European Management Journal (2010) 28, 421– 440

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/emj

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs
Sharon L. OÕSullivan
*

Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier ave East, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1N 6N5

KEYWORDS International human resource management; International non-governmental organization; International development; Northern NGOs; Canada; Capacity building

Summary Over $100 million of Canadian overseas development assistance (ODA) is channeled through international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) (CIDA, 2006). Although INGOs appear to be successful at circumventing many challenges in international development (Sachs, 2007), empirical research attesting to their international human resource management (IHRM) challenges is sparse, particularly in regard to secular, Northern INGOs. This paper responds by investigating the IHRM challenges facing Canadian INGOs as they implement ODA-funded projects in the field, and by exploring how such challenges may vary in different types of INGOs. The methodology involved semistructured interviews with 31 managers in three different Canadian development INGOs. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
The term INGO refers to ‘‘international non-governmental organization’’ (Roberts et al., 2005). Such organizations exist for diverse socioeconomic reasons, focusing on global environmental concerns (e.g., Greenpeace), on global human rights concerns (e.g., Amnesty International), or on humanitarian health assistance in times of crisis (e.g., Medecins San Frontieres). In reality, many focus on a variety of socioeconomic aid objectives, such as the Red Cross Movement, which consists of a ‘‘Federation’’ that deals with international development, an ‘‘International Committee’’ that deals with health/logistical issues in humanitarian emergencies/conflict zones, and various national societies (e.g., the Canadian Red Cross) which deal with domestic preparedness and disaster management. Regardless of their particular social objective(s), there is no question that INGOs have become powerful organizational players in the global arena. Development INGOs, in particular, receive over $78 billion US in international assistance, and they have been recognized for their utility in combating international terrorism (Harmer and Macrae, 2003; Howell, 2006). In Canada, international development INGOs receive $108 million annually via CanadaÕs Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget (CIDA, 2006), and this figure does not include the millions of dollars that are

* Tel.: +1 613 562 5800x4436; fax: +1 613 562 5164. E-mail address: sosullivan@telfer.uottawa.ca

0263-2373/$ - see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2010.06.006

422 also given to them annually via private charitable donations. Canadian development INGOs stand to receive substantially more funding if Canada increases its ODA from its current rate of 0.32% of GNI to its committed level of 0.7% of GNI (CIDA, 2006). However, there has been lively public debate within Canada about following through on CanadaÕs commitment to increased ODA. Some (e.g., Labelle, 2007) caution against having Canadian ODA funds disappear into vacuums of corruption, while others (e.g., Sachs, 2007) argue that development INGOs should receive an even greater proportion of Canadian ODA precisely because they represent a channel for circumventing corruption concerns at the local government level. Internationally, these concerns exist as well. Equally problematic is the widespread perception that NGOs can potentially ‘‘ignore poor service delivery to beneficiaries because there is no market mechanism to carry any message of customer satisfaction’’ (Lewis, 2007, p. 211). For all of these reasons, donors are increasingly holding development INGOs accountable for their management of development funds (Weidenbaum, 2007; OÕDwyer and Unerman, 2007). International recognition of this need for greater transparency of development NGOsÕ governance practices is now reflected in the form of international agreements such as ‘‘The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’’ (Tomlinson, 2008). Empirical management research should also be helpful in determining the suitability of development NGOs as conduits for governance of ODA funds. Yet, very little is known about how development INGOs deal with the many internal management challenges that inevitably arise during the implementation of development projects (Lancet, 2010; Lewis, 2007). The field of NGO management has emerged only recently as a research domain (Lewis, 2007). There was a brief flurry of interest in NGO management research during the 1980s and 1990s, with the formation of the NGO management network by the International Council for Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), and its publication of an NGO Management Newsletter between 1986 and 1992 (Lewis, 2007). However, most of this early research on the management of development projects was programmatic and external in nature, with an orientation toward the challenges of managing external relationships, such as those with beneficiaries (the primary stakeholders) (e.g., Covey, 1995), with the public in northern donor countries (e.g., Stark-Biddle, 1984), with multilateral agencies (e.g., Ramarajan et al., 2004), with the business sector (e.g., Lindenberg and Bryant, 2001), with southern NGOs (e.g., Fowler, 1997), with northern NGOs (e.g., Carroll, 1992), with the NGOsÕ board of directors (e.g., Tandon, 1995), and with government (e.g., Fowler, 1997; Stark-Biddle, 1984). When research on internal management issues in this sector was addressed, it focused mainly on management challenges from an organizational behavior standpoint, considering organizational dynamics such as communication (e.g., Analoui, 1993), leadership (e.g., Fowler, 1997), decision-making (e.g., Carroll, 1992), conflict management (e.g., Suzuki, 1997), motivation (e.g., Analoui, 1993), power (e.g., Fowler, 1997), organizational design (e.g., Carroll, 1992), organizational change, and organizational

S.L. OÕSullivan learning and development1 (e.g., Carroll, 1992; Powell, 1999). Moreover, even then, a good deal of the research indicated that Northern INGOsÕ organizational development efforts typically focused on their Southern NGO partnersÕ needs (i.e., for self-reliance and ongoing sustainability), rather than on their own (Smillie and Hailey, 2001). Particularly sparse is the research on the international human resource management (IHRM) challenges and practices related to implementing projects in Northern development INGOs. Only six publications have addressed IHRM practices (e.g., Anderson, 2001; Fowler, 1997, 2002; Fenwick, 2005; Ramarajan et al., 2004; Smillie and Hailey, 2001). Of these, only three (i.e., Anderson, 2001; Fenwick, 2005; Smillie and Hailey, 2001) have examined IHRM challenges empirically. This lack of systematic attention to IHRM challenges is unfortunate, given that an awareness of such challenges is an essential prerequisite to evaluating whether IHRM practices are contextually appropriate. The state of IHRM research in development INGOs is also considerably less developed than the extensive literature on IHRM challenges and practices that exists for private-sector multinationals (e.g., Harzing and van Ruysseveldt, 2004). Although IHRM theorists who have traditionally focused on private-sector multinationals have recently begun to take notice of the INGO sector, their work to date has been largely conceptual in nature (e.g., Brewster and Less, 2006; Chang, 2005; and Merlot et al., 2006). Collectively, they have concluded that systematic, empirical research on IHRM in INGOs is sorely needed. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to respond to this gap in the literature by empirically addressing the following research questions: First, ‘‘what are the IHRM challenges faced by development INGOs in the course of implementing development projects in the field?’’ Second, ‘‘do IHRM challenges vary according to INGO characteristics (e.g., INGO size; membership in a federation – or not; primary project focus – advocacy vs service delivery; participation in emergency/humanitarian activities as well as development or just development activities)?’’ In so doing, this paper will also respond to the socioeconomic imperative to better understand various aspects of INGOsÕ governance.

