Introduction

Globalization and fierce competition is forcing multinational companies (MNCs) to reduce costs, increase efficiency and be competitively advantageous by moving out operations and functions in emerging markets of the developed as well as developing countries. In order for MNCs to succeed, there are a lot of things to be taken into consideration.

As a result of these concerns, the areas of Human Resource Management (HRM) and International Human Resource Management (IHRM) are given a lot of attention and importance. Both fields were created to give emphasis on a companys need to manage its human resources, expand them and encourage them in pursuit of the companys growth and success. Particularly, the baseline of creating a strong and competitive workforce lies in HRM since it stands in the principle that people is the greatest asset of an organization. Selection and recruitment falls under the task of HR managers.

In this contemporary business setting, selection and recruitment of potential employees in MNCs said to be significant in the attainment and accomplishment of companies goals in the global scene. The HRM functions apparently draw the line between a companys endurance and obliteration especially in recruiting and selecting the people to compose the workforce.

Companies worldwide undergo changes and utilize various job selection and recruitment methodologies, there is a need to reevaluate and study the HRM functions

of an organization in order to meet the demands of the target market. Specifically, selection and recruitment traditional techniques are now at stake due to some technological advancements and innovations.

Recruitment and Selection

According to Daniel and Metcalf (2001), recruiting is part of the over-all management function of staffing that serves a major role player in ensuring that company strategies will be implemented. Spencer (2004) also emphasized that staffing requires both the process of attracting and selecting prospective personnels capabilities and competencies with the company position. It is perhaps the most important function because it is the starting point in the whole HR process. Its importance is noted by Drucker (1992) as he said that every organization is in competition for its most essential resource: qualified, knowledgeable people (Drucker 1992). Recruitment is defined as the process of discovering, developing, seeking and attracting individuals to fill actual and/or anticipated job vacancies (Sims 2002). It has three general purposes: to fulfill job vacancies; to acquire new skills; and to allow organizational growth.

There are several factors which influence recruiting efforts namely: organizational reputation, attractiveness of the job, cost of recruiting, recruiting goals and recruiting philosophy (Sims 2002). Organizations project an image to the community and it determines the attractiveness of the company to qualified employees. It may either be a potential barrier or a significant advantage depending on the ability of the HR team to

effectively advertise its job vacancies. The second factor is attractiveness of the job which refers to the job description. Any job that is considered as interesting, dangerous, stressful, low-status, low-paying or lacking in promotion potential will have a hard time attracting the right people. Cost is also an important factor because recruitment is expensive to the organization. Thus, every company needs to assess the costs involved in each proposed methods of recruitment. The fourth issue is recruitment goals of the program which have to serve many different purposes. However, the over-all purpose should be to fulfill the definition mentioned earlier. The last issue to be considered is the recruitment philosophy which depends on the emphasis of recruitment practices, depth of commitment in seeking and hiring a diverse range of employees and the ethical aspect of fairness in the recruitment process (Sims 2002).

This process is important to be investigated in Dell Inc. because it is evident that the company places such high value to its employees as seen in the progressive status. This is manifested through the high level of loyalty shown by its staff and the recruitment of new employees by recommendation of the existing staff members. The recruitment process of the company, though not entirely wrong because it has yielded such good results, can be aligned better as to compare with other companies in the same industry and its HR practices.

Selection is the partner of recruitment in HR planning. It is a critical process for the organization because good selection decisions ensure the company of their financial investments in their employees (Dean & Snell 1993). The wrong selection process can lead to frustration, repetitive training, documentation, low morale and a waste of time

and financial resources. Moreover, an effective selection also decreases the risk of lawsuits of either discriminatory or criminal in nature. Each organization has a selection system, wherein the applicants are subjected to both the basic criteria of an employee in the organization and the specific criteria for the job description.

Selection Interview

The interview has attracted a good deal of research (Arvey & Campion 1982) but, somewhat surprisingly, very little of the work done in this field has approached the interview from the perspective of impression management. Many of the studies have concentrated on aspects of the interviewers' decision processes in a way that portrays the candidate as a passive source of information.

The purpose of the interview is such that it inevitably raises the individual's awareness of being judged, and it can be argued that all candidate behavior in interviews can be looked on as impression management, albeit with varying degrees of consciousness, control, and success. This would extend to activities that take place before the interview itself, such as completing the application form and doing preparatory work--both of which are likely to affect what goes on in the face-to-face interaction.

Techniques for improving the reliability and validity of selection interviews are now known (Arvey & Campion 1982). However, such techniques are of value only to the extent that they are used in organizations to select employees. Thus, there is a strong

need for researchers to take into account the practicality of the interview in addition to its reliability and validity. Practicality can be defined as the extent to which the interview is perceived by users as enabling them to achieve their objectives. By understanding how different types of selection interviews are perceived by the people who used them, researchers can study ways in which the reliability and validity of the interview can be improved without sacrificing those qualities that make it attractive to users. There are at least three groups of users who should be considered in determining the practicality of an interview procedure, namely, managers or interviewers, applicants or interviewees, and the attorneys who are called on by clients to defend an interview procedure.

Job Analysis in Selection Interview

Job analysis is a basic requirement for developing valid selection procedures according to both professional and legal (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 1979) testing guidelines. Its value for structuring interviews was recognized very early (McMurry 1947).

