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Introduction: International Human Resource Management and International

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Contents

List of Tables vii

List of Figures viii

Notes on Editors ix

Notes on Contributors x

1 Introduction: International Human Resource Management

and International Assignments 1
Michael J. Morley, Noreen Heraty and David G. Collings

2 International Human Resource Management in Global

Perspective 24
Mila B. Lazarova

3 Human Resource Management in the Global Village 52

Monir Tayeb

4 Transnational Roles and Transnational Rewards:

Global Integration in Executive Compensation 82
Allen D. Engle, Sr. and Mark.E. Mendenhall

5 Development of an Efficient Architecture for the

Inpatriation of Managers 98
Michael Harvey and Milorad M. Novicevic

6 Building Effective Expatriate-Host Country

National Relationships: The Effects of Human Resources
Practices, International Strategy and Mode of Entry 114
Angelo S. DeNisi, Soo Min Toh and Brian Connelly

7 Global Assignments and Boundaryless Careers: What Drives

and Frustrates International Assignees? 135
Günter K. Stahl and Chei Hwee Chua

8 Boundaryless Global Careers: The International Itinerants 153

Moshe Banai and Wes Harry

v
vi Contents

9 Repatriate Assets: Factors Impacting Knowledge

Transfer 181
Roger N. Blakeney, Gary Oddou and
Joyce S. Osland

Index 200
1
Introduction: International
Human Resource Management
and International Assignments
Michael J. Morley, Noreen Heraty and
David G. Collings

The notion of business at the international level is self-evidently not a

new phenomenon, as trade between humans has existed as long as
migration patterns have existed. But then, as now, operating across
national boundaries has always brought with it a bewildering variety of
cultural and institutional specificities that make managing in this
context especially complex including, for example variations in work
orientations and work values, legislative provisions, state involvement
and trade union legitimacy and participation (Gooderham et al., 2004).
As a consequence of this complexity, Dowling and Welch (2004) iden-
tify several significant differences between managing human resources
in an international context as opposed to a domestic one. Firstly, they
argue that there is simply more HR work to be done when operating in
an international environment, because the HR function must engage
with a number of activities that would not be necessary in a domestic
context including international taxation, international relocation and
socialization, host government relations and language translation
services. The international context also requires, they suggest, a broader
perspective with international HR managers being forced to consider a
wide range of variables in their decision-making. Concomitantly, such
HR managers may also need to demonstrate a greater involvement in
employees’ personal lives. This, they suggest, is particularly significant
in relation to employees on global assignment as HR may have a role to
play in relocation arrangements, health care arrangements, as well as
issues relating to international assignee’s spouse and family. They also
point to the dynamics of the subsidiarie’s labour market noting that the
workforce mix of parent country nationals, third country nationals and

1
2 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

host country nationals will vary, depending on how mature the MNC is.
As the multinational matures, the reliance on expatriate employees as
position fillers in subsidiaries reduces with the consequence that the HR
emphasis for the subsidiary must shift from narrow issues concerned
with the management of expatriates to a broader remit incorporating
issues concerning host or third country employees who will require a
different HR focus. Managing human resources in an international
context also brings with it greater risk exposure which concerns the
increased cost attached to expatriate assignment but also the increased
cost of failure in an international environment, factors which make the
HR issues pertaining to these issues even more significant. Beyond this,
there are broader external influences which as Dowling and Welch sug-
gest might include pressures from governments and pressure groups
that may take more interest in the MNC because of their high profile.
In a similar vein, Schneider and Barsoux (1997:150) argue that interna-
tionalizing a company makes heavy demands of the HR function. They
cite three particular such demands of note:

First, it requires a sound understanding of the corporate strategy to

make sure that the HRM policies are aligned. Second, it demands a
thorough awareness of the cultural assumptions embedded in HR
practices themselves, as well as those which prevail in local
subsidiaries. And third, it requires the judgement to assess political
concerns such that local resistance to HQ policies is really driven by
cultural differences, or desire for local autonomy, or that HQ just
wants to have its own way, Headquarters’ HR personnel also have to
be ready and willing to accept that they may have something to learn
from their foreign subsidiaries and partners.

Until relatively recently the majority of research on multinational

companies focused on activities such as international production, inter-
national marketing and international strategy, with human resource
management strategies, policies and practices being significantly under-
represented in the international business and international manage-
ment cannon. Ondrack (1985) noted that international HRM was one of
the least studied areas in international business and even where it did
exist, it was noted that the bulk of research in this field had been
conducted by US researchers from an American, rather than an interna-
tional perspective (Boyacigiller and Adler, 1991).
However, as multinationals began to increasingly realise the signifi-
cance of people management practices in ensuring the profitability and
 Introduction 3

viability of their business operations (Brewster, 2002; Harris et al., 2003;

