MN327 International Human Resource Management:2011/12
Lecturers
Prof. Michael GoldProf. Alice Lam
(Coordinator: autumn term)(Coordinator: spring term)
Founder’s FE156Founder’s FE148
@rhul.ac.uk
Brief outline and aims of the course
The world is integrating as businesses locate cross-nationally, and employees and managers move through the multinational company from one country to another. Both the firm and human resource management (HRM) are being spatially stretched. This poses important questions for the management of human resources within the firm: are local or home-based management practices, or some global set of practices, most suited to local workplaces? How do managers and employees from different countries work together? In other words, are German firms in the UK practising mainly British or German employment and work practices, or some sort of novel hybrid? Do US firms in China treat workers differently from workers in the United States? Do Japanese firms in the UK become localised as managers are drawn from the local labour market and not Japan? Do multinational companies act as a law unto themselves as they move around the globe, or do local states tie them down and embed them within national rules, cultures and practices? What is the role of regional and global labour regulation? What are the core human resource and employment issues in international business activities? What are the difficulties in coordinating workforces that are accustomed to contrasting management styles, and with skills and competences that are constructed differently? To what extent do multinational companies act as agents of knowledge transfer in a globalising economy?
Answers to these questions are critical to the future of work, as that future comes to reflect a more globalised workplace, with standards and ideas about authority relations, payment systems and types of recruitment drawn from different sources and not just the nation state. Weexamine these issues through practical examples, case studies and the latest research.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course, you should be able to:
- Understand the implications of changes in the global organisation of firms and the international workforce for HRM policy choices
- Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the key analytical concepts and models in international HRM
- Assess the principal comparisons and contrasts of the business and human resource systems in the UK and the USA, Germany and Japan.
- Evaluate the different approaches to and strategies for HRM in international business activities, and their impact on employees
- Evaluate the problems of transferring HRM practices from one country to another, and the role of MNCs as agents of knowledge transfer.
Overview of lecture and seminar topics 2011/12
Dates of Autumn term: Monday 19September to Friday 9December 2011
Date / Lecture / Seminar Topic27 September / Comparative and international HRM: an introduction / No seminar
4 October / Organisational structures of multinational companies / McDonald’s and Wal-Mart
11 October / ‘Home country’ effects on IHRM / McDonald’s and Wal-Mart (rpt)
18 October / ‘Host country’ effects on IHRM / Lean production
25 October / A framework for understanding IHRM / Lean production (rpt)
1 November / Business systems and HRM in the UK and USA / Reading week – no seminar
8 November / Business systems and HRM in Germany / The German system: is it under threat?
15 November / Cross-border mergers and acquisitions / The German system: is it under threat? (rpt)
22 November / Employment policy of the European Union / EWCs and international HRM
29 November / Employee participation and the European Union / EWCs and international HRM (rpt)
6 December / Review of term one:
questions and answers / No seminar
Dates of Spring term: Monday 9 January to Friday 23 March 2012
Date / Lecture / Seminar Topic17 January / Business systems and HRM in Japan / No seminar
24 January / Skills, knowledge and organisational learning: national differences / HRM and inter-organisational learning in international alliances
31 January / Strategic international HRM / HRM and inter-organisational learning in international alliances (rpt)
7 February / Culture and multinational HR management / National culture and MNC culture- IKEA
14 February / International staffing policy in MNCs / National culture and MNC culture- IKEA (rpt)
21 February / Expatriation and careers / International performance management
28 February / International compensation and performance / International performance management (rpt)
6 March / Transferring HRM and work practices across national borders / Transferring lean production and high performance work practices
13 March / International CSR and global labour standards / Transferring lean production and high performance work practices (rpt)
20 March / Conclusion and revision / No seminar
Organisation
The course consists of twenty-one weekly one-hour lectures in WIN0-04 (Tuesdays 1.00-2.00pm) and eight fortnightly two-hour seminars in WIN 1-04(Tuesdays 2.00-4.00pm), except in the first and last weeks of the teaching term, and in reading weeks, when there are no seminars.
Basic reading for each seminar is contained in the reading packs posted on Moodle. Each pack is accompanied by a set of questions for discussion. To make the seminars as productive as possible, please read the pack and questions in advance, and bring them along with you.
