Mapping the terrain of international human resource management research over the past fifty years: A bibliographic analysis

Di Fan, Cherrie J. Zhu, Xinli Huang and Vikas Kumar

Journal of World Business, 2021, vol. 56, issue 2

Abstract: This review aims to take stock of the extant international human resource management (IHRM) research by identifying gaps and mapping out a future research agenda for IHRM scholars. Based on an extensive bibliographic analysis of 1924 articles published in the field of IHRM, we confirm three key clusters of existing knowledge: (a) expatriation management; (b) global human capital; and (c) international human resource policies and practices. Moreover, using scientific mapping tools, sub-themes in each cluster are classified, issues and deficiencies are examined and discussed. Furthermore, a future IHRM research agenda is proposed, including managing global work to cope with the adverse social and economic conditions, and to localize emerging market multinationals; building global human capital towards developing sustainability and nurturing digital multinationals; developing new perspectives and theories on transferring IHRM policies and practices; and embracing rigorous or innovative empirical methods in the field.

Keywords: International human resource management; International business; Expatriation management; Human capital; Visualization of similarities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:worbus:v:56:y:2021:i:2:s1090951620301139

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2020.101185

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