HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HRM - Essay Example In fact, it has been proved that organizational practices, which are opposed to existing ethics, are not viable in the long term. Moreover, it seems that in the modern market the alignment of business policies with existing ethical standards or the organization’s social responsibility rules is not always guaranteed. The above problem is most extensive in organizational strategies that are involved in the international market – where the effective control of business policies can be quite difficult. On the other hand, there are organizational sectors that are more exposed to ethical and social responsibility problems: the IHRM is an indicative example. The limitation of the effectiveness of IHRM strategies as reflected in the ethical and social responsibility issues related to these strategies can be addressed by adopting different approaches in all phases of HRM – both in the context of the national and the international market. 1. Introduction The continuous inc rease of competition in the global market has led firms to develop practices, which will help them to improve their position towards their rivals. The human resources management sector of each organization has a key role in the stabilization and the improvement of a firm’s position in its market; however, the practices used by managers for developing the specific sector are differentiated, under the influence of the conditions in the internal and external organizational environment. Current paper focuses on the presentation and the critical analysis of the ethical and social responsibilities issues related to the international human resources management (IHRM) practices. The literature published in the specific field is reviewed and critically evaluated. It is proved that, at a first level, there are certain standards that HR managers need to follow when developing the HRM policies of their organization. These standards can be market driven, referring to the rules applied on a particular market, or organizational driven, referring to the ethics related to the culture and the corporate social responsibility of the particular organization. However, in certain cases, these standards are ignored, usually under the pressure for increasing organizational productivity. In the context of the international market, the above initiatives have even more challenges to face, as explained in the sections that follow. 2. International Human Resources Management – description, overview International human resource management (IHRM) can be described as a complex organizational activity, referring not just to the globalization of a firm’s HRM practices, but also to their appropriate transformation so that they are aligned with the characteristics and the needs of the local market (Perkins and Shortland 2006, 26). From a similar point of view, Briscoe, Schuler and Claus (2008) note that IHRM management needs to address a series of issues developed ‘at l ocal, cross-border and global level’ (Briscoe, Schuler and Claus 2008, 32); Reference is made, as an example, to the staffing, compensation, selection and training of staff at local and international level (Briscoe, Schuler and Claus 2008, 32). Moreover, Stahl and Bjorkman (2006) note that the IHRM refers to ‘the way that organizations that operate across national borders manage their employees’ (Stahl and Bjorkman 2006, 68). It is also explained that through the years the framework of IHRM has been expanded including all