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The measures, Busch developed for the choice, preparation, moving and reintegration of its employees has been examined and set against the common practice of other enterprises. The work starts with a representation of the enterprise Busch. The main part s a detailed representation of the measures of Busch with respect to the four phases of the foreign dispatch. These are judged with the theory from technical literature and compared with the common practice of other enterprises. Subsequently the question is followed whether the expansion plans in the direction of the China require a customization of the staff management.
Finally we draw a conclusion whether the measures of Busch are suitable to fulfill the requirements or must be changed. 2. Bosses. 1 Historical development enterprise Busch was set up under the name “workshop for precision engineering and electrical engineering” in Stuttgart in the year 1886 by the engineer Robert Busch. The international orientation already started early. In 1 898 they founded the first branch office in England (London). One year later they opened a dependence in France (Paris). The first branch office followed in the LISA in 1906.
The international development has continued until today. In 2003 75% of the manufacturing sites are outside Germany. With daughter and associated companies Busch is present in more than 50 countries worldwide. Busch is one of the biggest industrial enterprises in Germany today and is a global player especially in the automobile industry. Busch has convinced with its innovations since their foundation and has a high position in the market. In 1897 Busch developed the first low voltage magneto ignition which firstly made the use of internal combustion engines possible.
The innovation strength has remained until today; so Busch was the first component supplier bringing innovations like ESP. the anti-lock braking system anti-lock braking system, the navigation system under the names “Traveling” and the electronic stability system on the market. Busch recognized the significance of its employees for the innovation and arrest success early, too. In 1 906 Busch introduced the “eight hour day” when celebrating the delivery of the 1 00,000 Steen magnet igniter. With the delivery of the 500,000 Steen igniter they introduced work free Saturday afternoons. . 2 The Busch, group tattooed enterprise Busch consists of the motor vehicle technology, industry technology and use and goods technology. Their core competence and most important unit is still the vehicle technology. This can be proved by regarding the sales volume. The share of this division was 65. 4% in the year 2003. The sales development and its foreign share is splayed in graphic 1. Busch doubled the sales volume within only 10 years, from appear. 16 billion to 36 billion euros. However, the foreign share of the sales volume increased proportionally faster.
From 49% in 1993 it rose up to 71% in 2003. These data underline again the strong international orientation of the company. According to this Busch has employees all over the world. In 2003 Busch employed 230,000 people worldwide with a share of 54% outside of Germany. 2. 3 The corporate culture idea of the corporate culture is interpreted differently in the literature. Berthed defines corporate culture as follows: Corporate culture is “the sum of the moral concepts, carried a business together Of the employees norms and behavior patterns this one has taken shape in the course of the time”.
The philosophy of Robert Busch stamps the corporate culture since the foundation. So he wrote in 191 9: “It has always been an unbearable thought to me that someone could inspect one of my products and find it inferior . I have therefore always tried to ensure that only look for work goes out that is superior into all respects In the year 2001 this culture was strengthened by the new model “Be Better Be Busch” and the aloes were formulated in a written form for the first time. They initiated a modernization project called “Be QUICK”.
This model functions as action framework for the after stored aims and strategies:;e QUICK, Quality, innovation and Customer oriented;Be Better improve against previous years and gain the competitive edge,;Be Busch, committed to our vision, our tradition and of the spirit of a the company and the legacy of our founder Robert Busch. The enterprise therefore tries to create a global behavioral framework, which takes over the orientation function, identification function, coordination and integration function and helps to manage the challenges of the future. 3. Foreign dispatch process at Bosses. Aims Of the foreign dispatched the assignment of highly qualified employees Busch aims at a compensation of a lack of know-how in the respective host country. Furthermore Busch wants to rise the cross culture skills of their executives in order to improve the cooperation with foreign departments. Additionally it is possible for the ambitious employees to request for a dispatch in order to enhance their motivation. An important aim of foreign dispatches is finally the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture through which the communication and cooperation within the Busch group is made easier. 3. Dispatch borscht distinguishes three dispatch forms. The business trip, the delegation as well as the transfer. The business trip with a duration of up to three months serves to establish contacts or also to conclude business on the spot. With the delegation Busch distinguishes between the dispatch for the fulfillment of a project task or the dispatch in the context of trainee programs. The expatriate is abroad for a duration between three months and a year. If it is necessary to cover a lack of manpower a transfer is carried out. In this case the duration of the stay abroad is between one and five years.
