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Human Resource Management

The Globalization of Human Resource Practices
By Sheila M. Rioux, Ph.D., Paul R. Bernthal, Ph.D., and Richard S. Wellins, Ph.D.
The key to creating a consistent corporate culture across multiple
locations is maintaining the critical balance between a strong
corporate culture and local cultural differences.
Purpose
The report examines the changing roles the human
resource (HR) function plays in a globally
competitive marketplace and identifies the
challenges of adapting to these roles.
The objectives of this study were to:
_ Investigate how domestic and international
companies conduct HR practices around the
world.
_ Determine the top HR priorities for each
organization type.
_ Determine the challenges that organizations face
when trying to globalize their HR function and
practices.
_ Determine what organizations are doing to
institute a consistent corporate culture across all
locations/offices.
Responses were gathered from 206 members of
DDI’s HR Benchmark Group. Two-thirds of the
respondent organizations had operations in multiple
countries (international); the remaining third
operated solely in one country (domestic).
General Profile
Findings Overview
The globalization of HR is characterized by
increasing levels of decentralization.
_ Half of all international organizations reported
having one primary HR department with
independent regional HR staff.
_ Many international (37 percent) and domestic
(42 percent) companies reported using a more
centralized approach—one primary HR
department with dependent regional HR staff.
_ More than a third of domestic organizations
reported having only a primary HR department
with no regional HR staff.
2
HR Priorities
International and domestic organizations identified
similar HR priorities for the next two years.
_ The top priority, identified by 52 percent of
international companies, was leadership
development. Domestic organizations also
ranked leadership development as a top...