International Human Resource Mangement (IHRM) focuses on the management of human resources in international and global corporations, the management of expatriate employees, and the comparison of human resource management practices in different countries. Because of the importance of human resources for any corporation, a particular organization's approach to IHRM reflects international corporate strategy.

Practitioners of IHRM have responsibility for the recruitment and selection of employees, training and development, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits, and labor relations. With the increase of global corporations and knowledge workers as employees, the functions of IHRM are becoming more important for the success of large corporations.

Many people find the differences of other cultures interesting and challenging. But not everyone desires to work in a culture other than their own--or has the skills required for success. In addition to the values, customs, and habits being different, the language, food, recreation and many other aspects of everyday life can be experienced as strange and uncomfortable.

Evaluate your skills and characteristics for becoming a successful expatriate employee. Use the information in the following Web sites to construct a profile of successful expatriates. The following questions will be helpful in your evaluation and search:

• Do you speak a foreign language? Which ones? How well?
  
  
• Have you either visited or lived abroad or in another country?
  
  
• Do you have an interest in other cultures?
  
  
• Do you have specific skills that are suitable for adapting to other cultures?
  
  
• If you are married, how does your spouse rank on these questions?
  
  

1. Thunderbird School of International Management
   http://www.t-bird.edu/
   This Web site provides access to outstanding sources of international business and HR information.
   
   
2. HR Magazine
   http://www.shrm.org/docs/Hrmagazine.html
   This site contains articles from HR Magazine, published monthly by the society of Human Resource Management.
   
   
3. International Institute for Management Development
   http://www.imd.ch/
   This Web site is from the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, and focuses on executive development from an international perspective.
   
   

1. Do your personal traits and professional skills match those of successful expatriates?
2. Discuss your self-evaluation with members of your class or family.
   • Do they have different views of your suitability for working in another culture?
   • Can you or they identify ways for you to improve your skills for work in another culture?