Theoretical background
In his seminal review of the literature on the management of development NGOs, Lewis (2007) described advocacy and service delivery as the twin core activities of such organizations. Although the significance of service delivery may be more obvious, the role of advocacy is equally crucial, because most NGOs are typically restricted to working on a relatively small scale. Advocacy is essential for creating a wider impact by ‘‘seeking to redirect development aid policies towards a greater poverty focus, and by attempting to strengthen
In the NGO management literature, the topic of organizational development is often referred to as Ôcapacity buildingÕ, and is distinguished from the broader development notion of Ôinstitution buildingÕ, which pertains to building the capacity of infrastructural and governance institutions in the target country (Eade, 1997).
1

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs the position of poor people within markets by promoting fair trade or lobbying for reforms of international trade regulations’’ (Lewis, 2007, p. 199). In practice, the boundaries between service delivery and advocacy are often blurred (Lewis, 2007). More importantly, regardless of whether an INGO has developed stellar marketing strategies for service and/or advocacy projects, it is the NGOÕs internal human resources, and their preparedness to successfully cultivate and maintain relationships with external organizations, which will ultimately determine whether those projects are fully effective. Yet, as Table 1 demonstrates, the literature on IHRM in development NGOs is quite limited. The remainder of this section will make reference to the literature reviewed in Table 1. First, in regard to job descriptions, early research suggested that job descriptions in development INGOs are loosely defined at best, which means that confusion over accountability is common (Billis and Harris, 1996), and that formal rational management planning tools (e.g., goal-setting) can be problematic. This was thought to be due to INGOsÕ highly politicized and volatile context, which involves a

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range of external stakeholder pressures and situations (e.g., conflict zones) (McGill and Wooton, 1975). Despite (or perhaps because of) this, Table 1 also indicates that development NGO researchers have a keen awareness of the urgency of strategic human resource planning (HRP) in development NGOs (Fowler, 2002). With regard to staffing, researchers seem to have acknowledged relevant competencies for selection (Anderson, 2001), to have recognized the need for systematic processes of recruitment and selection (Fowler, 2002), and to have become aware of some challenging tradeoffs between the use of expatriates (e.g., language and cultural challenges) and host-country nationals (HCNs) (e.g., risk of nepotism). However, specific practices such as how to recruit or the kinds of selection tests used when assessing competencies have not been addressed. Nor has there been any discussion of the challenges that arise when doing either activity. This stands in stark contrast to the IHRM literature on for-profit multinationals, which has extensively examined international recruitment and selection practices, and the challenges associated with them

Table 1

Internal human resource management challenges in development NGOs. Key studies and findings
• Five categories of development NGO staff are briefly described (Fowler, 2002) • Given imperative to operate in a flexible manner, precise job descriptions can be elusive (Billis and Harris, 1996) • Human resource planning and leadership succession planning should be an ongoing part of any learning organization (Fowler, 1997, 2002) • Staffing philosophy: When to use expatriates vs local country nationals? (Fowler, 2002); WVA used a polycentric staffing orientation, transferring expatriates only when local staff were unavailable (Fenwick, 2005) • Competencies sought: For NGO managers (Fowler, 2002); value-based selection in WVA (Fenwick, 2005) • Testing methods: What competencies were formally tested (but not how they were tested) (Anderson, 2001); concepts of recruitment and selection are briefly described (without elaboration on methods) (Fowler, 2002) • Clarifying criteria: level of analysis for performance assessment is project or organization (Fowler, 1997) • Performance appraisals: ‘‘Monitoring and performance appraisal systems often allow poor practice to go unseen and unchallenged...criticism is seen as unfair because everyone is doing their best’’ (Fowler, 1997, p. 195) • Basis for salary: WVA ‘‘pays all its employees at Ômarket ratesÕ...but has no performancebased pay system’’; expatriates receive home-country based compensation(Fenwick, 2005, p. 505) • External (Market) equity: The ‘‘predatory behaviour of official aid agencies is also altering the incentive pattern of NGDOs...leading to an escalation in the market value of experienced NGDO staff’’ (Fowler, 1997, pp. 83–84) • Internal equity between expatriates and host-country nationals: large discrepancies @ WVA (Fenwick, 2005) • A generic process for ÔinductionÕ into an organization is briefly described (Fowler, 1997) • Investment in training: ‘‘Failure [on the part of Northern NGOs] to invest in their own learning and self-reflection stands in marked and odd contrast with their willingness to build the same capacities in their Southern counterparts’’ (Smillie and Hailey, 2001, p. 79); Pre-departure training for expatriates in Australian missionary development INGOs (Anderson, 2001) • Methods of training: A range of generic training methods are discussed in relation to their apparent suitability for five categories of NGO staff (Fowler, 2002); CCT offered to World Vision Australia expatriates (Fenwick, 2005) • World Vision Australia expatriates are transferred to dangerous locations, often war zones (Fenwick, 2005) • Inattention to fit between intÕly acquired skills and post-return positions (Anderson, 2001; Fenwick, 2005)

Focus of management challenge Job design

Strategic human resource planning Staffing

Performance management

Compensation

Orientation Training

Health and safety Repatriation and career

424 (e.g., Novicevic and Harvey, 2004; Richards, 2001; Shen, 2006; Harris and Brewster, 1999). In regard to performance management, the lack of instrumentality of performance reviews has been problematic (Fowler, 1997). Even more surprising is that research attention to performance criteria seems to have advanced at the organizational and project levels, but not at the individual level of analysis (Fowler, 1997). In contrast, the domestic and international HRM literatures on for-profit organizations have extensively addressed a variety of performance management concerns, such as how to choose the source of the appraisal (i.e., host-country or homecountry supervisor) (Tahvainen, 1998), whether to standardize or customize rating forms (Gregersen et al., 1996), how/ whether to conduct rater training (Piggot-Irvine, 2003), and the importance of recognizing cultural challenges as an integral part of the performance criteria for both the appraisal of expatriates (Cascio, 2006) and host-country nationals (HCNs) (Caligiuri, 2006). The limited research on compensation in development INGOs reveals three challenges: First, expatriatesÕ compensation was found to be aligned with their home-market and HCNsÕ compensation was aligned with local market rates. The resultant discrepancies between expatriate and HCN compensation created challenges for internal equity (Fenwick, 2005). Second, although the challenge of predatory recruitment by larger agencies was noted as factor impeding perceptions of external equity (Fowler, 1997), Fenwick (2005) does not describe the methods used by WVA to determine suitable market rates. Consequently, Fowler (1997, p. 84) conclusion that ‘‘Leaders/managers face serious dilemmas. . . I have not come across any rules of thumb to help with solutions; the choices being made are situation-specific’’ does not seem to have been resolved. Third, the lack of a performance-based pay system detracts from the instrumentality of performance reviews. Again, this stands in stark contrast to the for-profit IHRM literature, which has thoroughly documented the complexity of performance-based pay and benefits packages across MNEs (e.g., Lowe et al., 2002), addressed the difficulties in determining suitable market rates, and explored options for formulating equitable compensation among international assignees and local employees (Festing et al., 2007). With regard to orientation and training, development researchers have suggested processes for orientation of new employees to an INGO (Fowler, 1997), as well as recommended a variety of training methods for different categories of INGO employees (e.g., Fowler, 1997, 2002). It has also been noted that INGOsÕ need for flexibility leads them to shun formal training procedures in favour of informal, on-the-job training (OJT) methods (Dartington, 1992). However, the only empirical study on training in INGOs was conducted by Anderson (2001), and it merely acknowledged that pre-departure cross-cultural training was provided to missionary expatriates. Details were not offered on the methods used, whether a systematic training evaluation was conducted, or on the challenges that may have arisen in the course of providing the training. By contrast, the IHRM literature on for-profit multinationals has empirically evaluated cross-cultural training methods (e.g., Mendenhall et al., 1987; Tung, 1998), as well as challenges that arise in the course of the evaluation (Morris and Robie, 2001).