Scullions and Collings, 2006; Stroth and Caligiuri, 1998), the notion of
international human resource management began to grow somewhat in
importance as simply indicated by the growth in volume, range and
diversity of contributions to the emerging literature (Adler, 1986; Boxhall,
1995; Brewster et al., 1992, 2000; Brewster and Harris, 1999; Briscoe, 1995;
Dowling and Welch, 2004; Hamill, 1987; Harzing and Van Ruysseveldt,
2004; Hendry, 1994; Laurent, 1986; Punnett and Ricks, 1992; Shenkar,
1995; Torbiorn, 1982; Welch, 1994). Nonetheless, despite emerging evi-
dence on its value to the international firm, and its increased visibility
within academic quarters, confirming its own unique kind of legitimacy,
defining and delimiting the nature of international human resource man-
agement and all its constituent parts poses something of a challenge. This
is perhaps hardly surprising. Determining the anatomy and impact of
human resource management and its associated activities in a domestic
context has proven somewhat elusive. It was always going to be more so
in an international one. Along with being done differently, IHRM is also
conceptualised differently in different countries. Different development
trajectories, institutional determinants, cultural specificities, stakeholder
preferences and relationships, rather than atrophying, have shown
intractable resilience. The result is a variety of perspectives on what con-
stitutes the field of IHRM and its key determinants in what is a substantial
and growing body of literature, though one still in its ‘infancy’ (Welch,
1994). The inevitable consequence is that there are many ongoing ques-
tions surrounding its pedigree and legitimacy. Not all writers have been
fully convinced about the distinction between international HRM and
domestic HRM and some emphasize the basic continuities and similarities
between operating in the domestic and international business environ-
ment (e.g., Hendry, 1994). Conversely, others point to very obvious com-
plexities that arise in operating in different countries and highlight the
necessity to explore ‘the HRM issues and problems arising from the inter-
nationalization of business, and the HRM strategies, policies and practices
which firms pursue in response to the internationalization of business’
(Scullion, 1995:352).
Holden (1997:685) traces several streams of literature, all of which,
have significant things to say about HRM in an international context or
have significant implications for its practice. The literatures he identifies
in this respect are international management which, Holden notes, can
be observed in a national and international context, an international
HRM literature which deals with comparative issues in a purely intra-
national context, a literature dedicated to comparative industrial and
4 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

employment relations, a stream dedicated to multinational corporations

and a literature on culture and acculturation. One central message from
these multiple literatures, according to Holden, is the fact that IHRM
can thus be ‘studied in an organizational and a comparative (both orga-
nizational and intra-national) context’ (p. 686). However, there is still
no consensus about what the term ‘International HRM’ actually covers
although most studies in the area have traditionally focused on the area
of expatriation (Brewster and Harris, 1999). Discussing and conceptual-
izing various forms of international HRM strategies can be traced to
Perlmutter’s (1969) work and subsequent work by Heenan and Perlmutter
(1979) dedicated to unearthing four core approaches to international-
ization, namely ethnocentrism, polycentrism, regiocentrism and geo-
centrism. Briefly, ethnocentrism in the deployment of human resources
is suggestive of the filling of all key positions at both domestic and for-
eign operations with parent country nationals. Polycentrism in IHRM
suggests the deployment of host country nationals in foreign opera-
tions. A regiocentric approach involves the transfer of employees across
borders, but broadly within the same geographic area. Finally geocen-
trism as an approach indicates that nationality is irrelevant and core
competencies and skills demanded by the assignment represent the
exclusive selection criteria.
Torrington (1994:4) suggests that in many ways international HRM is
simply HRM on a larger scale with additional complexities. International
HRM, he suggests, ‘has the same dimensions as HRM in a national con-
text, but with some additional features’. For Walker (1992:93) among
these additional features that make international HRM somewhat more
complex than HRM practiced in the domestic scene are ‘a greater num-
ber and variety of functional activities, since it deals with different taxa-
tion and regulatory environments, international relocation and
orientation of employees and language and cultural differences’. He
notes that:

International Human Resource Management is not a special function

to be defined and performed. It is, rather, a dimension of human
resource strategy formulation and implementation; it is a level of
complexity that is challenging management in all companies that
seek to do business globally. (Walker, 1992:95)

Brewster and Harris (1999) refer to its critical role in achieving a balance
between differentiation and integration among the units of an interna-
tional organization and involves the ‘worldwide management of people’.
 Introduction 5

Iles (1995:416) concentrates on four functional areas of importance in

international HRM, namely: managing international diversity and
multi-cultural teams; recruitment and selection, training and develop-
ment and performance management.
Welch (1994) through a detailed literature review and case analyses
confirmed that IHRM activities broadly centre on the selection, training
and development (particularly predeparture training), compensation
and repatriation of expatriates. In the area of selection, Welch’s case
evidence highlighted a concern for the generation of reliable and valid
predictors of success when on foreign assignment. Predeparture training
mainly involved some form of cultural awareness but ‘it varied from
company to company and within companies in terms of depth of coverage
and degree of family involvement’ (p. 146). With respect to compensa-
tion, Welch’s case data from four companies highlighted the use of the
‘Balance Sheet Approach’, a system which aims to maintain relativity to
parent country national colleagues plus compensating for the costs of
international service. Finally, in the domain of repatriation, Welch notes
that all four organizations researched were aware of the problems attach-
ing to re-entry, but two of the four had not implemented ‘rigorous
re-entry policies to combat the prevailing attitude’ (p. 147).
Hendry (1994:88) in his treatise on Human Resource Management in
the international firm suggests that there are three principle themes in
international HRM, namely managing expatriation, creating appropri-
ate career systems and internationalizing the organization through a
corporate culture and he notes that as a firm becomes progressively
more internationalized, attention in HRM can be expected to shift:

1. From the selection of expatriates and the management of their terms

and conditions;
2. To training in preparation for assignments and their management
through a formal career system with personal development in mind,
including the extension of this system to an increasingly diverse and
dispersed population;
3. To, eventually, a broader educational effort to internationalize the
organizational at large.