You areexpected to contribute actively and make presentations in the seminars. These presentations, though not formally assessed, are designed to stimulate class discussion, deepen your understanding of your chosen topic and refine your presentational skills, as well as give you relevant feedback.
Assessment
Exam: 70%
Coursework: 30% (two written assignments of 1750 words at 15% each)
Informal feedback given on seminar presentations
Coursework deadlines
Assignment one: noon, Thursday, 12 January 2012
Assignment two:noon, Thursday, 22March 2012
Core texts
Bamber, G. J., Lansbury, R. D. and Wailes, N. (2011) International and Comparative Employment Relations: Globalisation and Change, London:Sage Publications [5th ed.]
Edwards, T. and Rees, C. (2011) International Human Resource Management: Globalization, National Systems and Multinational Companies, London: FT/ Prentice Hall [2nd ed.]
Harzing, A.-W. and Pinnington, A.H. (2011) International Human Resource Management, London: Sage Publications[3rd ed.]
Other useful background texts
There are many books that cover international HRM, and these are just some suggestions to get you started (you’ll find a fuller list at the end of this course outline):
Briscoe, D. R. and Schuler, R. S. (2008) International Human Resource Management: Policy and Practice for the Global Enterprise, London and New York: Routledge
Dowling, P.J., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2008) International Human Resource Management, London: Thomson Learning
Gold, M. (ed.) (2009) Employment Policy in the European Union. Origins, Themes, Prospects, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Perkins, S.J. and Shortland, S. (2006) Strategic International Human Resource Management, London: Kogan Page
Scullion, H. and Linehan, M. (2005) International Human Resource Management. A Critical Text, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Tayeb, M. H. (2005) International Human Resource Management: a Multinational Company Perspective, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press
You should also read widely for the whole course amongst relevant journals, such as:
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Economic and Industrial Democracy
European Journal of Industrial Relations
Industrial Relations Journal
International Journal of Human Resource Management
Journal of International Business Studies
Journal of Management Studies
Journal of World Business
People Management
And don’t forget to read the business pages of the quality press on a regular basis to keep yourself up to date with views and trends.
Course Content and Reading List—Autumn Term 2011
Lecturer: Prof. Michael Gold
Week 1: 27 September
Comparative and International HRM: an Introduction
What is comparative and international HRM? Why is it important? How has the process of globalisation affected HRM? What are convergence and divergence? What are the key issues in international HRM?
Core reading: Bamber et al., chap.1; Edwards and Rees, chaps. 1, 2; Harzing and Pinnington, chaps. 1, 2
Supplementary reading:
Dowling, P.J., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2008) International Human Resource Management, London: Thomson Learning, chaps. 1, 2
Sklair, L. (2001) The Transnational Capitalist Class, Oxford: Blackwell, Introduction
Week 2: 4 October
Organisational Structures of MNCs
What is a multinational corporation? How do corporations structure themselves to do business internationally? How have their structures changed over time? What sort of strategies do they use? How do MNCs relate to local areas?
Core reading: Edwards and Rees, chap. 5
Supplementary reading:
Ghoshal, S. and Bartlett, C.(2002) Managing across Borders. The Transnational Solution, London: Random House, Introduction
Morgan, G. (2005) ‘Multinationals and Work’, in S. Ackroyd, R. Batt, P. Thompson and P. S. Tolbert (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organisation, Oxford University Press
Royle, T. (2000) Working for McDonald’s in Europe. The Unequal Struggle?London: Routledge, chaps.4, 5
Week 3: 11 October
‘Home Country’ or ‘Country of Origin’ Effects on IHRM
What are home/host country effects? To what extent is the greatest influence on an MNC subsidiary the national culture and institutions of the country from which it originated? To what extent are MNCs able to impose their own HR policies across international borders?
Core reading: Edwards and Rees, chap.7; Harzing and Pinnington, chap. 8
Supplementary reading:
Dowling, P.J., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2008) International Human Resource Management, London: Thomson Learning, chap. 3
Ferner, A. and Hyman, R. (1998) Changing Industrial Relations in Europe, Oxford: Blackwell, Introduction
Ferner, A. and Varul, M. (2000) ‘“Vanguard” subsidiaries and the diffusion of new practices: a case study of German multinationals’, British Journal of Industrial Relations 38(1): 115-40
Week 4: 18 October
‘Host Country’ Effects on IHRM
To what extent is the greatest influence on an MNC subsidiary the national culture and institutions of the country in which it is located? What theories of cultural determination are there? What theories of institutional determination are there? To what extent do systems of production and company policies adapt to host country influences?
