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Critical Issues in International HRM
1. DOES HRM DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS?
Munya Zvimba
2. WHAT IS HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT?(HRM)
“ Typically, HRM refers to those activities
undertaken by an organization to effectively utilise
its human resources.” (Dowling, 2008)
“The process of hiring and developing employees
so that they become more valuable to the
organization”. (business dictionary, 2014)
Some of the activities could include:
Human Resource planning
Staffing ( recruitment, education, selection & placement)
Training & development
3. WHAT IS DOMESTIC HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT (DHRM)?
DHRM occurs when employees reside within one
national boundary.
DHRM tends to deal with one currency and one tax
rate and one set of regulations.
4. WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT (IHRM)?
“All issues related to the management of people in
an international context including; human resource
issues facing MNCs in different parts of their
organisations and comparative analyses of HRM in
different countries’ (Stahl and Björkman, 2006)
“The complexity of working in different countries
and employing different national categories of
workers is a key variable that differentiates
domestic and international management.”
(Dowling, 2008)
5. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DOMESTIC HRM &
IHRM?
DHRM focuses on one domestic market which
usually has one nationality, where as IHRM deals
with different markets and different nationalities.
(whatishr.com, 2014)
Other areas of focus for IHRM include:
Culture.
Work ethic.
Political and legal.
Health & Safety.
Economic.
Staffing.
Placement.
Education.
Training and development.
6. CULTURE
DHRM tends to focus on one culture.
IHRM has to deal with different cultures.
IHRM has to be aware of issues such as the local
codes of conduct, religious beliefs and hierarchy’s
in local communities.
10. POLITICAL & LEGAL
Most mnc’s home nations have stable
Governments and proper rule of law.
A stable government equals economic stability.
IHRM has to consider the political climate when
expanding abroad.
Here are some examples of unstable governments:
Egypt –Arab springs.
Ukraine –Divide between Russian speaking
Ukrainians and the indigenous Ukrainians.
11. POLITICAL & LEGAL
Terrorism and Kidnapping(Scullion et al, 2007)
Here are some examples of kidnappings:
2005 – BBC reported that 6 Shell oil workers were
kidnapped in the Nigerian oil delta. (BBC, 2005)
2010 – CBC reported that 7 local oil workers were
kidnapped from Exxon Mobil Corp to disrupt
operations of western companies
2014 - Daily mail reported an employee of Sigma
Ltd (sub-contractor for Chevron Texaco) was
kidnapped and held to ransom for
£72000.(Dailymail, 2014)
In some countries it is seen as normal for corruption and bribery.
By looking at the table the countries with the most working hours are generally countries with lots of low-skilled labour. These countries are deemed the least productive. On the contrary the countries who are the most productive are those who work the least hours.
Governments are stable and do not interfere. The regulation is also stable. The domestic HRM does not have to worry too much about the political and legal scene.
In this day and age; risk of terrorism and kidnapping has to be factored in(Scullion et al, 2007). however its is more difficult to plan terrorism and kidnapping prevention measures in a foreign country because of the lack of in-depth knowledge of the area
Under 20% of UK workers feel that they are not safe at workNearly 50% of workers in Latvia feel they are not safe at workThe high % could be as a result of poor legislation or lack of
Better educated countries provide highly skilled labour.Poorly educated countries provide unskilled labour.IHRM has to know what type of labour force is available in the country.