Busch averagely dispatches their employees for three years. 3. 3 Foreign dispatch process carefully structured dispatch process is very important for Busch to ensure the success of the foreign dispatch. To this, at first the occupation order is prepared which contains the necessary qualifications Of the employee with regard to the vacant job. The choice Of a suitable candidate, the dispatch conversation and the information journey to the possible country are the next steps of the process. After this journey the employee finally decides whether he accepts the position abroad.
If he agrees, the employee is prepared comprehensively for the stay abroad. Then the moving to the foreign country takes place. After the job completion the employee is reintegrated. The individual phases of the foreign dispatch process are explained in the following more precisely. 3. 3. 1 Choices. 3. 1. 1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practice best liability for a success of foreign dispatch can still be seen in the right choice of the employees to be sent. This should include technical criteria, behavior-related arterial, intercultural environment-related criteria as well as personal criteria.
When choosing a suitable dispatch candidate enterprises often orientate at technical performances. However, empirical examinations show, that competences or-related behavior and-related intercultural environment abilities for the cultural customization have a greater influence on the success of the foreign activity. Other surveys from the 1 sass confirm that individual performance features are in the foreground at the choice. In addition, they show that the family is hardly co-included in the decision. An interview under
Expatriates points, that the well-being plays the family an important role for the professional success. 3. 3. 1. 2 Choice at Boohoos has recognized the importance of extra- technical criteria for the choice of a suitable dispatch candidate. Besides the career potential, which are investigated by the employee development instruments (see chapter 2. 2), features like team and communication ability or representation of the Busch culture are co-included in the decision. The latter has a great importance for the support of the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture, one of the aims of the foreign dispatch. . 3. Preparation. 3. 2. 1 Theoretical bases and enterprise particularities specialized in further education and intercultural management distinguish between a country specific and country general as well as intellectual and experience obtained preparation. The respective confrontation of these preparation methods shows the following classifications:;elemental country specific proportionality’s general information about the host country is mediated and language courses carried out here. Culture games are, such as the cultural assimilation training. Experience-related country specific preparation political, economic and socio-cultural conditions Of the host country shall be given to the expatriate a better understanding. With the help of case studies and role plays as well as information journeys the expatriates are prepared for country and culture specifics. ;Intellectual preparation cultural self awareness model plays an important role in this preparation class. It assumes that it is important to remind the participant of his own stereotyped and behaviors in order to develop a sensibility for the foreign maybe strange looking cultural aspects. Experience-related country general preparations preparation method which shall enlarge the intercultural competence of the expatriates (on The job by Outdoor training, intercultural simulation games) consists of the cooperation on international teams as well as of an intercultural action “Source of the success of foreign dispatches is the degree to which an expect is able to establish contacts and manages to overcome culture barriers and to find the way in the strange culture”.
The chief attention of the preparation in German and American companies lies in the technical education, the execution of a language training as well as the arrangement of general country information, though. An experience related preparation seldom takes place. The external execution of the preparation measures is in general preferred opposite the internal one. The family moreover is only seldom included in the preparations although family problems belong to the most frequent reasons for the failure of foreign dispatches.
After a study of the auditing company PriceWaterhouseCoopers 40% of all Expatriates return home ahead of schedule. 96% of these on impulses Of the family which Often doesn’t cope with the surroundings. The final conclusion is that the size of the preparation is very small in the entrepreneurial practice. 3. 3. 2. 2 Preparation at Boohoos practices comprehensive preparations for both its employees and their families to ensure the success of their foreign dispatch. At the beginning of the preparation Busch offers a information journey which is designed for employees who go abroad for longer than 12 months.
Before the definite decision, Busch gives its employees the opportunity to go to the host country with the companion of their partner. The stay lasts for two to three days, within Europe outside Rupee’s approximately one week. By this “kook and sea trip” the employee and his impassions can get a better idea of the future place of residence. That shall prevent them from forming unrealistic expectations. If the employee decides to accept the job offered abroad, the real preparation starts.
The central HER department is responsible for the execution of the preparation transfers (KM). It builds a preparation plan with measures which are coordinated with the needs of the respective employee. The aim of the preparation with Busch is the arrangement of intercultural competence. This consists of country specific knowledge, linguistic proficiency as well as cultural insensibility of the three elements together. Country specific knowledge arrangement of country specific knowledge contains information about the framework conditions of the host country.
