Field Of International Human Resource Management Research Articles

Looking back to look forward: Disruption, innovation and future trends in international human resource management

Recent global challenges, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, have underscored the critical role of human resources in international business, pushing disruptions and innovations to the forefront of international human resource management (IHRM) research and practice. This special issue editorial provides a timely and in-depth examination of the evolving IHRM landscape, reflecting on the profound changes brought by the pandemic and investigating the transformative potential of AI-driven innovations in shaping an uncertain future. Through our exploration, we challenge several dangerous assumptions that global leaders must navigate and propose a forward-looking research agenda for the IHRM field. Our analysis highlights five key themes: (1) demographic shifts and diversity, (2) evolving patterns in globalization and global mobility, (3) the complexities of managing global workforces, (4) emerging dynamics in international careers, and (5) the role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and international small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Together, these themes offer a comprehensive framework for advancing IHRM research and practice in an increasingly complex and dynamic global environment.

Linking international human resource management with corporate social responsibility and shared value

Global pressures have urged organizations to incorporate sustainable international human resource management (IHRM) systems to be socially responsible. This paper proposes that integrating IHRM with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and shared value may be the solution This study analyzes sustainability within the IHRM field, including other sustainable concepts to demonstrate the relevance of labor and employment relation within human resource management. Employment relations and the importance of developing IHRM strategies involving workers and managers to increase shared value are also explained in the study. In turn, this integration enhances organizational performance and competitive advantage. Accordingly, this paper proposes a model to unleash the bridge between IHRM and employment relations in multinationals operating in emerging economies and proposes some propositions. Implications for research and practice are also discussed in the paper.

Understanding the Evolution of International Human Resource Management Research

This paper aims to depict the evolution of international human resource management (IHRM) research by mapping the semantic structure of the literature over the last 25 years. We conduct a bibliometric analysis of 1,507 articles published in the field of IHRM at the keyword, thematic, and network levels. Our analysis reveals that IHRM research has a complex semantic structure that is socially constructed. We also identify the evolution of main research trends across three time windows and branch out key themes for each time window. This study employs the bibliographic coupling analysis to provide an accurate systematic interpretation of IHRM literature to identify the main research patterns in the field of IHRM and to interpret the core themes that contributed to the evolution of IHRM research.

ГЛОБАЛИЗАЦИЯ КАК ФАКТОР ВЛИЯНИЯ НА УПРАВЛЕНИЕ ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКИМИ РЕСУРСАМИ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ

. This article analyzes the issues related to the consideration of globalization as a factor influencing human resource management in a modern organization. Realizing this goal, the authors rely on the sociocultural approach applied in management to human resource management (HRM), which is based on the recognition of the importance of the human factor in the management of a global organization. The category of “organizational culture” is considered, data are presented that testify in favor of the advantages and disadvantages in the field of international HRM, the key components of HRM in the organizations of the global level are outlined.

The challenge of using a ‘non‐positivist’ paradigm and getting through the peer‐review process

AbstractIn this study, using the comments made by reviewers of an interpretive article as evidence, I highlight some typical methodological objections to interpretive manuscripts. These objections are focussed on issues such as the way in which the research question must be formulated, the degree of a priori theorisation in a field study, the role performed by the researchers, the goal of triangulation, the desirable number of cases or the standards to be used to assess the quality of the studies. I suggest that qualitative positivism is often used as a ‘template’ from which to provide the ‘right way’ of addressing those issues and that this positivist bias may be hindering and even preventing the introduction of new and alternative ways of seeing and theorising. I conclude the work by advocating for a greater presence of interpretivism within the International human resource management field and offering some recommendations to authors to improve the prospects of getting their work published.

Paradigms in International Human Resource Management

International Human Resource Management (IHRM) has become a mature discipline in the last 30 years. As a sub-discipline of social sciences, IHRM is characterised by paradigmatic divisions. The aim of this review article is to map the presence of three dominant social science paradigms in the field of IHRM. Four major journals, which publish relevant studies of IHRM, has been analysed in order to give an overview of the paradigmatic state of play in IHRM. After investigating 1649 articles, it is evident that positivist studies prevail, whereas constructivist works represent a minority share. Critical approaches to IHRM are almost fully absent in these journals. This paper presents examples of each type of research and explains the decisive characteristics of each paradigm. Lastly, future directions are outlined: (1) more paradigm reflexivity is required; (2) non-mainstream (namely, constructivist and even critical) research is needed; and (3) new paradigmatic directions are recommended. Newly introduced paradigms or multi-paradigm studies should be undertaken.

Insider status: (Re)framing researcher positionality in international human resource management studies

Insider researchers in international human resource management study not only the organisations or communities they may be members of, but also the people they perceive closeness with or with whom they share identities. The research context for insiders is rich but rarely problem-free. The uncertainty and dynamism of insider research often leaves insider researchers grappling with methodological and ethical challenges, but with no explicit framework to guide how they can be addressed in research practice or research reporting. Indeed, the ‘sanitised’ methodologies appearing in published work often do not reflect the complexity of the authors’ experience. In this article, we call for researchers to give more explicit consideration of what it means to research from an insider position, regardless of the research paradigm from which they work. The article addresses some of the messy details of insider research, drawing on personal accounts of our own research practice. We offer a framework of researcher personae as a tool for reflecting upon researchers’ insider positionality before, during and after data have been collected and analysed. Overall, we encourage researchers working from insider positions to adopt three practices: (1) to engage in reflexive consideration of the effects of (changing) positionality on their work as a way to strengthen the ethical and theoretical outcomes of research practice; (2) to acknowledge and leverage, rather than conceal, insiderness as a key strategy for making feasible more research on sensitive and ‘taboo’ topics; and (3) to make positionality explicit in research reporting in order to enhance the quality of insider research as well as enhance fieldwork learning more generally in the international human resource management field. While the personal accounts we share in this article are based on our research within the field of international human resource management, the intention is that it may also be of value to researchers in other fields.

