FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT hw Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT hw - Essay Example invested in this cash conversion cycle, which assumes a 365-day year and are as follows. Inventory = ($10,000,000 *.075 * (60/365) = $1,232,877 + Accounts receivable = (10,000,000 * (40/365) = 1,095,890 -Accounts payable = (10,000,000 * 0.75 *0.65) *35/365 = 467,466 $1,861,301 =Resources Invested Changes in any of the times period will change the resources tied up in operations. If MAX could reduce the average collection period on its accounts receivable by 5 days, it would shorten the cash conversion timeline and thus reduce the amount of resources MAX has invested in operations. For MAX, a 5-day reduction in the average collection period would reduce the number of resources invested in the cash conversion cycle by $136,986 [$10,000,000 *5/365]. This answer is appropriate because the cash conversion cycle is a basis for discussing how the firm funds its required investment in operating assets. First, differentiate between permanent and seasonal funding needs and describe aggressive and conservative seasonal funding strategies (Gitman, 2009). 17. Mad Money CNBC Jim Cramer always believes that there is a bull market somewhere. Jim Cramer wants to help his audience find it. Inside the mind of Jim Cramer, is a report from one of the most successful traders on Wall Street. His goal is to help the watching audience make money on Wall Street. Cramer's Internet site is here to provide Internet users with updates throughout the day of Jim Cramer's Stock Picks. The site provides recaps CNBC's Mad Money. Jim Cramer also sells collectibles on his site. The mad money store has several items of interest to his viewers are sold, for example the talking Jim Cramer bobble head character. If a viewer misses, an episode he tapes them every week and the video will appear on the website, Under Jim Cramer Video collection. Jim Cramer this week visited with his viewers about the deal with T-Mobile and ATT. He referred to this as a good stock buy for this week but warned viewers to w atch the trends on the combined companies. He highlighted the problems revolving around the Middle Eastern crisis. Cramer suggested how to eject them out of power. and how having the United States in the involvement of war with Kaddafi is fueling higher prices, therefore putting a barrel of oil out of everyone's reach. The economy depends on the Middle East oil until the United States authorizes use of the United States own reserves. Japans nuclear crisis is slowly stabilizing, and the country must at the present time focus on repairing the damage wrought by the devastating earthquake. Cramer mentioned the continued barrage of bad news is endlessly bad, therefore making investors fearful. Continued pessimistic approaches to the news are keeping stock prices lower. Although gold and silver, continue to climb. The show will attract more investors, which are trying to day trade or are simply trying investing on their own for the first time. The present economy serving only the rich

CLA birth god female Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CLA birth god female - Essay Example Attention should be paid to their birth, first of all. It is worthy to begin with Aphrodite since she is known as the oldest Olympian god, at least according to Hesiod, a Greek poet whose works are a major source on  Greek mythology in general. According to his version, Aphrodite appeared from the sea foam (aphros) which gathered around Titan Ouranoss severed genitals. Ouranoss son Kronos revenged his father for seducing his wife and castrated him. Thus, it is believed that Aphrodite grew from Ouranoss blood and semen. As it also appears from this story, Aphrodite has no parents, in fact. Nevertheless, another version may be found in works by Homer, the author of the  Iliad  and the  Odyssey who lived around the same time as Hesiod. According to him, Aphrodite is a daughter of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, and goddess Dione who is sometimes claimed to be an ancient Zeuss wife. Diones personality is hard to define. In some myths, she is a Titaness. In others, she is referr ed to as an Oceanid. It is possible to mention some other myths which explain how Aphrodite was born, though Homers version still remains the best-known one. Athenas birth is believed to be among the strangest ones in ancient mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis, an Oceanid and the Titan goddess. It is also possible to assume that Athena and Aphrodite are sisters. According to prophesy made by an oracle of Gaea, Metis would give birth to a girl, whose wisdom and strength would be equal to Zeuss own, and then to a boy who would later overthrow Zeus, which had actually happened to his father and grandfather. This worried Zeus and he decided to prevent the threat. He opened his mouth and then swallowed his wife and their unborn child. Nine months later Zeus felt a strong headache which made him scream out of pain. Hephaestus tried to help and opened Zeuss skull with an ax. Zeus was not hurt, and the moment later

Subordinate Group Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Subordinate Group - Coursework Example It was possible to move from the plantations to the urban areas, but they chose not to do so because, in urban areas, it was not possible to live with one’s family (Hurt, 3). According to records, it was after complete slavery of four generations, that is, in the twentieth century that a ray of hope appeared. By that time, the system of slavery started vanishing, and more and more slaves were getting freed. Though the economic condition was rather pathetic for them, my ancestors were quite happy with the fact that at last, they were being treated as citizens. Admittedly, most of the African American people were living in the Southern United States until that time. However, their economic condition was rather pathetic, and they had no access to schools. However, situations were changing though slowly. As they got freed from bonded labor, my great grandfathers started growing cotton in a rented piece of land. It was possible to pay the rent on the harvest. Thus, what they enjoyed was a much better life as compared to the previous centuries. However, social disparities were too big to ignore. All the laws were against the African Americans. They had to attend separate schools, use separate transportation system, and lodging. My father had his birth in the year 1920, and it was two years thereafter that my whole family shifted from the South to North. My father says there are various reasons that made such a movement the best option at that time. Firstly, the life in South was getting worse because of social oppression. All the laws introduced by the government were intended to increase the social segregation. Secondly, the cotton cultivation did not go profitable as expected as they had to pay excessive rents. So, my grandparents shifted from South to North where there was a better possibility of jobs in industries (Sammis, 52). My grandparents and my father became industrial workers on reaching North.

Workplace counselling and therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Workplace counselling and therapy - Essay Example Personal problem contributing to poor job performance are usually complex and multi-faceted. They often include issues that few supervisors are trained to handle - complicated issues like; Besides reducing cost associated with employee's personal problems, Nyack Hospital employee assistance program provides training for managers and supervisors to help then develop skill and confidence in resolving employee's performance issues. The program also offers additional training modules for management and staff on issues such as sexual harassment, promoting a drug-free work place, stress management, parenting and many other human resources development topics. The employee assistance program enhances existing benefit program and demonstrates company's commitment to and concern for its employees well being. Dollar for dollar Nyack Hospital's employee assistance program is one of the best investments an organization can make. Having a program like this one can help your organization contain cost in many important ways including; As above stated employees assistance program (EAP) is undertaken by few supervisors or specialists who are trained to handle complicated issues. These complicated issues are problems that employees undergo while working. They may arise from their homes or within their workplace. ... These complicated issues are problems that employees undergo while working. They may arise from their homes or within their workplace. The problem should be solved so that they don't interfere with an employee's. This is another reason why Nyack Hospital has endeavoured to provide this program for its employees. In this regard employees' assistance program addresses the following problems as stated above and explained in detail below. Stress at work. Stress means arousal o stimulus. This is a condition where an employee is disturbed by other factors either within workplace or external problems (An introduction to workplace counselling, J. McLeod, 2001) This condition does not allow the employee to concentrate in his work as his or her mind is divided. The condition affects both the employee and the organization. While in this state he or she being unable to perform affects the organization in terms of productivity. The general perception has been that stress in an organization occurs to middle level and junior employees. However, it starts right from the top. Senior managers are not superwomen or supermen; they also undergo stress at work. However, they learn the art of delegation by the time they read at the top. They have secretaries and assistants who help them The assumption that death, divorce and moving house are the three biggest causes of stress has been overtaken by office as the principal focus for stress. The biggest contributing factors to stress are: - Pressure to perform Fear of redundancy/job uncertainty Recession Change/pace of change Personal/home life Increased job load Excessive hours Maintaining quality. In general, organizations are

Comparison of Reports Essay Example for Free

Comparison of Reports Essay The ability to read and write reports is an essential skill in today’s world. Therefore we need to acquaint ourselves with the three main types of reports – Informational, Analytical, and Proposals. Informational reports mainly provide facts and figures while analytical reports go one step further and provide an analysis of the facts presented. Proposals are usually prior to writing a full-blown report and contain the methods on how a certain study is to be undertaken. No matter what our occupation is, one thing we will surely deal with is reports whether it be reading and evaluating them or writing them. Therefore it is of importance for a person to be acquainted with three main types of reports – Informational Reports, Analytical Reports, and Proposals. The most basic report is the informational report. As its name implies, an informational report’s main purpose and goal is to provide information in the form of facts, figures, or observations on a certain subject so that the reader will have a better understanding of the subject matter. For informational reports, it is very important to have accurate and significant facts gained from credible sources. An analytical report is similar to an informational report in that it also contains significant and informative facts gained from credible sources but it goes a step further because the author presents an analysis of the information cited in an effort to come up with ways of solving the issue. Usually the author will present facts and figures regarding the subject and then will provide a detailed analysis of these facts and figures in order to shed more light on the subject of the report. (Shurter et al. , 1965) A proposal on the other hand is something that is usually written prior to making a report or a study and states the importance or significance of undertaking that study. (Brown 1955) A proposal is similar to an informational report in that it must include preliminary sources where facts can be gained from. It is similar to an analytical report in the sense that it usually tackles an issue and it proposes to use a certain methodology or framework in which to analyze the data and thereby draw conclusions from. The main purpose for writing a proposal is if you want to undertake a certain study or report and wish to get a professionals’ opinion and advice on your idea for a report or to gain funding from different sponsors. Reference List: Brown, L. (1955). Effective Business Report Writing. Wisconsin: Prentice-Hall. Shurter, R. L. , Williamson J. P. , Broehl, W. G. (1965). Business Research and Report Writing. California: University of California.

