Introduction to the International Human Resource Management Special Issue.

Given the globalization of today's business activities, one may wonder what is the meaning of international human resource management (IHRM)--what is "international" about HRM? With globalization, isn't all HRM, by definition, international? For over 30 years the question has been asked: To what extent and in what ways are MNCs and their managers becoming truly "international"? In his classic work, Perlmutter (1969) assessed the degree to which MNCs could be considered to be global or geocentric by examining their HR policies and practices along with other aspects of the organization's functions and activities. In ethnocentric companies, HR policies are designed at head office and exported/transplanted worldwide. Expatriates and HR managers are likely to be parent country nationals. In geocentric or global companies, strategic decisions, including those pertaining to HR, are supposed to be made regardless of geographic boundaries. In other words, in a geocentric organization, HR policies should be developed w ith input from around the world. In today's discussion about globalization, the issue remains alive and well: To what extent is IHRM practice predominantly ethnocentric or "truly global"?

For over 20 years, much of the literature on IHRM has focused on the issue of expatriation. Expatriates are sent out around the world like corporate missionaries to provide technical and managerial expertise, to control operations, and to further develop these managers as well as their companies (Edstrom & Galbraith, 1977; Doz & Prahalad, 1984). Problems of expatriation adjustment have also been the key concern (Torbiorn, 1982; Tung, 1981, 1988; Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985; Black et al., 1992, Schneider & Asakawa, 1995). Different success rates in various regions of the world led Tung (1982) to consider differences in selection and training practices. Now issues of repatriation have taken the foreground. Indeed, the traditional career paths pursued by expatriates have evolved over time. In its place, the concept of boundaryless careers has emerged (Tung, 1998). Furthermore, with growing ethnic diversity in countries such as the U.S., Canada and U.K., the differences between cross-national and intranational diver sity have become …