ABSTRACT
Readers of this book might wonder why the author has not yet defi ned the meaning of “international human resource development (IHRD).” Isn’t this generally done straight away in Chapter 1? Why this brazen unorthodoxy? The rationale for this decision is threefold: (1) It seemed important to fi rst guide the book’s target audience-i.e., “all those who are committed to workforce development, through subtleties that affect learning and communication choices in physical and virtual spaces; (2) to fi rst introduce the demographics and mobile nature of the global workforce itself and the implications of all of that to training and more, and then turn to a defi nition that might encompass all of these factors; (3) to present compelling reasons to the reader to fi rst evaluate personal preferences, assumptions, and possible biases regarding how individuals learn or should learn, choose to work, choose and use technology, make communication choices, and so on. After addressing the above, it appeared logical to identify a defi nition that might be useful and appreciated going forward. Therefore, Chapter 10 fi rst discusses several fi elds that are related to the broad fi eld of IHRD. Subsequently, it addresses developments that may (or should) impact theory and practice of IHRD in the future, particularly the evolution and integration of organizational science and organizational development (OD) with the fi eld of HR. The information is based on ongoing fi eldwork and interviews by the author with practitioners in both fi elds.1
