International Human Resource Management Report: Stages and Practices

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of International Human Resource Management (IHRM). It begins by outlining the core concepts and activities within IHRM, emphasizing the critical role of the IHRM manager. The report highlights the IHRM model, which underscores the interconnectedness of HR activities, employee types, and countries. It then explores the various stages of a firm's international expansion, from domestic operations to transnational operations, and analyzes how each stage influences HR functions. The discussion encompasses recruitment, training, and the necessity of greater involvement in employees' personal lives in international contexts, along with the characteristics of an effective IHRM practitioner, such as flexibility, cultural sensitivity, and adaptability. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings, providing a comprehensive overview of the complexities and challenges of managing human resources in a globalized environment.

Running Head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
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Summary
This paper will engage the concepts related to the International human resource management
and the IHRM activities. It will also consist of the characteristics of an IHR manager or the
practitioner. There are certain stages through which a firm usually goes and it equally grows
internationally and at the same time affects on the functions of the HR. The IHRM model
depicts that the HR activities, types of employees and the countries are intricately related
with each others. The HR activities are the procurement, the utilization and the allocation.
The activities of the International human resource activities cover maximum of the HR
planning, the selection, recruitment, orientation, the placement of the selected ones, the
remuneration along with the performance evaluation. There are many stages through which a
firm grows internationally such as the Domestic operation, the export operation stage, the
subsidiaries or joint venture stage, the multi-national operation stage and trans-national
operations. This paper will discuss those stages as minutely as possible and conclude having
highlighted the important points.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The aim of the International Human Resource management is to receive a
competitive advantage having hired and improved the efficiency, skills and the productivity
of the employees through allocating, procuring, assigning and providing performance
appraisal, training & development and use of the human resources in the international
environment (Al Ariss & Sidani, 2016). Globalization and the advancement of the
information technology and growth in the modern business help the world to adopt new
methods and concepts of the HRM in the form of IHRM. This paper will involve the concepts
related to the International human resource management and the IHRM activities. It will also
consist of the characteristics of an IHR manager or the practitioner. There are certain stages
through which a firm usually goes and it equally grows internationally and at the same time
affects on the functions of the HR. This paper will discuss those stages as minutely as
possible and conclude having highlighted the important points.
Discussion
The International Human Resource Management
The final goal of any organization is to satisfy the requirements of the customers and
receive the position of the market leader, utilize the human resources effectively at the global
level for the success of organizations in multinational environments(Machlis & Tichnell,
2019). The global business can also bring the changes in the strategies of the organization, its
structure, the HRM approaches and activities. It has been explained that there is a three-

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dimensional model of IHRM consisting of the types of employees, the human resource
activities along with the nations. The IHRM model depicts that the HR activities, types of
employees and the countries are intricately related with each others. The HR activities are the
procurement, the utilization and the allocation (Machlis & Tichnell, 2019).The types of
employees include the home country nationals, the host country nationals and the third
country nationals. On the other hand, the countries are the home country, the host country and
the third country.
International Human Resource Activities
The International human resource activities consist of the major operative human
resource functions involving the human resource planning along with the induction. The
procurement and the allocation are the foremost activities in the human resource. The third
most important activity is the effective utilization of the resources which helps in the
maximization of the efficiency and the skills and increases the productivity (Brewster et al.,
2016). The activities of the International human resource activities cover maximum of the
HR planning, the selection, recruitment, orientation, the placement of the selected ones, the
remuneration along with the performance evaluation.
Recruitment and the On-boarding process
The most basic functions of the human resources are attracting, retaining and hiring a
skilled workforce. There are also few elements including the development of the job
description, the interviewing of the candidates, the offering and negotiating the salaries and
the benefits. It is a complex task for any of the businesses which has made it complex in the
global arena because of the differences in the academic systems, the, languages and the
country differences.

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The On –the-job training
When there are skilled employees hired in an organization, it is quite obvious that the
human resource department will have to provide trainings to the employees. This is because
the operating processes of different organizations are different from each other. The technical
usages are also different from each others. Hence, human resource has a serious
responsibility to train the hired employees to mould them as per the company rules. The
trainings become essential for different organizations when the operations occur at different
locations (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018). The trainings in the international level include
the webinars, sessions and other training tools. It helps in making string communication
between the employees and the management.
Why is greater degree of involvement in employee’s personal lives necessary in many
international HRM activities?
The IHRM consist of the different activities such as the taxation, the exchange rates,
coordinating the foreign currencies, the international relocation and the international
orientation for the employees which are posted abroad. Hence, the HR managers in the global
context are seen to be looking after the issues related to the belongings of the employees
which is more than one nationality and handle the duty of setting up the domestic HRM
department where the employees work(Bratton & Gold, 2017). It has many duties in an
IHRM and it is more involved with the personal lives of the employees because foreign
employees need support in certain aspects such as it has to be ensured that the foreign
employees understand properly the compensation package, taxes, the cost of living and many
others.
In the domestic setting, the involvement of the HR department in the personal lives of
the individuals is quite limited while in the international setting, there is greater involvement

