International HRM: Analysis of HR Practices in Multinational IBM

This report provides a detailed analysis of IBM's human resource practices within an international context. It begins with an overview of IBM's mission and vision, followed by an examination of its strategic approach to international human resource management (IHRM). The report delves into specific HR practices, including recruitment and selection, training and development, and performance management systems. The analysis highlights IBM's geocentric approach, its emphasis on corporate social responsibility, and its commitment to employee development through programs like 'Think 40'. The report also explores IBM's career development and management strategies. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of aligning HR practices with the overall strategic goals of the company, particularly in a globalized environment. This report is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how multinational corporations manage their human resources to achieve competitive advantage in the global market. The report underscores the importance of IHRM in adapting to diverse workforces, enhancing productivity, and aligning with the company's objectives.

RUNNING HEAD: INTERNATIONAL HRM
Title: HR practices in HRM
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Mission and Vision of IBM:............................................................................................................2
HR Practices and IHRM in IBM:....................................................................................................3
1. Recruitment and Selection.......................................................................................................4
2. Training and development:......................................................................................................6
3. Performance Management System:.........................................................................................8
Career Development and Career Management:...............................................................................9
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
Reference List:...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
The human resource is considered the most vital resources in an organisation since they
are the main source of productivity and effort (Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow and Houldsworth
2016). Thus, the human resource management is considered to be of quintessential importance.
HRM is the strategic function within an organisation that aligns the goal of the company with the
goals and works of the human resources in their process of recruiting, training as well as
developing, managing the performances, communication and labour relations. The management
of the human resources in an international context is however, comparatively a complex
responsibility because of the differences in objectives, orientation and attitudes among the
workers between the subsidiaries and the headquarters. It has often been noted that the HR
practices are being discriminatory in nature in their practices on the basis of caste, race, religion
or sex. In order to project a transparent, consistent and reliable image of their own, the HR
practices of an organisation has to adopt a strategic approach in their international human
resource management so that it can maintain the culture and structure of the organisation
throughout, accelerate the productivity and positively include the diverse workforce in the
organisational objective (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright 2015). The present report deals
with the human resource practices in IBM, one of the leading multinational corporations. The
report analyses in detail the extent to which the human resource practices in the organisation
aligns to the strategic approach of the company.

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Mission and Vision of IBM:
International Business Machines (IBM) is one of the leading Multinational Corporation
that has been operating for over a decade in over 160 countries. The company is reputed for their
expert dealing in the development as well as the manufacturing of the computer hardware and
software. In order to deal with the competitive edge in the IT industry, the company felt the
requirement of the strategies that will help them for overcoming the human capital challenges
that it were facing at that time (Ferraris,Santoro, Bresciani and Carayannis 2018). In order to
cater to the needs and challenges of the market, the company came up with a new strategy that
was termed as the Globally Integrated Enterprise. In meeting this context, the company needed to
bring changes in their operations including the supply chain, IT systems as well as the Networks,
process of product development, marketing strategies etc. it was in the process realised that all
these parameters are actually dependent on the human capital of the organisation. The company
felt the urgency of improving its operation in the international level and integrate it globally
(Reiche, Stahl, Mendenhall and Oddou 2016.). In order to implement the changes and strategies
in each and every brand the countries that it has been operating, there are huge possibilities of
duplication of efforts, chaos in the utilisation of the resources and redundancy (Brewster,
Vernon, Sparrow and Houldsworth 2016). The company being a multinational one is expected
that in the course of operation, it will meet the needs of the clients as well as the customers from
the different background and cultures. Thus, the company needs to integrate and include multiple
perspectives in the management of their human resources and develop their strategies to cater to
the broad array of customers. For ensuring the effectiveness of their operations, the company has
adopted the international human resource strategy.

