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Role enactment of international human resource managers during the COVID-19 pandemic: New crisis management insights

Susan McGrath-Champ, Mihajla Gavin and Anthony Fee

Journal of International Management, 2025, vol. 31, issue 4

Abstract: International human resource (IHR) managers, those who manage expatriates, are vital to ensuring the well-being of expatriates and protecting organizational interests during crises. While researchers have developed normative frameworks describing the roles they enact during ‘typical’ crises, we examine enactment of their roles during the extreme crisis for global mobility created by the COVID-19 pandemic, extending theory on international human resource management (IHRM) responses to international crises. Grounded in role theory and based on interviews with IHR experts, this study provides theoretical and empirical insights into role enactment during crises, showing role prioritization shaped by exogenous crisis conditions, as well as heightened strategic role enactment and profile of the IHR function in crisis responses.

Keywords: International human resource management; Expatriates; Role theory; Role enactment; COVID-19; Crisis management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2025.101262

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