Comparative International Human Resource Management

This research aims to develop a critical understanding of the role of HR in an international organisation by putting emphasis on the journal of Farndale et al. (2010). The role of international HRM is to deal with the geocentric approach for the global scenario in one hand and the managing the subsidiaries from the localised approach.

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1COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Globalisation expands the boundaries and dynamics of the multinational companies in
such a manner that increases the activities and responsibilities of the HR managers. The domestic
settings of the organisations are also changed its shape due to the magnanimity of the
organisational activities. As a result of that the issues and problems have been erected in a great
extent that pushed the HR department to step in and resolve the issues effectively. According to
Chung, Sparrow and Bozkurt (2014) the role of the international HRM is vaster and elaborate in
compare to the regional and domestic organisations. In response to this, it is important to unravel
various aspects of the role of HR in an international corporate organisation. Therefore, the
purpose of this research is to develop a critical understanding of the role of HR in an
international organisation by putting emphasis on the journal of Farndale et al. (2010).
According to Gomes et al. (2015) the most important issue that an international HR has
to deal with can be identified as the recruitment process. The recruitment process is considered to
be the most critical part that conducted under the supervision of the HR. As a matter of fact, the
HR is responsible to procure recruitment. In this regard, the difference between the domestic
recruitment and the international recruitment is that the domestic recruitment process is
restrained into a particular country with its citizens. However, in case of the international
recruitment the process becomes more elaborative and complex enough because of the presence
of aspirants from different countries and expatriates. Based on this understanding, Reiche,
Harzing and Tenzer (2018) advocated that in an international recruitment process there are
several factors on which a HR has to put focus on. For instance, an aspirant from the Middle East
country has little knowledge about the workplace environment and recruitment process of an
European company located in South-East Asia. In this context, the role of the HR is to brief the
process and structure of the recruitment. Side by side it is also imperative for the HRM to get

2COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
acknowledged with the perception of the aspirant who belongs to a different country. In this
context, the impact of ethnocentrism has a crucial implication. As far as the definition of
ethnocentrism is concerned, it can be stated that the concept is related to the cultural superiority
(Brewster et al. 2016). From that point of view, globalisation and ethnocentrism are opposite
from each other and the imposition of ethnocentrism over global orientation can jeopardize the
healthy development of both the corporate organisation and the employees of a multinational
company.
In response to this, the journal of Farndale et al. (2010) ascribed about the relationship
between ethnocentrism and globalisation. The article pointed out that it is pertinent for the HR to
set a liberal approach in order to maintain and recruit a diverse workforce. As a matter of fact,
the purpose of using such liberal approach is related to diversify the workplace culture as it is a
core aspect of dealing with such a vast workforce. However, Farndale et al. (2010) tried to blend
the concept of ethnocentrism and globalisation is a positive term. In case of the Siemens
Company it can be seen that the organisation is based on high ethnocentrism. However, the
company also involves the subsidiaries in the process with the intention to develop hybrid
strategy where both domestic and international employees can perform (Horwitz 2017). On the
other hand, the journal mentioned the example of Oracle that was highly ethnocentric. Though
the company has its branch overseas but still ethnocentrism is considered to be one of the
important aspect of the organisation. Therefore, despite of having contradictory meaning there
are possibilities for both ethnocentrism and globalisation to make a hybrid structure of HR
framework. The only purpose is to expand safeguarding the image and value within the parent
country by offering jobs and employment to the best suited people (Farndale et al. 2017). On the

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other hand, securing the international aspect by incorporating the subsidiaries into the fold that
can also fulfil the expectations of the foreign country.
In addition to this, it can also be stated that the role of international HRM is to deal with
the geocentric approach for the global scenario in one hand and the managing the subsidiaries
from the localised approach. In this regard, the research of Fan et al. (2016) articulated that the
geocentric approach for the global scenario is an important facet that can lead the company to
establish its market more strategically. In the multinational companies the organisations put
emphasis on the global aspects to deal with the issues that are related to the multinational aspect.
In this context, the journal of Farndale et al. (2010) articulated that the in a wide ranged
integrated business, nationality was not recognised as a part of concern for the multinational
company. There are global factors that becomes more important than national interests.
Therefore, the international business organisations puts emphasis on the global scenario rather
than the national perspective (Adams et al. 2014). As a matter of fact, it becomes a beneficial
factor for the organisation to skip the pressure provided by the national government. The
international business orientation provide the companies more power and exposure that can bring
them more advantage in the competitive market. In this context, the role of the HR is to create an
international environment so that it will resembled with the company aims and objectives.
According to Budhwar, Varma and Patel (2016) it is important for an international HRM to go
with the company objectives so that it can maximise the profit and benefits for the company.
On the other hand, Brewster, Mayrhofer and Smale (2016) asserted that implication of
the localisation is also considered to be an important aspect for the organisations to cope with
both the international and local market. As a matter of fact, it can be argued that the role of the
international HRM is to formulate a better environment that can bring effectiveness and

