International human resource management
Introduction
Effective management of human resources is important in any organisation: it is particularly important and complex in an international organisation because of differences in culture, political, economic and legal systems and labour markets.
It is common to describe people as an organisation's most important asset, but in both theory and practice more attention is usually given to those functions which have a direct impact on the firm's 'bottom line', in particular, marketing, production and finance. The traditional view has been that human resource management (HRM) is a facilitative function which assists those other functions. However, the growth of high technology companies is increasingly causing firms to correctly view their highly skilled employees as human capital assets. Another aspect is the recognition that human resources include the brain power as well as the muscle power of workers. A third element which challenges the traditional view of HRM is the emergence of geocentric MNEs which rely on the effective transnational activities of people with cross-cultural skills. These factors contribute to the growing view that people really are a firm's most important asset and their effective management is vital for companies operating internationally.
In this chapter we will examine the strategic role of international HRM, the 'classic' personnel function of staffing, training and development, performance appraisal and compensation, and we will also discuss the complexities of international labour relations. Finally, we will look briefly at future developments in international HRM (IHRM).
Topics
The following is the outline of the topics covered in this chapter.
- 11.1 The strategic role of international HRM
- 11.2 Managing international employees
- 11.3 Training and management development
- 11.4 Performance appraisal
- 11.5 Compensation
- 11.6 International labour relations
- 11.7 Summary
Learning outcomes
The objectives for this chapter have been carefully constructed to reflect the most significant concepts and ideas we are going to cover and to provide a focus for your work during the chapter. After completing the work you should be able to:
- explain the relationship between international HRM and the firm's strategy, structure and control systems
- distinguish between ethnocentrism, polycentrism and geocentrism
- identify the components of effective international training and management development programs
- describe the training needs of expatriate managers
- explain differences in the various approaches to expatriate compensation
- explain the concerns of management and labour in employment relations in different countries.