S.L. OÕSullivan The functional area of health and safety in development INGOs has been neglected by researchers. Expatriates are often transferred to dangerous locations such as war zones (Fenwick, 2005), but the literature does not document the health and safety procedures that might be needed to support such transfers. Given that improving the gender ratio in development INGOs has been noted as a priority by many in the sector (e.g., Fowler, 1997), it seems particularly surprising that the health and safety concerns of female INGO employees were not addressed. In contrast, the IHRM literature on for-profit multinationals has identified many challenges faced by females seeking international assignments (e.g., Linehan, 2001). It has also dealt with issues of hardship from a compensation perspective (e.g., Groschl et al., 2007). However, even the for-profit literature has only just begun to assess political risk management from a broader HRM perspective (e.g., Czinkota et al., 2004; Gillingham, 2006). Moreover, neither literature has delved extensively into the health and safety concerns of HCN employees (other than from a child labour perspective). Finally, in regard to repatriation and career development issues within development INGOs, researchers have identified the challenges of ensuring a good fit between the competencies acquired abroad by expatriates and those demanded by their post-return positions (Anderson, 2001; Fenwick, 2005), and have observed that turnover was a problematic result when those challenges were inadequately met (Fenwick, 2005). The IHRM literature on for-profit multinationals has similarly noted poor job fit and subsequent post-return turnover as challenges for expatriates (Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001); However, it has also gone on to address additional repatriation issues such as altered personal identity among repatriates (Kohonen, 2005), and to recommend structured repatriation programs (Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001). Surprisingly, neither literature has devoted much attention to the career challenges of HCNs. Aside from the above topical omissions, there are also common methodological limitations among the aforementioned studies in the INGO management literature. First, is that a focus on southern NGOs predominates (e.g., Smillie and Hailey, 2001). Research on domestic NGOs (even those located in southern developing countries) are of limited relevance to the context of international development organizations, partly because they are not faced with many of the unique challenges posed by operating in the international realm, and also because they tend to be more preoccupied with the management of volunteers than with paid professionals (e.g., Bussell and Forbes, 2007). Although INGOs also enlist the support of volunteers, well-meaning but inexperienced volunteers can prove hazardous in highly volatile international contexts (e.g., disasters, conflict zones, etc.). This is why the majority of expatriates working for leading aid INGOs (e.g., the Canadian Red Cross) involve paid, ‘‘career delegates’’ with skills and experience that are in high demand (Buchan, 2007). The second methodological limitation is that two of the three empirical studies on INGOsÕ IHRM challenges and practices (i.e., Anderson, 2001; Fenwick, 2005) were conducted in religious INGOs. It is questionable whether the contextual challenges faced by religious INGOs would be easily comparable to those faced by other types of INGOs (e.g., environmental, developmental, etc.). Religious NGOs have been

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs
Table 2 Profile of participating organizations. Canadian feed the children Origins Founded in 1986 in British Columbia; moved to Toronto in the 1990s CARE Canada Established 1946, as the ‘‘Cooperative for American Relief in Europe’’ sending CARE packages overseas Oxfam Canada

425

Vision

A world in which children thrive, free of poverty

Mission

To reduce the impact of poverty on children by removing the barriers imposed by poverty. Specifically, to enable a child struggling with hunger, illness or isolation to know health, wellbeing, and a childhood without fear Staff of 20 in Toronto; 4 paid local country representatives who live and work in 4 of their 7 program countries (Inc. frequent visits to them); also supported by volunteers Partnership-Oriented: Has small national overseas offices in most of their countries of operation, but achieves development via local (mainly Southern NGO) partners

A world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security To serve individuals and families in the poorest communities of the world. Drawing strength from their global diversity, resources, and experience, CARE promotes innovative solutions & are advocates for global responsibility Federation of 12 members, CARE IntÕl HQ in Geneva. Care Canada is one of the national members, and now has its own Board of Directors Autonomous Implementers: As part of a federation of CARE national offices, theyÕre responsible for running 6 of CARE IntÕlÕs country offices. They place expats in leadership positions in those country offices, but some expats work in other CARE national offices too. Sometimes they work with partners, but mainly theyÕre a 1-stopimplementation shop in areas where there are no partners with adequate capacity Service delivery: Their development projects provide services/commodities

Established 1963, when the British-based ‘‘OXford committee for FAMine Relief’’ sought to establish a Cdn branch. In 1966, was independently incorporated People together can create a fair world, free of poverty and injustice To build lasting solutions to global poverty and injustice. To work with allies in Canada and around the world to change the policies and practices that perpetuate human suffering. To support organizations in poor communities overseas in their struggle to secure basic rights Part of a confederation of 12 Oxfam offices around the world (‘‘Oxfam IntÕl Family’’)

OrgÕl structure and human resources

Mode of entry (Primarily Autonomous Implementers vs. Primarily PartnershipOriented)

Partnership-Oriented: As part of a federation of OXFAM intÕl, they approach their development projects by partnering with organizations (Inc. Southern NGOs) worldwide

Program orientation (Primarily Servicedelivery or Primarily Advocacy-based)

Service delivery: Their development projects provide services/commodities. To children, their families and communities Targeted at communities that have mortality rates for kids under 5 yrs old:

Program areas

Projects related to HIV/AIDS, Development (economic strengthening, womenÕs – Food security and innovation empowerment, adaptation to – Clean water access (health/ climate change), Emergency, hygiene/sustainable agriculture) Rehabilitation
– Economic development (microenterprise, capacity building, education) – Ltd Emergency response (only in countries of operation)

Mix of service delivery and advocacy-based: They supervise development projects, many of which involve a significant component of empowerment and advocacy Policy and Advocacy, local partnerships on development projects, some emergency response

Countries of Operation

Bolivia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Uganda, Canada, Ghana, Sierra Leone

49 different countries, among which Africa is predominant

28 countries Inc. the Americas, Horn of Africa, South Africa, South Asia, and domestically

426 considered to be more attentive than other organizations to the IHRM concerns of their expatriate employees, ostensibly due to the concept of Ôpastoral careÕ (a core element of Christian ideology) (Fenwick, 2005; Anderson, 2001). Further indication that religious ethos may influence religious INGOsÕ management approaches is that Christian missionary INGOs have traditionally taken a ÔcharityÕ approach to tackling problems of poverty, whereas other development INGOs have been primarily motivated by ‘‘political ideas. . .[such as] the mobilization of the poor’’ (Lewis, 2007, p. 193). In summary, research on development INGOsÕ IHRM challenges has been sparse, particularly when compared with the literature on IHRM in for-profit multinationals. Moreover, the development INGO management literature has primarily focused on southern and/or religious NGOs, thereby neglecting the potentially unique challenges faced by the many secular, multinational Northern NGOs that operate as both donors and partners in Southern countries (e.g., Oxfam, CARE) (Lewis, 2007). Given that leading management researchers (e.g., Brewster, 1999; Rousseau and Fried, 2004) have repeatedly called for greater consideration of contextual issues in international management research to search ‘‘for an overall understanding of what is contextually unique and why’’, an empirical investigation into the potentially unique nature of IHRM challenges in northern, nonreligious, multinational development INGOs is warranted. As Fenwick (2005, p. 508) astutely observes, ‘‘To remain relevant in the future, SIHRM [Strategic international Human Resource Management] research and pedagogy must include the range of organizational contexts to which SIHRM concepts and practices might apply. It may well be necessary to adapt prevailing models of SIHRM to reflect more meaningfully the contextually unique dimensions of MNNPEs [Multinational NonProfit Enterprises] (Merlot and Fenwick, 2002). We do not know the extent to which these concepts and practices are universal, until we learn more about the extent to which the MNNPE is a unique context for them’’.