Other definitions emphasize a more strategic approach and consider the

role and organisation of international HRM functions, the relationship
between headquarters and the local units as well as the actual policies
and practices adopted. For example, Taylor et al. (1996) define interna-
tional HRM as: ‘The set of distinct activities, functions and processes
6 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

that are directed at attracting, developing and maintaining an MNC’s

human resources. It is thus the aggregate of the various HRM systems used
to manage people in the MNC, both at home and overseas’. This suggests
that international HRM is concerned with identifying and understanding
how MNCs manage their geographically dispersed workforces in order to
leverage their HR resources for both local and global competitive advan-
tage (Schuler et al., 2002). Globalization has brought new challenges and
increased complexity such as the challenge of managing newer forms of
network organization. In recognition of such developments, some writers
have developed new definitions where International HRM is seen as play-
ing a key role in achieving a balance between the need for control and co-
ordination of foreign subsidiaries and the need to adapt to local
environments (e.g., Adler and Ghadar, 1990; Milliman et al., 1991).
Recently, definitions of the field of International HRM have been
extended to cover localization of management, international co-ordina-
tion, global leadership development and the emerging cultural challenges
of global knowledge management (Evans et al., 2002). This suggests that
developing future global leaders is a key priority in the management of
human resources in the global firm (Scullion and Starkey, 2000; Gregerson
et al., 1998), especially because many firms continue to underestimate the
complexities of managing human resources across borders which often
results in poor performance in international operations (Schuler, Jackson,
and Fendt 2004; Scullion and Collings, 2006).
Paralleling definitional disagreement is a lack of consensus on the
most appropriate paradigm for enquiry in the field. Mayrhofer et al.
(2000), among others, argue that there are essentially two paradigms for
researching HRM in an international and/or comparative way, namely a
universalist paradigm and a contextual paradigm. They highlight that it is
to some degree the difference between these paradigms which has led to
the conceptual confusion of what is the appropriate scope of the subject
matter of HRM often obvious in the literature. The universalist paradigm,
Mayerhofer et al. argue, which is dominant in the United States of
America, but is widely used in many other countries, is essentially a
nomothetic social science approach: using evidence to test generaliza-
tions of an abstract and law-like character. The strength of this
approach, they argue, is that good research based upon it tends to have
a clear potential for theoretical development, it can lead to carefully
drawn research questions, the research tends to be easily replicable and
research methodologies sophisticated, and there is a coherence of crite-
ria for judging the research. The contextual paradigm by contrast, accord-
ing to Mayrhofer et al, is idiographic, searching for an overall
 Introduction 7

understanding of what is contextually unique and why. In the IHRM

field it often involves a focus on understanding what is different
between and within HRM in various contexts and what the antecedents
of those differences are. As a contributor to explanation, this paradigm
emphasizes external factors as well as the actions of the management
within an organization. The approach acknowledges the importance of
context highlighted by Landy and Vasey (1990:11) in their contribution
on ‘Theory and Logic in Human Resources Research’:

Humans are embedded in their social world and an appreciation of

the importance of this context and the complex interactions between
it and its inhabitants is fundamental if social science is to be successful
in understanding behaviour.

Thus, this approach to researching HRM explores the importance of

such factors as culture, ownership structures, labour markets, the role of
the state and trade union organization as aspects of the subject rather
than external influences upon it. The scope of HRM goes beyond the
organization to reflect the reality of the role of many HR departments.
Consequently, Mayrhofer et al. (2000) note that:

Methodologically, the research mechanisms used are inductive. Here,

theory is drawn from an accumulation of data collected or gathered
in a less directed (or constrained) manner than would be the case
under the universalist paradigm. There is an assumption that if
things are important they should be studied, even if testable predic-
tion is not possible or the resultant data are complex and unclear.

Despite or indeed because of this overt lack of consensus on the nature

of international HRM and, from a research perspective, what approach
we might most appropriately and fruitfully employ to empirically
examine it, there has been rapid development of the field of
International HRM over the past decade (Harzing and Van Ruysseveldt,
2004) evidenced by, for example, a significant growth in the number of
academic and professional conferences and academic contributions.
Many of these continue to explore conventional themes such as inter-
national staffing, cross-cultural training, intercultural transitional
adjustment and repatriation, while others opening up newer lines of
enquiry. A cursory review of the literature reveals a number of key
themes which dominate the current research agenda in the field among
them standardization versus localization of HRM practices (Gunnigle
8 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

et al., 2002; Rosenzweig and Nohria, 1994); the related impact of ‘the
country of origin’ on HRM practice in MNCs (Clarke et al., 2002; Ferner,
1997; Noordehaven and Harzing, 2003); the continuing debate about
convergence/divergence across nation states (Brewster et al., 2004; Hall
and Soskice, 2004); knowledge transfer within MNCs (Edwards, 1998;
Minbavea et al., 2003); cross-border mergers and acquisitions (Stahl
et al., 2004); the related theme of managing cross-border strategic
alliances (Kabst, 2004; Schuler et al., 2003); emerging themes in inter-
national assignment literature, including a decreasing reliance on
expatriate assignees and broader conceptualization of international
assignments (Brewster, 2001; Harzing, 2001; Scullion, 2001;
Mendenhall et al., 2001); designing and supporting transnational teams
(Snell et al., 2002); and the exploration of HR issues in an expanding
range of newly industrializing countries (Budhwar and Debrah, 2001;
Warner, 2004);
In the context of this flurry of activity and the desire to address obvi-
ous theoretical and empirical lacuna, there are several developments
and ongoing challenges that we can point to as likely contributors to
growth of this field. Attempts at the development and defence of more
sophisticated theoretical work are evident including work which identi-
fies the main determinants of International HRM policy and practice
and the development of integrated frameworks which bring together
the strategic and international dimensions of International HRM (De
Cieri and Dowling, 1999; Schuler et al., 1993). Important and defining as
these developments are, few would argue with the proposition that this
field remains theoretically scant, while the more critical might suggest it
will likely remain so due to the absence of a disciplinary base. That said,
there is a growing body of empirical research on International HRM
strategies and practices of MNCs, and as noted earlier, this is increas-
ingly coming from investigations occurring outside of the United States
(Scullion, 2001). This body of work is premised on a questioning of the
heretofore often assumed universality of American theories (Brewster
et al., 2000; 2004; Hofstede, 2001) and in particular has focused on
unearthing differences in the approaches to international HRM in
MNCs of different national origin including US, Asian and European
firms (Gooderham et al., 1999; Gunnigle et al., 2002, Harzing, 1999;
Peterson et al., 1996; Tung, 1982).
The wellspring for much of the empirical work is thus the MNC, its
strategies, policies and practices. The rapid growth of internationalization
and global competition has increased the number, range and significance
of MNCs in recent years with consequences for the increased mobility of
 Introduction 9