Maxima And Minima Of Functions Mathematics Essay

Maxima And Minima Of Functions Mathematics Essay Maxima and Minima are important topics of maths Calculus. It is the approach for finding maximum or minimum value of any function or any event. It is practically very helpful as it helps in solving the complex problems of science and commerce. It can be with one variable of with more than one variable. These can be done with the help of simple geometry and math functions. Finding the maxima and minima, both absolute and relative, of various functions represents an important class of problems solvable by use of differential calculus. The theory behind finding maximum and minimum values of a function is based on the fact that the derivative of a function is equal to the slope of the tangent. Analytical definition A real-valued function f defined on a real line is said to have a local (or relative) maximum point at the point xà ¢Ã‹â€ -, if there exists some ÃŽÂ µ > 0 such that f(xà ¢Ã‹â€ -) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ f(x) when |x à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ xà ¢Ã‹â€ -| Restricted domains: There may be maxima and minima for a function whose domain does not include all real numbers. A real-valued function, whose domain is any set, can have a global maximum and minimum. There may also be local maxima and local minima points, but only at points of the domain set where the concept of neighbourhood is defined. A neighbourhood plays the role of the set of x such that |x à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ xà ¢Ã‹â€ -| A continuous (real-valued) function on a compact set always takes maximum and minimum values on that set. An important example is a function whose domain is a closed (and bounded) interval of real numbers (see the graph above). The neighbourhood requirement precludes a local maximum or minimum at an endpoint of an interval. However, an endpoint may still be a global maximum or minimum. Thus it is not always true, for finite domains, that a global maximum (minimum) must also be a local maximum (minimum). Finding Functional Maxima And Minima Finding global maxima and minima is the goal of optimization. If a function is continuous on a closed interval, then by the extreme value theorem global maxima and minima exist. Furthermore, a global maximum (or minimum) either must be a local maximum (or minimum) in the interior of the domain, or must lie on the boundary of the domain. So a method of finding a global maximum (or minimum) is to look at all the local maxima (or minima) in the interior, and also look at the maxima (or minima) of the points on the boundary; and take the biggest (or smallest) one. Local extrema can be found by Fermats theorem, which states that they must occur at critical points. One can distinguish whether a critical point is a local maximum or local minimum by using the first derivative test or second derivative test. For any function that is defined piecewise, one finds maxima (or minima) by finding the maximum (or minimum) of each piece separately; and then seeing which one is biggest (or smallest). Examples The function x2 has a unique global minimum at x = 0. The function x3 has no global minima or maxima. Although the first derivative (32) is 0 at x = 0, this is an inflection point. The function x-x has a unique global maximum over the positive real numbers at x = 1/e. The function x3/3 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ x has first derivative x2 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 1 and second derivative 2x. Setting the first derivative to 0 and solving for x gives stationary points at à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 and +1. From the sign of the second derivative we can see that à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 is a local maximum and +1 is a local minimum. Note that this function has no global maximum or minimum. The function |x| has a global minimum at x = 0 that cannot be found by taking derivatives, because the derivative does not exist at x = 0. The function cos(x) has infinitely many global maxima at 0,  ±2à Ã¢â€š ¬,  ±4à Ã¢â€š ¬, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, and infinitely many global minima at  ±Ãƒ Ã¢â€š ¬,  ±3à Ã¢â€š ¬, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The function 2 cos(x) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ x has infinitely many local maxima and minima, but no global maximum or minimum. The function cos(3à Ã¢â€š ¬x)/x with 0.1  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤Ã‚  x  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤Ã‚  1.1 has a global maximum at x  = 0.1 (a boundary), a global minimum near x  = 0.3, a local maximum near x  = 0.6, and a local minimum near x  = 1.0. (See figure at top of page.) The function x3 + 32 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 2x + 1 defined over the closed interval (segment) [à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢4,2] has two extrema: one local maximum at x = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡15à ¢Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾3, one local minimum at x = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1+à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡15à ¢Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Å¾3, a global maximum at x = 2 and a global minimum at x = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢4. Functions of more than one variable  ­For functions of more than one variable, similar conditions apply. For example, in the (enlargeable) figure at the right, the necessary conditions for a local maximum are similar to those of a function with only one variable. The first partial derivatives as to z (the variable to be maximized) are zero at the maximum (the glowing dot on top in the figure). The second partial derivatives are negative. These are only necessary, not sufficient, conditions for a local maximum because of the possibility of a saddle point. For use of these conditions to solve for a maximum, the function z must also be differentiable throughout. The second partial derivative test can help classify the point as a relative maximum or relative minimum. In contrast, there are substantial differences between functions of one variable and functions of more than one variable in the identification of global extrema. For example, if a differentiable function f defined on the real line has a single critical point, which is a local minimum, then it is also a global minimum (use the intermediate value theorem and Rolles Theorem to prove this by reduction ad absurdum). In two and more dimensions, this argument fails, as the function shows. Its only critical point is at (0,0), which is a local minimum with Æ’(0,0)  =  0. However, it cannot be a global one, because Æ’(4,1)  =  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢11. The global maximum is the point at the top In relation to sets Maxima and minima are more generally defined for sets. In general, if an ordered set S has a greatest element m, m is a maximal element. Furthermore, if S is a subset of an ordered set T and m is the greatest element of S with respect to order induced by T, m is a least upper bound of S in T. The similar result holds for least element, minimal element and greatest lower bound. In the case of a general partial order, the least element (smaller than all other) should not be confused with a minimal element (nothing is smaller). Likewise, a greatest element of a partially ordered set (poset) is an upper bound of the set which is contained within the set, whereas a maximal element m of a poset A is an element of A such that if m à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ b (for any b in A) then m = b. Any least element or greatest element of a poset is unique, but a poset can have several minimal or maximal elements. If a poset has more than one maximal element, then these elements will not be mutually comparable. In a totally ordered set, or chain, all elements are mutually comparable, so such a set can have at most one minimal element and at most one maximal element. Then, due to mutual comparability, the minimal element will also be the least element and the maximal element will also be the greatest element. Thus in a totally ordered set we can simply use the terms minimum and maximum. If a chain is finite then it will always have a maximum and a minimum. If a chain is infinite then it need not have a maximum or a minimum. For example, the set of natural numbers has no maximum, though it has a minimum. If an infinite chain S is bounded, then the closure Cl(S) of the set occasionally has a minimum and a maximum, in such case they are called the greatest lower bound and the least upper bound of the set S, respectively. The diagram below shows part of a function y = f(x). The Point A is a local maximum and the Point B is a local minimum. At each of these points the tangent to the curve is parallel to the x-axis so the derivative of the function is zero. Both of these points are therefore stationary points of the function. The term local is used since these points are the maximum and minimum in this particular region. There may be others outside this region. function f(x) is said to have a local maximum at x = a, if $ is a neighbourhood I of a, such that f(a) f(x) for all x I. The number f(a) is called the local maximum of f(x). The point a is called the point of maxima. Note that when