 In this topic, we are continuing to discuss the constraints that are on international performance management process in comparison to the domestic performance management process. And in this topic, we are going to talk about one of the constraints which is separation by time and distance. You know that multinational organization that is spread all over the world dispersed in various countries and boundaries. Therefore, they are separated by two dimensions, one is the temporal dimension and the other one is the geographical dimension. So they are geographically dispersed and they are also separated by time. Being geographically dispersed, it means that they are separated by time. But time difference also adds another dimension and that is that it just doesn't take some time to travel from one part of the world to the other. Rather, at the same time, both the units in one part of the world and in another part of the world may be facing a different time. And that may be a daytime in Japan and when it is daytime in Japan, that is going to be nighttime in Europe and in America. So that means that it's not just the distance, it's also the difference between the time which separates them and creates a problem for the international management and therefore international performance management. So the importance of physical proximity is always there. If you are physically closed, if you are geographically closed, that has a lot of advantages. Then the dimensions of distance being physically or being away in proximity, they have a number of dimensions. One is the physical distance that you are physically away. Secondly, time zone distances. Thirdly, because you are at a distance, the frequency of contact that is limited. So that means that because you are physically at a distance, it would lead to a lesser frequency of contact. And then finally, the dimension of being physically separated that trickles down into the cost of the reporting system. Because if you are physically separated, it becomes the cost of reporting that goes up high. If you are present at the same place, it is possible that subordinate just gets up from his desk and goes to his boss's office and reports a particular problem or a discrepancy or an issue or something that has been done and the reporting takes place. And therefore there is no cost to it. But if a person is sitting in Japan and the other manager is sitting in America, well that means that a system has to be set up. So either it has to be a telephonic system or it has to be the internet system. The person has to be provided with a computer. The other person also has to be provided with a computer. So when this thing goes global, it means that the reporting of people, thousands of people working in one multinational when they have to report between each other. That means that the cost of reporting that would go exponentially high. So that means that being connected with a people who are geographically dispersed that has a number of costs that has a number of constraints, which also affects how your performance management system, it works. So for example, if the performance of a person who's working in Pakistan has to be evaluated by somebody in working in UK, how that person is going to do that that person will not be able to observe that person will only have to rely on data which is provided to him, either which is, you know, which is compiled by the person himself or it is compiled by some reporting system of the organization, or it is compiled by the immediate supervisor and then so the person who was sitting in UK will not be able to observe and see and be able to look anything beyond the data which is provided to him. So that is an important dimension which affects international performance management process that has led to a growing use of web based human resource information systems. So you know that human resource information systems they collect information they collect data in electronic form and that data is present and is available at various different places dispersed all over the world. This is basically driven by growing complexity and inherent uncertainty of the global performance. So in order to reduce this complexity in order to reduce this uncertainty, because performance is being measured in various different parts of the world. So these human resource information systems they try to integrate the performance criteria as well as the performance evaluation system of people working in different parts of the world. But there are challenges with these human resource information systems because if there are unspoken or ill articulated roles, processes, practices, criteria and purposes, then these human resource information systems cannot do anything. So it is the humans who have to feed and develop these systems, these criteria, these objectives, these purposes to these systems and then these systems they can help you to evaluate in an integrated way. But if you do not set out your objectives, you do not clearly define your criteria, you do not clearly define the purpose of evaluating performance, which must have the dimension of being locally relevant and globally comparable. These human resource information systems will not be able to help you. So the constraint of being geographically dispersed, it may be reduced by these information systems. But still the human resource managers and strategy makers, they have to make sure that these systems they are given the right criteria, the right logarithms to perform their functions on.