human resources (Black et al., 2000; Scullion and Collings, 2006). The
enormous significance of multinational companies in the global econ-
omy is without question. In Dicken’s (2003:197) words: ‘more than any
other single institution, the transnational corporation … has come to be
regarded as the primary shaper of the contemporary global economy’.
The significance of smaller firms and their internationalization is also
considerable in this regard. Scullion (2001) points to the increase in inter-
nationalization of such small and medium firms arguing that MNCs are
not an homogenous group of companies such as the typical examples of
IBM, Ford et al. but rather include a large number of smaller, privately
owned firms which operate in a single core business area and have only a
small number of subsidiaries. This rapid growth of small and medium
sized enterprise internationalization in recent years and the emergence of
so called ‘micromultinationals’ (Dimitratos et al., 2003) means that
International HRM issues are becoming increasingly important in a far
wider range of organizations. This internationalization of both larger and
smaller firms and their emergence from economies that are relative late-
comers to the internationalization process has led to the exploration of
whether there is a more strategic role for HRM. There is a growing recog-
nition that the success of global business depends most importantly on
the quality of management in the MNC (Gooderham and Nordhaug,
2003), and the effective management of HR is increasingly being recog-
nised as a determinant of success or failure in international business
(Black et al., 1999; Harris et al., 2003), especially, according to Scullion and
Starkey (2000) in implementation and control in the international firm. It
is also suggested that a growing awareness of implementation problems
within the rapidly increasing number of strategic alliances and cross-bor-
der mergers and acquisitions has further increased the strategic impor-
tance of International HRM (Schuler et al., 2003), particularly as the
context of strategic alliances and global business is increasingly shifting
from formal, developed and mature markets to informal, emerging and
culturally distant markets (Harvey et al., 1999), something which brings
with it a unique set of associated difficulties. In this context, the imple-
mentation of global strategies is increasingly constrained by shortages of
international management talent which constrain corporate efforts to
expand abroad (Morgan et al., 2003; Black and Gregerson 1999). Such
shortages are becoming an increasing problem for international firms
(Scullion, 1994), particularly in the emerging markets (Garten, 1997;
Scullion, 1994) where there is a rapid growth in demand for managers
with the distinctive competences required to manage in these culturally
distant countries (Harvey et al., 1999; Scullion and Collings, 2006).
10 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

The handling of expatriation issues is a crucial role in the competi-

tiveness of organizations and expatriate performance continues to be a
central plank of research activity. Scullion (2004) notes this as a prob-
lematic area for many MNCs and is often costly, both in human and
financial terms and continues to spawn a good deal of research. Harris
and Kumra (1999) observed that during the late 1980s and early 1990s
expatriation seemed to be an outmoded subject, linked to images of a
colonial past that no longer existed. In the late 1990s, however, circum-
stances changed and there was an increased need for effective expatri-
ates. Harris and Brewster (1999) highlight key factors effecting this
change. First, the rapid globalization of business and the changing
nature of international organizations, with increasing numbers of joint
ventures and alliances and the emergence of small to medium-sized
organizations as key players in global trade. Second, a change in host
locations, showing a decline in the proportion of expatriates going from
the developed to the developing world. Instead, there has been an
increase in assignments and cross-border developments between devel-
oped countries and New World trading blocs. Third, the changing
nature of expatriates themselves. The traditional married male career
expatriate is being replaced by well-educated managers undertaking one
or two assignments in the course of their career in order to gain interna-
tional experience. Heraty and Morley (2004) argue that understanding
the meaning, the value and the significance of the international assign-
ment, both to the organization and to the assignee, remains an impor-
tant academic and practical task. From the organizations perspective,
such assignments are of strategic significance, with the international
assignee often emerging as a critical node in the organization’s interna-
tional network. Thus, research has established that international
assignees are commonly utilized in the early stages of establishing a new
subsidiary in a foreign location, especially for the transfer of technical
and managerial skills. They may also be used for the purpose of exercis-
ing control in the overseas operation, sometimes designedly being sent
to a poorer performing subsidiary to take appropriate measures to
improve the unit’s performance. Concomitantly, from the individual’s
perspective, they suggest that understanding the international assign-
ment, and the myriad of factors that affect it, remain important in order
that we might improve the personal, work and social experience that
awaits the international assignee. Their experience when on assignment
is impacted by a great many things and failure and pre-mature returns
have often been reported, though, as Harzing (1995) and (2002) con-
vincingly demonstrates, failure rates have been overestimated. Included
 Introduction 11