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HR Practices and IHRM in IBM:
In the present scenario of globalisation, majority of the organisations have taken the aim
of expansion of business beyond the national boundaries. The differences in the environment of
the organisations across the nations have created an urgency of determining and developing
international practices in the management of the human resource so that they can keep intact
their strategic goals at the same time catering to the diversity in the workforce (Noe, Hollenbeck,
Gerhart and Wright 2015). At the present scenario, it is important to develop the managerial
skills and the knowledge of the organisation for handling the global business operations and
managing the cross-cultural counselling. The main activities in the field of International Human
Resource Management are Procure, allocate and utilise. In making this policies effective, the
practices that the IHRM resorts to are staffing, training and career management, performance
management and Remuneration (Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow and Houldsworth 2016). Staffing is
an important aspect in the IHRM as it focuses on the recruitment and selection of the right
person at the right place in the right time (Dietrich, Plachy and Norton 2014)
IBM is a company that aims at the business strategy of expansion in new markets.
According to the report produced by the company, around sixty percent of the revenue collected
by the company is generated from outside U.S. Thus, the company needs to maintain an
efficient IHRM in order to keep their strategy of expansion a flourished one. The main HR
practices that the company takes into account for managing their International human resources
are:
1. Recruitment and Selection:

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Recruitment and selection is one of the most important aspects in an international level.
The company, according to the strategy of their foreign strategy has to determine the ratio of the
local employees to expatriates. Cost is another major issue for consideration in the recruitment
and selection.
In order to guarantee that IBMs activities are successful in the various areas of the globe,
the organization has embraced the IHRM methodology. IHRM can be characterized as an
administration procedure that centres on a vast spread cluster of capacities, procedures and
exercises that works on more than one country. The technique is utilized in the administration of
HR at a worldwide level (Smith, 2008). The accompanying methodologies can be utilized with
respect to IHRM:
Ethnocentric methodology – Home nation approach
Polycentric approach – Local methodology
Regiocentric approach – Regional methodology
Geocentric methodology – Global methodology (Caligiuri 2014)
As for this, a firm has the alternative of enlisting the accompanying sorts of workers:
Parent nation nationals (PCNs)
Host nation nationals (HCNs)
Third nation nationals (HCNs)
IBM has been utilizing the IHRM idea because of its worldwide activities. To guarantee that its
activities are successful and proficient, the organization has received the geocentric methodology

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(Weatherly, 2005). Here, the most qualified staff are picked to hold explicit situations inside the
association.
Nevertheless, because of the way that various customers from various districts have
various requirements, IBM has concocted the core idea of conveying HCNs on auxiliary
workplaces while PCNs and TCNs are situated at the central command. This guaranteed the
items and administrations offered by the organization meets the desires, needs and inclinations of
their customers from various areas across the globe (Stokes, Liu, Smith, Leidner Moore and
Rowland 2016). '
IBM has likewise valued the philosophy of corporate social Responsibilities or obligation
(CSR). The primary point of IBM is to improve the global context of business by means of
innovation and advancement. In this manner, to accomplish this, IBM is constantly engaged with
programs that target improving networks. IBM has been putting resources into neighbourhood
auxiliary institutions in order to improve the nature of instruction and making mechanical
mindfulness and e learning. Furthermore, the organization has been offering more than 3,500
entry-level position every year to nature and build up the ability of the young people (Miedtank
2017).
IBM is likewise gender sensitive and guarantees that women are vital resources of its
workforce. Starting at 2011, 18% of its workforce involved women. This figure is required to
increment in the coming years. At last, IBM has been encouraging various tasks and has
encouraged open entryway strategies to guarantee that the perspectives and thoughts of its
workers and partners are clung and actualized to guarantee that the organization has a serious
edge over its opponents and is maintainable in the short run and over the long haul.

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2. Training and development:
“Part of our strategy is harvesting what’s going on intentionally”- Steve Rae, vice
President, IBM.
The training and development in the company is one of the most vital issues of
international human resource management in aligning with the overall corporate strategy of the
company (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright 2015). The training and development of a MNC
is not only oriented with the upliftment or development of the skills and competencies within the
worker, but also to ensure that the workers at every level of the subsidiaries and the head quarters
are capable of dealing with the cultural diversity and the cultural inclusion (Bratton and Gold
2017). Since the company is based in US and have its subsidiaries in 160 countries, it is
important for them to infuse in them the culture of diversity management and enhancing the
competencies. In IBM, the trainings are imparted in four levels as follows:
1. this training has its primary focus on the effects of the differences in the culture and on raising
the awareness among the trainees regarding the inclusion of the differences on the business
outcomes (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016.).
2. the second level of training includes the formation and understanding of behaviours and
attitudes in dealing with the international business.
3. The third level of training provides the factual knowledge about the country which has been
targeted.
4. In the final level, the skill building areas and the adaptation skills are developed and trained.

