1. RECENT TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL
HRM
Presented By:
PABAK D. DAS

2. ISSUES
International Business Ethics & HRM
Mode of Operation & IHRM
Ownership Issues relation to IHRM other than
Large Multi-nationals
Safety & Security Issues.

3. A Model of Strategic HRM in MNEs

4. International Business Ethics and HRM
• Especially problematic when multinationals operate in host
countries that have:
 Different standards of business practice
 Economically impoverished
 Inadequate legal infrastructure
 Governments are corrupt, and
 Human rights are habitually violated

5. Contd.
• Three main responses to the question:
– The ethical relativism believes that there are no universal or
international rights and wrongs, it all depends on a
particular culture’s values and beliefs - when in Rome, do as
the Romans do.
– The ethical absolutism believes that when in Rome, one
should do what one would do at home, regardless of what
the Romans do. This view of ethics gives primacy to one’s
own cultural values.
– In contrast, the ethical universalism believes that there are
fundamental principles of right and wrong which transcend
cultural boundaries and multinationals must adhere to these
fundamental principles or global values.

6. WORLD OF WORRY
 Bribery and corruption top the list of the most frequent
ethical problems encountered by international managers.
 The World Bank estimates that about $80 billion annually
goes to corrupt government officials.

7. RULE OF ETHICS
• Universal ethical principles can be seen in the agreements
among nations who are signatories to:
 The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
 The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (adopted
by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development)
 The Caux Roundtable Principles of Business
• They indicate the emergence of a trans-cultural corporate ethic
and provide guidelines that have direct applicability to a
number of the central operations and policies of multinationals
including the HRM activities of
staffing, compensation, employee training and occupational
health and safety.

8. Continued…
 US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977
 The United Nations adopted the UN Declaration Against
Corruption and Bribery in International Commercial
Transactions, in December 1996.
 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (INDIA)

9. Enforcement of Codes of Conduct
• The attitudes of senior management play a crucial role in
developing, implementing and sustaining high ethical
standards.
• HR professionals can help multinationals to institutionalize
adherence to ethics codes through a range of HR activities
including training and the performance–reward system

10. The Role of HR in implementing
Corporate Ethics Programs
 HR has a special role to play in the formulation,
communication, monitoring, and enforcing an enterprise’s
ethics program.
 The 2003 SHRM/ERC survey found that 71% of HR
professionals are involved in formulating ethics policies for
their enterprise.
 69% are a primary resource for their enterprise’s ethics
initiative.
 However, the SHRM respondents did not regard ethics as
the sole responsibility of HR.

11. Continued…
 HR is well positioned to make an important contribution to
creating, implementing and sustaining ethical organizational
behavior within a strategic HR paradigm.
 key factors for integrating responsibility for ethics into all aspects of
organizational life: expertise in the areas of organizational
culture, communication, training, performance
management, leadership, motivation, group
dynamics, organizational structure and change management
 When recruiting and selecting expatriates, ability to manage with
integrity could be a job-relevant criterion.

12. Continued…
 The pre-departure training of expatriates and the orientation
program should include an ethics component. This might include
formal studies in ethical theory and decision making as well as
interactive discussion and role playing around dilemmas which
expatriates are likely to encounter.
 In designing training programs to meet the challenges of
multinational business, HR professionals must raise not only the
issue of cultural relativities but also the extent to which moral
imperatives transcend national and cultural boundaries. Insufficient
attention may result in unacceptable ethical compromises.

13. Mode of Operation and HRM
 Emphasis on IJVs
 Contractual modes such as licensing and management
contracts present challenges for IHRM that have yet to be fully
identified and explored
 International projects often involve host-government agencies
and present specific HR challenges

14. Ownership Issues
Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs):
 International activities place stress on limited resources
especially staff
 Key individuals often represent the SME’s stock of international
competence
Retaining key staff critical
Converting tacit knowledge into organizational knowledge a
challenge

15. Ownership Issues
Family-owned Firms:
 Not just a sub-set of SMEs
 Management succession presents special HR planning
concerns
 The globalization of family-owned firms has been a remote
topic in international business studies

16. Ownership Issues
Non-Government Organizations:
 As active internationally as for-profit firms, yet receive less
attention, e.g. Red Cross
 These organizations share similar management and HR
concerns
 Often operate in high risk areas of the globe
 Anti-globalization rallies and protest
 Global terrorism

17. Safety, Security & Counter-Terrorism
 In-facility emergency and disaster preparedness
 In-facility Security
 Industrial espionage, theft and sabotage
 Cyber-terrorism
 Out-of-facility fire and travel Risks.

18. RECENT TRENDS @ 2012
 Managing talent in a rightsizing environment
 Social Media: Blurring the line between real and virtual
 Talent analytics and predictive modelling
 Coaching will define talent management
 Web software & cloud computing, changing HR technology
landscape
 Boundary less engagement

19. Continued…
 Employee as volunteers
 Career direction
 Owning the talent supply chain
 Emergence of RPOs
 Exclusive inclusion
 HR transformation