S.L. OÕSullivan challenges that affect the implementation of international development projects as well as to explore the nature of their difficulty. Given that little is known about the phenomenon being considered for the research question, obtaining a good grasp of the phenomenon would be necessary to support further study and theory building. Under such circumstances, exploratory qualitative research is warranted (Cavana et al., 2001) as it can help explain how people experience a phenomenon (Creswell, 2007). In-depth interviews can be used to reveal participantsÕ feeling and interpretations about a phenomenon, which cannot be easily observed otherwise (Carson et al., 2001). Consequently, semi-structured interviews are employed.

Sampling strategy and sample
A purposeful sampling strategy can inform the understanding of a research problem and its central phenomenon (Miles and Huberman, 1994). As Creswell (2007, p. 122) indicated, ‘‘A hallmark of all good qualitative research is the report of multiple perspectives that range over the entire spectrum of perspectives on the process’’. Thus, at the site level, the organizations were selected to participate based on their diverse primary orientations to development projects (e.g., primarily autonomous implementers vs. primarily partnership-oriented organizations, and primarily advocacy-focused vs. primarily service-delivery focused missions). The resultant organizational set included Canadian Feed the Children, CARE Canada, and OXFAM Canada. Table 2 illustrates the participating organizationsÕ diverse, respective approaches to development, and provides additional detail about them. Miles and Huberman (1994) and Creswell (2007) recommended that the individuals selected from the participating organizations be people who have been engaged with the core phenomenon somehow – the core phenomenon, in this case, being the implementation of international development projects – and that maximum variation be sought at this individual level as well. Therefore, in addition to program managers and their supervising directors, individual participants included HR professionals, and host-country nationals (latter of whom were termed ‘‘country representatives’’) employed in each organization. At some point during data collection, it became apparent that the IHRM challenges were influenced by the types of expenditure constraints imposed by donors. Therefore, a funding manager from each organization was also interviewed to learn more about the types of restrictions imposed on funds. In total, the study consisted of 31 individuals (see Table 3), which

Methodology
Research design
Although prior research has helped to inform this study, the present investigation is about ‘‘seeking an actual reality in a specific situation’’ (Cavana et al., 2001, p. 63), and extending existing theory, not testing prior theory (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). Specifically, it seeks to identify the IHRM

Table 3 Position

Participants by position and organization. CARE Canada 2 (domestic and intÕl) 3 4 3 1 0 13 Canadian feed the children (CFTC) 1 (administrator) 2 3 3 1 1 11 Oxfam Canada 1 2 3 0 1 0 7

HR managers Directors Program managers Country representatives Funding managers Board members Total

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs is consistent with CreswellÕs (2007) recommendation that, to be both informative and valid, a qualitative study of this kind should have a sample size of at least 20–30 participants.

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Data collection procedure
According to Eisner (1991) ‘‘Structural Corroboration’’ (i.e., triangulation of data) provides a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility (i.e., confidence in the validity of the data). Multiple and different sources of data were used to provide corroborating evidence on the themes (Whittemore et al., 2001), including not just primary data from a diversity of participant types and diverse participating organizations, but also secondary (archival) data. The primary data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews, and attendance at country representative presentations (i.e., formal presentations to HQ staff at both Canadian Feed the Children and at CARE Canada). The secondary data included reviews of the organizationsÕ websites (including annual reports and mission statements), country representativesÕ reports, and electronic and paper documents outlining official HR policies. In regard to the primary data, the interview protocol was pilot tested as per CreswellÕs (2007) recommendation. This pilot test consisted of interviews with two interviewees

who were selected on the basis of organizational diversity (i.e., one from CARE Canada and one from OXFAM Canada) and geographic convenience. The wording in the interview protocol was refined to improve clarity. When the questions reached saturation, the interview protocol was further refined. In addition, as per Weis and Fine (2000), it can also be informative to make note of issues that either did not come to the participantsÕ minds or that they opted not to dwell on. Accordingly, a checklist of issues which had featured in the IHRM literature was included at the end of the interview protocol. Issues from this checklist that were not spontaneously noted by interviewees are flagged accordingly in the results tables. The interview protocol, with its general and initial probe questions, and its sample checklist of IHRM issues, is provided in Table 4. The 31 semi-structured interviews were all conducted on a 1:1 basis, and averaged 1 h in duration. Upon completion of each interview, reflective memo-notes were written to record thoughts, observations, and field issues such as respondentsÕ openness and logistics. In addition to the 1:1 interviews, two focus group interviews were also conducted. The first was a focus group interview at Canadian Feed the Children which was conducted face-to-face with the program managers after all the 1:1 program manager interviews were completed there. It was conducted because the interviewees in that organiza-

Table 4

Interview protocol: initial questions and probes. PROBES:
• What must you do? What must you NOT do? • How do you know if youÕve been effective? • What is the overall rhythm of your activities over the course of the year, and how do they relate to one another and to the overall organization? • What does a typical day look like for you? (Think of yesterday, for example) • What was the nature of that challenge? • How did it arise? • How did you respond to that challenge? • What were the consequences of your response? How do you know that the consequences were successful/unsuccessful (what indicators did you rely on?)? • Which stakeholders were involved (both inside and/or outside your organization)? How did they help/hinder the process? • How commonly does this sort of challenge occur? • How typical do you feel your experiences are, relative to others in your organization? Relative to others doing similar work in other INGOs? In Aid vs Emergency? In Cdn INGOs vs in other INGOs? How do you know that this is a fairly prevalent challenge?

INITIAL QUESTIONS
1. Pretend that IÕm a new hire. What does it mean to be an effective (delegate, manager of delegates, Country rep manager, HR manager, etc.) in your organization?

2. Challenges (PBDI/Critical Incidents): Tell me a story about a time when you SUCCESSFULLY resolved an obstacle/challenge in doing your work effectively. (then asked about a time when a challenge was Unsuccessfully resolved)

3. Overall, what is difficult/easy about being an international aid delegate (or HR manager; or project manager; or HCN area representative)?

If not mentioned spontaneously, then probe specific potential challenge areas that have been noted in international management in the private sector:
1. Tell me about a time when you faced cross-cultural communication challenges with those whose culture/ values/ communication styles were markedly different from your own. (Then follow a to f probes, above) 2. Tell me about a time when you faced corruption challenges. (Then follow probe bullet points, above) 3. Tell me about a time when you faced internal HR challenges in managing what you needed to do. (Follow probe bullet points, then: How commonly does this sort of challenge occur?) What about your own experiences of your career: How has HR helped/hindered that?