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prosperity for the organisation. Ethnocentrism is considered to be highly relevant in this aspect.
According to Syed and Pio (2014) the ethnocentric approach of the organisation leads to the
development of a better organisational structure with the help of the local stakeholders.
Therefore, it is important for the HRM also to develop a local practice inside the organisation
that symbolises the local traditions. Managing the subsidiaries is identified as an important
aspect in this regard. Exchanging employees is referred as the effective strategic steps that the
HR must implement in order to adapting the change in situation. In his journal Farndale et al.
(2010) identified that the multinational companies are sometimes shift their gaze from global
context and try to follow the ethnocentric model that gradually transformed into polycentric and
geocentric approaches. It depends on the business condition of the company that drives the HR to
implement such a complex framework. Moreover, changing in the organisational structure is a
strenuous and complex task that has to associate with a group of interrelated factors. From that
point of view, the research of Tarique, Briscoe and Schuler (2015) stated that there was no
predefined mechanism that the international organisations and the international HRs follow
rather the entire process depends on the situation and the decision making process.
It paves the way for a further discuss related to set up strategies in order to execute the
effectiveness and efficacy of the HR. For a better outcome the journal of Farndale et al. (2010)
seeks help of an in-depth analysis. Overall there are 248 interviews were placed and 16 MNCs
based on 19 countries took participation in the process. From such a detailed investigation it can
be identified that the role of the international HRM is not so lucid rather highly complex and
multidimensional (Mahmood 2015). In this context, the research incorporated a triple line
approach where the respondents were evaluated on the basis of multilevel, multiactor and multi
country region. Qualitative approach was considered to be the preferable approach which the

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companies were preferred to go with. Intercontinental companies are taken in this regard as the
sample. As far the research of Cascio and Boudreau (2016) it can be argued that the role of the
qualitative research is to focus on the quality of the samples rather than increasing the number of
samples. The same thing can be seen in case of the research of Kaufman (2016) that took a
number of multinational companies that were intricately practiced the international HRM
strategy. On the basis of this discussion, it can be stated that it is pertinent to address a difference
between the conventional approach for the HR strategies and how far the international HR
mechanism is different from it.
Therefore, the journal rightly figured out the differences between the international HRM
and its distinctiveness from the conventional perspective of the HRM practices. As a matter of
fact, it can be opined that the journal rightly formulate a discussion that is resembled intricately
with the activities of the international HRM. It also reflected the fundamental differences
between the strategies of the HRM and the planning of the international HRM. In course of the
discussion, the international HRM strategies and structure are also discussed with specific
examples of the multinational companies. For an instance P&G operates through a network of
interdependency that enhance the strength of the corporate culture. On the other hand, Unilever
follows the regional model that can increase the interdependency to the extent of
decentralisation. Therefore, it can be argued that different companies practice different strategies
related to the organisational structure and objectives. Company objectives plays a significant role
in this context and influences the HR strategy in order to ensure the effectiveness of the company
and develop through generate excellence through the employment. Recruiting the efficient
employees plays a pivotal part in this context that can bring more effectiveness in the

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organisational structure. The journal of Farndale et al. (2010) rightly pointed out this practice in
order to derive proper justification in contrast to the role of the international HR.
Furthermore, the journal also segregated the discussion between the strategies of the
international HR strategy and the corporate HR roles. In this section the basic factors related to
the activities and performances of the corporate HR are discussed in contrast to the role of the
international HR. moreover, the discussion further carried out a better explanation regarding the
relationship between the responsibility of the corporate HR and international HR management.
From that point of view, it can be asserted that the role of the HR is no longer restricted into the
field of fundamental tasks recruitment and employee managing rather it expands its dynamics in
terms of dealing with the global perspective of employee recruitment and the policy making
process that is highly resembled with the company aims and objectives. Globalisation is solely
responsible for increasing this amount of complexity into the HR practices that is identified as
the international HRM.
From the above discussion, it can be stated that the role of the international HR is highly
and firmly different from the conventional perspective of HRM practices. More complexity and
efficiency make it complex in order to deal with expatriate employees. Moreover, the local
culture and norms are also considered to be a part of the international HR practice. It is
resembled with the concept of ethnocentrism and localisation. In an apparent manner, it seems to
contradict the very understanding of the globalisation but the practice and activities of the
international HRM create an equal perception where the meaning of both ethnocentrism and
globalisation connotes the same. In this context, the journal not only restricted itself within the
discussion related to the international HRM practices but also tries to point out the distinction
between the conventional HRM and its international form. In addition to this, the journal also

7COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
cares to develop a justification for the importance of the international HRM practice in a present
case scenario by taking a qualitative sampling method of renowned companies like P&G, Oracle
and Siemens. Therefore, it can be concluded that the journal is highly authentic and relevant
enough to understand different attributes of the international HRM practice in the light of
globalisation.

8COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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