is the basis for performance. LG Electronics sees competence as the most important factor in its personnel decisions. Performance-based rewards:
Rewards based on performance are essential for human motivation. LG Electronics evaluates performance results fairly and rewards them accordingly. Equal opportunities:
Equal opportunities build trust among people. LG Electronics ensures equal opportunities regardless of gender, race, age, religion, or nationality.

Long-term perspective:
Maintaining a long-term perspective is the foundation for LG's human resources policies. LG's human resources programs are designed with a long-term perspective and implemented with dedication and persistence. Training:
LG Electronics offers diverse educational programs to its employees according to rank and job to encourage growth and development and mold them into "the right people" for the company. They do this by equipping them with the professional capabilities that the company needs and enabling them to apply the latest technologies to their work. Rewards:
LG Electronics offers its employees a competitive, unique rewards system that takes account of their working situations by nation, region, and job. This rewards system motivates employees to perform better by helping them to enhance their quality of life. LG's rewards system consists of fixed salaries and flexible salaries. Fixed salaries are determined every year through a fair evaluation process. Flexible salaries are immediate rewards given to individual employees for their performance and competence.
Note: The below link is able to explain the HR system and practices in South Korea http://www.pacificbridge.com/publication.asp?id=15 Studies:
Hofstede Cultural Model for South Korea

South Korea displays Geert Hofstede Dimensions similar to Latin American countries (see Latin America Hofstede Graph below). South Korea's Index values are: PDI=60 IDV=18 MAS=39 UAI=85. South Korea's closest correlation to another country in the Hofstede survey is to El Salvador's values of PDI=66 IDV=19 MAS=40 UAI=94.

South Korea's highest Hofstede Dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) at 85, indicating the society’s low level of tolerance for uncertainty. In an effort to minimize or reduce this level of uncertainty, strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented. The ultimate goal of this population is to control everything in order to eliminate or avoid the unexpected. As a result of this high Uncertainty Avoidance characteristic, the society does not readily accept change and is very risk adverse.

South Korea has a low Individualism (IDV) rank of 18. The score on this Dimension indicates the society is Collectivist as compared to Individualist. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member 'group', be that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group.
Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.

Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are inte-grated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world.

Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist and allow many currents to flow side by side. People within these cultures are more phlegmatic and contemplative, and not expected by their environment to express emotions.

Long-Term Orientation (LTO) versus short-term orientation: this fifth dimension was found in a study among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance; values associated with Short Term Orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one's 'face'. Both the positively and the negatively rated values of this dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius, the most influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C.; however, the dimension also applies to countries without a Confucian heritage.
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_south_korea.shtml