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Table 5 Challenge Lack of IHRM policies Strategic human resource planning challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

S.L. OÕSullivan

Insufficient IHRM staff

‘‘There is a feeling in the organization that we might want to look at the principles upon which we are going to base our HR decisions in the field. . . It seems like it has been a bit ad hoc up until now. There are policies on lots of things, but not on certain fairly major things.’’ – DIRECTOR (OXFAM CANADA-D1) ‘‘I think if I was going to take [challenges] and prioritize them from my perspective it would be . . . all the [strategic] things that are involved in making sure youÕve got the right people in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. The base policies of the organization need to support what those people are doing, so that there is some stability in building all of that.’’ – DIRECTOR (CFTC-D1) ‘‘There is no HR system that gives guidance for hiring in the overseas offices. I do not know how my colleagues resolve that when they hire in the field. Because it is so context specific, you have local laws influencing what you do, cultural laws, and all kinds of things. We are kind of left to our own devices, trying to get at the principles that underlie that policy that they developed [in another country office] and consider how it would work out in our own two countries in [different region]. . . but not every area program manager does the same thing so that resulted in very different situation. When an HR problem comes up, you feel you have to invent the wheel. – ‘‘PROGRAM MANAGER (OXFAM CANADA-PM1) ‘‘HR itself as a profession has really only gained some ground in the past 10 years. At the country office level, we are still at the point where itÕs a personnel paper pushing department in some instances.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR1) ‘‘Strategies like talent management, performance management. . .they just donÕt have the staff to do it.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR1) ‘‘The person who is our human resource or welfare person is my manager. I had a difficult experience with the previous one. Who could I approach? There was no HR person. It didnÕt occur to me to go over my managerÕs head to [name of Director]. That didnÕt seem right somehow. It only occurred to me once I came to Canada for the annual country rep meeting. Then I spoke to [name of Director]. Otherwise I wouldnÕt have known who to turn to’’ – HCN COUNTRY REP (CFTC-CR1)

tion felt that beneficial additional information could be gleaned by having everyone participate simultaneously, and all participants were highly cooperative with the idea. The second was a focus group interview with three of the host-national country representatives from Canadian Feedthe-Children, who were in town from various African countries for the organizationÕs annual strategic planning meeting, but whose schedules were too full to permit individual interviews. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were then emailed to interviewees for validation of data accuracy, as per Whittemore et al. (2001). Data were collected over the course of 6 months. Prolonged engagement and persistent observation in the field further helped to ensure that trust has been built with participants, and that the culture has been learned (Creswell, 2007).

Method of analysis
Although this studyÕs analytical approach was deeply influenced by the data analysis processes of grounded theory, this methodology was not applied to generate either the dimensions or antecedents of major analytical categories (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Instead, existing theory – the conceptual background reviewed in the previous section – was used to generate initial categories of HR functional areas; then, through systematic iterations between theory and data-collection evidence, the data were inter-

rogated and re-organized as sub-themes in the pursuit of new, empirically-grounded insights (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007). More specifically, iterations alternated between developing hunches, comparing these to fresh data, and then using this comparison to help decide whether to retain, revise, or discard emerging inferences about areas of challenge. For example, interviewees described personality characteristics of emergency workers that seemed inconsistent with the task requirements of development assignments. The descriptive code of ‘‘personality type for emergencies’’ was thus subsumed under the higher-level inferential code of ‘‘Challenges in transferring staff from emergency to development projects’’. Inferential codes offer a higher level of abstraction and interpretation than descriptive codes, which merely concisely summarize what the interviewee has said (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Thus, although the results do not represent theory per se, they help to explicate the nature of the phenomenon. As Strauss and Corbin (1998) note, the constant comparative method that is typically used in generating grounded theory can produce results that will have practical relevance for both academic and non-academic audiences. This goal is consistent with this studyÕs intention of contributing a direction for new theory, and of providing practical guidance to existing INGO managers and other stakeholders who are addressing operational issues with very little direction from the existing literature.

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs
Table 6 Challenge Recruiting expatriates (Quality of Life expectations) Staffing (recruitment and selection) challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

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‘‘For the Tsunami response, we had a couple of staff who arrived and lasted less than 2 days. . .didnÕt think that the conditions were good enough for them, wanted their own space or whatever it is. . .If you had a probation period of a week or something like that, some of the [field staff personÕs] personality might come out, but also it would give you a chance to be a little more straightforward and concrete in saying ÔYou donÕt do this, you do thatÕ or ÔYou are going to be sharing a residence with 10 other peopleÕ or ÔYou are going to get your own room or own apartmentÕ, I mean those kind of things. . .kind of hard to do in an interview that lasts an hour or two. By definition, all the places we work are not great, but, some are much better than others. When I was young and hungry and inexperienced, I wouldnÕt have known how bad it would be [in a particular war-torn country] so I would say, yes, sure. I did emergency here and there. But I have done my wars. You find that the best qualified people go to the better places, but you really need the better staff in the worst places. Occasionally you will get some senior people who will accept a really tough place but then you must question their sanity, I suppose.’’ – EXPAT COUNTRY REP (CARE CANADA-CR1)
• ‘‘What we canÕt tolerate is expatriates disrespecting locals or their culture. . .. Some people have this talent of being respectful, and some donÕt. It very much depends on the person.’’ – DIRECTOR (CARE-D2) • ‘‘ Expats had a hard time because they werenÕt as familiar with the clan system and they didnÕt speak the language’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE-PM2) • ‘‘It [the field rep position] is a job that is best done by a local person. All the countries that we work in have official languages and also local languages. It would be very difficult for an expat to speak all of them. In the case of Ghana, although it is very peaceful, the tribal issues are significant especially in the north where we work. That is [another] one of the [challenging] things we identified. To find somebody that can work crossculturally within the tribes.’’ - PROGRAM MANAGER (CFTC-PM1) • Gender and class issues: ‘‘It is very difficult in an African country . . . There are more burdens on the female, internationally. [Having said this. . .] An expat female is more respected than a local female. Also, since I went grey, I am received very differently; I am seen to have wisdom. But the other problem with seeking a female country rep is you canÕt always get a qualified, educated person unless the female is coming from a progressive family. And then you get the whole class issue in that in many of these countries a female from an upper class family tends to be more educated than from a lower class.’’ – DIRECTOR (CFTC-D1) • Scarcity of competencies: ‘‘If you donÕt want to only have quantitative data . . . but also want someone who is able to analyze their environment and provide more impactful information about changes, then that is a challenge. . ..particularly in the rural areas. Particularly for emergencies but also increasingly many of the countries we are working in are high risk locations. ItÕs definitely becoming more difficult . . .the competition for experienced staff is becoming quite intense.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM1) • Nepotism issues s ‘‘Corruption to me is an abuse of power. I have seen corruption at various levels. . .where a senior national staff [i.e., HCN] was basically getting rid of anyone who wasnÕt from his clan or his sub-clan and so positions were going to specific clan members’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM2) s ‘‘If the country director is national, he or she will often be placed under undue pressure. Obviously they [nationals] have many more locally established networks. They have a way of operating in that particular country where they would be put under a considerable amount of pressure to carry out their functions in a certain manner, that may be perfectly acceptable practice in that country, formally or informally, but which may not adhere to the code of CARE. It makes their role a bit more difficult. Oddly enough, in some circumstances, we will have the individual themselves say ÔI canÕt take this. IÕm under too much pressure. IÕd like to go back into the international fieldÕ. If I keep the person in this position they will have to fight for their professionalism against everybody, and guess what, when the project ends this person is going to be left to the community to take revenge.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2) s ‘‘Those pressures. . .I think it is about character and principle. You have people come to you because you are relatives and they want to have you buy from them. The family member might say lowest price just because they want to shove off some really poor quality something on you. They may come back to you with an envelope full of money and say here is your part of that deal. What I tell them is ÔWell, look, you are my relative so there is a conflict of interest. I cannot procure from you even if you have the lowest prices. So I have to explain what a conflict of interest is. I have certain principles that I have established with people that they would not approach me with that kind of stuff.’’ – HCN COUNTRY REP (CFTC-CR1) s ‘‘Yes, for me, it [this presumption that nationals would cave under pressure] seems like we donÕt have the look of professionals. A professional is a professional.’’ – HCN COUNTRY REP (CFTC-CR2) • Brand risk for politically controversial local hires: ‘‘This is very confidential. There has been a lot of political tension between the highest power in the country and the [area of human rights] movement on a number of issues. So it is politically very delicate. These two candidates, who have applied, and who are very active in [this particular area of human rights], are the best candidates for our little job, but not all our partners inCountry X are members of this [area of human rights] movement. So there are probably some polarizing effects if we hire them. There is a lot at stake, in terms of brand risk for us, and for other OXFAMs – PROGRAM MANAGER (OXFAM CANADA-PM2)

