Reflective Report: Exploring International HRM Concepts and Practices

This reflective report provides an in-depth analysis of International Human Resource Management (IHRM). It begins with an introduction to IHRM, defining its role in managing human resources across geographical boundaries. The main body of the report comprises reflections on learnings from six weeks of study, covering topics such as the importance of IHRM in maintaining relationships with unions, the role of cultural understanding, skill development, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global HR practices. The report also explores the implications for managers in areas like performance management, compensation, and industrial relations. Furthermore, it highlights the application of theoretical knowledge to specific situations and discusses the relevance of these learnings for future career prospects in both local and international business environments, concluding with an overview of the key takeaways and insights gained throughout the study period.

Reflection

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Learnings from the week.................................................................................................................3
Week 1 Reflection..................................................................................................................3
Week 2 Reflection..................................................................................................................4
Week 3 Reflection..................................................................................................................4
Week 4 Reflection..................................................................................................................5
Week 5 Reflection..................................................................................................................6
Week 6 Reflection..................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
HRM stands for human resource management and is considered as a process of managing
human resources within an organisation that provide assistance in recruiting, hiring, motivating
as well as maintaining manpower within the workplace. This project is based on the reflection in
which there will be an assessment of self-awareness and personal insights regarding international
HRM (Aust, Muller-Camen and Poutsma, 2018). This reflective report will also include
examples of situations faced that have challenged attitudes, beliefs, values or behaviours
regarding international HRM. There will also be a critical concept on international HRM and
along with this, this report also involve implications for managers in context to the respective
aspect. Application of theoretical knowledge to a particular situation will also be considered in
this project and application of learnings to future career both locally or in international business
environment is also going to be discussed.
MAIN BODY
Strategically, international HRM plays a significant role in terms of managing workforce
belonging to different geographical locations as well as countries. According to my
understanding, the concept of International HRM is of a recent origin and interplays among three
different dimensions and these dimensions include activities of manpower, kinds of human
resources as well as countries of the operations (Brewster and Cerdin, 2018). It is fact that the
success of trades as well as businesses are rely on skills and manpower quality along with how
effectively such resources get utilised and managed at the international level. The concept of
International HRM increases to develop organisational knowledge, managerial skills and
technical abilities of HR employees and managers.
Learnings from the week
Week 1 Reflection
From the week I have learnt a lot of new things and different aspects of the International
HRM which I had not already know. Some of the aspects which were new to me include that
healthy and effective practices of International human resource management can help a company
in maintaining co-ordinal relationship with unions and when members of union start realising
that organisation is also having interest in employees and will not go against them then
possibilities of going on strike got greatly minimised.

International HRM consists of employing right candidate at right job and at right time
irrespective of the geographic locations. As per my understanding, international Human
Resource Management needs the development of the long-term HR planning for making sure
that there should be effective alignment of the strategies along with the business objectives. I
have also noticed that for empowerment of the workforce, there has to be a change in the mindset
and there should be an alteration within the skills of human resource of an organisation.
According to me, the role of human resource management is significant in both aspects as with
the enhancing role of manpower and its management, businesses have accorded HRM a greater
status in comparison to what it previously was (Ayentimi and Burgess, 2021). As per my
knowledge, most of the organisations have started concentrating on their core competencies as
well as businesses get organised around that. Core competency is considered as a unique strength
of a company which may not be shared by others.
Week 2 Reflection
I have also learnt that international HRM plays a crucial role in gaining the understanding
regarding different cultures of the world and it also create cultural synergy (Dickmann, Suutari
and Wurtz, 2018). Another new things the knowledge of which I had not earlier include that the
concept of international HRM can also develop a lot of skills within a personnel such as team
working skills, communication skills, leadership skills and many others in an effective and
efficient manner. I have realised that development of such skills within me will make me an
effective individual who can gain competitive advantages over the competitors.
The interesting aspects that I have found regarding International HRM from the week
include this concept can help me in chasing competitive advantages over my competitors within
the market place. Another interesting aspect regarding International HRM is that it will give me
opportunities regarding enhancing my business in my future course of period which will provide
me a lot of advantages in achieving my business growth and success.
Week 3 Reflection
Managers serve the basic working and operating of every organisation and plays the most
important role in the functioning. They basically serve their implications in the following main
aspecting factors at local and international platforms. These implications of managers are as
follows:

 Performance management: Managers play an important part in the evaluation and
assessment of performance and working of employees in an organisation. Their results
are discussed and if there are any mistakes or undervalue of performance in functioning
of an employee, than different suggestions and other solutions are provided for easier
working. I personally feel that these suggestions are provided with adoption of theories
and practices that are adopted by MNCs in all domestic and local organisations.
 Compensation management: The managers within an organisation after evaluating all
performance and functioning of employees, prescribes and manages the compensations
and other payments for its employees. According to me, these compensations are
provided according to working of employees in their fields.
 Industrial relations: As per my knowledge, industrial relations on local and global level
depends on history, powers, international and domestic relations between organisations,
management techniques and other ideologies that are adopted by firms nationally and
internationally.
Week 4 Reflection
The pandemic situation of COVID-19 can be taken into consideration as an example
which I have faced that have challenged my perceptions, values, beliefs regarding International
Human Resource Management. COVID-19 is a global pandemic and according to me it is
required to understand its impact on the working practices, international HRM and well-being in
the particular contexts. Across country contexts, it is likely most of the changes that will be
common, but as per my understanding, it should also be expected through given institutional
differences that there will be localised nuances. For instance, I have observed that while majority
of the industries have been adversely impacted by such kind of pandemic situation, there has
been some of the industries and sectors that have been influenced in a positive manner. The
industries and the sectors including healthcare and social assistance, finance and insurance,
public administration and mining are positively impacted because of this pandemic situation
(Boxall, 2018). As the situation faced by me, I have also noticed that here are also some of the
sectors and industries that have been adversely impacted by the pandemic situation of COVID-
19 and these sectors and industries include retail industry, hospitality industry and many others.
In context to International HRM, the loss that is suffered by the industries and sectors include
retail industry, hospitality industry, travel and tourism sector has been greatly impacted because

