Multinational corporations can be discussed as enterprises that are rather complex in relation to their structure and organization, and the focus on the diverse human resources is characteristic for these corporations because it is necessary to organize the work of the company’s facilities and subsidiaries in different countries.
Thus, the three types of organizational members which can be found in multinational corporations are expatriates, host-country nationals, and third-country nationals; and these members should be examined and analyzed in detail in order to conclude about the diversity of the multinational corporations’ workforce.
Expatriates are the persons who have to live and work in the country where they were not brought up and where they do not have citizenship. Referring to the case of multinational corporations, expatriates are often sent to the other countries to work in the corporation’s facilities as specialists in definite fields or as mangers to organize the work of the facility according to the corporation’s norms.
Thus, expatriates can work in the other country temporarily or permanently, depending on the goal of their expatriation and character of the foreign assignments. Furthermore, expatriates’ duties and responsibilities associated with the position should be taken into account.
To adapt to the new culture and conditions and to work in the new environments effectively, expatriates often participate in specific training programs before taking their new position in order to learn about the culture and aspects of business organization in the unfamiliar country.
Host-country nationals are the members of the multinational corporations who live and work in the country where the subsidiary of the multinational corporation can be located. Thus, these persons represent the culture of the country where the corporation’s subsidiary is established and developed. It is important for human resource managers to rely on the performance and culture of the host-country nationals because these employees often present the main part of the workforce in the concrete subsidiary.
Third-country nationals are the group of employees who cannot be discussed as coming from the home country or as the citizens of the host country. Thus, third-country nationals often come from the third country as it is reflected in the definition. These employees are often specialists in definite fields; that is why they are hired as the professionals in the concrete industry and sphere.
Third-country nationals can represent the third culture while adding to the organization’s workforce, and human resource managers should also pay attention to this factor because third-country nationals can work for the multinational corporations during different periods of time and in relation to different terms and conditions.
The discussed members of the multinational corporations represent different countries and cultures, and this factor explains the additional risks for management of the multinational and multicultural organizations. Thus, expatriates are the representatives of the culture of the country where the headquarter office is located; the host-country nationals are the representatives of the local culture with references to the countries where subsidiaries are located, and third-country nationals are the representatives of the third country’s culture.