Selecting expatriates (language & cultural concerns)

Selecting HCNs (diverse concerns) [NOTE: Gender & Nepotism issues not spontaneously mentioned]

(continued on next page)

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Table 6 (continued) Challenge Diverse donor regulations re:Staffing Shifting staff from emergency to development projects Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

S.L. OÕSullivan

‘‘LetÕs say you manage a refugee camp. You may have 10 different donors who are funding different pieces of the whole setup. Then it gets very complicated to map all the different requirements. . .different rules and procedures. . .like for staffing, what is allowed and what isnÕt’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM1) ‘‘They [the managers I supervise] were saying ÔThere is this mismatch of staff skills with the job functionsÕ, and this is related to taking staff, who had been good in emergency assistance, and now moving them to more development oriented projects. The tendency is [for them to] still to operate in emergency mode. These people are not comfortable going down in the community without handing anything out. In [development oriented] livelihood projects you need to be more entrepreneurial in your thinking. So itÕs. . .let them them produce, rather than handing things out. The challenge is to be able to assess how well those emergency skills will translate into another type of project’’ – EXPAT COUNTRY REP (CARE CANADA-CR2)

Reliability and validity
Inter-coder reliability had been established between the author (principal researcher) and the doctoral research assistant to ensure stability in the context of multiple coders of the data sets. As per Miles and Huberman (1994), given that we had two coders, our goal was an 80% agreement rate. Therefore, this process of revising the codebook and coding additional subsets of transcripts continued until we achieved the percentage agreement that we sought. In regard to ensuring the validity of the methodology, several steps were taken. First, as previously noted, multiple and different sources of data were used to provide corroborating evidence on the themes (Whittemore et al., 2001). According to Eisner (1991) such ‘‘Structural Corroboration’’ (i.e., triangulation of data) provides a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility (i.e., confidence in the validity of the data). Second, a peer review of the research process was conducted to ask hard questions about methods, meanings, and interpretations. More specifically, the author participated in a workshop with academic experts on the subject who were from outside the authorÕs own faculty. This peer review ensured adherence to a number of key validation criteria, such as ÔcriticalityÕ (i.e., Is there a critical appraisal of all aspects of the research?) (Whittemore et al., 2001) and Ôconsensual validationÕ (i.e., seeking the opinion of others, to develop Ôan agreement among competent others that the description, interpretation, and evaluation and thematics of . . ..[a] situation are rightÕ) (Eisner, 1991, p. 112). Third, the author then took the data, completed analyses, interpretations, and conclusions back to the participants (via focus group ‘‘brown bags’’ and email) to enable them to judge the accuracy and validity of the authorÕs account. The participantsÕ views are pertinent to validity because they help to ensure credibility about the studyÕs conclusions (Whittemore et al., 2001).

quotes. The remaining two IHRM challenges were reported by fewer interviewees and hence are embedded in the text below. The data pertain to IHRM challenges that arise in relation to managing the INGOsÕ field office staff, which include the country representatives – the top-level managers at the field office who could be either expatriates or hostcountry nationals [HCNs] – and the field staff (mostly HCNs) who work under these country representatives in the hostcountries.2 There were additional HR challenges associated with managing the performance of the headquarters-based ‘‘program managers’’ (i.e., the people who supervise these country representatives). However, in order to maintain a reasonable scope for the current paper, the HR challenges addressed in relation to the headquarter-based program managers were restricted to those which seemed directly related to the overall IHRM experience of their field staff (e.g., Performance Management and Accountability of the program managers, as indicated in Table 7). The most pressing issue clearly was the lack of Strategic HRM, as it undercut many of the other IHRM challenges. The remaining challenges could be ranked in the following order of importance (from high to lower), based on the frequency with which they were mentioned and the complexity of issues associated with them: Staffing and Compensation challenges, followed by Performance Management and Training challenges, and then finally Repatriation/Career and International Labour Legislation challenges. The presentation of the IHRM tables in this section deviates slightly from this order of importance so as to be consistent with the order of (and thus facilitate comparison with) the literature-derived IHRM topics in Table 1.

Strategic human resources planning
Table 5 indicates that interviewees strongly felt that their organizations needed to be more strategic in their approach to HRM. This was consistent across Country directors, HQbased program managers, and HR managers, and across all
2 Where applicable. For example, unlike Oxfam Canada and Care Canada, Canadian Feed the ChildrenÕs field offices typically consisted of just the Country Representative, with at most one staff member reporting to him/her.

Results
Tables 5–10 summarize six of the IHRM challenges experienced by participating INGOs (and validated by the participating interviewees), along with a selection of illustrative

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs
Table 7 Challenge Lack of instrumentality of performance reviews (Disconnect between performance and consequences) Performance management challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

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Translation difficulties impede performance discussions

Managing Ethical Behaviour (vigilance against corruption) NOTE: Not spontaneously mentioned

‘‘There are degrees of awful from didnÕt do a good job to just awful. And that isnÕt even the issue. ItÕs what the organization does when faced with those things. . ..It almost seems like management by default. It is amazing to me that you would have people who did an awful job being assigned to a country director position; that is the face of the organization in the country.’’ – DIRECTOR (OXFAM CANADA-D1) I think in general, there is not that recognition [of the deficit of planning competencies among host-country nationals] among my peers who have not lived extensively overseas and who are not used to dealing with country nationals, just expatriates. The [host country] nationals have management training, financial training. But sometimes just because you have attended one management meeting it does not suddenly make you a master manager for planning. I have to do extra work to keep on top of these people, I have named it as a factor impacting my workload. Unfortunately it is not going to be recognized in my own performance review’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM3) ‘‘I know staff who wouldnÕt give honest feedback or were very reluctant to give honest feedback to the supervisor of the person they were being asked to give feedback on, because they either didnÕt feel it would be taken seriously or else that it wouldnÕt be kept confidential or things like that. I think a lot of it has to do with the level of trust that is built.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM2) ‘‘[There are some] managers who fail to conduct regular performance reviews of their staff, and we donÕt provide salary-related performance consequences for this type of failure’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR1) ‘‘The reports are always late, it is an ongoing struggle between the HQ-based director and the field-based director, between what [type of delay] is appropriate and what is not. Meanwhile, thereÕs a donor thatÕs waiting for information, and there are all kinds of things linked to it, including, of course, any on-going funding. ThereÕs a lack of communication of the expectations. . . and of what the consequences are if in fact you are not able to meet those requirements. We need to verbalize that, and have it available to the employee, so that after the fact it is not a surprise to all concerned.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADAHR3) ‘‘I have experienced a situation where a program manager and a country rep spoke the same language, filing everything in French, in that case. And a problem arose with the country rep, where I needed to intervene. But I couldnÕt read anything. It is a great advantage for people to be able to monitor in the language they are comfortable in.Õ – DIRECTOR (CFTC-D1) ‘‘The language issue was huge for me because Ethiopia is not a place where most people are fluent in English. There is certainly not a lot of functioning in English. . .. There are advantages [when speaking the local language] in terms of getting a lot of information and engagement . . .and understanding the culture.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (OXFAM CANADAPM3) ‘‘In Cuba, most people donÕt speak English, itÕs all Spanish. Difficult for me to have a conversation directly; I must go through a country rep or coordinator. ItÕs always a concern if an employee is having an issue and I canÕt approach her directly.’’ –HR MANAGER (OXFAM CANADA-HR1) ‘‘Some of . . .the NGO staff generally. . .may abuse the community. Exchanging food for sex. Favors. Whatever. We have a very tight code of conduct but how can you really control the conduct of 500 people in the field all over the country. When a community is involved, people want food so they give favours. I need to rent a house, so if a food bag just happened to go to this guy who owns the house, he will give me access. Stuff like this. You canÕt control it 100%’’ - DIRECTOR (CARE CANADA-D1)

three participating INGOs. HR staff felt they were preoccupied with operational concerns because there was insufficient HR staff to properly attend to strategic IHRM needs. This was echoed by a country representative, who felt alienated from the organization due to the lack of dedicated HR support.