a is the point of local maxima, f(x) is increasing for all values of x a in the given interval. At x = a, the function ceases to increase. A function f(x) is said to have a local minimum at x = a, if $ is a neighbourhood I of a, such that f(a) f(x) for all x I Here, f(a) is called the local minimum of f(x). The point a is called the point of minima. Note that, when a is a point of local minimum f (x) is decreasing for all x a in the given interval. At x = a, the function ceases to decrease. If f(a) is either a maximum value or a minimum value of f in an interval I, then f is said to have an extreme value in I and the point a is called the extreme point. Monotonic Function maxima and minima A function is said to be monotonic if it is either increasing or decreasing but not both in a given interval. Consider the function The given function is increasing function on R. Therefore it is a monotonic function in [0,1]. It has its minimum value at x = 0 which is equal to f (0) =1, has a maximum value at x = 1, which is equal to f (1) = 4. Here we state a more general result that, Every monotonic function assumes its maximum or minimum values at the end points of its domain of definition. Note that every continuous function on a closed interval has a maximum and a minimum value. Theorem on First Derivative Test (First Derivative Test) Let f (x) be a real valued differentiable function. Let a be a point on an interval I such that f (a) = 0. (a) a is a local maxima of the function f (x) if i) f (a) = 0 ii) f(x) changes sign from positive to negative as x increases through a. That is, f (x) > 0 for x f (x) a (b) a is a point of local minima of the function f (x) if i) f (a) = 0 ii) f(x) changes sign from negative to positive as x increases through a. That is, f (x) f (x) > 0 for x > a Working Rule for Finding Extremum Values Using First Derivative Test Let f (x) be the real valued differentiable function. Step 1: Find f (x) Step 2: Solve f (x) = 0 to get the critical values for f (x). Let these values be a, b, c. These are the points of maxima or minima. Arrange these values in ascending order. Step 3: Check the sign of f'(x) in the immediate neighbourhood of each critical value. Step 4: Let us take the critical value x= a. Find the sign of f (x) for values of x slightly less than a and for values slightly greater than a. (i) If the sign of f (x) changes from positive to negative as x increases through a, then f (a) is a local maximum value. (ii) If the sign of f (x) changes from negative to positive as x increases through a, then f (a) is local minimum value. (iii) If the sign of f (x) does not change as x increases through a, then f (a) is neither a local maximum value not a minimum value. In this case x = a is called a point of inflection. Maxima and Minima Example Find the local maxima or local minima, if any, for the following function using first derivative test f (x) = x3 62 + 9x + 15 Solution to Maxima and Minima Example f (x) = x3 62 + 9x + 15 f (x) = 32 -12x + 9 = 3(x2- 4x + 3) = 3 (x 1) (x 3) Thus x = 1 and x = 3 are the only points which could be the points of local maxima or local minima. Let us examine for x=1 When x f (x) = 3 (x 1) (x 3) = (+ ve) (- ve) (- ve) = + ve When x >1 (slightly greater than 1) f (x) = 3 (x -1) (x 3) = (+ ve) (+ ve) (- ve) = ve The sign of f (x) changes from +ve to -ve as x increases through 1. x = 1 is a point of local maxima and f (1) = 13 6 (1)2 + 9 (1) +15 = 1- 6 + 9 + 15 =19 is local maximum value. Similarly, it can be examined that f (x) changes its sign from negative to positive as x increases through the point x = 3. x = 3 is a point of minima and the minimum value is f (3) = (3)3- 6 (3)2+ 9(3) + 15 = 15 Theorem on Second Derivative Test Let f be a differentiable function on an interval I and let a I. Let f (a) be continuous at a. Then i) a is a point of local maxima if f (a) = 0 and f (a) ii) a is a point of local minima if f (a) = 0 and f (a) > 0 iii) The test fails if f (a) = 0 and f (a) = 0. In this case we have to go back to the first derivative test to find whether a is a point of maxima, minima or a point of inflexion. Working Rule to Determine the Local Extremum Using Second Derivative Test Step 1 For a differentiable function f (x), find f (x). Equate it to zero. Solve the equation f (x) = 0 to get the Critical values of f (x). Step 2 For a particular Critical value x = a, find f (a) (i) If f (a) (ii) If f (a) > 0 then f (x) has a local minima at x = a and f (a) is the minimum value. (iii) If f (a) = 0 or , the test fails and the first derivative test has to be applied to study the nature of f(a). Example on Local Maxima and Minima Find the local maxima and local minima of the function f (x) = 23 212 +36x 20. Find also the local maximum and local minimum values. Solution: f (x) = 62 42x + 36 f (x) = 0 x = 1 and x = 6 are the critical values f (x) =12x 42 If x =1, f (1) =12 42 = 30 x =1 is a point of local maxima of f (x). Maximum value = 2(1)3 21(1)2 + 36(1) 20 = -3 If x = 6, f (6) = 72 42 = 30 > 0 x = 6 is a point of local minima of f (x) Minimum value = 2(6)3 21 (6)2 + 36 (6)- 20 = -128 Absolute Maximum and Absolute Minimum Value of a Function Let f (x) be a real valued function with its domain D. (i) f(x) is said to have absolute maximum value at x = a if f(a)  ³ f(x) for all x ÃŽ D. (ii) f(x) is said to have absolute minimum value at x = a if f(a)  £ f(x) for all x ÃŽ D. The following points are to be noted carefully with the help of the diagram. Let y = f (x) be the function defined on (a, b) in the graph. (i) f (x) has local maximum values at x = a1, a3, a5, a7 (ii) f (x) has local minimum values at x = a2, a4, a6, a8 (iii) Note that, between two local maximum values, there is a local minimum value and vice versa. (iv) The absolute maximum value of the function is f(a7)and absolute minimum value is f(a). (v) A local minimum value may be greater than a local maximum value. Clearly local minimum at a6 is greater than the local maximum at a1. Theorem on Absolute Maximum and Minimum Value Let f be a continuous function on an interval I = [a, b]. Then, f has the absolute maximum value and f attains it at least once in I. Also, f has the absolute minimum value and attains it at least once in I. Theorem on Interior point in Maxima and Minima Let f be a differentiable function on I and let x0 be any interior point of I. Then (a) If f attains its absolute maximum value at x0, then f (x0)= 0 (b) If f attains its absolute minimum value at x0, then f (x0) = 0. In view of the above theorems, we state the following rule for finding the absolute maximum or absolute minimum values of a function in a given interval. Step 1: Find all the points where f takes the value zero. Step 2: Take the end points of the interval. Step 3: At all the points calculate the values of f. Step 4: Take the maximum and minimum values of f out of the values calculated in step 3. These will be the absolute maximum or absolute minimum values. Real life Problem Solving With Maxima And Minima For a belt drive the power transmitted is a function of the speed of the belt, the law being P(v) = Tv av3 where T is the tension in the belt and a some constant. Find the maximum power if T = 600, a = 2 and v 12. Is the answer different if the maximum speed is 8? Solution First find the critical points. P = 600v 2v3 And so = 600 6v2 This is zero when v =  ±10. Commonsense tells us that v 0, and so we can forget about the critical point at -10. So we have just the one relevant critical point to worry about, the one at x = 10. The two endpoints are v = 0 and v = 12. We dont hold out a lot of hope for v = 0, since this would indicate that the machine was switched off, but we calculate it anyway. Next calculate P for each of these values and see which is the largest. P(0) = 0  ,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  P(10) = 6000 2000 = 4000  ,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  P(12) = 7200 3456 = 3744 So the maximum occurs at the critical point and is 4000. When the range is reduced so that the maximum value of v is down to 8, neither of the critical points is in range. That being the case, we just have the endpoints to worry about. The maximum this time is P(8) = 4800 1024 = 3776. A box of maximum volume is to be made from a sheet of card measuring 16 inches by 10. It is an open box and the method of construction is to cut a square from each corner and then fold. Solution Let x be the side of the square which is cut from each corner. Then AB = 16 2x, CD = 10 2x and the volume, V, is given by V = (16 2x)(10 2x)x = 4x(8 x)(5 x) And so = 4(x3-132+40x) =4(32-26x+40) The critical points occur when 32 26x + 40 = 0 i.e.  when x =   = The commonsense restrictions are 5 x 0.So the only critical point in range is x = 2. Now calculate V for the critical point and the two endpoints. V(0) = 0  ,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  V(2) = 144  ,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  V(5) = 0 So the maximum value is 144, occurring when x = 2. Uses of Maxima and Minima in War. Concepts of maxima and minima can be used in war to predict most probably result of any event. It can be very helpful to all soldiers as it help to save time. Maximum damage with minimum armor can be predicted via these functions. It can be helpful in preventive actions for military. It is use dto calculate ammunition numbers, food requests, fuel consumption, parts ordering, and other logical operations. It is also helpful in finding daily expenditure on war.

