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International Human Resource management
Chapter 1: Introduction
The field of international HRM has been characterized by three broad approaches. The first
emphasizes cross-cultural management: examining human behaviour within organizations
from an international perspective. The second approach developed from the comparative
industrial relations and HRM literature and seeks to describe, compare and analyse HRM
systems in various countries. A third approach seeks to focus on aspects of HRM in
multinational firms. We focus on the third approach.
When someone would try to provide an accurate view of the global realities of operating in
the international business environment, he would find that there is an overlap of the three
approaches. The cross-cultural issues are important when dealing with the cultural aspects
of foreign operations.
What is International HRM?
HRM refers to the activities undertaken by an organization to effectively utilize its human
resources. These include the following:
•Human resources planning
•Staffing (recruitment, selection, placement)
•Performance management
•Training and development
•Compensation and benefits
•Industrial relations
IHRM exists on three levels
1.The broad human resource activities of procurement, allocation and utilization.
(These three broad activities can be easily expanded into the six HR activities listed
above).
2.The national or country categories involved in international HRM activities:
a.The host-country where a subsidiary may be located
b.The parent-country where the firm is headquartered
c.Other countries that may be the source of labour, finance and other inputs.
3.The three categories of employees of an international firm:
a.Host country nationals
b.Parent country nationals
c.Third-country nationals
US company employee’s British citizens in its British operations (HCN), often sends US
citizens (PCN’s) to Asia countries on assignment and may send some of its Japanese
employees on an assignment to its Chinese operations (TCN).