Staffing
Table 6 indicates that staffing the field office with expatriates raised challenges related to language, culture, and unrealistic expectations about the quality of living conditions. This was observed by several program managers and

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Table 8 Challenge Resolving Internal Inequity (due to diverse donors) Compensation challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

S.L. OÕSullivan

Determining External Equity (Difficulty Determining Market Rates)

• DonorsÕ diverse salary/benefit policies: ‘‘The big, big problem is that you are trying to build equity in your organization, not just [between] international and national, but between internationals. But then say you have one benefit package for DFID [UK ODA agency] which is much lower than the CIDA [Cdn ODA agency] package, which is much lower than the USA package. And then suddenly you are getting R&R every 6 weeks and IÕm only getting it every 12 weeks. . ..This is a big challenge we have to deal with at the country office and it does create friction’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM4) • DonorsÕ exchange rate differences: ‘‘CARE Canada is at a disadvantage. The CIDA (donor) funding is in Cdn dollars. All the other CARE [intÕl] members we work with in the country offices get paid in US or Euro, Since last October, the Cdn dollar has plummeted, and. . .they have lost 25% of their salary, but they still have the costs they did a year ago. ThatÕs a big challenge for sure.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2) • Lack of HR expertise for understanding salary surveys: ‘‘One of our directors is retiring soon, and I wanted to get a sense of what the market was. [Director name] said we use a research organization to do the salary surveys, so that we know we are fine. I said, okay, letÕs see that. Again, they didnÕt have the HR expertise. So they would do a title match and then they would say there are 7 data points, we are somewhere in the middle. Rather than saying we want to be in the 50th percentile. And this data would be everything from World Vision to mom and pop charities down the street. They werenÕt using their data appropriately, number one. DidnÕt understand how to use it and frankly, didnÕt seem to worry that much about it. . ..I have some reservations about what we are paying these folks [country reps]. . . .If we launched a surprise visit to [Country X] I would be shocked if our country rep was actually working five days a week for us.‘‘ – Position withheld upon request (CFTC-X1) • Determining appropriate COLA changes: ‘‘In [Country name] the staff felt they were not being paid according to market. Other NGOs there say their COLA increases every 2 years, but maybe only by 4%, which doesnÕt go far. ItÕs nothing unusual for the cost of living there to go up by 50–60%, so we must find something affordable for their country.’’ –HR MANAGER (OXFAM CANADA-HR1)

Inability to compete with multilateral agencies/ universities

‘‘The minute a really good position comes up [in the sector, whether in our organization or not], the people that you have trained are leaping for that position. There have been significant problems in Africa that when the big organizations, particularly the universities, will come in to do some of the big USAID projects, they will sweep up everybody. . .and you are left with the people who donÕt have the skills and your project will often end up being more challenged.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM5) ‘‘You have this exponential increase in base salary rates for some of the local national positions out of sheer competition from the [multilateral] agencies. Nobody wants to be down in the 25th percentile because itÕs so hard to get good qualified staff. But in order to keep your good qualified staff youÕve got to keep pushing your salary levels up. The more you push your salary levels up, the more pressure you get from your donors, saying you are overspending. So you have to hire less people to do more work.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2)

country representatives (including an expatriate one). The recruitment of HCNs was seen as a means of overcoming these challenges, but it posed other challenges, such as scarcity of needed competencies locally (particularly for female HCNs), class issues (also more pronounced with female HCNs), nepotism, and increased ‘‘brand risk’’ to the NGO reputation when hiring locals who were talented and wellconnected but politically controversial. Additional challenges included having to reconcile diverse donor regulations about staffing, and determining which staff were capable of shifting from an emergency (humanitarian aid) context to a more long-term oriented, empowering development context. These challenges were reported by all participating INGOs, other than the last one, which was raised only by CARE Canada.

Performance management
Table 7 indicates that a lack of instrumentality of performance reviews (i.e., a disconnect between actual performance and consequences) was perceived to be a challenge by directors, program managers, and HR managers at both CARE Canada and Oxfam Canada. This seems to be due to several factors: First, because not all HQ-based program managers have had international experience, many lack understanding about the extent of local challenges that must be overcome in order to meet performance objectives; Second, program managers are inconsistently held accountable for conducting performance reviews of their staff who themselves need to be held accountable for conducting performance reviews; and Third, determining (and

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs
Table 9 Challenge Lack of formal training Training challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

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• Scarcity of funds: ‘‘In terms of resources restrictions for formalized training, only 10% of your high potential performers can receive the formal training money. The rest has to be worked in through mentoring.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2) • Short lead times prior to departure: ‘‘You get a security briefing and then you get to the country and stuff, but the overall context [is something] you are usually not aware of before you go. You are arriving and you are not really aware of all of those issues around security, the principles, etc., thrown into the deep end. Often it is [due to] the hiring practices, the job is there waiting and they rush you to get out there. . ..Several times I have seen people have disastrous consequences because they were not adequately prepared. People who donÕt understand the culture well enough, like the single guy who might be out in the bars hanging out with the ladies or something like that and itÕs not well seen. Or some woman who doesnÕt dress appropriately in a Muslim area. This kind of stuff. The rebel who doesnÕt want to fit in.’’ – EXPAT COUNTRY REP (CARE CANADA-CR1)

Inadequacy of job rotations as a form of on-the-job-training (OJT)

‘‘One of the things that I think cannot be overemphasized is the need for a greater appreciation of the cultural aspects, which is not a generic thing. Just because you worked in 5 countries doesnÕt mean you go into a sixth country and you would get it. I think people underestimate how good they are or how bad they are. So teaching people to manage a diverse workforce is a challenge, not just culturally, but gender diversity, work style diversity, you name it.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2)
• Difficulty retaining good HCN trainers: ‘‘If we are there [in the host country] two weeks in a year, itÕs not enough to really transform the way they [the host-country nationals] work. If there is someone on the team that is good, and you ask them to support the group as a role model, then it gets very interesting and you see results. But those good people move around because they are good and they have opportunities.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADAPM1) • Insufficient recognition of beneficiaries as possible OJT trainers: ‘‘I am not quite sure a lot of people in development agency are quite at the stage yet where they really, honestly seem them [the beneficiaries] as adults the same age. There is still that [unequal] relationship. Even to listen to people talk about capacity building and training,Õ WeÕre going to build the capacity of our partners, weÕre going to build the capacity of the community.Õ Okay, but what are you learning from them? How are they building your capacity? That give and take isnÕt always evident.’’ – PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM2)

Insufficient recognition of OJT trainers

committing to) appropriate individual performance criteria was a challenge in a context where external, volatile situations create delays that lead to deviations from donorsÕ project performance criteria. The challenge of performance review instrumentality was reportedly less problematic at Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC). However, directors, program managers, and HR managers at all three INGOs felt that linguistic translation difficulties (between program managers or directors and their field staff) introduced unnecessary challenges into performance review discussions. The interviewees also conveyed that corruption was a constant challenge against which they had to remain vigilant, as it was never entirely preventable.