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of the HR for providing the required support level. It is obvious that the activities of the
IHRM are more and the HR needs to know the marital status of the employees along with the
number of children. In many of the IHRM activities, the degree of involvement is greater
since the HR is always supposed to ensure that the international employee is aware of the
different aspects of the relocation and should also make sure that it is not a conducive
environment under which he is working and his family will also be fine. In the domestic
context, the HR department stays less responsible about the individual’s lives that happens
more in the international human resource management. The education, health and safety also
become concern for the HR department in the IHRM.
What makes an effective IHR practitioner/manager?
Becoming an international human resource manager is challenging in many ways and
the characteristics of a successful IHR practitioner are as follows –
Flexibility- It is known that in the international context, the flexibility is the key to better
management. Since the countries are different with different cultural backgrounds, the HR
practitioners should be flexible in applying the global standards along with the processes.
Comfort with uncertainty- The staffs of the international human resource often come across
unexpected situations which were not previously predicted. The situation should be given a
solution and a solution which satisfies the corporate group and real manager will find the
solution easily. The HR practitioners should learn to deal with the uncertain situation.
Cultural sensitivity- In the whole world, every nation is different having different features
and views. The countries are distinct, separate and unique too. The HR practitioners should
learn how to embrace the cultural differences and transform them into the advantages for the
business (Brewster et al., 2016). The HR professionals should be knowledgeable about the

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cultural influence on the business. They should know how all the employees can be engaged
in a common program being respectful of all the cultures.
Adaptability- Since the countries are different, their rules , regulations and the situations are
also bound to be different. The labour union conditions of Europe are different from the rules
of the United States. Hence, the HR professionals should learn about the rules and adapt their
own styles.
What are the stages a firm typically goes through as it grows internationally and how
does each stage affect the HR function?
There are many stages through which a firm grows internationally such as the
Domestic operation, the export operation stage, the subsidiaries or joint venture stage, the
multi-national operation stage and trans-national operations (Noev et al., 2017).
Stage 1- (Domestic operations) It is when the market if domestic exclusively and most of the
global firms have their origins as the domestic companies. These firms concentrate on the
domestic operations. The HR is expected to provide training to the employees
Stage 2- (Export operations) It is when the firm expands the market having engaged the
export operations and the offering of the domestic products to the different countries. It also
retains the facilities of production within the domestic borders (Sparrow, Brewster & Chung,
2016). The role of the HR is to control the health care costs and the educational costs relate to
the employees and the community as well.
Stage 3- (Subsidiaries or joint ventures)- In this stage the firm moves its operations out of the
home country. There is a profit sharing and mutual cost management. The HR professionals
in the business settings are focused at completing the administrative tasks such as the

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recruitment and hiring (Welch & Björkman, 2015). They are supposed to function on the
production lines.
Stage 4 (Multi-national operations)- It happens when the firm transforms into a fully fledged
multi-national corporation with the assembly of the facilities of production in different
countries and the regions in the whole world. There are some decentralizations of the
decision making which is common but many of the personal decisions are made still at the
corporate levels. The team-building spirit needs to be persistent and work should be done
cooperatively with the managers sticking to the production lines.
Stage 5(Transnational operations)- This particular stage is reached by those companies who
are called the trans-national companies since they have achieved local responsiveness and
global efficiency (Bratton & Gold, 2017). The cultural sensitivity needs to be managed
properly which will help the employees to receive proper credentials to perform all their
function.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be said that the paper has involved the
concepts related to the International human resource management and the IHRM activities. It
has also consisted of the characteristics of an IHR manager or the practitioner. There are
certain stages through which a firm usually goes and it equally grows internationally and at
the same time affects on the functions of the HR. This paper has well discussed those stages
as minutely as possible

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References
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Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., Vernon, G., Sparrow, P., & Houldsworth, E. (2016). International human
resource management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cascio, W. F. (2015). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A
critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Machlis, G. E., & Tichnell, D. L. (2019). The state of the world's parks: An international
assessment for resource management, policy, and research. Routledge.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., & Chung, C. (2016). Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Stone, D. L., & Deadrick, D. L. (2015). Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of
human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), 139-145.
Welch, D., & Björkman, I. (2015). The place of international human resource management in
international business. Management International Review, 55(3), 303-322.