IHRM AND HRM

Comparative HRM (CHRM), International HRM (IHRM) and Related Issues and Theories Relating To Globalisation

Comparative HRM (CHRM), International HRM (IHRM) and Related Issues and Theories Relating To Globalisation

Introduction

This paper considers the management of human resources across borders within multinational companies (MNCs). This will be referred to as 'international human resource management (IHRM). The term has been used in a variety of ways in the literature, and one of the tasks of the paper will be to clarify the terrain to which it refers. The paper first assesses the meaning of IHRM and its evolution as a field of study. Second, it summarises the conceptual, substantive and methodological preoccupations of work in this area. Among the issues reviewed is one of the defining questions of IHRM, the 'travel' of policies and practices between countries: the conditions under which such diffusion takes place, the nature of the diffusion process, and the impact of host environments on transferred practices. Also examined is the nature of IHRM as a management function: how it is structured, how it is evolving, and the characteristics that distinguish it from HRM in a domestic setting. Finally, the paper considers areas where the understanding of IHRM is underdeveloped and suggests some directions for the evolution of IHRM research in the future (Fenton, et. Al., 2008, 151-66).

However, globalization has come to dominate much of the discussion in the Western world, whether in academic writing, popular press reports, or casual conversations among friends. Due to myriad factors, the international nature of the modern world has come to impact virtually all aspects of daily life. For several decades, there has been a growing recognition of this trend in the literature of human resource management (HRM) and the emergence of the literature of international human resource management (IHRM). Moreover, with globalization assuming such an important societal role, much has been written to develop our understanding of the implications of such processes. Such world developments have also seen their share of criticism, with violent outbreaks at meetings of the World Trade Organization and highly critical texts and political stances regarding the proper role of the multi-national corporation (MNC). Our purpose here is not to address such concerns, but to rather consider the impact that the global world has had on the profession of HRM (Fenton, et. Al., 2008, 151-66).

As this trend toward globalization has advanced, the academy has increasingly found ways to incorporate such issues into academic writing and other scholarship. Over the last two decades, the International Human Resource Management Conference has emerged as one venue for work in the area of IHRM, broadly defined. Meeting approximately every two years, the conference has been held in a wide number of locations around the globe, and has led to the publication of a number of special journal issues and research volumes. This special issue of Personnel Review represents a continuation of past publications (Tüselmann, Frank & Arne, 2003, 327-49).

The nature of Human Resource

As IHRM has emerged as an academic discipline, a variety of ...