WIPRO is a multinational company that was established in India; it provides IT services such as IT consulting, IT outsourcing, R&D services, and others. It works across six continents and in more than 175 cities. The company’s revenues made 7.7$ billion in the year 2016.
The company plans to open a new office in New Zealand and develops suitable HR strategies. The country has a specific mixed economy that operates on the free market principles. This type of economy allowed WIPRO excel on the global market and in different countries that also prefer using free market principles in their economic model. New Zealand’s economy is one of the most globalised in the world; thus, since WIPRO is a multinational company and its business depends on the globalisation, New Zealand would be a perfect target for the company.
However, as WIPRO is a multinational corporation, it should also be aware of the different tax rates in New Zealand and how these rates will influence the cost of their products. As New Zealand is a small but quickly developing country that is distant from major centres of economic activity, some of its industries demand external evaluation to understand what issues they face. The government of New Zealand contacted Wipro to discuss how New Zealand companies can enter Indian market (Swain, 2002). The company is also able to help the business of New Zealand to become more globalised and enter the market of different countries, not only Indian. To understand what challenges the new WIPRO branch will have in New Zealand, research on HR issues and the SWOT analysis need to be performed.
HR Issues and SWOT Analysis
It is impossible to resolve the issues if the HR department does not have any plan about the possible challenges the company might face in New Zealand (Dias, 2011). The key HR issues that the HR department can face are connected to the New Zealand’s population: the country protects its native population (e.g. Maori) and approach to this population should go in line with the WIPRO’s interest in globalization and expanding. Moreover, the low power distance population of New Zealand will not accept strict authority and control; thus, to organise the employees effectively, a particular approach needs to be chosen. People of New Zealand prefer individualism to collectivism; therefore, they might not understand why teamwork is one of the values of the company (“Company Overview”, 2016). Currency fluctuations might also lead to imbalance of rate; the employees need to be protected from unexpected cuts or accidental gains due to these changes.
Human Resource Strategy
As it can be seen, the future employees of the New Zealand branch of WIPRO are people who prefer equality and individualism in the working process and who do not approve control and power. Thus, it seems reasonable to suggest the HIHC (high involvement and high commitment) strategy. High-involvement organizations are employee-centred, they choose to invest in their employees to derive profits from this investment later (Guthrie, 2001). Communication is also important for such organizations as it is the grant that mutual understanding will be accomplished. The practices that this approach provides are skill-based pay, information sharing, internal promotions, etc. (Guthrie, 2001). Reduced control and information share are expected to attract New Zealand employees who are interested in individualism and independence.
The biggest advantage of the high-commitment model is that it is based on self-regulatory approach. Employees of such company approve the feeling of justice between the co-workers, which positively influences employees’ commitment and the company’s performance. If the company implements high-commitment practices, the employees need to observe that these practices are fair, “both in terms of the process and the outcomes” (Farndale, Hope-Hailey, & Kelliher, 2011). Although New Zealand’s population is aging, both young and older employees are interested in the fairness of the practices, as well as trust among the employees (Farndale et al., 2011). Reduction of the hierarchy will be met with particular approval as New Zealand’s employees come from a low power distance population. The combination of the discussed strategies will allow WIPRO function on the New Zealand’s market successfully.
References
Company overview. (2016). Web.
Farndale, E., Hope-Hailey, V., & Kelliher, C. (2011). High commitment performance management: The roles of justice and trust. Personnel Review, 40(1), 5-23.
Guthrie, J. P. (2001). High-involvement work practices, turnover, and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand. Academy of Management Journal, 44(1), 180-190.
Swain, P. (2002). The New Zealand India business relationship. Web.