MNE Selection Techniques for International Assignments

MNE Selection Techniques for International Assignments Chapter1 Introduction The world has become the global village and globalization has become an important tool for the organizations to be successful in this rapidly changing world. So the coordination between different cultures and people with different backgrounds is increasing in a different multinational organization day by day. So it is very important to study that how the organizations deal with the multicultural set ups within an organization. During the past few decades the rapid changes in economic, social and political environment of the world has led organizations towards the globalization. According to Harvey Novicevic the increasing international activities and global competition resulted in increase in globalization. The process of recruitment and selection has always been very important in any organization. According to Dowling (1999) hiring and placing people in positions where they can perform effectively for the benefit of the organization is the goal of most organizations whether they are domestic or international. Heraty et al (1997) suggested that, in these new changing global condition increasingly, many organizations are transforming jobs into new structures which are more likely based on self directed work teams, made up of empowered individuals with the diverse background are replacing traditional specialized workers. So in this new challenging environment competition is increasing day by day and organizations need such personalities who can adjust themselves with the change. Burack and Singh (1995) also suggested that firms need adaptable people who can rapidly adjust themselves to the changing environment. So the people who are ready to change with the environmental changes always give advantage to the organization, and these kinds of people are very fruitful for the organization. According to ones and Viswesvaran (1997) in this rapidly changing world where the change is taking place every minute the organizations have been sending their members to other parts of the world to complete their assignments. According to Aycan and Kanungo expatriate is an employee of a business or government which is sent abroad to accomplish their organizational goals for temporary period which is more than six months and less than five years. International assignments not only give benefit to the individual expatriate but it also give the competitive advantage to the organization in the global environment. For many organizations sending of expatriate to the other countries to gain competitive advantage in global environment is the part of their overall human resource plan. (Caligiuri Lazarova, 2001). So keeping in view the importance of an expatriate the selection process of an expatriate is also very important step for an organization. According to Dowling the failure of expatriate is due to the selection error. This tells that selection plays an important role for a successful expatriate. So with the changing world it is need to have such staff who can adjust itself with the change. In this paper an effort is being made to give the importance of selection techniques for expatriates within a multinational organization. 1.1 Key purpose of study The world is globalizing day by day and now it is also called global village and specifically UK has become one of the biggest multicultural countries and there are a lot of multinational organizations working in UK With the changing world more of MNEs are sending their expatriates in other parts of the world to accomplish their goals and to gain competitive advantage in global world. As the selection is the most important step for any organization to choose its expatriate and it is always important for MNE’s to choose or select the right person for the given task. In fact an expatriate failure is often result of a selection error, and often compounded by in effective expatriate management policies. (Dowling Welch Schuler, 1999). The key purpose of this study is to show the importance of selection techniques for a MNE when selecting an expatriate for an international assignment. 1.2 Aims The aim of this study is to explore the proper selection techniques which can improve the performance of an expatriate and help him to retain. 1.3 Objectives: To outline the factors that influences the selection of expatriates. To examine different selection methods used for expatriate selection. To discuss in detail, issues of cross cultural variation in selection process of expatriates. 1.4 Hypothesis The hypothesis which is developed for this study is stated as below Without doing proper selection of expatriate much will be poor for the company and result in loss of company. 1.5 Theory an overview There has been a lot of work done on selection techniques of expatriates in last couple of decades. Selection is the most important part of the success of any expatriate, and if the selection is not according to the needs of organization then the failure chances of expatriate. Dowling says that redirecting future performance potential when hiring or promoting staff is challenging at the best time but if operating in foreign environment certainly adds other level of uncertainty. So if the process of selection is beholds specific importance within a domestic organisation then it must have some extra importance while choosing an international staff. 1.6 Selection The selection is kind of prediction of the organization’s peoples or decision makers keeping in view the profile of the candidate for the particular job (Hackett, 1991). The selection is a complete process of analyzing and viewing the profile of the employee and then selecting for the required job. Moore (2006) discussed this as the selection is the whole process which includes choosing the right candidate for the position from those persons who have been recruited. This involves testing and evaluating the skills of an individual is required for the particular job. According to desler (2000) the selection is the process in which the recruited individual is whittled down by using screening tools like assessment centers, interviews, and different tests. 1.7 Methods of Selection: There are various selection techniques available, and for the selection procedure all of these depending on the situation and culture of the organization. Some of these selection methods are given below. Interviews Tests Assessment centres (Beardwell and Holden, 2001) So the above mentioned procedures are used by different organizations depending upon the nature of job and the normal practice they use within the organization. 1.8 Approaches for the Multinational There are four approaches for the recruitment and selection in any multinational organization. These four approaches are given as follows. Ethnocentric: It is the type of the recruitment approach in which all the key positions and top management is filled by the nationals of the parent company. According to this approach all the top management decisions and the key strategies of the companies is made by the parent country headquarters. Polycentric: It is the type of recruitment approach in which the host country fills all the key positions in the subsidiary. Each subsidiary is treated as the separate national entity. But all the key financial decisions are taken by the parent country headquarter. Regiocentric: It is the type of recruitment approach in which regional talent is preferred. For example if the person is required on for the development of any product then the person who will be recruited will be from the host country. Geocentric: This is the kind of approach where the persons are recruited without seen any race, religion or region. This approach is international based and is getting in practice in most of the developed countries like UK, USA etc. 1.9 Methods of international selection The different methods of selection for the expatriate selection which most of the multinational organizations use is as follows Psychometric Tests Assessment Centres Coffee Machine System 1.10 Selection of an Expatriarate The selection of expatriate is a bit different from the local selection of a local manager. For the selection of an international manager there are a lot of extra factors which needs to be considered by the selectors. The expatriate selection process results in higher cost to the multinationals including relocation process, allowance and accommodation apart from the training costs. (Hailey 2000, pg; 90). During the expatriate selection process, 02 conflicting forces operate within the expatriate’s mind. One that pulls the employee into moving to the new place, the other tends to stop him from going. (Baruch 2005, pg 129). 1.11 Factors involve in selection of an Expatriate. According to Dowling and Welch the factor involve to determine an appropriate expatriate selection process are as Country-cultural requirement Language MNE requirements Technical Ability Cross Cultural Suitability Family Requirements (Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999) So keeping in view all the above mentioned factors an expatriate should be selected by a multinational organization. 1.12 Culture: (Kluckholn Strodtbeck 1952) define culture as, â€Å"a set of basic assumptions-shared solutions to universal problems of external adaptation (and internal integration- which have evolved over time and are handed down form one generation to the next.’’ 1.13 Corporate culture Corporate culture includes the behavioral patterns, concept, values, ceremonies and rituals that take place in the organization. It gives the members of the organization meaning as well as the internal rule of behavior when these values and beliefs customs’ rules and ceremony are accepted shared and circulated throughout the organization. (Trompenaars Turner 1997, pg 157-181) 1.14 Why consider culture? Adjusting in a new culture is always difficult and it causes problems for both expatriate and family members, therefore it is important for an International HR to look for the similarities of the two cultures in order to deal with the challenges in the business world key activity. dowling, welch,schuler, 1998 pg 132 Recent research shows that the expatriates who are unable to cope with the challenges find it difficult to adjust and incur costly implications. (Caligiuri, 1997, pg: 45-67). The factor of culture is very important for an expatriate selection process and HR managers will have to select such expatriate who is adjustable with the different cultured people and work with them for the cultural dimension Hofstede and Trompenaars cultural dimensions are given as follows 1.15 Hofstede’s four dimensions (1967-1973): Gooderham Nordhang (2003). ‘Culture is always a collective phenomenon, because it is at least partially shared with people who live or lived within the same environment, which is where it was learned. It is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.’ Hofstede surveyed 116,000 IBM employees in 40 different nations about their preferences in the work environment. The analysis revealed the results creating 4 dimensions: Power distance: The dimension indicates the extent to which a society expects and accepts a high degree of inequality in institutions and organizations. Uncertainty avoidance: This refers to the degree to which a society prefers predictability, security and stability. Individualism-Collectivism: this dimension relates to the extent to which people prefer to take care of themselves and their immediate families rather than being bound to some wider collectively such as extended family. Masculinity-Femininity: Masculine societies value assertiveness, competitiveness and materialism as opposed to the feminine values of relationships and the quality of life. 1.16 Trompenaars’ cultural dimensions: Trompenaars concluded four cultural dimensions that relate to the question of inter-personal relationships and work-related values Gooderham Nordhang (2003). Universalism vs. Particularism Communitarism vs. Individualism: Specific vs. diffuse Achievement vs. ascription: So these four dimensions of Trompenar also affect the selection process of an expatriate for international assignments. 