International Human Resources Management

The reading material gives a brief introduction to International HRM and mainly acquaints one with the terminologies of IHRM (ref. Do You Speak the Language of International HRM); it also makes a mention of the common issues facing an HR manager in an international company. Instead of reproducing the definitions of the reading material, we decided to illustrate the importance of IHRM through an example of how IHRM should be in alignment with the strategy of the organization.

In today's world of expanding markets and disappearing boundaries, developing a comprehensive set of IHRM policies aligned with the strategy of the company has become an important concern for the large multi-national companies. Formally,

International Human Resources Management is the systematic planning and coordination of the fundamental organizational processes of job and work design, staffing, training and development, appraising, rewarding, and protecting and representing the human resources in the foreign operations of an organization.

The new headquarters of the Toyota Motor Corporati...

Expatriate voters queuing in Lausanne for the Fren...

In the Midst of This

Simply put, IHRM is HRM that cuts across national boundaries. It is important that the IHRM policies are congruent with the firm's strategy and its formal and informal structures and controls. IHRM has to ensure that the firm has the right people in the right places at the right times. The task is complicated by profound differences between countries in labor markets, culture, legal and economic system.

We will illustrate how the IHRM policies of a multi-national company should be in line with its overall strategy and complement its existing structure and controls by focusing on the staffing policies. The training and development, performance appraisal and compensation policies should be similarly aligned with the overall strategy and consistent with each other. However, because of the constraints on time and...