Psychological contracts of international business travellers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of psychological contracts of international business travellers (IBTs), a new form of expatriate that has arisen from the growing need for alternative forms of internationally mobile talent. The research is conducted in Belgium, a country recognised as a global hub in which international assignments are essential to economic success. Design/methodology/approach Research in respect of IBTs is limited and semi-structured interviews are used to explore Belgian employee perspectives. Findings The contract is more relational in nature than might be expected with an idiosyncratic mix of relational and transactional obligations. Research limitations/implications The research is small-scale and qualitative and not widely generalisable. Further it presents only employee perspectives. Nevertheless it generates rich insights into a phenomena about which little is known. Practical implications The findings develop understanding of how to manage the valuable strategic resource that is the IBT. Originality/value First, the research is of value to the International Human Resource Management field in developing understanding of a newly emerging form of international employee, the IBT. Second, it contributes to psychological contract research in both developing understanding the transactional/relational balance and in generating much-needed rich and nuanced qualitative data.

International human resource management of Japanese multinational corporations: Challenges and future directions

Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) enjoyed global success until the early 1990s, but recent trends have presented many challenges, necessitating adaptations to international human resource management (IHRM) and other management practices. In reviewing recent changes in the IHRM of Japanese MNCs by focusing on ‘internal internationalization’ at headquarters and ‘external internationalization’ in foreign subsidiaries, we develop a framework that elucidates these processes through the characteristics of industries and Japanese MNCs. Moreover, we discuss future research avenues for a deeper understanding of Japanese IHRM and generating new knowledge in the IHRM field.

Framing the field of international human resource management research

This article presents an overarching framework of the international human resource management field. The framework has four different levels: Macro (encompassing countries, regions and industries), the Multinational Corporation, Unit (typically subsidiary) and Individual (including teams, employees and their family members). At each level, we make a distinction between Influencing Factors, the HRM Function (encompassing both the HR department and HR policies and practices), Proximal Outcomes and Distant Outcomes of HRM. The framework allows us to examine existing research and suggest avenues for future work.

Evolving research on expatriates: what is ‘known’ after four decades (1970–2012)

The purpose of this paper was to provide a comprehensive review of the evolving research on a still key challenge for human resource management (HRM) in the globalized business of today: the expatriates and their impact on business performance. Research of four decades was reviewed to show what was known and what was not yet known. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to build a conceptual map of the evolving research. Up to 438 papers published in 104 different journals by 233 authors were analyzed. Most of the literature studies and research does not show a systematic approach, so this review may be useful for scholars and practitioners in the field of HRM and International Business Management in order to advance into the next stage of development on how to deal with and take advantage of hiring expatriates. Even after more than four decades of intensive research, the literature on expatriation is still nascent and requires higher order content. New contexts and organizations should be included in the research agenda, while an effort must be made in systematic approaches and in building higher order content in the international HRM field.

Multinational enterprises in Australia: Two decades of international human resource management research reviewed

This paper reviews empirical international human resource management (IHRM) journal articles on foreign- and indigenous-owned multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Australia. More specifically, we explore the extent to which papers using Australian data in this area are being published in 53 of the world’s leading academic journals and identify the topics that have been researched. We then propose a number of research areas, of Australian and international interest, that researchers could pursue in the future. Our findings point to a picture of limited publications in the leading international journals. There is also support for recent arguments that substantial capacity exists for a greater theoretical contribution by researchers in the IHRM field.

International human resource management: a North American perspective, a thematic update and suggestions for future research

The past 15 years have witnessed tremendous advancements in the research and practice of international human resource management (IHRM). This paper describes several sub-themes in IHRM that have evolved during the past 15 years; introduces and expands upon one major sub-theme in IHRM, cross-border alliances; and suggests several topics for future research and investigation. First, while the review and update is based on the framework introduced by Schuler et al. (1993), the ideas of several other approaches that have been taken to in the field of IHRM (e.g. Sparrow and Brewster, 2006; Taylor et al., 1996) are incorporated to present a thematic framework of IHRM that organizes and updates the existing IHRM literature within five thematic areas: strategic MNE components; exogenous factors; endogenous factors; IHRM issues, functions, policies, and practices; and MNE effectiveness. Within each thematic area, several sub-themes are described that reflect important changes in and evolutions of IHRM issues. Second, the paper offers a major extension to the thematic framework by incorporating the cross-border alliance (CBA) theme. The article highlights one of the most complex forms of CBA, the international joint venture (IJV), and develops a typology as a way of illustrating the complexity of IJVs and the challenge of crafting an effective set of IHRM activities for them and MNEs more generally. Third, 20 avenues or topics are suggested for future research and investigation that build on the work of the past 15 years in IHRM and reflect the realities of MNEs and their implications for IHRM. A brief summary concludes the authors' thoughts on the future of IHRM and its increased importance.

“International” human resource management

Despite over 20 years of academic hype, international human resource management (IHRM) literature has been only partly successful in its original claim to offer a universal panacea for complexities of managing people that can transcend national, cultural and economic divides. This paper provides evidence from earlier studies on limited nature of geographic coverage of the mainstream IHRM writing and surveys the editorial membership, policies and guidelines of a select number of journals with a view to contribute to our understanding of North American and Western European domination in this field. Exploring the major constraints in geographical and cultural reach of the IHRM journals and the geographic homogeneity in the membership profiles of their editorial boards, the paper offers strategies for change towards a more inclusive approach to research and writing in the field of IHRM.