Diploma Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject Business economics -
Operations Research, grade: 1, University of Hannover, language:
English, abstract: As business activities become increasingly global and
cross-nationally intertwined, human resource management is no longer
defined by national boundaries. In particular, multinational
corporations (MNCs) face the challenge of managing their globally
dispersed work force effectively. Yet, the field of international human
resource management (IHRM) remains an understudied domain, lacking
substantial empirical and conceptual research. Also, a prevailing focus
on quantitative data suggests a need for deeper qualitative
investigations, which allows a more profound assessment of the context
in which IHRM unfolds. Thus, a multiple case study was conducted through
exploratory and semi-structured interviews with managerial employees at
six western MNCs which maintain their regional headquarters for
South-East Asia in Singapore. The initial guiding objective was to
provide a more thorough understanding of the forces that influence IHRM.
Due to the exploratory nature of the research set-up, this broad focus
has narrowed during the conduct of the study and the subsequent data
analysis. Based on the interviews, employee turnover emerged as a key
concern for international organizations operating in Singapore. Although
a tight local labour market has led to the effect that job turnover is a
widespread phenomenon, there is a lack of research addressing this issue
and the resulting implications for foreign MNCs. The present study's
focus on employee turnover also takes into account the growing
importance of local staff for MNCs. Indeed, by acknowledging the
critical role that local nationals play at the host country level, it
will be increasingly imperative for international organizations to
establish effective retention strategies. Despite this obvious
significance, the field of managing employee turnover also remains
considerab