Formalities which are connected with a stay abroad are given to the Expatriates and their companions traveling along in a so-called ‘Busch foreign preparation seminar”. So-called “mentors”, employees already returned home, convey information e. G. To the contract of employment or for tax regulations. By the use of mentors Busch guarantees that experiences collected abroad are passed on and therefore used for new dispatches effectively. Linguistic proficiency knowledge of the respective national language is prerequisite for a dispatch, because it is very important for an integration in private and in working life.
Busch employees have to learn the foreign language until they reach a level that enables them to come along in working life without any problems. If they want to learn more, they also have the possibility of attaining comprehensive knowledge. The family is tied to ensure that it can find the way in daily life. The language education takes place externally and Busch takes on the costs both for the employee and for the family. The company attaches importance to the fact that the education Starts early so that the required knowledge is reached before the dispatch.
Cultural sensibility cultural sensibility of the employees shall be promoted by WV measures: the intercultural preparation training as well as the intercultural management training. The intercultural preparation training has the aim of synthesizing the employee to the think and behavior patterns of the host country to make the integration into the strange cultural environment easier for him. If the training is carried out internally, so-called country teams are responsible for t. These teams consist of employees who have made experiences in the respective host country or even are from this country themselves.
This five- day intercultural preparation training is offered both for the employee and for the family since this is confronted with the same integration or understanding difficulties concerning the strange culture. This has particularly to be taken into account when thinking of the growing importance of multicultural cooperation, e. G. In the context of joint ventures or international project work. 3. 33 Moving Busch receives the Expatriate supports for the carrying out of he necessary formalities by the so-called Busch foreign preparation seminar. When the employee finally starts his stay abroad he usually feels like on holiday.
Everything is new to him and he is fascinated by his new task at the company and the new country itself. But this positive feeling often changes after a few months when the first serious problems occur. He feels helpless because he can not manage the situation in the new surrounding. This is called cultural shock. To keep the cultural shock as low as possible, Busch looks after his employees during their stay and helps them when problems appear. The cultural shock can never completely prevented especially if the difference between the cultures is very large.
Nevertheless Busch tries to prepare their employees by showing general culture differences so that they can deal with problems serially. Furthermore Busch offers his expatriate an intensive coaching. The employee has a mentor in the native country who is two hierarchical orders higher than himself. They meet at least once a year to talk about problems abroad or about further plans of the employee after his return to Germany. In addition, a strengths-/ weaknesses analysis is carried out to be able to empowered the development Of the employee and not lose the summary Of the knowledge and abilities.
An examination of Scroll-Mach shows that the support of the Expatriates is often insufficient in the practice. Many Expatriates have the impression that their enterprise leaves them alone and it doesn’t support at problems. They must manage various difficulties at the same time. Family problems moreover aren’t taken into account in the context of the support in the practice. However, wife and children are especially confronted with greater customization difficulties than the staff member because they have more request contacts to the strange culture. . 3. 4. Reintegration. 3. 4. 1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practitioner the expiry Of the delegation period the Expatriate returns back to the parent company. A successful reintegration of the employee is both of high entrepreneurial and financial importance. A negative signal starts out from a failed reintegration for other parent company members. The readiness to accept an offer for a foreign activity sinks. Furthermore the financial dimension of the complete dispatch process including the return has to be taken into account.
American studies value the total costs of the foreign assignment of an employee at up to 1 millions $. In connection with this, it is surprising that only few enterprises care for the repatriation of their employees professionally. A KEMP examination from the year 2000 showed that 67% of all interviewed people who were delegated abroad said that there is need for improvement at the reintegration process of their enterprise. This criticism has to be taken seriously since problems with the reintegration have serious consequences for the Expatriate and the enterprise like e. G. Owe work motivation or even the cancellation and the change to another enterprise. According to an examination of Black (1992) the share Of the returnees who cancel their job within One year after their return due to integration problems is about 25%. The causes of these reintegration difficulties are multilayered. You can subdivide them into operational and private difficulties. Operational eleventh search for a suitable position often turns out to be difficult since the HER departments can assess hardly the qualification development of the returnee during his stay abroad.
