国际人力资源管理(英文版·第7版)(工商管理经典丛书·人力资源管理系列;高等学校经济管理类双语教学课程用书)

PREFACEIn writing the Preface for the 7th Edition of International Human Resource Management two important published documents illustrate the context for HRM in International Business in the first quarter of the 21st Century. One is the Internet document Decent Work and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) which states that “over 600 million new jobs need to be created by 2030, just to keep pace with the growth of the working-age population. That is around 40 million per year. We also need to improve conditions for the 780 million women and men who are working but not earning enough to lift themselves and their families out of US$2-a-day poverty”. In addition, we observe the demographic challenges of low birth rates in many industrialized countries and a lack of qualified talent.A second document is the Special Report on Companies published by The Economist (17 Sept. 2016) titled The rise of the superstars. This report notes that “a small group of giant companies (some old, some new) are once again dominating the global economy” and asks the question “Is that a good or a bad thing?”. There is also a chart which lists the world’s ten largest listed companies by market capitalization in billions of US dollars in 2006 and 2016. The 2016 companies are Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and China Mobile. Of this list only Microsoft, Exxon Mobil and General Electric were on the 2006 list, indicating the extent of change in what The Economist describes as “a virtually new world”.We also acknowledge the so-called megatrends highlighted by many authors, mainly from consulting firms. An important issue they address is the complex and ongoing effect of demographic shifts on global business practices. In part, many countries are characterized by higher life expectancies and lower birth rates. This is not only a challenge for the social welfare systems1 but also for companies and their human resource management.According to this and other studies other challenges include the rise of the individual, the enabling technology and digitalization, the interconnected global economy, new market and global responsibilities as well as a rise in entrepreneurship2. In preparing the 7th Edition the authors have attempted to pay con- siderable care and attention to this new world of international business.The world of global business is very different than it was in 1990 when the first edition of this text was introduced. Our task remains to capture key human issues, those complexities, challenges, and choices faced by individuals and organizations engaged in global business and exchange. This world remains as compelling and critical as it was some 27 years ago.The more significant changes to the Seventh Edition include the following:?? Several of the IHRM in Action cases embedded throughout the chapters have been significantly updated. These changes will help students grasp the principles and models in the chapter and better apply these ideas to a range of settings or contexts.?? A new case, written particularly for this edition, has been added in the area of career development and repatriation. The nine in-depth cases at the end of the text have been written by the co-authors or solicited from global experts to provide a range of in-depth applications for all of the major functional areas of IHRM. Extensive teaching notes are provided for adopters of the text. Long time users of the text will find a more systematic and extensive set of cases, but hopefully our loyal adopters will still find some of theirfavorite cases remain as well. Our feedback on these end-of-text cases was outstandingly positive in the 6th edition and we feel this new edition builds on that strength.?? As in previous editions, the challenge of this Seventh Edition has been to organize the complexities particular to HRM activities in MNEs in such a way that provides teachers (of both undergraduate and graduate students) real choice as to how they will present the material. We have tried to find a balance that is meaningful and appropriate to the varying cultures represented by potential adopters and readers, and across educational traditions, institutions, and forms, while accurately capturing the compelling realities facing HRM professionals in MNEs. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for improve- ment in this task.?? The author team remains an excellent example of collaborative work (across a significant number of time zones) in the 21st century with tri-continental representation from the Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America.