InternationalHuman Resource

Management

Aspects of International

Human Resource

Management

Learning outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Understand an eight-dimensional framework of the aspects of international human resource management (IHRM).

• Discuss if IHRM presents a viable solution to the people-management problems faced in an international context.

• Evaluate a case study of an international merger.• Apply the eight-dimensional framework to the case study.

INTRODUCTION

• Previous chapter: Dominant and mainstream models of HRM - limitations in addressing the complexity and diversity of HR in an international context.

• This chapter: Conceptual framework of aspects of IHRM that are central to both its study and practice.

• Do the identified aspects of IHRM offer a universal panacea?

A FRAMEWORK OF KEY ASPECTS OF IHRM

• Lack of consensus: Professional scope and academic study of IHRM

• Our lecture: Focuses on eight areas of research1. The global workforce

2. The international context

3. The national context

4. Strategic issues

5. Operational aspects of IHRM

6. Careers

7. Professional competencies

8. Future issues.

Eight-point star

• Aspects inextricably interlinked to form the main body of research and practice in this area

• True understanding of IHRM requires insights into all rather than some of these aspects.

GROUP ACTIVITY

GROUP ACTIVITY

• Identify the unique concerns of an international human resource manager that are different to those of a local human resource manager.

• Discuss how and why these concerns are unique.

Eight-point star

THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE

• Human capital available in the international arena and across national borders

• Study important for understanding the supply and demand for labour.

• Crucial when formulating people-management strategies both locally and internationally.

• Essential in order to develop a comparative perspective on supply and demand for labour as well as conditions and terms of employment and work in an international context.

Periodic reports

• United Nations• International Labour Organization (ILO)• Organization of Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD)• Global and aggregate figures on levels of

employment, unemployment, education and training, costs and standards of life and work, cultural and social life.

Globalization in the 2000s

• Attributes of the global workforce and trends in its employment experience in the context of globalization in the 2000s.

• Impact of globalization uneven across regions of the world

• Human resources requires distinctly different approaches and competencies in different national contexts to match the demands of national and international labour markets

International workforce

• Labour migration• Institutions of labour mobility• Regulation and management (social and

economic alliances and blocs (for example the European Union and the North American Free Trade Association)

• International agencies of labour (such as the International Labour Organization)

• Financial organizations (for example the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund)

• Multinational corporations as international employers of labour (Chapter 3)

• In your opinion, what may be the characteristics of the global workforce?

• Using the data sources identified in text, profile the global workforce.

• How may globalization affect management of human resources internationally?

THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

• Global patterns of change, continuation, unification and diversification in the management of people.

• Mainstream texts: Focus on industrialized countries and blocs such as the USA, the EU, Canada, Japan and Australia.

• Growing body of research on employment and management systems in developing and less-developed countries.

Examinationof international patterns of convergence

and divergence

• How and why are some attributes of HRM systems becoming similar (converging), while others sustain their differences (divergence) across national borders?

• Conceptual framework of convergence and divergence: Often examined in the context of European HRM.

• Growing body of research that investigate convergence and divergence within a broader international scope (Chapter 4)

Convergence and divergence

• How can we measure convergence and divergence in human resource management systems of different countries?

• Identify areas of convergence and divergence between human resource management systems of two neighbouring countries.

• Substantiate your arguments with factual information.

THE NATIONAL CONTEXT

• Employment law, unions, society, culture and professionalization.

• Linkages between HRM effectiveness and the social context (culture, climate and the political environment of an organization)

• Professionalization of HRM at the national level

• Why do international firms need HRM approaches and strategies which are differentiated across national borders? (Chapter 5)

• Which national issues dominate contemporary discussions of HRM in your country?

• List these issues.• Based on the components of national

context identified in this section, describe the national context of HRM in your country.

STRATEGIC ISSUES

• Well-documented and developed area of academic study

• Strategic international human resource management (SIHRM): Research relatively sparse.

IHRM’s broadest scope of study

• Strategies for identifying the supply and demand of labour

• Location• Managing transfers• Standardizing or differentiating management

systems • Managing international mergers and acquisitions

in a way which provides linkages between the previous three and the subsequent four aspects of IHRM.

Two approaches to HRM strategies at the national level

• Cost-leadership or differentiation strategies. • Cost-leadership strategies: Lead companies to

cut costs through a ‘hard’ HRM approach• Differentiation strategy: Competitive advantage

for the company through distinguishing its products and services - ‘soft’ HRM approach.

• Align HRM policy according to strategy

Subjects

• Different configurations of location and host–home country relationships

• Transfer of management systems and knowledge in international joint ventures

• Movements of the workforce (expatriates, rotational systems and localized HRM strategies)

• Strategic aspects of managing human resources during international mergers and acquisitions

• Chapter 6.

• Why are strategic aspects of IHRM referred to as the broadest aspect in the framework of components of IHRM?

OPERATIONAL ISSUES

• Acceptable and formal methods of HRM display diversity across national borders.

• Recruitment - selection, education - training, expatriation - repatriation, participation - involvement, pay - conditions, promotion, reward, career development, retirement, and downsizing of an international workforce.

• Strategic choices: Operational aspects also detailed. Theoretical framework for such operational or practical aspects of IHRM: Chapter 7.

• What are the key contemporary themes in each component (from the list above) of operational aspects of IHRM in your country?

• What are the differences between the strategic and operational aspects of IHRM?

IHRM AS A CAREER

• Education, training and development of international human resource managers

• Career development• Patterns of employment• Key concerns in management of such a

career from individual as well as organizational perspectives.

• Chapter 8.

• What are the similarities and differences between national and international contexts for careers in HRM?

• What would impact the career success of a human resource manager from a neighbouring country if he or she relocates as a manager in your country?

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• IHRM interact in more diverse and dynamic environments than their counterparts who are responsible from single-country operations.

• Competencies expected of an international human resource manager: learning and knowledge skills to transferable, affective and people-management skills

• Cross-national and sectoral distinctions within such competencies (Chapter 9).

• If you are to become an international human resource manager, what professional competencies would you need in order to lead a successful career?

• When answering the above question, what information sources can you use to support and substantiate your argument?

THE FUTURE

• Qualitative, valuebased and ethical dimensions of IHRM, highlighting the significance and long-term relevance of value-based decision-making in IHRM practice.

• Trends, dilemmas and challenges facing IHRM in the 2000s (Chapter 10).

• Why are ‘globalization’ and ‘ethical considerations’ highlighted as relevant for the future of IHRM?

• What do you consider to be the level of public interest in the future of IHRM?

DOES IHRM OFFER A UNIVERSAL PANACEA?

• Qften posed for newly emerging areas of business studies.

• IHRM performs two functions:1. It defines both context-specific and idiosyncratic

variations in the practice of HRM from a cross-national perspective

2. It provides us with conceptual and theoretical frameworks through which we can define, examine, make decisions and prescribe solutions to the problems of people-management facing us in international settings.

Frameworkproposed in this course/book

• No solution to all problems• Highlights the key aspects of IHRM so

that these may be considered when seeking solutions and reaching decisions.

SUMMARY

• Eight aspects of IHRM in a conceptual framework

• Relevance of these aspects to the study and practice of people management globally.

The case

• Case study: Offers insights into HRM practices in a Chinese company.

• The case study questions are designed to explore whether the eight-point framework elaborated in this chapter may prove useful in analysing specific situations of people management in a global context.