International Human Resource Management

According to the 2006 World Investment Report issued by the United Nations, there are currently a total of 77,000 transnational corporations with over 770,000 foreign affiliates which employ 62 million workers worldwide. In 1990, when the 1st Edition of this textbook was published, a total of 24 million workers were employed. This is merely one of many metrics that demonstrate the extent of the globalization of business. With this increase in scale, the role of human resource management in sustaining this increase in international business activity is a central theme of this 5th Edition of our textbook. In writing this new edition we have retained much of the format that we developed for the 4th Edition while including expanded coverage of the international business context in which International Human Resource Management operates. The challenge of this 5th Edition has been to organize the complexities particular to HRM activities in multinational enterprises in such a way that provides teachers (of both undergraduate and graduate students) real choice as to how they will present the material. We have tried to find a balance that is meaningful and appropriate to the varying cultures represented by potential adopters and readers, and across educational traditions, institutions and forms, while accurately capturing the compelling realities facing HRM professionals practicing in multinational enterprises.