ABSTRACT
Human resource choices have to be made in the context of the many cross-national differences that have explored in this chapter: culture, politics, history, geography, economics, demographics, language, and religion. Parent Country Nationals (PCNs) are seen as representing the parent country whereas Third Country Nationals (TCNs) seem to represent the world in some sense. Some managers describe international firms as developing a small cadre of internationalists. The selection process for international managers basically involves identifying important characteristics for a particular position, identifying a pool of potential candidates, evaluating the candidates. In terms of the characteristics deemed important, short-listing the best candidates, reviewing and interviewing the short-listed candidates, and, finally, selecting the best candidate. The human resources manager needs to evaluate the importance of various factors, such as parent country or company knowledge, host country knowledge, and need for local interaction, in order to decide which group of employees is most likely to produce a suitable candidate for a particular position.