among the difficulties faced by the international assignee are culture

shock, transitional difficulties, differences in work-related norms,
isolation, homesickness, differences in healthcare, housing, schooling,
cuisine, language, customs, sex roles, and the cost of living. Other major
issues identified in the expatriate literature include inadequate
selection, poor pre-departure training, poorly designed compensation
packages and the inability of the international assignee and/or his/her
family to adjust to the new culture and environs. On the other end of
the international assignment cycle, the failure on the part of many
organizations to properly address repatriation issues remains a well-
spring for research. The repatriation of managers has been identified as
a major problem for multinational organizations in North America and
Europe (Black et al., 1999; Forster, 2000). There is a widespread assump-
tion by managers in corporate headquarters that re-entry to the home
country and home organization is relatively non-problematic or even an
non-issue. Yet, research indicates that repatriation can be an even more
difficult adjustment than expatriation. Harvey (1989) noted that there
was a growing recognition that where organizations are seen to deal
unsympathetically with the problems faced by expatriates on re-entry
that managers are more reluctant to accept the offer of overseas assign-
ments. In practice, many organizations continue to adopt an ad hoc
sink or swim attitude in relation to repatriation for employees and their
families, and many expatriate managers continue to experience the
repatriation process as falling far short of expectations (Stroh et al.,
1998).
Against this backdrop of an increasing pace of internationalization
and the changing forms of globalization, different types and more
diverse sources of MNC growth, lack of certainty on how to internation-
alize the HRM function and perennial debates on the handling and
management of international assignments, this edited collection brings
together eight papers dealing with international human resource man-
agement and international assignments. The majority of the papers in
our collection are revised contributions originally presented at the
7th Conference on International Human Resource Management held at
the University of Limerick, Ireland during June 2003. Conceived of and
presented under the theme ‘International Human Resource Management:
Exploring the Mosaic, Developing the Discipline’, the conference took
as its point of departure the ever increasing globalization of business and
how this brought into sharp relief the need to develop a more in-depth
understanding of international human resource management and its
associated activities. The contributions to the conference focused on,
12 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

inter alia: the current state of the field of international human resource
management; strategy, human resource management and organiza-
tional performance; international assignments and global careers;
knowledge management and human capital development; and multina-
tional corporations; and their impact on human resource management,
employment relations and collective bargaining. This volume brings
together a selection of papers which combined, seek to explore the
origin and scope of the field of IHRM, highlight the developing and
diverse context in which it is practiced and chart the contemporary
landscape of dominant lines of enquiry.

The contributions to the book

In Chapter 2 Mila Lazarova provides an overarching introduction to the
field of international human resource management. A field which she
argues is distinguished from HRM by the added layers of complexity of
operation associated with operating within diverse national contexts
and further the requirement to manage three separate groups of
employees – parent country nationals, host country nationals and third
country nationals. Here Lazarova reviews the main areas of inquiry in
the field of IHRM and also to identify a number of topics which merit
further study.
Lazarova notes that early academic work in the field was dominated by
research on expatriate managers, which was reflected in how the field
was defined by leading researchers at that time. While expatriate man-
agement remains a key area of inquiry, Lazorova argues that since the
1990s the area of inquiry of IHRM has broadened significantly. In this
context she identified three groups within which published work in the
field can be broadly classified. The first of these comprises of country – or
culture – specific studies which describe practices, policies or overall
approaches to HRM, or study selected relationships between different
elements of HRM systems in specific countries. The second group is
focused on comparative studies. These studies generally consist of
research which compares two or more countries (or at least companies
within countries) in terms of either overall HRM approaches or specific
HR policies or practices. Many of these studies focus on the convergence-
divergence debate. The final group, which she argues is the largest,
focuses on the management of human resource in MNCs. It is within this
group that expatriation research falls, although the group includes a
much broader range of issues. The key themes and issues within these
groups are discussed in turn in the chapter.
 Introduction 13

Finally the chapter reviews a number of potential avenues of research

for the field of IHRM. In this regard the author concludes that the field
of IHRM ‘is vibrant and diverse and has grown even more so in the past
decade’. Hence the author remains confident and hopeful about where
the field is headed.
In Chapter 3 Monir Tayeb addresses a key debate in the globalization
literature and specifically the globalization debate within the cross-cultural
HRM discipline. In this regard and, based on case evidence in the
Scottish context, she explores how major HRM issues are handled in
practice and shaped in foreign multinational subsidiaries. The chapter
begins with a consideration of the extent to which the business world
can really be considered a global village vis-à-vis the extent to which cer-
tain countries are excluded from the global economic transformation
and further, the extent to which cross-national differences among the
inhabitants of the village and the traders in the global village prevail. In
considering this debate Tayeb raises the key question of where HRM fits
in this debate. She posits that the issue can be examined from at least
two angles: (1) globalization of HRM – can employee management best
policies and practices be identified and emulated by companies
throughout the world?, and (2) global companies and HRM – can iden-
tical HRM policies and practices be employed in subsidiaries scattered
around the world?
Based on an empirical study, Tayeb questions the universality of the
concept of HRM and argues that HRM is embedded in the socio-cultural
and political economic context within which organizations operate.
Thus, in theory, unless all the elements of this context are also simulta-
neously transferred, HRM policies and practices cannot successfully
travel between various nations. However, organizational context also
contains convergence factors such as business imperatives which might
have to be dealt with in similar fashions across borders. Moreover, both
divergence and convergence factors change over time, some at a slower
pace than others. In other words, the situation is dynamic, and can at
times provide favourable conditions for the adoption of HRM and other
best practices in any given country or company.
Chapter 4, by Allen Engle and Mark Mendenhall presents a treatise
on the value of integrating and aligning transnational compensation
and rewards with the transnational roles executed by the international
manager. The paper seeks to advance a new model of global compensation
based on the managerial roles of operational entrepreneur, managerial
developer and top-level leader proposed by Bartlett and Ghoshal (2000).
The authors point to the changing nature of the managerial career and
14 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

to the boundaryless nature of the work roles performed in global firms.

