International Management Studies

This article by Sippola and Smale (2007) is “an in-depth longitudinal case study of TRANSCO, a well-known European MNC (multinational corporation), which has been attempting to integrate diversity management globally” (p: 1896). The aim of the study was first to diagnose which characteristics of diversity management TRANSCO is globally integrating and what mechanisms they intend to utilise to achieve this, the second aim was to underline the challenges TRANSCO experienced during the integration process. The rationale behind this study is to gain a stronger understanding of organisational attitudes towards global workforce diversity and to allow insight into corporate interactions, the dynamics of decision-making, and the challenges that arise during the integration process. highlights the issues of inclusiveness and the actions needed to be undertaken by managers when considering global workforce diversity. issues of inequality and explored the challenges of employee adjustments to the practice of diversity and inclusiveness.

This article by Campbell, Eden, and Miller (2012) reviews how “distance between the home and host countries affect a foreign affiliate's CSR (corporate social responsibility) in a host country” (p: 85). The aim is to find out the relationship between distance and foreign affiliate CSR. The first hypothesis states, the greater the cultural, administrative, geographic and economic (CAGE) distance, the less likely it is that foreign affiliates will engage in CSR in host countries. The second hypothesis is, CSR reputation is positively related to the foreign affiliate engaging in CSR in host countries and thirdly, a foreign affiliate's CSR reputation reduces the negative effect of distance on CSR. The rationale behind this study is to enrich our understanding of CSR practices in MNC. This article will be useful in discussing the challenges in cultural distance, overcoming liability of foreignness and the management of corporate social responsibility. This article it demonstrates how CAGE distance and CSR reputation affects CSR activity among home and host countries. It will assist me in my research in understanding and analysing the cultural challenges of MNCs.

McPhail, Fisher, Harvey and Moeller (2012) “explores the evolution of international staffing in an increasingly globalized and hypercompetitive marketplace” (p: 259). The aim of this article is to present a conceptual model of the types of expatriates and explore central decision making points along their possible progression into global staff. The rationale of the research is to first understand why repatriate failure occurs through examining how the needs among various managers change and why they’re not being met by organisations, secondly, to understand why expatriates leave their organisation after their return from foreign assignment. The article conveys data from several bodies of literature including quantitative data to discuss the rise in expatriates and qualitative data expressed through observational research methods performed on expatriates, such as interviews. This study is useful to my research as it discusses current global staffing issues including the exploration of de-identification, repatriate failure and issues of retaining staff upon return. The conceptual nature of the article forms a limitation because it allows for abstract responses on the conceptual model of global staffing. In conclusion, “this article has presented a conceptual model of global staffing and presented an analysis of the critical decision-making points that are so important to both the individual and the organisation” (p: 274). This study will form the basis of my research on international management challenges as it highlights the key issues that MNC managers face, including the management of foreign assignments. It also demonstrates the importance of human resources practices in ensuring repatriate failure doesn’t occur.