International Human Research Management
International human resource management (HRM) involves
ascertaining the corporate strategy of the company and assessing
the corresponding human resource needs; determining the
recruitment, staffing and organizational strategy; recruiting,
inducting, training and developing and motivating the personnel;
putting in place the performance appraisal and
compensation plans and industrial relations strategy and the
effective management of all these. “The strategic role of HRM is
complex enough in a purely domestic firm, but it is more
complex in an international business, where staffing, management
development, performance evaluation, and compensation
activities are complicated by profound differences between
countries in labour markets, culture, legal systems, economic
systems, and the like.”
It is not enough that the people recruited fit the skill requirement,
but it is equally important that they fit in to the
organizational culture and the demand of the diverse environments
in which the organization functions.
The strategic HRM components and requirements will depend
on, inter alia, the organisational modes described in the
subsection Organisational Modes in the chapter on Multinational
Corporations.
Factors affecting International Hrm
The following are some of the important factors, which make
international HRM complex and challenging:
Differences in Labour Market Characteristics
The skill levels, the demand and supply conditions and the
behaviour characteristics of labour vary widely between countries.
While some countries experience human resource shortage
in certain sectors, many countries have abundance. In the past,
developing countries were regarded, generally, as pools of
unskilled labour. Today, however, many developing countries have abundance of skilled and scientific manpower as well as
unskilled and semiskilled labour. This changing trend is
incasing significant shift of location of business activities. Hard
disk drive manufacturers are reported to be shifting their
production base from Singapore to cheaper locations like
Malaysia, Thailand and China. While in the past unskilled and
semiskilled labour intensive activities tended to be located in the
developing countries, today sophisticated activities also find
favour with developing countries. The changing quality
attributes of human resources in the developing countries and
wage differentials are causing a locational shift in business
activities, resulting in new trends in the global supply chain
management. India is reported to be emerging as a global R&D
hub. India and several other developing countries are large
sources of IT personnel. In short, the labour changing labour
market characteristics have been causing global restructuring of
business processes and industries. And this causes a great
challenge for strategic HRM.
Cultural Differences
Cultural differences cause a great challenge to HRM. The
behavioral attitude of workers, the social environment, values,
beliefs, outlooks etc., are important factors, which affect
industrial relations, loyalty, productivity etc. There are also
significant differences in aspects related to labour mobility.
Cultural factors are very relevant in inter personal behaviour also.
In some countries it is common to address the boss Mr. so and
so but in countries like India addressing the boss by name
would not be welcome. In countries like India people attach
great value to designations and hierarchical levels. This makes
delivering and organisational restructuring difficult.
Differences in Regulatory Environment
A firm operating in different countries is confronted with
different environments with respect to government policies and
regulations regarding labour.
Altitude Towards Employment
The attitude of employers and employees towards employment
of people show great variations is different nations. In some
countries hire and fire is the common thing whereas in a number
of countries the ideal norm has been lifetime employment. In
countries like India workers generally felt that while they, have
the right to change organisations, as they preferred, they had a
right to lifetime employment in the organisation they were
employed with. In such situations it is very difficult to get rid
of inefficient or surplus manpower. The situation, however, is
changing in many countries, including India.
Difference in Conditions of Employment
Besides the tenancy of employment, there are several conditions
of employment the differences of which cause significant
challenge to international HRM. The system of rewards,
promotion, incentives and motivation, system of labourwelfare and social security etc., vary significantly between
countries
International human resource management (HRM) involves
ascertaining the corporate strategy of the company and assessing
the corresponding human resource needs; determining the
recruitment, staffing and organizational strategy; recruiting,
inducting, training and developing and motivating the personnel;
putting in place the performance appraisal and
compensation plans and industrial relations strategy and the
effective management of all these. “The strategic role of HRM is
complex enough in a purely domestic firm, but it is more
complex in an international business, where staffing, management
development, performance evaluation, and compensation
activities are complicated by profound differences between
countries in labour markets, culture, legal systems, economic
systems, and the like.”
It is not enough that the people recruited fit the skill requirement,
but it is equally important that they fit in to the
organizational culture and the demand of the diverse environments
in which the organization functions.
The strategic HRM components and requirements will depend
on, inter alia, the organisational modes described in the
subsection Organisational Modes in the chapter on Multinational
Corporations.
Factors affecting International Hrm
The following are some of the important factors, which make
international HRM complex and challenging:
Differences in Labour Market Characteristics
The skill levels, the demand and supply conditions and the
behaviour characteristics of labour vary widely between countries.
While some countries experience human resource shortage
in certain sectors, many countries have abundance. In the past,
developing countries were regarded, generally, as pools of
unskilled labour. Today, however, many developing countries have abundance of skilled and scientific manpower as well as
unskilled and semiskilled labour. This changing trend is
incasing significant shift of location of business activities. Hard
disk drive manufacturers are reported to be shifting their
production base from Singapore to cheaper locations like
Malaysia, Thailand and China. While in the past unskilled and
semiskilled labour intensive activities tended to be located in the
developing countries, today sophisticated activities also find
favour with developing countries. The changing quality
attributes of human resources in the developing countries and
wage differentials are causing a locational shift in business
activities, resulting in new trends in the global supply chain
management. India is reported to be emerging as a global R&D
hub. India and several other developing countries are large
sources of IT personnel. In short, the labour changing labour
market characteristics have been causing global restructuring of
business processes and industries. And this causes a great
challenge for strategic HRM.
Cultural Differences
Cultural differences cause a great challenge to HRM. The
behavioral attitude of workers, the social environment, values,
beliefs, outlooks etc., are important factors, which affect
industrial relations, loyalty, productivity etc. There are also
significant differences in aspects related to labour mobility.
Cultural factors are very relevant in inter personal behaviour also.
In some countries it is common to address the boss Mr. so and
so but in countries like India addressing the boss by name
would not be welcome. In countries like India people attach
great value to designations and hierarchical levels. This makes
delivering and organisational restructuring difficult.
Differences in Regulatory Environment
A firm operating in different countries is confronted with
different environments with respect to government policies and
regulations regarding labour.
Altitude Towards Employment
The attitude of employers and employees towards employment
of people show great variations is different nations. In some
countries hire and fire is the common thing whereas in a number
of countries the ideal norm has been lifetime employment. In
countries like India workers generally felt that while they, have
the right to change organisations, as they preferred, they had a
right to lifetime employment in the organisation they were
employed with. In such situations it is very difficult to get rid
of inefficient or surplus manpower. The situation, however, is
changing in many countries, including India.
Difference in Conditions of Employment
Besides the tenancy of employment, there are several conditions
of employment the differences of which cause significant
challenge to international HRM. The system of rewards,
promotion, incentives and motivation, system of labourwelfare and social security etc., vary significantly between
countries