Concomitantly, they point to a disconnect between this career shift and
the allied compensation system. In many instances the compensation
strategy, they argue, remains wedded to past priorities, with the result
that it is inappropriate for dealing with many of the complexities of
globalization. At best the disconnect between ‘career’ and ‘compensa-
tion’ may result in ineffectiveness, at worst in dysfunctional outcomes.
In order to avoid this systems disconnect, the authors propose a com-
pensation framework that is congruent with the boundaryless nature of
managerial work. Labelled the ‘Globally Integrative Model of Pay’, this
transnational rewards model recognises and takes cognisance of modern
day managerial transnational roles. The model links the input-process
and output-pay dimensions of the three different transnational manage-
rial roles proposed by Bartlett and Ghoshal, resulting in several different
pay configurations. The model represents an important building block in
the development of an internally congruent reward structure in transna-
tional firms, one more squarely and obviously linked to desired out-
comes.
In Chapter 5 Michael Harvey and Milorad Novicevic discuss an impor-
tant but often neglected trend in the management of human resources
in a global context, namely inpatriation. Inpatriation is defined by the
authors as ‘a formalised process of transferring and/or hiring local and
third country nationals into the parent organization on a semi-permanent
or permanent basis’. Harvey and Novicevic consider inpatriation to be
an innovative practice for developing the flow of globally competent
managers between foreign subsidiaries and the headquarters of MNCs.
They argue that inpatriate managers have the potential to play a number
of important roles in the global corporation. Specifically they can act as
a ‘linking pin’ between the HQ and emerging markets which the corpo-
ration is attempting to penetrate. Further they can aid in developing
relationships and alliances in foreign countries. They also minimize the
extent to which the HQ perceives a loss of control over foreign opera-
tions as they are based at the HQ. The use of inpatriate assignments is
not without potential difficulties however, not least of which is the
assimilation of the inpatriate managers into the parent HQ. In this chap-
ter the authors outline a strategic global HRM (SGHRM) system which
organizations can use to facilitate the assimilation of inpatriates into the
HQ operation.
This SGHRM system is premised on transaction cost economics theory
which is discussed in the chapter. The proposed system consists of three
congruent architectural building blocks which the authors posit form
 Introduction 15

the basis for an efficient architecture for the inpatriation of managers.

These four blocks include: (1) the programmed screening of inpatriate
candidates; (2) acculturation based on inpatriate capacity for differential
learning and probity; and (3) inpatriate internalization of tacit organi-
zational norms for conduct and knowing through teamwork. Harvey
and Novicevic propose that through utilizing an efficient architecture
for the inpatriation of foreign managers, MNCs can facilitate the
smooth cultural transmission of cooperative norms for learning and
conduct in the HQ operation.
Chapter 6 by Angelo DeNisi, Soo Min Toh and Brian Connelly focuses
on the often neglected role played by host country nationals (HCNs) in
the effectiveness of the expatriate assignment. The chapter is premised
on a number of key assumptions. First, in the context of the current
global economic environment, characterized by high levels of global
competition, multinational corporations (MNCs) of necessity must staff
their operations with the best available human resource regardless of
nationality. Second, MNCs are faced with increasingly complex HRM
issues as they strive to ensure that the expatriate employees and HCNs
involved in the corporation’s operations are successful. In this regard, it
is argued that HCNs can be critical in determining the success of expa-
triate assignments but further that HCNs may not always be willing to
play the role required of them in this context. DeNisi and his colleagues
recognize the increasingly complex nature of international assignments
and specifically the fact that assignments are now used for many differ-
ent reasons, each of which has different strategic (goals) and definitions
of success. In this context, the role of HCNs will increase as a function of
the importance of knowledge transfer to the strategic objective of the
assignment.
In this chapter the authors point to a number of factors which may
influence the HCNs’ willingness to share knowledge and work effec-
tively with expatriate managers. In this regard pay disparities between
HCNs and expatriate managers emerge as significant. While tradition-
ally expatriate managers were seen by HCNs as better skilled and better
educated, advances in education in most countries mean that many
HCNs now view expatriates as equals and expect to be treated in a simi-
lar fashion. Other key variables include the MNC’s international strategy
and mode of entry.
Finally the authors propose some organizational level interventions
which organizations can use to alter the way in which HCNs compare
themselves to expatriates, or even to change the extent to which such
comparisons are made.
16 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

