Convergence and Divergence Debate over IHRM Practices
By : Anggun M.B

Nowadays, there is an increasingly concern about convergence and divergence debate over Human Resource Management practices of MNCs that operate expandly accross the globe. With regard to convergence approach, it is generally accepted that the universality of sound management practices would lead to societies and countries becoming more and more alike and interlink. On the other hand, according to divergence approach, companies will try to adapt its strategies with different host-country context in order to sustain its business continually in different countries. However, in my point of view, MNCs need to have a well-balanced strategy which combines global efficiency and local responsiveness strategy in doing their business around the world. Regarding this concern and how does it relate to HRM practices, this essay will focus on the training and development practice in McDonald India, by starting with comparison about key factors of both approaches as will now be discussed.
Comparing both approaches, there are several key factors that force MNCs to implement the convergence and divergence strategies in its global operation. In term of global efficiency or convergence, the driving forces/factors such as converging income across states, economies of scale, uniform product and service design, international business expansion with low transportation cost, less trade barriers and more open market have led to universality and as a result, countries are more and more similar and interlink compared to before. On the contrary, there are several forces from national responsiveness standpoint such as unique technological capabilities, different national consumption patterns, and customer preferences that are very country-specific. There is also local content requirements which are being viewed as a local