Abstract
This article addresses the issue of whether International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is disconnected from other International Business (IB) studies. A content analysis was conducted of 383 articles published in five main international business journals used by IHRM scholars as outlets for their work over a 21 year time span. We classified the articles into two streams of IHRM research: international assignment management and what we term MNC-related research. These streams were found to be given almost equal research attention, developing in tandem across the time period examined. A thematic analysis of articles within each stream facilitated the identification of areas receiving the most research concentration, those with partial attention, and topics yet to be explored. A third stream of articles we designated as non-empirical allowed consideration of theoretical developments within the field. This assessment demonstrates how IHRM is developing a stronger connection with more general IB research.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Marja Tahvanainen for acting as the independent coder. We would also like to thank the Editors and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The research was funded by the HSE Foundation.
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Appendix: Details of the selected journals
Appendix: Details of the selected journals
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IJHRM was launched in 1990 with three issues; growing to 15 issues by 2010. Topics range from IHRM to comparative studies of management and HR, cross-cultural management; single national HRM; and employee and industrial relations studies.
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JIBS is consistently ranked as the premier journal in the IB field. It was founded in 1970 and is the official journal of the Academy of International Business. JIBS is eclectic in terms of article topics, with the current editors stressing its inter-disciplinary focus. As with IJHRM, the number of volume issues has slowly increased over time—from a steady four issues per year, rising to six in 2003; eight in 2008, and to nine in 2010.
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MIR is the oldest international management journal, celebrating its fiftieth year of publication in 2010. The journal now publishes six issues per year. Articles are rather eclectic in nature but fall within the stated editorial aim of furthering the field of International Management.
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JWB was founded in 1965. The journal’s original name was Columbia Journal of World Business, and it adopted its current name in 1997. It accepts papers on a range of topics and disciplines in IM/IB research. It consistently publishes four issues per year.
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Founded in 1992, IBR commenced as the Scandinavian International Business Review, but changed its name after its first year. It now publishes six issues per year, with a similar eclectic IB/IM scope of articles to MIR and JWB. In 2003, IBR became the official journal of the European International Business Association.
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Welch, D., Björkman, I. The Place of International Human Resource Management in International Business. Manag Int Rev 55, 303–322 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-014-0226-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-014-0226-3