Managing Human Resources in the International Firm: Lessons From Practice

Abstract

No less than twenty years ago, the international operations of most companies were largely export activities of ethnocentric organizations. Expatriate assignments spelt career doom, distancing the exile from the headquarter politics of a successful career. Surveys in the mid-70s of Fortune 100 companies revealed that 90% of top executives had no foreign experience. There were of course a few exceptions, notably the corporations that were transnational by origin like Shell and Unilever, and firms with most of their turnover outside the smaller mother country. How many consumers realize that Nestlé is in fact a Swiss firm, though only 2% of its sales and 4% of its employees are Swiss-based?