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THE FIRST WINNER OF THE IHRM SCHOLARLY RESEARCH
AWARD
Research excellence in international human resource management
(IHRM) is unique because of its intersection among multiple fields of
management, such as Human Resource Management (HRM) and
International Management (IM). Scholars working in IHRM have the
ability to make a contribution not only to IHRM, but also to broader
areas of management – giving colleagues in traditional human
resources a broader contextual understanding of their work. To
recognize the unique contribution made by IHRM, the HR Division’s
IHRM Scholarly Research Award has been created. This annual award
is given to the scholar or scholars who have advanced IHRM in some
significant way through a single piece of published work.
For the 2007 award, the first one to be made, the International
Committee of the US Academy of Management has conducted a
retrospective review of academic output throughout the years 2005
and 2006. It concentrated on papers that have been influential to the
field of International Human Resource Management.
The Committee sought self and peer nominated papers and papers
selected through expert selection. The review concentrated on output
from the highest standing (citation and impact) journals that take
papers in the territory (Academy of Management Journal, Academy of
Management Review, Management International Review, International
Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of International
Business Studies. Human Resource Management and Human Resource
Management Journal.
The top 26 papers were selected and reviewed on the basis of their
quality. 14 of these papers achieved the status of High Merit whilst a
further 12 papers were shortlisted for additional recognition and
consideration as Papers of Excellence, from which one winner would be
selected.
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Fields develop through a discourse between scholars and future
researchers, and the International Committee hopes that by
recognising the best range of output, these papers can be brought to
the attention of, and influence the research agendas, of all those
working in the field,
Papers of High Merit
Papers of High Merit were considered to have the strong methodology
(qualitative or quantitative) and theoretical focus. This was judged on
the basis of data from, or analysis across, more than one country, with
theoretically informed hypotheses. They were also considered to have
strength in terms of advancing their sub-subject area, strength of
methodology (for example multi-level analysis, sophisticated forms of
measurement), the extent to which the study solves unmet needs in
the literature, and the likely impact of the paper. 14 papers were
considered to have met this benchmark:

Andolsek, D.M. and Stebe, J. (2005) Devolution or (de)
centralization of HRM function in European organizations.
International Journal of HRM, 16 (3): 311-329.

Belderbos, R.A. and Heijltjes, M.G. (2005) The determinants of
expatriate staffing by Japanese multinationals in Asia: control,
learning and vertical business groups. Journal of International
Business Studies, 36: 341-354.

Bhaskar-Shrinivas, P. Harrison, D.A., Shaffer, M.A., and Luk, D.M.
(2005) Input-based and time-based models of international
adjustment: meta-analytic evidence and theoretical extensions.
Academy of Management Journal, 48 (6): 1033-1049.

Brewster, C., Sparrow, P. and Harris, H. (2005) Towards a new
model of globalizing HRM. International Journal of HRM, 16 (6):
949-970.

Colling, T. and Clark, I. (2006) What happened when the Americans
took over Britain's electricity industry? Exploring trans-national
sector effects on employment relations. International Journal of
HRM, 17 (9): 1625-1644.

De Cieri, H., Fenwick, M. and Hutchings, K. (2005) The challenge of
international human resource management: balancing the duality
of strategy and practice. International Journal of HRM, 16 (4):
584-598.
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
Dickmann, M. and Muller-Camen, M. (2006) A typology of
international human resource management strategies and
processes. International Journal of HRM, 17 (4): 580-601.

Geppart, M. and Williams, K. (2006) Global, national and local
practices in multinational corporations: towards a socio-political
framework. International Journal of HRM, 17 (1): 49-69.

Mezias, J.M. and Scandura, T.A. (2005) A needs-driven approach to
expatriate adjustment and career development: a multiple
mentoring perspective. Journal of International Business Studies,
36: 519-538.

Newburry, W. and Yakova, N. (2006) Standardization preferences:
a function of national culture, work interdependence and local
embeddedness. Journal of International Business Studies, 37: 4460.

Newburry, W., Gardberg, N.A. and Belkin, L.Y. (2006)
Organizatonal attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder: the
interaction of demographic characteristics with foreignness. Journal
of International Business Studies, 37: 666-686.

Takeuchi, R., Tesluk, P.E., Yun, S., Lepak, D.P. (2005) An
integrative view of international experience. Academy of
Management Journal, 48 (6): 85-100

Waldman, D.A., de Luque, M., Washburn, N., House, R.J. et al
(2006) Cultural and leadership predictors of corporate social
responsibility values of top management: a GLOBE study of 15
countries. Journal of International Business Studies, 37: 823-837.

