Introduction:

International HRM provides an introduction to the critical issues facing organizations in

simultaneously managing their human resources at home and abroad. It focuses on the
connection between corporate strategies and the effective management of human resources,
which at times, may require differing policies across countries. The increased speed of change in
communication and transportation technologies, expansion of economic markets, desire to access
better pools of resources, the challenge of competition, and improved mobility of people have
fostered internationalization of the context of business. The advent of communication and
transportation technologies continues to widen the geographic imagination and reach of
businesses beyond their traditional geographically constrained scope. Thriving on these
favorable conditions, international, transnational and multinational companies have been
achieving unprecedented economic and political success, whilst facing similarly major
challenges in the process of becoming international players, particularly in the last three decades.
The definitions and meanings attributed to academic concepts evolve over time; different authors
offer differing definitions for the same concept. While some emerging definitions gain currency,
others are deemed obsolete in time. Therefore, it is often possible to identify a number of
‘competing definitions’ of academic concepts at any given time. Reportedly, the definitions of
human resource management (HRM) have also evolved over time, gaining a number of
competing meanings. In its contemporary form, human resource management can be defined as a
range of management activities which aim to achieve organizational objectives through effective
use of employees.

Defination:

Human resource management: Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within
an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the
people who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed by
line managers.

Journal: a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary.
Ethic: is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good
and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc.
Research: can be defined as the search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, with an open
mind, to establish novel facts, usually using a scientific method.

Objective

1. Define the concept of human resource management.

2. Identify distinct theoretical contributions in the field of HRM.
3. Discuss the usefulness of these dominant mainstream approaches to HRM in an
international context.
4. Define the concept of international human resource management and its key
elements.
5. Understand the main models and themes of international human resource
management.

Summary

Hard’ variant: Employees one of the key resources of organizations - should be used effectively
in order to achieve organizational goals.
‘Soft’ variant: Employees first and foremost human beings who contribute to the organization
More contemporary formulations of HRM: Combination of soft and hard attributes, rather than
rejecting one for the other.

Hard Soft
Employees as a resource Employees as a cost
“people” issues “market” issues
Commitment compliance
Integration/co-operation control
Qualitative/negotiation Quantitative/rational
Harvard Business School generated one of the most influential models of HRM. The Harvard
interpretation sees employees as resources. However, they are viewed as being fundamentally
different from other resources - they cannot be managed in the same way. The stress is on people
as human resources. The Harvard approach recognizes an element of mutuality in all businesses,
a concept with parallels in Japanese people management. Employees are significant stakeholders
in an organization. They have their own needs and concerns along with other groups such as
shareholders and customers.' The Harvard Map or model outlines four HR policy areas:

1. Human resource flows -recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, appraisal and

assessment, promotion, termination, etc.
2. Reward systems - pay systems, motivation, etc.
3. Employee influence - delegated levels of authority, responsibility, power
4. Work systems - definition/design of work and alignment of people.

Which in turn lead to the 'four C's' or HR policies that have to be achieved:
• Commitment
• Congruence
• Competence
• Cost effectiveness
Focusing on the theme of the strategic relevance of HRM, which was also evident in the
Michigan model, the New York Model has introduced and illustrated the concept of ‘strategic
fit’ between corporate and human resource strategy. The New York model was formulated by
Schuler and Jackson (1987) and advocated that a range of ‘needed role behaviours’ could be
deduced from Porter’s earlier works on competitive strategies, and these could provide a set of
prescriptions for desirable strategic choices for HRM and industrial relations functions. The
Harvard, Michigan and New York models share a common attribute. As Sparrow and Hiltrop
(1994) so succinctly explain it, these three models could be named as ‘matching models’ of
HRM, because of their common aim to match the human resources strategy with that of the
corporation.
The MIT Model, which was introduced by Kochan et al. (1986), provided a framework
accounting for the development of industrial relations in the USA. The model describes three
phases of development: the ‘New Deal’ phase attributed to high levels of regulation in the
workplace and the ‘non-union’ phase identifiable by extensive HRM policies designed to
promote individual commitment. The authors argue that these two phases could be incorporated
into what they call, the ‘new industrial relations’ phase, which assumes that joint consultation
between employees and employers, and increased levels of cooperation and flexibility in the
workplace will provide companies with adaptability and representation which were evidently
missing from the other two phases. However, Sisson and Timperlet (1986, p. 164) from the UK
argued that this model, similar to the Harvard model, has a prescriptive approach, advocating the
use of the ‘New industrial relations’ phase as an ideal, and that it fails to provide evidence for its
wider international applicability.

