Strategic Plan

Essay by DANIMAL69University, Bachelor'sA-, October 2007

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A well-known multinational enterprise is Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (in English, Bavarian Motor Works or BMW) headquartered in Germany. BMW operates manufacturing facilities in several countries, sources raw materials and components globally, and sells automobiles and motorcycles in much of the developed world. BMW's experience provides excellent source material for analyzing the realities of globalization, including the human resource management challenges associated with international operations.

BMW's first foreign location was its Rosslyn plant, near Pretoria, South Africa (BMW-Rosslyn, 2007). "The BMW Group was one of the pioneers during the politically instable years of the slow break-up of apartheid. It took specific measures against racial segregation, job discrimination, and unjust compensation" (BMW-Rosslyn, 2007). "In September 2003, the BMW Group expanded its international production network with a plant in [Shenyang, Lianoning in] Northeast China. The plant, a joint venture between the BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., produces vehicles solely for the local market and contributes to developing and penetrating the Chinese market" (BMW-Shenyang, 2007).

This paper contains a strategic human resources management plan taking into account the cultural and regional differences impacting global HRM within BMW.

Home country: GermanyUnlike the rest of Europe, Germany is considered a 'masculine' country, thus power is important and it is necessary to know who has power and who does not. German business culture focuses on masculinity, Hofstede. Hofstede is used to explain the differences between 'masculine' countries that were focused on size, wealth, and success (fjell.nl, 2005). Germans tend to judge people by clothing, house, car and wealth possessed. Thus the person who speaks softly and sparsely is the person with power in Germany.

On the other hand, Germany is an egalitarian society. In this perspective, an employee arguing agitatedly with a superior is tolerated unlike many hierarchic countries such as China. German...