Core reading: Edwards and Rees, chaps. 4; Harzing and Pinnington, chap. 7
Supplementary reading:
Hall, P.A. and Soskice, D. (eds) (2001) Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, OxfordUniversity Press
Hancké, B., Rhodes, M. and Thatcher, M. (2007) Beyond Varieties of Capitalism, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press
Kristensen, P.H. and Zeitlin, D. (2005) Local Players in Global Games: The Strategic Constitution of a Multinational Corporation, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Whitley, R. (2000) Divergent Capitalisms. The Social Structuring and Change of Business Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Week 5: 25 October
A Framework for Understanding IHRM
What are the main factors we have to understand, then, in studying International HRM? What is meant by the terms ‘system effects’ and ‘societal effects’? How does diffusion of ‘best practices’ take place across borders? What is meant by ‘dominance effects’, and how might they be constrained?
Core reading: Edwards and Rees, chap.7; Harzing and Pinnington, chap. 8
Supplementary reading:
Elger, T. and Smith, C. (2005) Assembling Work: Remaking Factory Regimes in Japanese Multinationals in Britain, OxfordUniversity Press, chap. 4
Gold, M. (2005) ‘Worker directors in the UK and the limits of policy transfer from Europe since the 1970s’, Historical Studies in Industrial Relations 20: 29-65
Womack, J.P., Jones, D.T. and Roos, D. (1990) The Machine that Changed the World, Oxford: Maxwell MacMillan International, chaps. 1-3
Week 6: 1 November
Business Systems and HRM in UK/USA
What are the key traits of the British and USbusiness systems/HRM? How did they develop? What current trends and challenges are faced by British and US businesses? What are the respective impacts on British business of: the EU, the USA, the Commonwealth?
Core reading: Bamber, Lansbury and Wailes, chaps. 2 and 3
Supplementary reading:
Augar, P. (2000) The Death of Gentlemanly Capitalism, London: Penguin
Crouch, C. (2011) The Strange Non-death of Neo-liberalism, London: Polity
Hutton, W. (2010) Them and Us: Politics, Greed and Inequality – Why We need a Fair Society, London: Little, Brown & Co
Week 7: 8November
Business Systems and HRM in Germany
What are the key traits of the business systems/HRM in Germany? How did they develop? What is the ‘German model’, and is it under threat? What pressures is it under? To what extent is it adaptable?
Core reading: Bamber, Lansbury and Wailes, chap.8
Supplementary reading:
Doellgast, V. and Greer, I. (2007) ‘Vertical disintegration and the disorganisation of German industrial relations’, British Journal of Industrial Relations 45(1): 55-76
Ferner, A., Quintanilla, J. and Varul, M. (2001) ‘Country-of-origin effects, host-country effects, and the management of HR in multinationals: German companies in Britain and Spain’,Journal of World Business 36(2): 107-128
Streeck, W. (2009) Re-Forming Capitalism. Institutional Change in the German Political Economy. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.
Week 8: 15 November
Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions
What is the role of HRM in cross-border mergers and acquisitions? To what extent is it possible, desirable or necessary to integrate the HR policies of the companies involved? How do they handle the employment consequences of restructuring across national boundaries?
Core reading: Edwards and Rees, chap. 8; Harzing and Pinnington, chap. 4
Supplementary reading:
Aguilera, R. and Dencker, J. (2004) ‘The role of human resource management in cross-border mergers and acquisitions’, International Journal of Human Resource Management 15(8): 1355-70
Bower, J. (2001) ‘Not all M&As are alike – and that matters’, Harvard Business Review March: 93-101
Child, J., Faulkner, D. and Pitkethly, R. (2001) The Management of International Acquisitions, Oxford: OUP
Week 9: 22 November
Employment Policy of the European Union
What is the significance of the European Union from an IHRM perspective? What are the elements of social and employment policy in the EU? What is their rationale? How did the system evolve and where is it heading? Does it represent a case of convergence or divergence?