Our seventh chapter by Günter Stahl and Chei Hwee Chua focuses on
the career implications of international assignments for expatriates and
organizations. In the context of the current business environment
where international experience among managers is increasingly viewed
as a source of competitive advantage for multinational corporations,
this paper considers a key polemic with regard to the contemporary
international assignment. Specifically while MNCs and top managers
insist that an international assignment is a positive career move for the
managers concerned and a prerequisite for promotion to senior man-
agement ranks, empirical research indicates that international assignees
often consider international assignments to have negative career impli-
cations. Thus in reality the career implications are often negative for the
individuals concerned.
In this context the focus of this chapter is on establishing why
expatriates continue to accept international assignments, despite the
often posited uncertainty over career prospects on repatriation. The
paper expands on the extant research on this topic which is largely US
based through examining a study of European (German) and Asian
(Singaporean) expatriates. A key theoretical construct in the paper is the
concept of boundaryless careers which DePhilippi and Arthur define as
‘a sequence of job opportunities that go beyond the boundaries of a sin-
gle employment setting’. Thus the aforementioned paradox may be
explained by the fact that people may accept international assignments
as a means of furthering their internal careers, or employability in the
external market, as opposed to their external careers within their current
organization.
Based on their empirical study Stahl and Chua conclude that individ-
uals continue to accept international assignments despite the posited
career uncertainty on return for two key reasons. First they place a high
intrinsic value on the international experience and second they view
that international experience as a competitive asset that makes them
more valuable in the external labour market. Furthermore their findings
indicate that a significant majority of the expatriates studied would
leave their current organization is offered a more attractive position else-
where. Based on these findings the authors call for MNCs to improve
their international workforce planning process and repatriation prac-
tices if they wish to reduce turnover levels on repatriation in the context
of the emerging concept of boundaryless careers.
Continuing the theme set in the preceding chapter, Chapter 8 by
Moshe Banai and Wes Harry further develop the concept of these boundary-
less careers. Specifically they introduce a new type of international manager,
 Introduction 17

which they term the international itinerant. Banai and Harry define
international itinerants as ‘professional managers who over their careers
are employed for their ability, by at least two business organizations,
that are not related to each other, in at least two different foreign coun-
tries’. While acknowledging the difficulty of identifying and classifying
the number of international itinerants operating globally, the authors
estimate that they are relatively prevalent and the numbers are likely to
increase due to the increasing difficulties associated with the traditional
international assignment mentioned above.
Based on an empirical study the authors present a nominal classifica-
tion of international itinerants. These classifications include failed expa-
triates, those with unique experience, cosmopolitans, mavericks,
returning nationals and novelty seekers. Further, the authors describe
elements typical to their career management and propose possible dif-
ferences in career management between international itinerants and tra-
ditional expatriate assignees. Banai and Harry go on to outline the
advantages and disadvantages of international itinerants for employers
and further the pros and cons of this type of assignment for the individ-
uals involved. Finally, the authors consider the implications of their
study for the research of career management in an international context
and multinational corporations more generally.
Our final chapter by Roger Blakeney, Gary Oddou and Joyce Osland
closes the cycle on the international assignment by considering knowl-
edge transfer in the context of repatriated employees. This is a signifi-
cant topic as the extant literature would suggest that repatriation is an
often-neglected aspect of the international assignment in MNCs. Given
the fact that returning expatriates are equipped with numerable and
valuable assets combined with the strategic importance of organiza-
tional learning as a source of competitive advantage for MNCs in the
current business environment, the successful transfer of knowledge
acquired during international assignments is likely to become an
increasing priority for MNCs. This is because the knowledge, and
resources which firms must acquire and manage to create sustained
competitive advantage (Inkpen, 1998). In this chapter the authors dis-
cuss the transfer of this knowledge, both tacit and explicit, to the home
organization on the repatriation of international assignees. The focus of
the chapter is on individual and work level variables which may affect
the transfer process.
Based on a review of the extant literature combined with their per-
sonal research the authors make a number of recommendations about
the HRM practices which can support the knowledge transfer process.
18 M.J. Morley, N. Heraty and D.G. Collings

Blakeney, Oddou and Osland argue that especially in the context of tacit
knowledge, which is the most valuable, a number of similar processes
underlie their acquisition and transfer. Hence they propose a number of
recommendations for managing these two sets of processes. Finally they
point to a number of potential avenues of future research in the field.

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Walker, J. (1992), Human Resource Strategy, New York: McGraw Hill.
Warner, (2004) ‘Human resource management in China Revisited: introduction’
International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15: 4–5, pp. 617–34.
Welch, D. (1994), ‘Determinants of international human resource management
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Index
acculturation 100–2, 103, 106–7
assimilation type 107–8
individualism type 108
integration type 108
separation type 107
acquisitions
knowledge transfer 123–4,
125, 126
action learning 92
affective organizational
commitment 187
ASEA Brown Boveri’s (ABB’s) career
development practices 91
balance sheet approach 5, 117–18
best practices 93
universal 54
BOSCH 193
boundaryless careers 16, 91–2,
138–9, 153, 155–6, 172–3
definition 16, 138
development programs 92–3, 148
German and Singaporean
expatriates 139–41, 146–7
implications for practice 147–8
British Steel 70, 71, 72
career banding 91
career development 91–4, 136, 148
constructivist and objectivist
schools 154, 174
Colgate-Palmolive Co. 194
collective socialization 128–9
communication
high- and low-context 75–6
interpersonal networks 92–3
compensation 5, 13–14
balance sheet approach 5, 117–18
see also globally integrative model
of pay
Conference on International Human
Resource Management
(7th : 2003) 11–12
200
contextual performance
see organizational citizenship
behaviors
continuance organizational
commitment 187
corporate culture 98
corporate expatriate and repatriate
policy 136, 142–3
cosmopolitans 160–1
cultural variables 27, 34–5, 58,
61, 76–7
domestic itinerants 173
dual-career couples
mentoring 191
employees 1–2
transactional contract 155
entrepreneurs
operating level 86
ethnocentrism 4, 40, 118
executive compensation 82–4
agency theory model 84
transnational rewards 87–8
expatriate-host country national
relationships 15, 41, 114–16,
130–1
basic concepts 116–17
effect of perceived injustice 120–1
potential organizational
interventions 127–30
role of expatriate HRM policy
117–20
see also knowledge transfer
expatriates 2, 4, 25, 41, 156, 157
career implications 16, 136, 146–7
career orientations 144–6
changing nature 10, 115
corporate policy 136
failed 159–60
German and Singaporean 139–49
vs. international itinerants
163–4, 169

