ABSTRACT
This is the first of the chapters in the book that examine the range of processes through which new and globalized patterns of HRM are being developed – what we call global integration mechanisms. Linking back to Chapter 2, we are in effect looking at how organizations develop linkages between geographically dispersed units and use a series of integration modes to regulate functional activities across borders (Malbright 1995). Kim et al. (2003: 327) define such functional global integration as the ‘coordination and control of individual business functions across borders’. They found that the dynamics of this functional integration were ‘highly critical’ in R&D, manufacturing and marketing functions, seeing these functions as central to the global transfer and integration needed to achieve scale, scope and learning economies. Sparrow, Farndale et al. (2014) linked this perspective to the fundamental question addressed throughout this chapter: how do organizations manage the globalization of the talent management function itself?
