Management and organisation literature often characterises managing in Africa as 'the challenge of' and rarely do scholars look to the continent for novel ideas, inspiration, best practice, or theoretical insights. Yet, in the last five years or so, the African organisational landscape has...

Based on a representative survey of German subsidiaries in the UK, their parent companies and a comparative analysis to the Workplace Employee Relations Survey 1998, the article examines the impact of nationality of ownership on employee relations (ER) in German multinational companies (MNCs)...

Purpose – This paper introduces this special issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines some of the key themes in global human resource management. Findings – By reviewing, briefly, the existing literature in these areas, the paper outlines a limited but crucial research...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to introduce the special issue which considers the impact that the global world has had on the profession of HRM. Design/methodology/approach – In June 2009, the International Human Resource Management Conference was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA....

Purpose – Human resource management (HRM) theory has transitioned in recent decades towards “human capital” and “human assets” frameworks that emphasize strategic choice and “investment”, which are concepts borrowed from strategic management, accounting and economic theories. This...

The greatest challenge for management of human resources in the 1990s is to place their local actions in a framework of global thought and strategy. Focusing on Britain, France, the US, Japan and Germany, outlines the cultural differences in management practices around the world. Suggests a...

Despite over 20 years of academic hype, international human resource management (IHRM) literature has been only partly successful in its original claim to offer a universal panacea for complexities of managing people that can transcend national, cultural and economic divides. This paper provides...

Notes that the present human resource literature on absence pays relatively little attention to the management of genuine injury and illness. Seeks to partially address this lacuna in the literature through the findings of an exploratory study of the arrangements used to facilitate the return to...

Examines the role of the personnel function in the selection of doctors. Reveals a “clerk of works” role, marginal to the decision‐making process. Considers the implications of such a role for effective and fair selection practice. Develops a model of “weak” personnel management which...