1.17 Strategic choices in expatriate selection: Organizations normally have some strategic choices while selection of an expatriate. These strategic choices are mentioned below. Internal recruitment versus external recruitment Individuals versus teams Technical qualification versus other selection criteria Extrinsic rewards versus intrinsic rewards. Chapter 2 Literature Review: In this chapter researcher tried to discuss all the related studies which are done in past and are available in literature. A lot of work has been done in the literature on the topic of selection. Before proceeding to the actual topic it is necessary to look at the different methods of selection which an organization uses and see that what are the different techniques and criteria which are used for the selection of staff. 2.1 Selection: Moore (2006) discussed this as the selection is the whole process which includes choosing the right candidate for the position from those persons who have been recruited. This involves testing and evaluating the skills of an individual is required for the particular job. According to Dessler (2000) the selection is the process in which the recruited individual is whittled down by using screening tools like assessment centers, interviews, and different tests. 2.2 Expatriate selection: According to (Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999, pg: 154) Multinationals take great care in their selection process, however predicting future performance potential of the concerned staff is challenging at the best of times especially operating in foreign environments adds another level of uncertainty. The expatriate selection process results in higher cost to the multinationals including relocation process, allowance and accommodation apart from the training costs. (Hailey 2000, pg; 90). During the expatriate selection process, 02 conflicting forces operate within the expatriate’s mind. One that pulls the employee into moving to the new place, the other tends to stop him from going (Baruch 2005, pg 129). 2.3 Importance of an Expatriates and International Assignments: The world is globalizing very rapidly and change has become necessary for the organization to survive and to gain competitive advantage internationally. According to Harris and Brewster, 1999. The rapidly globalizing world has increased the need for the international assignments and many of the organizations started considering international management experience for the top management. So the international assignments are becoming an important part for the success of an organization to gain competitive advantage. As discussed by Chen, Tzeng Tang, 2005 that organizations internationalize their operation to gain success and to increase its market value internationally and for this purpose an organization needs effective expatriate who can perform its task properly. In this new era the importance of expatriate has increased because expatriates are the ones who can give an organization proper international exposure and make the organization successful. 2.4 Selection Process: One of the most studied areas for the expatriate selection is the selection process of the expatriate. The selection of expatriate has always been difficult procedure for the multinational organizations. Swaak quotes one HR executive who said. â€Å"My job is to find people in a hurry.† So this system is highly crisis-oriented and unsophisticated. Swaak , 1995. Further confirming the problems for the nature of the selection process Still and Smith (1997) report the results of Australian research, which shows that there were a number of different ways through which expatriates were selected. They studied that the most impressive and important form of selection or evaluation of the expatriate was recommendation of the person by the line manager including chief executive officer or specialist persons. Mostly expatriates in the multinational organizations in a knee-jerk reaction to the need to fill a new or unexpected vacancies overseas. Actually there are well informed intercultural trainers or a good HR professional who selects the expatriates but basically it is HR department within multinational organization who selects the expatriate finally. Managements choose the most technical and competent candidates which makes the expatriates successful internationally. (Shilling, 1993 pg 58). 2.5 Types of selection Process: Psychometric Tests Assessment Centers Coffee machine system 2.5.1 Psychometric Tests: According to Passmore, 2008 Psychometrics are the widely used testing method for the selection of the employee and personal development. The psychological test is always important for the selection of the employee especially for the selection of an international manager. According to the validity of psychological tests is disputed. According to Sparow and Brewster (2007) the psychologists the variation between the different natured job test is very small (Schmidt and Hunter , 1998). According to a survey done by The Graduate Recruitment in 2007 two third or about 67 percent of 219 respondents surveyed said that the results of psychometric test had some influence on recruiting and selection decisions, and 24 percent said that it has strong influence, and only 2 percent said that these test does not have any influence. So the above figure shows the importance of psychometric tests. According to Sparow and Brewster (2007) psychological assessment increasingly involves the application of tests in different cultural contexts, either in a single country or different countries. Now a day the demand of cross cultural assessment test is increasing due to the increasing factor of globalization to gain competitive advantage in international market. According to Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985 one of the important option for evaluating the selection process is the use of psychological tests and evaluation dvices. There are number of instruments available to measure the stress level of an individual. Figure: 2.1 (Source: article by Jonathan Passmore, Bread and butter â€Å"How to use psychometrics for coaching†) In figure 2.1 the real importance of psychometric test is shown. Psychometric tests are reliable that the selected person will be the one on whom one can rely. And obviously these kinds of tests are valid for any kind of job. The most important point in this test is that it does not include any biasness and the selectors cannot show the biasness while selecting on the basis of psychometric tests. These tests are also standard for different jobs. So all the above mentioned qualities and factors involve in the psychometric tests. In other words one can say that almost all the abilities present in an individual’s mind can be noticed, and the end result will always ends up in the right selection of expatriate. 2.5.2 Assessment Centre: As the assessment centers are considered to be one of the best selection techniques so according to Sparow and Brewster assessment centers will be the best idea as a selection technique to assess the competency of international managers. This is rarely the case, however. According to sparrow (1999) Even where assessment centers are used to select the managers in international settings, the key cross cultural assessment centers seems to be to design the assessment process so that it is very adaptable to local environment in which it will be operated. So there is need of cross culture assessment centers in which international managers can be assessed accordingly with the changing environment. Krause and Gebert (2003) have done study on international literature on the conception, operation and evaluation of assessment centers. He examined 281 German firms whose language was German and he compares them with the previously studied firms of United States of America. Study showed that both the American and German firms use the assessment centers but the purpose of some of them was different from the basics. For example the competencies assessed for job analysis might be identified through the use of interviews with job incumbents in 79% of US firms and only 39% of German firms. Most of the German firms rely on interviews for the selection of international managers or expatriates. so the assessment centers are considered to be an important process for expatriate selection. 2.5.3 Coffee Machine System This system was the idea of Harris and Brewster (1999) the key findings of the study show the reality of the selection process for expatriate selection in the organizations. In many organizations the selection process falls under what we call ‘coffee machine system’ and this system is the most common form of expatriate selection. What happens is that the senior line manager is standing by the coffee machine when he/she is joined by the colleague: ‘How’s it going?’ ‘Oh, you know, overworked and underpaid.’ Actually Jimmy in Mumbai has just fallen ill and is being flown home. I don’t know who I can choose to work over there at very short notice of time. It is driving me crazy. ‘Have you met Simon on the fifth floor?’ he is working in the same line of work. He is very good and bright and looks like going a long way. He was telling me that he and his wife had great holiday in Goa a couple of years ago. He seems to like India. Could be worthy to speak to him. Hey, thanks I will check and speak to him. ‘No problem. They don’t seem to be able to improve this coffee though, do they?’ What happen in the organization next is that the manger will take some decision and will have informal discussion with his seniors about Simon and then that man will be called and interviewed and selected for the required position. Accordingly HR department and financial department will be involved in the process and the formal and systematic process will be started. This method is rarely used in the organizations in particular cases when there is an urgent need to fill the position of expatriate. 2.6 Niche Assessments According to Bolt (2008 ) Many assessment venders specialize in certain niches and offer off-the-shelf products to meet clients’ testing needs. However, vendors can find such persons or individuals for the company who can fit in the organizations new environment and can coop with the new organization’s culture. Testing is the most important part of the application process of the candidate because testing gives the good idea of the individual’s abilities and competencies. 2.7 Factors involved in selection Process: There are number of factors which affect the performance of expatriate. Dowling, Welch, Schuler, (1999) recognised some of the important and most affective factors and these are the factors which involved to determine an appropriate expatriate selection process. All the factors are shown in a model below. Cross-cultural Suitability MMNE requirements SELECTION DECISION FFamily requirements LLanguage TTechnical Ability CCountry-cultural requirement Figure: 2.2 Source: (Factors in expatriate selection, pg 77 Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999). Figure 2.2 shows the factors which are required for an expatriate each of the above mentioned factors is discussed in detail below. 2.7.1 Technical Ability: According to Hays, 1971 All expatriates are assigned abroad to complete some task weather its building a dam, running some business, or teaching it all depends on the personal technical ability to perform that task. Obviously it is important to consider the individuals’ personal ability to perform the required task assigned to the expatriate. So in selection it is another important area which needs to look at. Different research findings show that the multinational organization give a lot of importance to the technical abilities of the individuals going abroad for international assignments at the time of their selection. According to Harvey and Novicevic,(2001) that technical and functional expertise has been the primary criterion for selecting expatriate managers for assignments. Hixon found that the selection was based on technical ability and willingness to reside abroad. If the individual is selected without keeping in view its technical ability. It can create the big problems for the multinational organizations to complete its related task or assignment. Reinforcing the emphasis on technical skills is the relative ease with which the multinational may assess the potential candidate’s potential, since technical and managerial competence can be determined on the basis of past performance of the individual who is going to be selected as expatriate. In fact domestic selection cannot be equal to the international selection but person can be selected on the basis of past domestic records which he has performed domestically as the basic criteria is always the same in all the multinational organizations so on the basis of past abilities there should not be any problem for the organizations to select the expatriates. This approach is also found by Foster and Johnsen,(1996) who report the results of the research into the expatriate selection practices for the newly internationalized UK organizations which shows that organizations keep in view the technical skills, and previous domestic records while selecting expatriate for international assignments. 