International human resource management

The world is integrating as businesses locate cross-nationally, and employees and managers move through multinational companies from one country to another. Both the firm and HRM are being spatially stretched.

This poses important questions for the management of human resources within the firm: Are local or home-based management practices; or some global set of practices, most suited to local workplaces?

These answers and more are critical to the future of work, as changes reflect a more regionalised if not globalised workplace, with standards and ideas drawn from different sources and not just the nation state. These issues will be examined through practical examples and the latest research.

Topics covered

Main topics of the module include:

• HRM policies in multinational companies with an international workforce
• Key analytical concepts and models in international HRM
• Comparisons of HRM systems in the UK and the USA, Germany and Japan
• Approaches to, and strategies for, international HRM
• Problems of transferring HRM practices from one country to another
• The role of transnational organisations in regulating HR policies and practices in firms

Assessment

• Multiple choice question tests (30%)
• Online examination (70%)