Practices in International Human Resource Management Essay

Practices in International Human Resource Management - Essay Example One specific example of a company which has jumped on the bandwagon is Asea Brown Boveri (ABB). ABB is a merger of three nations including Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. It has employees in more than 140 countries, an executive team composed of Swedes, Swiss, Germans, and Americans, and a head office in Zurich. A former ABB President said that the conglomerate is an alliance of national companies with a worldwide organizational hub. There are certain similarities among nations but their also great differences. 2 Some are economically advanced while others are under political dictatorships. Some have citizens who are educationally and socially adept while others have people with minimum literacy and social skills development. Along with this line, human resources practices evolve to cater to the employment of individuals who come from various geographical locations, cultural heritage, and ethnic background. The challenge, however, is how to make things work under this specialized set-up in terms of which principles to follow in the entire human resources process of selection, recruitment, compensation and benefits, and career planning. This endeavor is very important considering that Maxwell insists that the more people are developed, the greater the extent of the company achieving its dreams, goals, and objectives. 3 The Human Resources Department (HRD) is now faced with looking for the right people who can run the global race. Most of the time, the preference is to get the local nationals or the citizens of the host country in which the company is situated. It is like a Canadian working for an American industry in Canada. The employee then is called a host-country national. In this way, labor cost is much cheaper compared with having to hire an expatriate (somebody living in a foreign country) who could either be a third-country national (a citizen of a country differing from the home or host country) or a home country national (an expatriate who is a citizen of the country where a multinational company is headquartered) to fill in the position.