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IBM makes these trainings an integral part of every employees in the organisation by
rotating the assignments of the employees. The company has also established the management
development centres around the globe where the employees can join in order to enhance their
skills. Think 40 program is an exclusive IBM program where the employees are required to
complete 40 hours of training in a week. The main essence of the training is to “Restlessly
Reinvent Yourself” that means the program has its focus on the up gradation and diversification
of the employees’ skill according to the demand of the market condition in the national as well as
the international scenario. This approach is also essential for the company in order to stay
competitive in the global market.
3. Performance Management System:
The main and the most crucial aspect of the multinational organisation is the performance
management system (Cascio 2015). In order to plan the performance of the employees within the
organisation for gaining the goals of the company and develop the capabilities of the employees.
The performance management in IBM follows an agile management method, where the
organisation follows the required performance management policy according to the demand of
the situation (Tung 2016). This rules out the dissatisfaction and grudges of the employees being
discriminated. Since the company follows a geocentric approach and thus, the top management
positions are filled according to the global methodology. The performance appraisal in the
organisation of IBM is done by the process of central designing conducted by the HR. Line
managers appraises the performances of the staff and keeps a record of the processes which can
help in the future development of the employees (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright 2015).
The performance management in the organisation is done yearly and is target driven. The
employees of the same level in the perspective of career are compared on the rating scales and

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the performance of each member is plotted in the bell curve in order to determine the potentials
and the competencies of the employees. This process of employee management is essential to
cater to the culture and structure of IBM which focuses on the putting of the client at first and
sharing the expertise accordingly.
Career Development and Career Management:
Career development is one of the vital issue that positively affects the growth and
strategies of a MNC. The career is defined as the “the evolving sequence of a person’s work
experiences over time (Reiche, Stahl, Mendenhall and Oddou 2016.)’’ This evolution, if done in
a positive manner and is made effective in enhancing the skill of the employees affects the
employees positively and enhances the employee engagement. The employees feel more
equipped and confident in taking up new responsibilities that positively impacts the productivity
of the company (Budhwar and Debrah 2013). IBM, in maintaining the geocentric approach
strives to impart a general and equal career development prospective to the employees of both
the nation country and host country. This build a sense of trust and co operation in the employees
that lead them not only to develop in their own field but also to align their individual goal with
the organisational vision.
Conclusion:
To conclude it can thus be said that the HR practices as practised by IBM in their strategy
of exploring international market and to develop themselves as a premium solution in the hi tech
industry are crucial. The company makes the international staffing, training and development and

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performance management in the process that it effectively caters to the need of the human
resource and at the same time enhances their business strategy.

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Reference List:
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., Vernon, G., Sparrow, P. and Houldsworth, E., 2016. International human resource
management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Budhwar, P.S. and Debrah, Y.A. eds., 2013. Human resource management in developing
countries. Routledge
Caligiuri, P., 2014. Many moving parts: Factors influencing the effectiveness of HRM practices
designed to improve knowledge transfer within MNCs. Journal of International Business
Studies, 45(1), pp.63-72.
Cascio, W.F., 2015. Managing human resources. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Dietrich, B.L., Plachy, E.C. and Norton, M.F., 2014. Analytics across the enterprise: How IBM
realizes business value from big data and analytics. IBM Press.
Ferraris, A., Santoro, G., Bresciani, S. and Carayannis, E.G., 2018. HR practices for explorative
and exploitative alliances in smart cities. Management Decision.
Miedtank, T., 2017. International human resource management and employment relations of
Chinese MNCs. Chinese Investment in Europe: Corporate Strategies and Labour Relations,
Brussels: ETUI, pp.79-95.

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Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2015. Human resource management.
Gaining a Competitive.
Reiche, B.S., Stahl, G.K., Mendenhall, M.E. and Oddou, G.R. eds., 2016. Readings and cases in
international human resource management. Taylor & Francis.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge
Stokes, P., Liu, Y., Smith, S., Leidner, S., Moore, N. and Rowland, C., 2016. Managing talent
across advanced and emerging economies: HR issues and challenges in a Sino-German strategic
collaboration. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(20), pp.2310-
2338.
Tung, R.L., 2016. New perspectives on human resource management in a global context. Journal
of World Business, 51(1), pp.142-152.