Introduction to IHRM
— Introduction
to the module
— Themes
and issues of the module
¡ Cultural and institutional
perspectives
¡ Multi-national companies
¡
Knowledge,
leadership, resourcing, reward, performance management, employment relations in
the international context.
¡
CSR
Questions Considered by IHRM Researchers
- How
much are existing HRM approaches that are based on Western ways of
thinking relevant and applicable to the rest of the world?
- Evidence
for ‘best practices?’
- Similarities
and differences (and reasons for).
- Is
HRM becoming more uniform as business becomes more global?
- Convergence/divergence?
- What
is the influence of institutional and cultural factors? (Rowley et al,
2011).
Themes and Issues
— HRM
as an ‘ethnocentric’ concept
— Convergence
or divergence (or synthesis)
— Context
and transferability
— International
SHRM
Levels of Analysis
— Global/international
¡ Universal
influences regardless of organisations’ geographical location. I.e. Global
electronic economy, IT, communication, Americanisation
— Regional
¡ Global
investment and trade blocs: Triad of North America, Western Europe, East Asia
— National
¡ State
regulatory, institutional and cultural
frameworks. Variations in business systems
— Organisational
¡ Commercial
concerns
HRM in a Global Context
— Internationalisation
of production
— Free
movement of capital
¡ Liberalisation
and breaking down of international barriers, transfer of jobs from high cost
economies to low cost economies
— Freedom
of movement of labour
¡ Economic
migration, removal of barriers
— International
regulations
¡ For
example, EU (compulsory), ILO, OECD (voluntary), NGO’s
ILO Conventions
— ILO
facilitates growth of universal labour standards through conventions and
recommendations:
¡ Freedom
of association
¡ Right
to organise and collective bargaining
¡ Minimum
age for employment of children
¡ Right
to occupational safety and health
¡ Prohibition
of forced labour
¡ Prohibition
of discrimination on grounds of race, sex, religion, political opinion etc.....
Strategic IHRM
— Globalisation
of production
¡ More
prevalent in manufacturing where labour costs remain high
¡ Shift
in manufacturing jobs to low-wage economies (off shoring)
— Public
sector privatisation and competitive tendering in the context of EU competition
laws
— Downsizing
— Competition
between employees in different countries (i.e. Kraft 2009 closed its Cadbury UK
plant whilst opening a factory in Poland
— New
technology
HR Strategy in Multi-national Firms
— Coordination
and environment
¡ i.e.
Europe – extensive legal frameworks; North America – market individualism; Far
East – group relations
¡ Economic
and political perspectives
— Managing
expatriates
— Gender
— Acquisitions
and mergers
¡ Selection of the management team; resolution
of cultural issues
¡ Political
and institutional factors in host nation can slow down or modify integration of
HR practices (Rees and Edwards, 2009
Culture and IHRM
— Culture
is learned, shared, transgenerational, symbolic, patterned, adaptive
— Implications
of cultural perspective:
¡ Preferred
organisational structures (i.e. Flat/tall, consultative/authoritarian etc.....
¡ Recruitment
(nepotism/merit, achievement/ascription)
¡ Pay
(individualism/collectivism)
¡ Employment regulation (uncertainty avoidance)
¡ Maternity,
paternity, childcare provision (masculinity/femininity)
Hollinshead, 2010)
Institutional Theory and HRM
— Institutional
ways of organising economic activity
— Institutional
forces include:
¡ Shared
norms and expectations of a society
¡ Local
government, social networks, social hierarchies, regional economic policy
¡ Markets,
culture and history
— Specific
Institutions:
¡ Education
system and establishments
¡ Public
and private enterprises and utilities
¡ Employers
associations
¡ Financial
establishments
¡ Legal
system
¡ Trade
Unions
¡ Government
and QUANGOS
— Socio-political
traditions
Socio-political traditions
— Neo-liberalism
¡ Privatization
of public services; economic deregulation; liberalization; low taxes; lower
public spending, particularly welfare spending; small government; controls on
trade-unions and organized labour; expansion of international markets and less
control of global finance
— Neo-corporatism
¡ Active
state; stakeholder approach; consensus; high taxation and public spending;
investment in national infrastructure; cooperation with trade-unions
— Marxism
¡ Inequalities
of power, wealth and class
Political Traditions and HRM
— Neo-liberalism
¡ Flexibility
¡ Individualisation
of employment relations
¡ Performance-related
pay; low pay economy
¡ Insecurity
¡ Low
levels of training
¡ Increased
inequalities of wealth and opportunities
¡ Shift
from personnel management to HRM
— Neo-corporatism
¡ State
regulation of employment practices
¡ Long-term
approach to HRP
¡ Investment
in training
¡ Relative
job security
¡ Employee
involvement and participation
Approaches to IHRM : Universalist View
— Push
to uniformity through globalisation, internationalisation , technological
advancement
— International
competition encourages adoption of ‘best practices’
— Search
for optimal management practices by MNCs have potential to make significant
impact on HRM
— Convergence
Contingency vs. Divergence
— Globalisation
and socio-economic integration lead to greater cultural diversity and varied
influences on cross-national organisations
— Organisations
adjust and change IHRM strategies to fit with the external environment
— Differences
in NBS mean that best practice in one
nation may not work in another
Crossvergence and Hybridization
— Hybrid
system retains characteristics of indigenous management values and practices
while being highly adaptive and flexible
— Utilises
good practices of other countries
— Can
overcome the tensions created by Western models
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