2.7.2 Cross Cultural Suitability: The environment and the culture where an expatriate is going is an important factor for an expatriate. So the selectors of the expatriates should always consider the factor of culture for the expatriate. Although these factors does not guarantee for an expatriate for his successes but if these factors are not considered it can lead it towards the failure of expatriate. If the culture is considered then it is always important to study the Hofsted’s dimensions for cross culture and Trompenaar’s dimensions so these researches are explained in detail as follows. 2.7.3 Culture: Culture is always important for any expatriate selection, so it is very necessary for HR managers and selectors to keep the factor of culture in view while selecting expatriate for international assignments. There have been a lot of studies on culture and there are a lot of different definitions of culture some of them are given below. (Kluckholn Strodtbeck 1952) define culture as, â€Å"a set of basic assumptions-shared solutions to universal problems of external adaptation (and internal integration- which have evolved over time and are handed down from one generation to the next.’’ The life style of people living in the society is called culture it includes the social, economical, political, religious, life style of the individuals in the country. According to Drennan, 1992 â€Å"whatever is going around is called culture.† Culture is the way of life of a group of people. There are obvious differences between the different cultures such as language, dress, religion, beliefs, and behaviours of the people, and there are also implicit differences between the two cultures such as in values, assumptions about how things should be. so these different degrees of explicitness are often called the culture.(ScullionLinehan,2005). So the culture is very important factor for the selection of expatriate because the individuals move from one culture to another culture for the completion of their assignment. 2.7.4 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Greet Hofstede’s culture’s consequences (1980, 2001) explores the differences in thinking and social action at the country level between members of 50 nations and three regions. Hofstede originally used IBM employees’ answers to company attitude survey conducted twice, around 1968 and 1972. The survey generated more than 116,000 questionnaires with the number of respondents used in the analysis being approximately 30,000 in 1969 and 41000 in 1973. Hofstede identified and validated four cultural dimensions from respondents patterned answers. For each dimension, he presented possible origins as well as predictors and consequences for management behavior. Hofsted’s four dimensions are as follows Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Individualism versus Collectivism Masculinity versus Femininity Another dimension which is fifth dimension presented by Michael Bond is Long term versus Short term Orientation was subsequently developed from a research to accommodate non-western orientations and has been adopted from the Chinese Culture Connection study. Power distance: The dimension indicates the extent to which a society expects and accepts a high degree of inequality in institutions and organizations. It refers to the relationship between supervisors and subordinates. It reflects the extent to which the less powerful members of organisations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In organisations an illustration of a high power distance score is generally represented as a highly vertical hierarchical pyramid. Subordinates are often told or ordered about a particular task but they are not normally entitled to discuss the decision made by the top management so basically the meaning of power distance is that higher the person in hierarchy the more difficult will be this person to approach. So there are some barriers for that person to see their top management. The barriers can be of different ways like the person barriers or the employee is not allowed to see the top manager or they are not allowed to attend the high managerial level meetings in which decisions are made. So basically power distance shows the distance between a supervisor and his employee. Uncertainty avoidance: This refers to the degree to which a society prefers predictability, security and stability. According to Hofsted the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. He argued that high uncertainty avoidance is expressed for example by a company’s need for regulations which tends to minimize in the behaviour of its employees. Company rules are such thing which cannot be broken by the employees even if he think that breaking the rule is in company’s best interest in such sort of environment the work stress is more and uncertainty avoidance is high. On the other hands if the employees are less affected by uncertainty is called low uncertainty avoidance. Individualism-Collectivism: this dimension relates to the extent to which people prefer to take care of themselves and their immediate families rather than being bound to some wider collectively such as extended family. Hofsted ask the IBM individuals that how important is to keep in view his work goals rather than the organisation. If there is preferred work goals stress dependence on organisation. For example good physical working condition, good ventilation enough space individualism in the work place can be seen. Collectivism can be seen in preference of collective organis MNE Selection Techniques for International Assignments MNE Selection Techniques for International Assignments Chapter1 Introduction The world has become the global village and globalization has become an important tool for the organizations to be successful in this rapidly changing world. So the coordination between different cultures and people with different backgrounds is increasing in a different multinational organization day by day. So it is very important to study that how the organizations deal with the multicultural set ups within an organization. During the past few decades the rapid changes in economic, social and political environment of the world has led organizations towards the globalization. According to Harvey Novicevic the increasing international activities and global competition resulted in increase in globalization. The process of recruitment and selection has always been very important in any organization. According to Dowling (1999) hiring and placing people in positions where they can perform effectively for the benefit of the organization is the goal of most organizations whether they are domestic or international. Heraty et al (1997) suggested that, in these new changing global condition increasingly, many organizations are transforming jobs into new structures which are more likely based on self directed work teams, made up of empowered individuals with the diverse background are replacing traditional specialized workers. So in this new challenging environment competition is increasing day by day and organizations need such personalities who can adjust themselves with the change. Burack and Singh (1995) also suggested that firms need adaptable people who can rapidly adjust themselves to the changing environment. So the people who are ready to change with the environmental changes always give advantage to the organization, and these kinds of people are very fruitful for the organization. According to ones and Viswesvaran (1997) in this rapidly changing world where the change is taking place every minute the organizations have been sending their members to other parts of the world to complete their assignments. According to Aycan and Kanungo expatriate is an employee of a business or government which is sent abroad to accomplish their organizational goals for temporary period which is more than six months and less than five years. International assignments not only give benefit to the individual expatriate but it also give the competitive advantage to the organization in the global environment. For many organizations sending of expatriate to the other countries to gain competitive advantage in global environment is the part of their overall human resource plan. (Caligiuri Lazarova, 2001). So keeping in view the importance of an expatriate the selection process of an expatriate is also very important step for an organization. According to Dowling the failure of expatriate is due to the selection error. This tells that selection plays an important role for a successful expatriate. So with the changing world it is need to have such staff who can adjust itself with the change. In this paper an effort is being made to give the importance of selection techniques for expatriates within a multinational organization. 1.1 Key purpose of study The world is globalizing day by day and now it is also called global village and specifically UK has become one of the biggest multicultural countries and there are a lot of multinational organizations working in UK With the changing world more of MNEs are sending their expatriates in other parts of the world to accomplish their goals and to gain competitive advantage in global world. As the selection is the most important step for any organization to choose its expatriate and it is always important for MNE’s to choose or select the right person for the given task. In fact an expatriate failure is often result of a selection error, and often compounded by in effective expatriate management policies. (Dowling Welch Schuler, 1999). The key purpose of this study is to show the importance of selection techniques for a MNE when selecting an expatriate for an international assignment. 1.2 Aims The aim of this study is to explore the proper selection techniques which can improve the performance of an expatriate and help him to retain. 1.3 Objectives: To outline the factors that influences the selection of expatriates. To examine different selection methods used for expatriate selection. To discuss in detail, issues of cross cultural variation in selection process of expatriates. 1.4 Hypothesis The hypothesis which is developed for this study is stated as below Without doing proper selection of expatriate much will be poor for the company and result in loss of company. 1.5 Theory an overview There has been a lot of work done on selection techniques of expatriates in last couple of decades. Selection is the most important part of the success of any expatriate, and if the selection is not according to the needs of organization then the failure chances of expatriate. Dowling says that redirecting future performance potential when hiring or promoting staff is challenging at the best time but if operating in foreign environment certainly adds other level of uncertainty. So if the process of selection is beholds specific importance within a domestic organisation then it must have some extra importance while choosing an international staff. 1.6 Selection The selection is kind of prediction of the organization’s peoples or decision makers keeping in view the profile of the candidate for the particular job (Hackett, 1991). The selection is a complete process of analyzing and viewing the profile of the employee and then selecting for the required job. Moore (2006) discussed this as the selection is the whole process which includes choosing the right candidate for the position from those persons who have been recruited. This involves testing and evaluating the skills of an individual is required for the particular job. According to desler (2000) the selection is the process in which the recruited individual is whittled down by using screening tools like assessment centers, interviews, and different tests. 