International Case

International Human Resource Management (IHRM) has become an important study for today's management professionals. With more organizations becoming global and executives being frequently sent for overseas assignments, managing human resources in a multi-cultural perspective and highly competitive environment has become daunting challenges for HR professionals. Managing workforce diversity, host-country relations, more involvement in the employes' personal lives, concern for International Labour Laws, statutory compliances, flexible compensation packages, use of state-of-the-art expatriate training and performance management systems have become obvious choices for most HR Departments.

(Black & Gregersen, 1996) stated that as organization become globalised, there is a growing challenge to use expatriates on international assignments to complete strategically significant tasks. Multinational corporations (MNCs) use expatriates, not only for corporate control and expertise reasons in vital global markets, but also to facilitate entry into new markets or to develop international management competencies (Forster, 2000).

Singapore, for instance has been ranked No. 2 in Asia on multinational corporations (MNCs) priority list for expat postings. Despite the high cost of living, Singapore remains a top location for international postings as multinational corporations (MNCs) ponder stepping up staff deployment overseas after the global economic recession. According to London based Employment Conditions Abroad (ECA) poll, China tops the Asian list, HongKong No.3, India No 4. and Vietnam No.5. Globally, Singapore is ranked No.4 while United States, despite its economic sluggishness takes precedence over all countries in terms of overseas staff deployment by MNCs (Ming, 2012).

Evidence also suggests that the management of international human resources is increasingly being acknowledged as a major determinant of success