INTERNATIONAL RECRUITEMNET AND SELECTION:
In most accounts of international human resource management, the issue of international recruitment and selection is seen primarily as an issue of expatriate. However, internationalization affects many other types of role. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1992), for example, identify four types of international manager, each of which requires a different mix of competencies.
- Business managers or product division managers, `strategies plus architects plus co-ordinates`.
- country managers, `sensors plus builders plus contributors` conveying to others the importance of collecting and evaluating information and responding to local sensitivities.
- Functional managers, `scanners plus crass-pollinators plus champions` extremely important for organisational learning in scanning globally for specialized information and promoting the transfer of best practice and information between different parts of the organisation.
- corporate managers, `leaders plus talent scouts plus developers` who play the initial role of co-ordinators and developers of new talent.
However such a full range of roles applies only to the few fully developed transnational’s, and only focuses on top managers. International responsibilities, skills and mind sets need to be developed much deeper with in the organisation and at other managerial levels.
The different international strategies require different kinds of managers and different requirements for cultural sensitivity. In a phase one, domestic ethnocentric organisation, little in the way of international experience or orientation becomes very important for a variety of functional managers-sales representatives, technical experts and, managing directors amongst others.
When organisations attempts to recruit across borders, they may find that the selection systems they use are ineffective. National differences within
If we move from graduate recruitment to the recruitment of more experienced mangers, it appears shortages of such managers are hampering the globalization efforts of many British and Irish companies in particular(scullion 1992; 1994): the failure to recruit, retain and develop host country nationals is of course one factor. Such firms often appear to lack knowledge of lack labour markets, show ignorance of the local education, training and qualifications system, ignore language and cultural problems, and attempt to export domestic recruitment practices to foreign countries. One response to the shortage of international managers has been to use external recruitment more often to fill international management positions. Broadening recruitment activities to include a more internationally diverse pool in which to fish, especially developing euro managers, is also as we have seen, a step many firms have taken. However, restrictions on international mobility remain, and the pace of internationalization may outstrip the supply of appropriate international managers. One area is the reward package offered, especially acute problems for British firms in particular. Another is the growing resistance to international mobility exhibited by many managers, stemming from a variety of sources. These include perceived poltical and security instability, a concern with the home economy in a recession and its impact on re-entry, an unwillingness to disrupt children’s education, a concern with quality of life issues and dual career family issues in particular, and the increasing reluctance of partners to leave their own job or career. In the face of such recruitment difficulties, it seems bizarre of European MNCs to rarely consider women for international positions. There is concern that women may not be politically, socially or culturally acceptable in many countries where women in management in particular are a rarity.