How do managers conceptualise international human resource policy? Presenting and validating a typology of human resource management identity

Recent rapid growth in international business has business people and academicians alike concerned with the creation of new competitive advantages through international operations (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989; Schuler and Florkoswski, 1994). This study attempts to address current weaknesses in the research through an integrative approach to the fundamental question, "What influences HRM strategic intent in the MNE?" The approach taken here is to synthesise environment, organisation and individual into one typology, which will explain the relationships between the three levels and their interactive influence on strategic decision-making. To be clear, the key assumption of this research is that not one variable previously studied acts alone to influence organisational strategy, and the only way to come to any meaningful (and therefore instructive) conclusion is to integrate several closely related variables into one conceptual whole. Thus, this study attempts to bridge the gap in the current conceptualisation of HRM strategy by examining the influence of the environmental, organisational and individual influences on HRM strategic decision-making in the in the MNE. This will be accomplished through the proposed typology of HRM identity, which represents a synthesis of human resource management and organisational behaviour perspectives.