With the rapid development of the contemporary modern technology, the importance of the progressive human resources management is gradually but steadily gaining its importance and actuality. Whereas the key factor of the production in the early and late 20th century was the number of production facilities and the elements. The workers could have been easily substituted, if their manual labor for some reasons no longer fit the needs of the business owner.
Nowadays, the owners of business hire the extensive and highly professional Human Resources departments in order to guarantee that the most qualified and the most talented employees have been attracted to be engaged in the industrial cycle of their companies. This policy of the recruiting of the best cadres is dictated by the saturation of the market. Almost in every country both the goods and the services are over-produced, and solely those companies who indeed manufacture the best commodities or render the most qualified services is more or less likely to keep afloat on the international business arena.
Besides, it is particularly essential to highlight the ever emerging international character of the contemporary business. Joint ventures become a popular form of business conduct. Therefore, factors of international importance must be duly considered by the Human Resources Department of the business entities.
Fully realizing the nature of the contemporary business, it can be illustrated that there is a crying need of the modern business men to implicate the forces of the workers both within the country and to hire workforce from overseas. For instance, a vast majority of the software which is operable in the United States of America is being developed in India or Pakistan, by the talented but by the less expensive software engineers of those countries.
Overall, the aim of this paper is to give a brief understanding of the major trends in the field of contemporary International Resource Management and to accentuate the main issues of this field of business.
The Issues of the Contemporary International Human Resource Management and the Most Recognized Staffing Policies
In accordance with the widely spread opinion of the scholars, the international human resource management can be defined as the system of the principles and the tools aimed at seeking, hiring and effective utilization of the skills and qualifications of the personnel of the company located in the foreign country.
As far as the most globally popular staffing policies are concerned, it is worth mentioning the following ones in this section:
1) Ethnocentric Staffing Policy — under the guidelines of this policy there is a clear to hire the professional from the domestic country of the business owner, even if the subsidiaries of the enterprise are located in a foreign land (Robbins, 2004). The most exemplary nation in this regard is the United Kingdom, who indeed express a clear trend to assign the British people to the offices in India or in South Africa. The main advantage of this policy is the overall observance
2) Polycentric Staffing Approach. The aim of this staffing policy is to guarantee that while the domestic headquarters of the business are occupied by the nationals of the business owners (i.e. if the company is French, the Paris office of the firm is staffed with the employees of the French nationality) whereas the offices overseas are occupied by the respective nationals of those countries. the main advantage of this policy, is the fact that the local residents hired by the firm are usually more familiar with the peculiarities of the overseas market in where the firm operates. Although the conflict between the personal and the corporate interests may be sometimes resolved to the favor of the personal ones(Brumfitt, 2001). However, the benefits of this approach usually outweigh the negative side of the potential circumstances.
3) The Geocentric Staffing Approach. The essence of this approach connotes that the most qualified and skilled professionals are hired to serve the needs of the firm irrespective of their geographical origin, their nationality or ethnicity (Rencky,2004). The pledge of successful collaboration between them and the firm is the monetary remuneration they receive. The top advantage of this method is the highest level of professionalism, it is often reported by the scholars that these top-professional often outscore their colleagues of the same nationality that the business owner has.
Overall, having recapitulated the main points of these strategies, it is natural to assume that the most advantageous approach for the owner of a business is naturally the geocentric staffing policy (Pearson, 2000). When this option is chosen, both the interests of the business and the individual can be easily safeguarded at the same time.
Expatriate Management Policy of the United Arab Emirates
It is clearly identifiable that the Human Resources management departments of the companies located and registered in the United Arab Emirates follows the geocentric approach(Almedaeb, 2003) It is reported by the leading research agencies that approximately 20% of the entire population of the United Arab Emirates is of foreign origin and nationality. The key positions of the exporting oil and gas companies are occupied by the CEOs and top-management, who originated in their majority from France and from the United States of America, where the best management schools are located and where the best experience can be accumulated and the most relevant international management skill can be acquired.
Having followed this approach, the firms of the United Arab Emirates have made a right choice under any doubts, (Akmehadeib, 2003). The oil and gas companies are prospering and this prosperity is under any doubts due to the painstaking efforts of the expatriate professionals working there.