of this epidemic. As per my understanding, the crisis of COVID-19 has enhanced the
significance of international human as well as social capital for the success of the global
businesses. I have also observed that the respective pandemic situation has impacted
international HRM in such a way that the strategies and policies of human resource management
at international level has been affected in a great way. This situation has challenged my
perception and values regarding international HRM.
Week 5 Reflection
Training and development: International and domestic entities have its duties and
responsibilities assigned to HRM department for all the training and development of its
employees (Hermans, 2018). According to me, these training programs and techniques all differ
according to the best suited situations in their organisations. According to me, Managers should
emphasize on making workplace and employees effective and sensitive with all cultural and
traditional value on domestic and global level.
HRM uses most effective skills and workings with combination of theories and practices
that are very consistent in gaining profits for organisation (Jiang and Yahiaoui, 2019). The
knowledge that HRM managers and team use are for providing theories and models with their
management of their interactions and transformations and all on domestic and international level
in their organisations. According to me, HRM sees and evaluates that knowledge is transformed
fully for its great utilisation and that help in the better and optimum results and profits for
entities. These theories can be applied and their benefits served are as follows:
 Behaviour of employees is stimulated and inspired for working for enterprises in their
domestic and international operating and working and for greater profits.
 These theories and practices can be used and applied for improving performance and
working of all employees in and out organisation by HRM, according to me.
 According to me, these theories are applied for motivating and for knowing and
increasing competition on national and international level for organisations and business
entities.
Week 6 Reflection
Within the study of week, the perspectives in which I faced difficulties were include
development of a wide variety of skills such as critical and analytical thinking skills, data-driven
skills, decision-making skills, problem-solving skills and many others (Furusawa and Brewster,

2018). Managing talent diversity is also an another aspect in which I have faced difficulty as I
was weak at this point and I also did not know the process of managing talent diversity.
HRM techniques, theories, practices and various other related policies have helped me in
various skill development and values recognition for a business entity at international business
environment (Malik, Budhwar and Srikanth, 2020). In order to improve more and develop better
on national and international level, my learnings have been of great use for my past and present.
In context to my future career, these learnings can be applied in various ways and methods, they
are as follows:
 My learnings will help me in finding and recruiting more effective and efficient team
members for my business entity.
 What I have learnt, I will ensure its maximum utilisation in business with giving
training and seeing and managing the performance of employees that are related to
my business.
 These learnings will make me effective and will also strive me to meet my business
and organisational objectives with complete achievement of all goals and objectives
that have been pre described.
 HRM learnings will help me in improving and inculcating competitive spirit in me at
local and international level around the globe (Ozbilgin, 2020). This competitiveness
will result in more and greatly better functioning of all operating and other
functioning and working for my organisation.
 With complete and great training that I will provide to my employees in my
organisation will help me with greater and better development of my skills and even
these developments will also be seen in my employees, as over a specific they will be
beneficial for organisation as they will be very effective and efficient in their working
and operating for my organisation.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation of report, it has been concluded that concept of International
HRM can be said to a combination of activities that are targeting management of workforce at
global level. This aspect strives to achieve business goals and objectives along with gaining
competitive advantage over the rivalries within both national and international level. Within this
reflective report, different aspects of the international HRM have been explained in context to

both locally and in an international business environment. The challenges or difficulties faced
regarding the respective concept have also been mentioned within this report. Along with ir, this
reflective report have also been included situations faced that have challenged perceptions,
values and behaviours regarding International Human Resource Management. Implication for
managers have also been described within this report as well as there has been application of
theoretical knowledge to a specific situation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aust, I., Muller-Camen, M. and Poutsma, E., 2018. Sustainable HRM: A comparative and
international perspective. In Handbook of research on comparative human resource
management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ayentimi, D. T. and Burgess, J., 2021. HRM Practices of Sub-Saharan African MNEs:
Following the Best Practice Western MNE HRM Model?. In International HRM and
Development in Emerging Market Multinationals (pp. 249-264). Routledge.
Boxall, P., 2018. The development of strategic HRM: Reflections on a 30-year journey. Labour
& Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 28(1), pp.21-30.
Brewster, C. and Cerdin, J. L., 2018. HRM in mission driven organizations. Cham: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Dickmann, M., Suutari, V. and Wurtz, O. eds., 2018. The management of global careers:
exploring the rise of international work. Springer.
Furusawa, M. and Brewster, C., 2018. Japanese self‐initiated expatriates as boundary spanners in
Chinese subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs: Antecedents, social capital, and HRM
practices. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(6), pp.911-919.
Hermans, M., 2018. Comparative HRM research in South America: A call for comparative
institutional approaches. In Handbook of research on comparative human resource
management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jiang, C. and Yahiaoui, D., 2019. French multinational companies' HRM in China: strategic
orientation and integration approaches. Asia Pacific Business Review, 25(1), pp.3-18.
Malik, A., Budhwar, P. and Srikanth, N.R., 2020. Gig economy, 4IR and artificial intelligence:
Rethinking strategic HRM. In Human & Technological Resource Management
(HTRM): New Insights into Revolution 4.0. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Ozbilgin, M., 2020. International human resource management: Theory and practice.
Bloomsbury Publishing.