Core reading: Harzing and Pinnington, chaps. 7, 17
Supplementary reading:
El-Agraa, A.M. (2004) The European Union. Economics and Policies, London: Prentice Hall, chap. 23
Gold, M. (ed.) (2009) Employment Policy in the European Union. Origins, Themes, Prospects, Basingstoke: Palgrave, chap.1
Hantrais, L. (2007) Social Policy in the European Union, Basingstoke: Palgrave, chaps. 1, 2
Week 10: 29 November
Employee Participation and the European Union
What role might European works councils play in IHRM? What is the significance of the recent directives introducing the European Company and information and consultation requirements across the EU?
Core Reading: Edwards and Rees, chap. 12
Supplementary Reading:
Cressey, P. ‘Employee Participation’, in Gold, M. (ed.) (2009) Employment Policy in the European Union, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp.139-59
Gold, M. (2003) ‘European works councils: who benefits?’ in Gold, M. (ed.) New Frontiers of Democratic Participation at Work, Aldershot: Ashgate, chap.3
Waddington, J. (2011) European Works Councils. A Transnational Institution in the Making, London: Routledge
Whittall, M., Knudsen, H. and Huijgen, F. (eds.) (2007) Towards a European Labour Identity. The Case of the European Works Council, London: Routledge, chaps. 2-3
Week 11: 7 December
Review of Term One: Questions and Answers
Core readings: Everything you’ve covered so far!
A review of the contents of Term One, and your chance to come along for a Question and Answer session.
Course Content and Reading list – Spring Term
Lecturer: Professor Alice Lam
Week 1: 17 January
Business Systems and HRM in Japan
Along with Germany, Japan is seen as a leading exemplar of the coordinated market economies, according to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature. The Japanese business and HRM model has aroused a great deal of controversy and interest since the 1980s, not only because many of its distinctive features are associated with high employee commitment and productivity, but also because it poses a fundamental challenge to many of the principles underlying the Anglo-American model of management. This lecture will examine the distinctive features of the Japanese enterprise and HRM system from a comparative perspective, discuss how and why western evaluation of the Japanese model has shifted over time.
Core reading: Bamber, Lansbury and Wailes, chap.10 ‘Employment relations in Japan’
Hayahsi, M. (2002) ‘A historical review of Japanese Management Theories: the search for a general theory of Japanese management’, Asian Business and Management, 1(2)
Benson, J. and Debroux, P. (2004) ‘The changing nature of Japanese human resource management’, International Studies of Organization and Management, 34(1): 32-51
Supplementary reading:
Arjan B. Keizer (2009) ‘Transformations in- and outside the internal labour market:
institutional change and continuity in Japanese employment practices’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20 (7): 1521–1535.
Jacoby, Sanford, M (2005) ‘The Embedded Corporation: Corporate Governance and Employment Relations’ in Japan and the United States. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, chaps 1-3
Kanai, A. (2009) ‘“Karoshi (work to death)” in Japan’, Journal of Business Ethics, 84(SUPPL. 2): 209-216
Benson, J, (2006) ‘Japanese management, enterprise unions and company performance’ Industrial Relations Journal, 37(3): 242-248
Morris, J. et al. (2006) ‘New Organizational Forms, Human Resource Management and Structural Convergence? A Study of Japanese Organizations’, Organization Studies, 27(10): 1485-1511
Inagami, T, and D. H Whittaker (2005) The New Community Firm: Employment, Governance and Management Reform in Japan, Cambridge University Press, chaps 1-3
Lincoln, J.R. and Y. Nakata (1997) 'The transformation of the Japanese employment system: nature, depth and origins', Work and Occupations, 24(1)
Week 2: 24 January
Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Learning: National Differences
The development of workforce skills and knowledge are widely believed to be central to the competitive performance of firms. The growth of the knowledge-based economy has led to a growing interest in organisational learning and knowledge management. This session will discuss the various approaches to skill development, patterns of organisational learning and knowledge management, focusing on how these are shaped by wider societal factors, especially nationally constituted organisational forms and labour markets. It will also explore how differences in skills structure and organisation of knowledge between firms from different countries create barriers to inter-organisational learning in international alliances.
Core reading:
Lam, A. (1997)‘Embedded firms, embedded knowledge: problems of collaboration and knowledge transfer in global collaborative ventures’ Organization Studies, 18(6): 973-996