Case Study 3: Reverse Culture Shock

Case Study 3 & 4

Case Study 3: Reverse Culture Shock

People who have spent significant time living in a foreign society may feel disoriented and confused when they return to their own culture. This condition is known as reverse culture shock. Feeling out of place, having difficulty acclimating to familiar surroundings, and experiencing a sense of loss or alienation from the culture they have just left can all contribute to this. Physical symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, and depression. It can also be challenging for people to adjust to the variety of cultural customs, expectations, and principles of their home culture after being away for an extended period. They may discover that their previous way of life, communication styles, and social connections have changed. They may also experience feelings of isolation and loneliness since they cannot maintain the same professional and social networks they had while working abroad (Kim, 2017). Reverse culture shock can impact anyone who has been away from their home culture for an extended period, including international students, tourists, and military staff.

Employers must provide full re-entry support to employees to avoid reverse culture shock. Offering pre-return counseling and debriefing sessions where employees can share their experiences and expectations for returning home is one of the initiatives that organizations and employers can implement. Employers must also provide ongoing support and tools to employees to assist them in readjusting to their home life in the United States. This can include delivering courses on negotiating cultural differences and expectations and helping employees find new housing, jobs, and other services (Kim, 2017). In addition, employers can support a smoother transfer and help employees feel more connected to their home culture by giving these chances. Employers can also encourage employees to network with others who have recently returned from comparable missions since this helps foster a sense of community and understanding.

Case Study 4: Designing Global Compensation System

A potential challenge for expatriate managers working for significantly more money than HCN employees is the prospect of resentment and dissatisfaction within the HCN staff, which leads to a lack of motivation and engagement among HCN employees, negatively affecting the firm's overall productivity and performance. Resentment can also make it challenging to create connections and trust with HCN employees, making it more difficult for expatriate managers to supervise and lead their teams efficiently (Bonache & Stirpe, 2016). Furthermore, disparities in remuneration between expatriate management and HCN staff might lead to poor opinions of the firm in the host country. This might make establishing favorable working relationships with local stakeholders challenging, resulting in a negative reputation for the business.

When creating a global compensation plan, I would use the balance sheet approach to determine base salaries for expatriates. This technique ensures that staff on abroad assignments maintain the same living standard as they did at home. The balance sheet method computes compensation using the home-country-based method, including all allowances, deductions, and reimbursements (Bonache & Stirpe, 2016). After calculating the net salary, it is converted to the host country’s currency. This strategy allows for compensation plan flexibility and balance, which is critical in sustaining the expatriate's present level of living. Furthermore, this technique can include the choice for ex-pats to split their salary payments between the host nation's currencies and their home nation's currencies, offering an extra level of protection against currency volatility.

References

Bonache, J., & Stirpe, L. (2016). Compensating global employees. In Readings and Cases in International Human Resource Management (pp. 218-235). Routledge.

Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-cultural adaptation. Oxford research encyclopedia of