1.7 Methods of Selection: There are various selection techniques available, and for the selection procedure all of these depending on the situation and culture of the organization. Some of these selection methods are given below. Interviews Tests Assessment centres (Beardwell and Holden, 2001) So the above mentioned procedures are used by different organizations depending upon the nature of job and the normal practice they use within the organization. 1.8 Approaches for the Multinational There are four approaches for the recruitment and selection in any multinational organization. These four approaches are given as follows. Ethnocentric: It is the type of the recruitment approach in which all the key positions and top management is filled by the nationals of the parent company. According to this approach all the top management decisions and the key strategies of the companies is made by the parent country headquarters. Polycentric: It is the type of recruitment approach in which the host country fills all the key positions in the subsidiary. Each subsidiary is treated as the separate national entity. But all the key financial decisions are taken by the parent country headquarter. Regiocentric: It is the type of recruitment approach in which regional talent is preferred. For example if the person is required on for the development of any product then the person who will be recruited will be from the host country. Geocentric: This is the kind of approach where the persons are recruited without seen any race, religion or region. This approach is international based and is getting in practice in most of the developed countries like UK, USA etc. 1.9 Methods of international selection The different methods of selection for the expatriate selection which most of the multinational organizations use is as follows Psychometric Tests Assessment Centres Coffee Machine System 1.10 Selection of an Expatriarate The selection of expatriate is a bit different from the local selection of a local manager. For the selection of an international manager there are a lot of extra factors which needs to be considered by the selectors. The expatriate selection process results in higher cost to the multinationals including relocation process, allowance and accommodation apart from the training costs. (Hailey 2000, pg; 90). During the expatriate selection process, 02 conflicting forces operate within the expatriate’s mind. One that pulls the employee into moving to the new place, the other tends to stop him from going. (Baruch 2005, pg 129). 1.11 Factors involve in selection of an Expatriate. According to Dowling and Welch the factor involve to determine an appropriate expatriate selection process are as Country-cultural requirement Language MNE requirements Technical Ability Cross Cultural Suitability Family Requirements (Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999) So keeping in view all the above mentioned factors an expatriate should be selected by a multinational organization. 1.12 Culture: (Kluckholn Strodtbeck 1952) define culture as, â€Å"a set of basic assumptions-shared solutions to universal problems of external adaptation (and internal integration- which have evolved over time and are handed down form one generation to the next.’’ 1.13 Corporate culture Corporate culture includes the behavioral patterns, concept, values, ceremonies and rituals that take place in the organization. It gives the members of the organization meaning as well as the internal rule of behavior when these values and beliefs customs’ rules and ceremony are accepted shared and circulated throughout the organization. (Trompenaars Turner 1997, pg 157-181) 1.14 Why consider culture? Adjusting in a new culture is always difficult and it causes problems for both expatriate and family members, therefore it is important for an International HR to look for the similarities of the two cultures in order to deal with the challenges in the business world key activity. dowling, welch,schuler, 1998 pg 132 Recent research shows that the expatriates who are unable to cope with the challenges find it difficult to adjust and incur costly implications. (Caligiuri, 1997, pg: 45-67). The factor of culture is very important for an expatriate selection process and HR managers will have to select such expatriate who is adjustable with the different cultured people and work with them for the cultural dimension Hofstede and Trompenaars cultural dimensions are given as follows 1.15 Hofstede’s four dimensions (1967-1973): Gooderham Nordhang (2003). ‘Culture is always a collective phenomenon, because it is at least partially shared with people who live or lived within the same environment, which is where it was learned. It is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.’ Hofstede surveyed 116,000 IBM employees in 40 different nations about their preferences in the work environment. The analysis revealed the results creating 4 dimensions: Power distance: The dimension indicates the extent to which a society expects and accepts a high degree of inequality in institutions and organizations. Uncertainty avoidance: This refers to the degree to which a society prefers predictability, security and stability. Individualism-Collectivism: this dimension relates to the extent to which people prefer to take care of themselves and their immediate families rather than being bound to some wider collectively such as extended family. Masculinity-Femininity: Masculine societies value assertiveness, competitiveness and materialism as opposed to the feminine values of relationships and the quality of life. 1.16 Trompenaars’ cultural dimensions: Trompenaars concluded four cultural dimensions that relate to the question of inter-personal relationships and work-related values Gooderham Nordhang (2003). Universalism vs. Particularism Communitarism vs. Individualism: Specific vs. diffuse Achievement vs. ascription: So these four dimensions of Trompenar also affect the selection process of an expatriate for international assignments. 1.17 Strategic choices in expatriate selection: Organizations normally have some strategic choices while selection of an expatriate. These strategic choices are mentioned below. Internal recruitment versus external recruitment Individuals versus teams Technical qualification versus other selection criteria Extrinsic rewards versus intrinsic rewards. Chapter 2 Literature Review: In this chapter researcher tried to discuss all the related studies which are done in past and are available in literature. A lot of work has been done in the literature on the topic of selection. Before proceeding to the actual topic it is necessary to look at the different methods of selection which an organization uses and see that what are the different techniques and criteria which are used for the selection of staff. 2.1 Selection: Moore (2006) discussed this as the selection is the whole process which includes choosing the right candidate for the position from those persons who have been recruited. This involves testing and evaluating the skills of an individual is required for the particular job. According to Dessler (2000) the selection is the process in which the recruited individual is whittled down by using screening tools like assessment centers, interviews, and different tests. 2.2 Expatriate selection: According to (Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999, pg: 154) Multinationals take great care in their selection process, however predicting future performance potential of the concerned staff is challenging at the best of times especially operating in foreign environments adds another level of uncertainty. The expatriate selection process results in higher cost to the multinationals including relocation process, allowance and accommodation apart from the training costs. (Hailey 2000, pg; 90). During the expatriate selection process, 02 conflicting forces operate within the expatriate’s mind. One that pulls the employee into moving to the new place, the other tends to stop him from going (Baruch 2005, pg 129). 2.3 Importance of an Expatriates and International Assignments: The world is globalizing very rapidly and change has become necessary for the organization to survive and to gain competitive advantage internationally. According to Harris and Brewster, 1999. The rapidly globalizing world has increased the need for the international assignments and many of the organizations started considering international management experience for the top management. So the international assignments are becoming an important part for the success of an organization to gain competitive advantage. As discussed by Chen, Tzeng Tang, 2005 that organizations internationalize their operation to gain success and to increase its market value internationally and for this purpose an organization needs effective expatriate who can perform its task properly. In this new era the importance of expatriate has increased because expatriates are the ones who can give an organization proper international exposure and make the organization successful. 2.4 Selection Process: One of the most studied areas for the expatriate selection is the selection process of the expatriate. The selection of expatriate has always been difficult procedure for the multinational organizations. Swaak quotes one HR executive who said. â€Å"My job is to find people in a hurry.† So this system is highly crisis-oriented and unsophisticated. Swaak , 1995. Further confirming the problems for the nature of the selection process Still and Smith (1997) report the results of Australian research, which shows that there were a number of different ways through which expatriates were selected. They studied that the most impressive and important form of selection or evaluation of the expatriate was recommendation of the person by the line manager including chief executive officer or specialist persons. Mostly expatriates in the multinational organizations in a knee-jerk reaction to the need to fill a new or unexpected vacancies overseas. Actually there are well informed intercultural trainers or a good HR professional who selects the expatriates but basically it is HR department within multinational organization who selects the expatriate finally. Managements choose the most technical and competent candidates which makes the expatriates successful internationally. (Shilling, 1993 pg 58). 2.5 Types of selection Process: Psychometric Tests Assessment Centers Coffee machine system 2.5.1 Psychometric Tests: According to Passmore, 2008 Psychometrics are the widely used testing method for the selection of the employee and personal development. The psychological test is always important for the selection of the employee especially for the selection of an international manager. According to the validity of psychological tests is disputed. According to Sparow and Brewster (2007) the psychologists the variation between the different natured job test is very small (Schmidt and Hunter , 1998). According to a survey done by The Graduate Recruitment in 2007 two third or about 67 percent of 219 respondents surveyed said that the results of psychometric test had some influence on recruiting and selection decisions, and 24 percent said that it has strong influence, and only 2 percent said that these test does not have any influence. So the above figure shows the importance of psychometric tests. According to Sparow and Brewster (2007) psychological assessment increasingly involves the application of tests in different cultural contexts, either in a single country or different countries. Now a day the demand of cross cultural assessment test is increasing due to the increasing factor of globalization to gain competitive advantage in international market. According to Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985 one of the important option for evaluating the selection process is the use of psychological tests and evaluation dvices. There are number of instruments available to measure the stress level of an individual. Figure: 2.1 (Source: article by Jonathan Passmore, Bread and butter â€Å"How to use psychometrics for coaching†) In figure 2.1 the real importance of psychometric test is shown. Psychometric tests are reliable that the selected person will be the one on whom one can rely. And obviously these kinds of tests are valid for any kind of job. The most important point in this test is that it does not include any biasness and the selectors cannot show the biasness while selecting on the basis of psychometric tests. These tests are also standard for different jobs. So all the above mentioned qualities and factors involve in the psychometric tests. In other words one can say that almost all the abilities present in an individual’s mind can be noticed, and the end result will always ends up in the right selection of expatriate. 