expatriates – continued
management 25, 41–2
performance 41–2
research 44–5
expatriation 5, 10, 12, 40–1, 69, 74
exporting arrangements
knowledge transfer 123, 124, 126
failed expatriates 159–60
global corporate strategy 121–2
globalization 13
of HRM 53–8, 77
practitioners’ perspective 62–5
of market 52–4
globally integrative model of pay 14,
88–91, 95
and career development 91–4
greenfield ventures 124
home country approach
see balance sheet approach
host country nationals (HCNs) 40,
114, 156
and expatriate success 15, 115–17
perceptions of injustice 120–1,
125–6
withhold of support 119–21,
125–6
human resource management
(HRM) 12
comparative HRM 25
contextual model 27–9
convergence-divergence debate 12,
13, 32–6, 54–5
development 24
globalization of 13, 53–8, 62–5, 77
in MNCs 58–62, 77–8
universality 55–7, 77
see also international human
resource management
human resource management (HRM)
policies and practices
cultural and institutional
perspectives 34–5
emic vs. etic nature 33
French-owned companies 62–5,
69–74
Japanese-owned companies 65–6
Index 201
regional convergence 36
transfer and localization 38–9,
57–8, 77
inpatriation 14, 98–100, 110–11
cultural competency 100–2, 103,
106–8
definition 14
screening 103, 104
liability protection 105–6
programmed screening 104–5
socialization 103, 108–10
theoretical foundation 14–15,
102–4
Intel 191
internal equity argument 83
international assignments 10, 15,
115–16, 135–6, 149–50
career implications 16, 136, 146–8
difficulties 10–11
motivations 136–8: German
and Singaporean expatriates
141–2
premature return 42, 115
international human resource
management (IHRM) 1–2, 12
contextual paradigm 6–7, 13
definition and scope 4–6, 24–5
demands 2
developments 7–8
importance 2–3
literature 3–4
in MNCs 26, 29, 36–9, 42
universalist paradigm 6, 28
see also human resource
management
international itinerants 153,
157–9, 173
advantages for employers 163–6
advantages for itinerants 166–7
career management 168–70
classification 159–63
definition 17, 157
disadvantages for employers 166
disadvantages for itinerants 167–8
employment in multiple firms
170–1
implications 175–6
learning 171–2
202 Index
international itinerants – continued
loyalty to professional
development 170
measure of success 172
transferable skills 171
internationalization of business 9,
24, 44
international managers
classification 156–7
inter-organizational mobility 155
interpersonal networks 92–3
justice sensitivity 127–8
knowledge management 194
knowledge transfer
HCN to expatriate 120–1
and mode of MNC market entry
123–7
role of international corporate
strategy 121–3
repatriate 17–18, 181–3, 194–6
assets characteristics 184–5
characteristics of receiving unit
187–8
formal mechanisms 193
HR recommendations 190–4
motivations 186
process 183–4
repatriate characteristics
185–7
repatriate-work unit relationship
188–90
leaders 86–7
licensing arrangements
knowledge transfer 123,
124–5, 126
McDonald’s 129
management audits 93
managerial learning 165, 171–2
managerial positions
staffing 39–40
mavericks 161
Michelin 69–70
micromultinationals 9
multidomestic corporate strategy
121, 122
multinational companies (MNCs) 37
American 28
French 62–5, 69–74, 75–6
HRM 26, 29, 36–9, 42, 58–62
Japanese 60, 62–9, 75
primary control device 85
significance 8–9
normative organizational
commitment 187
novelty seekers 162–3
occasional parachutists 156
Oki 65–6, 67, 68, 69
on-the-job training 172
operating level entrepreneurs 86
organizational citizenship behaviors
(OCBs) 117, 120
reward 129–30
organizational identity 128
parent company 59–60, 77, 118
polycentrism 4, 40
pre-departure training 5, 69,
143, 191
recategorization 128
recruitment 68
redundancies 69
reentry training 192
regiocentrism 4, 40
relational networks 186
repatriation 5, 11, 147
German and Singaporean concerns
143–4, 146
and knowledge transfer see
knowledge transfer
mentoring 191–2
prior short-term projects 192–3
training managers of 193
research in IHRM 7–8, 26–7, 42–3
comparative studies 25–6, 32–6
country/culture-specific studies
25, 30–2
early focus 24–5
future directions 13, 43–5
returning nationals 161–2
reverse transfer 38
rotational assignments 92–3

Samsung 194
screening
inpatriate managers 103, 104–6
Seiko 66, 67, 68, 69
selection 5
expatriates 41, 191
inpatriate managers 106
social identity 188–9
socialization
collective 128–9
inpatriate managers 103, 108–10
staffing managerial positions 39–40
strategic alliances
knowledge transfer 123, 125
strategic international human
resource management 38
definition 25
subsidiaries 61–2, 77–8
knowledge transfer 123–4,
125, 126
Scottish 62–76, 78
tacit knowledge 184
inpatriate internalization 108–10
Index 203
teamwork 67, 73–4
inpatriate managers 108–10
technical specialists 156
third country nationals 2, 14,
40, 156
timing 87–8, 94, 95
Total (company) 72–4, 76
training 58, 172
transaction cost economics
(TCE) 99, 102–3, 104–5,
106–7
transnational corporate strategy 121,
122–3
transnational managers
roles 85–7
Tubular Industries Scotland Ltd (TISL)
70–2, 76
United Airlines 126
Valeric 70, 71, 72
wholly owned subsidiaries 124,
125, 126
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