In addition returnees fete have exaggerated expectations and therefore are disappointed of the offered job in their home company. They often have the impression that their new skills especially about the country they spent a lot of time in are not appreciated. A study of Worth from the year 1 992 has shown that merely 30% of all enterprises evaluate the experiences of its employees after a stay abroad. Another aspect of the reintegration is the cessation of foreign raises and other privileges. Private Elbowroom’s frequently appear also in the private area of the Expatriates.
During their stay abroad the often only keep the positive aspects f their life in Germany in mind, the negative everyday problems appear only after the return and the first euphoria. The culture of one’s own seems alienated and it comes to the double cultural shock. Particularly the children have to suffer from the new surroundings and from the change since they have accepted the strange culture more strongly, had to leave friends and don’t cope with the German school system any more. For the expatriates and their partners it is difficult to abstain from grown fond privileges like e. G. Huffier, domestics for themselves or a swimming pool. 3. 3. 4. Reintegration with Boasts a company with strong international orientation Busch has recon sized the meaning of a successful reintegration of returnees and supports the reintegration of its employees with numerous measures at an operational and private level to put a positive and encouraging signal for future dispatches. 3. 3. 4. 2. 1 Measures of the operational reintegration’s offers a very comprehensive and strategic personnel policy which takes into account the personal ambitions of the dispatched employees and the future need for highly qualified managers.
This prevents Busch from the problem frequently appearing that no adequate place can be offered to the returnee. Due to its size Busch is moreover able to offer alternatives in the case of an abrupt dispatch process, like e. G. Early return or dissatisfaction with the return position. As already explained different studies have shown that exaggerated experiences on the part of the returnees is the main reason for dissatisfaction with the position after the reintegration. To counteract this, Busch regularly looks after the expatriate by a hierarchy higher mentor Of the parent company.
By this he keeps informed about all important developments in the many and furthermore he has contact person for career questions. Due to this permanent communication Busch is able to get an exact idea about the situation and processes in the foreign business. Another important aspect which fundamentally contributes to the satisfaction of the returning employee is the appreciation and the use of the abroad acquired knowledge. Busch evaluates the foreign experiences of its expatriates very comprehensively and endeavourers suggestions for improvement.
Furthermore the HER department tries to find a position in which the returnee can use his new won abilities optimally. This could be e. . A position in the sales department of the region in which the expatriate was active. Furthermore the returnees have the opportunity to study further in order to work as an expert for the country they stayed in and prepare other employees for future dispatches. The visible” corporate culture, introduced in 2001 , plays an important role for a successful reintegration.
Since all subsidiary firm shall work according to the given behavioral framework, the cultural distance turns out a little bit smaller between host country and native country. Since the practical putting into action of the behavior guidelines is always subject to cultural influences, the degree of the relief should be assessed rather carefully. 3. 3. 4. 2. 2 Measures of the private reintegration make the reintegration easier for the returning expatriate and his family, Busch offers comprehensive help.
They support their employees when they search for an apartment and takes on arising extra tuition costs for the children to make the integration into the German school system easier. Furthermore other Busch employees who returned from stays abroad in the past can give advice in so called “returnee seminars” where other persons affected talk about its experiences. 4. Asia, challenge and chance”Rapidly arising markets in the Far East and Busch takes part “This statement of Busch Boor, the chairman of the area of motor vehicle technology, shows the meaning of company leaders, which will be attached to Asian and especially to the Chinese market.
After a turnover grog. VT obtained already 2003 in China of over 20%, Busch wants to improve his presence further in the empire of the middle. In the following sections will be analyses, which changes or requirements to the Busch foreign dispatch will bring the future in the Asian market. 4. Requirements on German executives in Chinas. 2. 1 The intercultural difficulties The clashing of different cultures, values and particularly the different styles of management and philosophies leads very frequently to difficulties in the subsidiary firms.
To notice which one is the most frequent and greatest problem that the Chinese executives have in the cooperation with German executives and vice versa, the results of a study from the year 1999 shall be illustrated, which Chinese and German manager were working in German enterprises in China. Among the problems, which the Chinese managers have with the colleges room abroad, the most important are the communication problems, like is described in the chart above.
The culture, communication, mutual understanding and language are connected closely with each other belong to this category: due to the different culture and the language barrier no satisfactory communication takes place and therefore it doesn’t come to a mutual understanding. In this connection the bad English knowledge of German managers and their lack of understanding of the Chinese culture will be especially found fault by Chinese colleges. 10% of the mentioning are allotted to problems of the human relations.