2.5.2 Assessment Centre: As the assessment centers are considered to be one of the best selection techniques so according to Sparow and Brewster assessment centers will be the best idea as a selection technique to assess the competency of international managers. This is rarely the case, however. According to sparrow (1999) Even where assessment centers are used to select the managers in international settings, the key cross cultural assessment centers seems to be to design the assessment process so that it is very adaptable to local environment in which it will be operated. So there is need of cross culture assessment centers in which international managers can be assessed accordingly with the changing environment. Krause and Gebert (2003) have done study on international literature on the conception, operation and evaluation of assessment centers. He examined 281 German firms whose language was German and he compares them with the previously studied firms of United States of America. Study showed that both the American and German firms use the assessment centers but the purpose of some of them was different from the basics. For example the competencies assessed for job analysis might be identified through the use of interviews with job incumbents in 79% of US firms and only 39% of German firms. Most of the German firms rely on interviews for the selection of international managers or expatriates. so the assessment centers are considered to be an important process for expatriate selection. 2.5.3 Coffee Machine System This system was the idea of Harris and Brewster (1999) the key findings of the study show the reality of the selection process for expatriate selection in the organizations. In many organizations the selection process falls under what we call ‘coffee machine system’ and this system is the most common form of expatriate selection. What happens is that the senior line manager is standing by the coffee machine when he/she is joined by the colleague: ‘How’s it going?’ ‘Oh, you know, overworked and underpaid.’ Actually Jimmy in Mumbai has just fallen ill and is being flown home. I don’t know who I can choose to work over there at very short notice of time. It is driving me crazy. ‘Have you met Simon on the fifth floor?’ he is working in the same line of work. He is very good and bright and looks like going a long way. He was telling me that he and his wife had great holiday in Goa a couple of years ago. He seems to like India. Could be worthy to speak to him. Hey, thanks I will check and speak to him. ‘No problem. They don’t seem to be able to improve this coffee though, do they?’ What happen in the organization next is that the manger will take some decision and will have informal discussion with his seniors about Simon and then that man will be called and interviewed and selected for the required position. Accordingly HR department and financial department will be involved in the process and the formal and systematic process will be started. This method is rarely used in the organizations in particular cases when there is an urgent need to fill the position of expatriate. 2.6 Niche Assessments According to Bolt (2008 ) Many assessment venders specialize in certain niches and offer off-the-shelf products to meet clients’ testing needs. However, vendors can find such persons or individuals for the company who can fit in the organizations new environment and can coop with the new organization’s culture. Testing is the most important part of the application process of the candidate because testing gives the good idea of the individual’s abilities and competencies. 2.7 Factors involved in selection Process: There are number of factors which affect the performance of expatriate. Dowling, Welch, Schuler, (1999) recognised some of the important and most affective factors and these are the factors which involved to determine an appropriate expatriate selection process. All the factors are shown in a model below. Cross-cultural Suitability MMNE requirements SELECTION DECISION FFamily requirements LLanguage TTechnical Ability CCountry-cultural requirement Figure: 2.2 Source: (Factors in expatriate selection, pg 77 Dowling, Welch, Schuler, 1999). Figure 2.2 shows the factors which are required for an expatriate each of the above mentioned factors is discussed in detail below. 2.7.1 Technical Ability: According to Hays, 1971 All expatriates are assigned abroad to complete some task weather its building a dam, running some business, or teaching it all depends on the personal technical ability to perform that task. Obviously it is important to consider the individuals’ personal ability to perform the required task assigned to the expatriate. So in selection it is another important area which needs to look at. Different research findings show that the multinational organization give a lot of importance to the technical abilities of the individuals going abroad for international assignments at the time of their selection. According to Harvey and Novicevic,(2001) that technical and functional expertise has been the primary criterion for selecting expatriate managers for assignments. Hixon found that the selection was based on technical ability and willingness to reside abroad. If the individual is selected without keeping in view its technical ability. It can create the big problems for the multinational organizations to complete its related task or assignment. Reinforcing the emphasis on technical skills is the relative ease with which the multinational may assess the potential candidate’s potential, since technical and managerial competence can be determined on the basis of past performance of the individual who is going to be selected as expatriate. In fact domestic selection cannot be equal to the international selection but person can be selected on the basis of past domestic records which he has performed domestically as the basic criteria is always the same in all the multinational organizations so on the basis of past abilities there should not be any problem for the organizations to select the expatriates. This approach is also found by Foster and Johnsen,(1996) who report the results of the research into the expatriate selection practices for the newly internationalized UK organizations which shows that organizations keep in view the technical skills, and previous domestic records while selecting expatriate for international assignments. 2.7.2 Cross Cultural Suitability: The environment and the culture where an expatriate is going is an important factor for an expatriate. So the selectors of the expatriates should always consider the factor of culture for the expatriate. Although these factors does not guarantee for an expatriate for his successes but if these factors are not considered it can lead it towards the failure of expatriate. If the culture is considered then it is always important to study the Hofsted’s dimensions for cross culture and Trompenaar’s dimensions so these researches are explained in detail as follows. 2.7.3 Culture: Culture is always important for any expatriate selection, so it is very necessary for HR managers and selectors to keep the factor of culture in view while selecting expatriate for international assignments. There have been a lot of studies on culture and there are a lot of different definitions of culture some of them are given below. (Kluckholn Strodtbeck 1952) define culture as, â€Å"a set of basic assumptions-shared solutions to universal problems of external adaptation (and internal integration- which have evolved over time and are handed down from one generation to the next.’’ The life style of people living in the society is called culture it includes the social, economical, political, religious, life style of the individuals in the country. According to Drennan, 1992 â€Å"whatever is going around is called culture.† Culture is the way of life of a group of people. There are obvious differences between the different cultures such as language, dress, religion, beliefs, and behaviours of the people, and there are also implicit differences between the two cultures such as in values, assumptions about how things should be. so these different degrees of explicitness are often called the culture.(ScullionLinehan,2005). So the culture is very important factor for the selection of expatriate because the individuals move from one culture to another culture for the completion of their assignment. 2.7.4 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Greet Hofstede’s culture’s consequences (1980, 2001) explores the differences in thinking and social action at the country level between members of 50 nations and three regions. Hofstede originally used IBM employees’ answers to company attitude survey conducted twice, around 1968 and 1972. The survey generated more than 116,000 questionnaires with the number of respondents used in the analysis being approximately 30,000 in 1969 and 41000 in 1973. Hofstede identified and validated four cultural dimensions from respondents patterned answers. For each dimension, he presented possible origins as well as predictors and consequences for management behavior. Hofsted’s four dimensions are as follows Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Individualism versus Collectivism Masculinity versus Femininity Another dimension which is fifth dimension presented by Michael Bond is Long term versus Short term Orientation was subsequently developed from a research to accommodate non-western orientations and has been adopted from the Chinese Culture Connection study. Power distance: The dimension indicates the extent to which a society expects and accepts a high degree of inequality in institutions and organizations. It refers to the relationship between supervisors and subordinates. It reflects the extent to which the less powerful members of organisations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In organisations an illustration of a high power distance score is generally represented as a highly vertical hierarchical pyramid. Subordinates are often told or ordered about a particular task but they are not normally entitled to discuss the decision made by the top management so basically the meaning of power distance is that higher the person in hierarchy the more difficult will be this person to approach. So there are some barriers for that person to see their top management. The barriers can be of different ways like the person barriers or the employee is not allowed to see the top manager or they are not allowed to attend the high managerial level meetings in which decisions are made. So basically power distance shows the distance between a supervisor and his employee. Uncertainty avoidance: This refers to the degree to which a society prefers predictability, security and stability. According to Hofsted the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations. He argued that high uncertainty avoidance is expressed for example by a company’s need for regulations which tends to minimize in the behaviour of its employees. Company rules are such thing which cannot be broken by the employees even if he think that breaking the rule is in company’s best interest in such sort of environment the work stress is more and uncertainty avoidance is high. On the other hands if the employees are less affected by uncertainty is called low uncertainty avoidance. Individualism-Collectivism: this dimension relates to the extent to which people prefer to take care of themselves and their immediate families rather than being bound to some wider collectively such as extended family. Hofsted ask the IBM individuals that how important is to keep in view his work goals rather than the organisation. If there is preferred work goals stress dependence on organisation. For example good physical working condition, good ventilation enough space individualism in the work place can be seen. Collectivism can be seen in preference of collective organis