International human resource management: Stereotypes, staffing contexts and strategy

This conceptual paper explores some definitional and strategic staffing issues arising from the emergence and practice of International Human Resource Management (IHRM). It firstly draws attention to theoretical problems and questions of interpretation arising from key debates on international staffing in MNCs and the global economy. The problem of reconciling demands for global integration with localisation is highlighted as having strategic importance for international staffing policy. The paper then questions the analytical usefulness of prescriptive expatriate staffing stereotypes, especially the ‘best practice’ ethnocentric model, and calls for a more informed and strategic approach to understanding differing international staffing contexts. It is argued that external structural and contextual factors (eg. global firm ownership, pricing behaviour labour market conditions, and legal/employment institutions) can and do impose significant constraints on internal management staffing decisions in international businesses.