Managing global Human

resource
The Manager’s Global Challenge

 What Is International Human Resource Management?

1. Managing human resources in global companies (for example, selecting, training, and
compensating employees who work abroad)
2. Managing expatriate employees (those the employer sends abroad)
3. Comparing human resource management practices in different countries
Adapting Human Resource Activities to
Intercountry Differences
Staffing the Global Organization
 International Staffing: Home or Local?
expatriates (expats)
Noncitizens of the countries in which employees are working.
home-country nationals
Citizens of the country in which the multinational company has its
headquarters.
locals
Citizens of the countries in which employees are working; also called
host-country nationals.
third-country nationals
Citizens of a country other than the parent or the host country.
 offshoring—moving business processes such as manufacturing or call-center operations
abroad, and thus having local employees abroad do jobs that the firm’s domestic
employees previously did in-house— is another globalization option
Management Values and International Staffing Policy

 ethnocentric
 The notion that home-country attitudes, management style, knowledge, evaluation criteria,
and managers are superior to anything
 the host country has to offer.
 polycentric
 A conscious belief that only the host-country managers can ever really understand the
culture and behavior of the host-country market.
 geocentric
 The belief that the firm’s whole management staff must be scoured on a global basis, on
the assumption that the best manager of a specific position anywhere may be in any of the
countries in which the firm operates.
Managing HR Locally: How to Put into
Practice a Global HR System
Developing a More Effective Global HR System

 First, these employers engage in two best practices in developing their worldwide human resource
policies and practices.
 Form global HR networks. To head off resistance, human resource managers around the world
should feel part of the firm’s global human resource management team. Treat the local human
resource managers as equal partners. For instance, form global teams to develop the new human
resources system. Create “an infrastructure of partners around the world that you use for support,
for buy-in, for organization of local activities, and to help you better understand their own systems
and their own challenges.”140
 Remember that it’s more important to standardize ends and competencies than specific methods.
For example, IBM uses a basically standardized recruitment and selection process worldwide.
However, “details such as who conducts the interview (hiring manager vs. recruiter), or whether the
prescreen is by phone or in person, differ by country.”141
Making the Global HR System More
Acceptable
 Remember that truly global organizations find it easier to install global systems.
 Investigate pressures to differentiate and determine their legitimacy.
 Try to work within the context of a strong corporate culture.
Implementing the Global HR System:
 “You can’t communicate enough.” “There’s a need for constant contact with the decision
makers in each country, as well as the people who will be implementing and using the
system.”144
 Dedicate adequate resources. For example, don’t require the local human resource
management offices to implement new job analysis procedures unless the head office
provides adequate resources for these additional activities.