Woldu, H.G., Budhwar, P.S. and Parkes, C. (2006) A cross-national
comparison of cultural value orientations of Indian, Polish, Russian
and American employees. International Journal of HRM, 17 (6):
1076-1094.
Papers of Excellence
Beyond these high merit papers there were 12 papers that have been
considered as Papers of Excellence.
These papers received the
strongest scores across all four award criteria. They were subjected to
further review by a sub-panel of the International Committee in order
to identify the best paper to receive the 2007 International Human
Resource Management Scholarly Research Award. The top 12 papers
of excellence were:
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
Aycan, Z. (2005) The
interplay between cultural and
institutional/structural
contingencies
in
human
resource
management practices.
International Journal of HRM, 16 (7):
1083-1119.

Brewster, C., Wood, G., Brookes, M. and Van Ommeren, J. (2006)
What determines the size of the HR function? A cross-national
analysis. Human Resource Management, 45 (1): 3-21.

Edwards, T. and Kuruvilla, S. (2005) International HRM: national
business systems, organizational policies and the international
division of labour in MNCs. International Journal of HRM, 16 (1): 121.

Ferner, A., Almond, P. and Colling, T. (2006) Institutional theory
and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: the case of
'workforce diversity' in US multinationals. Journal of International
Business Studies, 36: 301-321.

Gerhart, B. and Fang, M. (2005) National culture and human
resource management: assumptions and evidence. International
Journal of HRM, 16 (6): 971-986.

Gong, Y., Shenkar, O., Luo, Y. and Nyaw, M-K (2005) Human
resources and international joint venture performance: a systems
perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 36: 505-518.

Johnson, J.P., Lenartowicz, T. and Apud, S. (2006) Cross-cultural
competence in international business: toward a definition and a
model. Journal of International Business Studies, 37: 525-543.

Phene, A., Madhok, A. and Liu, K. (2005) Knowledge Transfer
within the Multinational Firm: What Drives the Speed of Transfer?
Management International Review. Special Issue 2/2005, 45: 5374.

Pudelko, M. (2006) A comparison of HRM systems in the USA,
Japan and Germany in their socio-economic context. Human
Resource Management Journal 16 (2), 123–153.

Rugman, A.M and Verbeke, A. (2005) Towards a Theory of
Regional Multinationals: A Transaction Cost Economics Approach.
Management International Review. Special Issue 1/2005, 45: 5-17

Tarique, I., Schuler, R. and Gong, Y. (2006) A model of
multinational
enterprise
subsidiary
staffing
composition.
International Journal of HRM, 17 (2): 207-224.

Tregaskis, O. and Brewster, C. (2006) Converging or diverging? A
comparative analysis of trends in contingent employment practice
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in Europe over a decade. Journal of International Business Studies,
37: 111-126.
The IHRM Scholarly Award Winner
The review process has now been completed and the International
Committee is delighted to announce that the clear winner of the 2007
IHRM Scholarly Award was the paper by Barry Gerhart (University of
Wisconsin-Madison) and Meiyu Fang (National Central University of
Taiwan):
Gerhart, B. and Fang, M. (2005) National culture and human resource
management: assumptions and evidence. International Journal of
HRM, 16 (6): 971-986.
This paper has won the award because of the perceived importance of
its findings. It examined the assumptions behind the use of culture as
an explanator of country differences in HRM. It focused on the work of
Hofstede and raised important statistical questions about treatment of
data. It drew upon meta-analyses and other studies to assess the
impact of culture, and produced a reduced estimate of explained
variance down from 50% to 2-4%. The re-analysis of data showed
that although culture can still be important, its impact must be put into
context and other factors such as organisational culture.
Next year’s award
As advance notification, the 2008 award will be based on a review of
output throughout 2007, with analysis taking place early next year. In
addition to the journals reviewed for the first award, other outlets such
as IJCCM, ISMO, and JWB will be included, along with any specialist
IHRM coverage in journals such as JOB, Personnel Psychology and so
forth.
Peer and self-nominations will be accepted until 1st February
2008.
Article by:
Professor Paul R. Sparrow, Director of the Centre for Performance-Led HR, Lancaster
University and Chair of the HR Division’s International Committee.
Email: paul.sparrow@lancaster.ac.uk