The Warwick Model was developed by Storey (1992) in the UK. It contrasted attributes of
personnel management and HRM and examined evidence of their practice in the UK. This model
provided a number of key attributes and indicators of people management and highlighted the
differentiation between personnel and HRM approaches. Despite an apparent domination of the
mainstream HRM literature by models, theories and concepts developed in North America and
the UK, the Aix Model from France was able to gain mainstream recognition in texts. The
model, which underlines the significance of social and educational systems in the management of
human resources, was propagated by Maurice et al. (1980, 1986). Another similar model outside
the English-speaking world was the Japanese Model of HRM (Tung 1984), introduced in the
1980s, that emphasized how quality considerations can be integrated into people-management
techniques.
 G
Although the studies on IHRM provide insights into various techniques, approaches, themes and
principles of HRM in an international context, they have hardly attempted to provide a
standalone definition of the concept. IHRM can be defined as a range of people management
functions, processes and activities which involve consideration of more than one national context
(Taylor et al. 1996). ‘Involvement of more than one national context’ implies three levels of
practice and study of IHRM, identified by Jain, Lawler and Morishima (1998) as:

1. Single-country human resource activities often involve considerations of international

human resource issues. For example, skills shortages in a country may encourage recruitment of
migrant labour, and this practice requires national companies to take into account the
international aspects of HRM such as growing competition for international labour. Similarly,
there are studies of HRM issues in a single-country context that provide insights into national
systems, structures and approaches of people management, allowing cross-national comparisons
and contributing to our understanding of convergence and divergence of employment systems,
management approaches and other human resource issues. There is an extensive body of
literature on single-country studies of HRM.
2. Companies operating in more than one country may carry out IHRM activities at another
level. For example, management of international assignments, expatriatesand the process
of repatriation require such considerations. There are for example studies involving
management of expatriate workers in MNCs that explore the strategic role of the
corporate human resource function in MNCs. The corporate function performs personnel
roles such as the management of succession, career development, strategic staffing,
international management mobility and training, and repatriation of international
workers. Scullion and Starkey (2000) identify this as a relatively new and neglected area
of study in IHRM.
3. International companies need to address national differences between their home and
host-country operations, and there are studies exploring the management of people in
international, multinational and transnational companies with particular reference to the
home-country and host-country divide in their evaluations. These studies seek to explain
and bridge the national differences in management of human resources, providing
descriptive and prescriptive analysis and critical evaluation of the current trends.ROUP
Critical Analysis:

What should have tricks in Successful IHRM?

Drawing on studies from the aforementioned three lines of inquiry, this section explores the
models and emerging themes of IHRM. Since its inception in the 1980s, the theory and practice
of IHRM has displayed various patterns and has experienced challenges. Seeking to offer
academic solutions to the complex problems facing the IHRM practitioner, several authors have
attempted to provide models of IHRM practice.

Identified three ‘tricks’ for a successful IHRM startup:

1. Preventing the emergence of divisions and divisive perceptions between operations

in different countries.
2. Working in each country using the terms of reference used in that country.
3. Avoiding the assumption that best practice can transcend national borders.

Seven keys to IHRM practice subsequent to the start-up stage

1. Understanding the international and global context of business, including supply and
demand dynamics of human resources in each country.
2. Providing guidelines on service policy for international operations of the company.
3. Considering the financial viability of human resource allocations internationally.
4. Documenting and outlining the personal and domestic arrangements of individual
workers who are involved in international assignments, with a view to accommodating
their requirements.
5. Providing clear guidelines on terms and conditions for international assignments to
individual employees prior to allocation of their roles.
6. Arranging relocation of employees and their families.
7. Setting up a repatriation process which ensures smooth return and reintegration of the
expatriates and their families.