Job analysis is not expected to enhance reliability, but there might be a weak positive relationship if it limits the domain in the interview. The Conway & Jako, & Goodman (1995) meta-analysis showed a low positive relationship between job analysis and reliability, which they interpreted as an indirect effect. It is expected to influence all three types of validity, however. Job analysis should enhance job-relatedness, partly because it allows the interviewer to obtain job-related samples of applicant behavior

(Dipboye & Gaugler 1993). A job analysis should enhance the amount of job information brought into the interview, thus decreasing deficiency. Similarly, by focusing the interview on job-related content, it should reduce contamination. Without a job analysis to provide a common frame of reference, interviewers might base the interview on idiosyncratic beliefs about job requirements (Dipboye 1994).

The majority of the employees had undergone the selection interview process. HR managers, on the other hand believes in the reliability and validity of selection interviews.

In Dell Inc., the selection interview is perhaps the most important tool in making a hiring decision. HR managers have applications to read. Then, solicit comments from past employers and character references. Some managers ask opinions of colleagues who meet the candidates. Others may even have the opportunity to use a job sample test, which measures the ability of candidates to perform a particular duty. Ultimately, however, HR managers rely on the impressions they have about the candidates while they are seated in front of them.

Interview questions and ratings can be informed by the job analysis or derived from it as content samples. The former is like the choice of predictors in a predictive hypothesis and may lead to more appropriate questions for inexperienced applicants. The latter, like work samples and the old oral trade tests, may distinguish truly experienced candidates from those who merely claim the experience. Inexperienced applicants need to be assessed for aptitudes for the work they have yet to learn; aptitude is surely assessed better by tests than by interviewers' ratings.

The interview takes place after standardized psychological and performance testing is completed although in many smaller organizations the interview is the only assessment of the job applicant. The purpose of the interview is to complete the holistic picture of the applicant that emerged with selection testing. Where the interview is the only selection predictor, it paints a picture of the applicant's capabilities in the areas of adaptive and functional skill. Its proper use requires considerable interviewer skill, but the interview has the advantage of having the task bank as a point of departure to keep both interviewer and applicant focused on the job requirements. The interview can communicate a positive image about an organization. There is a no-nonsense, high quality, fudging-will-not-get-by aspect to this approach that is likely to lead to a greater frequency of job offer acceptances by those applicants the organization most wants to attract.

Recommendations

Dell Inc. works upon recommendation for the hiring and selection of new employees. An established selection process along with criteria to be able to fully and fairly assess its applicants composed Dell Inc. job application. Thus, the

recommendation would be in line to the integration of the existing culture and the possible actions applicable to the company.

Companies need to be able to understand that recruitment is a crucial part to their success. The magnitude of an organizations recruitment methods is determined

through HR planning. It goes hand in hand with selection in the planning. Therefore, there is a need to maintain a selection interview process that is in relevance to the current changes in the job market. The reliability and validity of selection interview must be free from bias and discrimination.

Meanwhile, the equal employment opportunity must be reinforce in its implementation. In some organizations, diversity management stops at providing equal opportunities; however it is supposed to be more than that because it is best described as managing cultural diversity, inclusiveness and business objectives in the organization or in society. It focuses on individual personalities and preferences such as learning style. Moreover, it seeks to create a culture where the differences can find expression and potentially add value through enhancing organizational creative thinking and innovation. This necessitates a paradigm shift from the perception that the concept is just defined as avoiding discrimination and promoting fairness to giving access and legitimacy to everyone. Dell Inc. diversity management strategy will be examined under these parameters and its contributions to organizational change will also be discussed within the management.

Last, but certainly not least, interview structuring of the type proposed is shown by research to increase the efficiency of the interview for predicting job success once the applicant is hired. There are, of course, unanswered questions. But the most highly structured interview guides are essentially oral tests with constructed responses. Is testlike standardization an essential feature of interview structure? The same questions could be asked and answered in written form, the responses scored by readers. Would

oral and written versions be alike in reliability and validity? Would one form or the other be more susceptible to contaminating sources of variance? Would examinee reaction be the same? We do not know; it is worth investigation. As Hakel (1989) pointed out, we do not know why structured interviews are superior to unstructured interviews, or why they may be about as good as other structured forms of assessment. Again: more research is needed.

Conclusion

With the current modernization that the world experiences these days, efficiency and productivity has always been a major concern in the competitive business environment. Assessing the possible contributions of prospective employees during hiring period gives the employers an idea of how an applicant will perform in the business. Business executives at present place high value on predicting the quality and efficiency of the work force early on as more and more companies continuously practice the administration of examinations during job applications.

Selection interview plays a vital role in HR functions. The purpose of the interview is such that it inevitably raises the individual's awareness of being judged, and it can be argued that all candidate behavior in interviews can be looked on as impression management, albeit with varying degrees of consciousness, control, and success. This would extend to activities that take place before the interview itself, such

as completing the application form and doing preparatory work--both of which are likely to affect what goes on in the face-to-face interaction. Many interviewers see it as their task to assess the interviewees personality (as well as their ability, intelligence and suitability in the organization). However, comparatively few studies have actually related candidates personality characteristics to interview assessments. Thus, research on the interview continues and will continue as long as it is a widely used technique. Outside the narrow and occasionally blinkered world of I/O psychology, other researchers will come up with powerful findings relevant to the employment selection interview.