(particularly in the smaller INGO, CFTC). Retention in the face of competitive salary offers from the larger multilateral agencies (e.g., the U.N.) and local universities was also noted as highly problematic. These challenges were shared by program managers and HR managers at all three INGOs.3

Training
Table 9 highlights a lack of formal training, which seemed to arise due to both a scarcity of funds and short lead times prior to departure. On the other hand, it also highlights the inadequacy of prior job rotations as a form of on-thejob cross-cultural training. In addition, program managers felt that insufficient recognition was given to OJT trainers, including both the retention of excellent OJT trainers and the maximization of non-traditional OJT trainers (e.g., the potential for beneficiaries to serve as OJT trainers). Regarding the former, the better qualified on-site mentors – for example, the ones who can work their way through the maze of donorsÕ diverse reporting metrics and varying year-end timeframes – often departed for greater career opportunities elsewhere. These issues were of greater con-

Compensation
Table 8 notes challenges to both internal and external equity. HCN salaries may fall under different donor budgets because diverse donors are involved in any given development project. Internal equity challenges then arise because donors vary both in terms of their allowable expenses (e.g., salary caps) and in the exchange rates upon which salaries are to be calculated. External equity is also a challenge due to the difficulty of determining suitable market rates, which, in turn, seems to arise because of both extreme COLA fluctuations in developing countries and the lack of internal HR expertise surrounding the use of salary surveys

Strictly speaking, there was no HR manager at Canadian Feed the Children. HR at CFTC was handled by one of the directors, with input from an HR-experienced board member.

3

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Table 10 Challenge General lack of clarity about H&SS policies/ procedures Health and safety/security challenges. Illustrative quotes – by position (and organization)

S.L. OÕSullivan

• Accountability: ‘‘From what I have seen and been told, is that whatÕs going on in the field has really been the niche of the [country] coordinators. HR are not supporting the staff in the field. And we have safety and security issues that we need to deal with so who is responsible for doing those things?’’ – DIRECTOR (OXFAM CANADA-D1) • H&S policies unclear: s ‘‘I am not aware that there are any written [health and safety] policies or maybe I have never seen them. . ..I donÕt frankly know what we are paying for personal risk insurance for everybody on the executive team. I donÕt really know if we have a good program or not for our execs. He [our director] would say, I think our program is better than most. But we have never had a test case in the [#] years I have been there. – Position withheld upon request (CFTC-X1). s Oxfam has had people deported, we have had people arrested. We have had all sorts of partners that have disappeared. In terms of our own safety and security issues, how do you manage safety and security issues, particularly for your [national] staff in-country, which in and of itself is a handful? – DIRECTOR (OXFAM CANADA-D2) • Diverse perceptions of risk: ‘‘If someone says they feel their security and life is being threatened on the ground, how do you challenge that? It sort of shuts down the debate. What I would put forth is that not everybody in that affiliate on the ground feels the same way. There is a bit of a cultural thing going on there because all of them who are saying that are Zimbabwean. I have lived there for 6 years so I have a certain insight, but I am not a Zimbabwean. So it is a very tight balancing act. That kind of debate is really, really difficult, and an outsider can seem insensitive, and very counter-productive.’’ – DIRECTOR (OXFAM CANADA-D3) • Accessing sufficient intelligence about threats: ‘‘Making a decision to leave a country that you are in and have been in thatÕs increasingly volatile, thatÕs a much more difficult decision to make. . .The boiling frog syndrome. We would like to think that we are a lot more astute than that. Still, you are essentially abandoning your national staff there. They are at as much a risk if not more than the international staff. ItÕs a really hard decision to make. In the case where Margaret Hasan was kidnapped and killed in Iraq, that was clearly. . .we are not doing this anymore. CARE is pulling out of Iraq. But when Clementina Cantoni was kidnapped in Afghanistan (and thankfully returned to us), we were still in Afghanistan. Then there was a case, about 10 years ago, where ALL the staff in Zimbabwe were at extreme risk and had to be evacuated. You make the decision. . .hopefully, with the most accurate intelligence in the country that you can get.’’ – DIRECTOR (CARE CANADA-D2)

Specific challenges re: HCN safety

Guilt by association (with Home Country Govt and military)

Gender safety concerns (NOTE: not spontaneously mentioned)

Work-life balance

‘‘We were in a camp that was under sustained gunfire. . .some ruffians. . .just decided to open up their machine guns on us, and for 20 min people were down on the ground. . .There is need there, no question, weÕve got to be able to work up in those areas. . . We are neutral, most of the world knows. But, we are recipients of foreign aid, so we are tarnished already. If we receive Canadian aid and Canadians are fighting there, then ÔWe support the Canadian governmentÕ. That is how it is perceived.’’–PROGRAM MANAGER (CARE CANADA-PM4) ‘‘I wouldnÕt feel comfortable sending someone like [name of new female PM] to the field without anyone else the first time. So there is that consideration.’’ – DIRECTOR (CFTC-D1) ‘‘A couple of things: You are starting with a group of people that is already hardy and that is cognizant. We donÕt hire new people and send them to Eastern Chad [on their own]. . ..Being a female and being a potential victim of sexual violence. . .we try to minimize to whatever extent possible female [staff] would be unaccompanied in particular areas.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR3) ‘‘[Gender concerns are] not really [an issue], as long as [the employees are] in a CARE car, a UN car. If you are in a CARE car, a white land cruiser and you are targeted, this is a violation of the [international] agreement. If you are in a [non-CARE] minivan with many passengers and you got shot, we canÕt protect you because this is a war zone.’’ – DIRECTOR (CARE CANADAD1) ‘‘There is a real hassle in the work-life balance overall. I donÕt know anyone who can do their job in 8 or 10 h a day. ItÕs just not possible. PeopleÕs lives and all the rest. The organization never seems to have enough people to properly do the job, to allow us a decent life. ItÕs not a family friendly career, it really isnÕt. I work from seven in the morning to about eight at night, see my wife for an hour or so. I try not work at all on the weekend. But then you have a visitor that comes in and all of a sudden your weekend is gone or something has to be handed in and you spend that time. 24 h a day you are on call. It doesnÕt matter if I had 48 h a day, there would always be more work.’’ – EXPAT COUNTRY REP (CARE CANADA-CR1)

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs cern to CARE Canada than to the other two INGOs, due to CARE CanadaÕs relatively larger field offices.

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Health and safety
For the most part, safety procedures (more commonly referred to as ÔsecurityÕ issues in this sector) were felt to be trustworthy and sufficient. However, Table 10 reveals there is nonetheless a lack of clarity about safety policies, and confusion about the precise lines of accountability for managing such security issues. This question (i.e., about whose job description includes responsibility for various health and safety issues) was raised by directors and board members at both OXFAM Canada and CFTC. HCN security seemed of particular concern to INGO directors with larger numbers of field staff, both in regard to policies for quickly reconciling divergent HCN and HQ perceptions about the level of risk (at Oxfam Canada), and policies for assessing whether sufficiently reliable intelligence exists to warrant evacuation from a country (at Care Canada). Several program managers also reported increased security risks due to non-employee HCN perceptions of Ôguilt by associationÕ (i.e., with the INGOÕs first-world donor government funding agenda and/or military activities). When queried whether female staff are more vulnerable to security risks, directors and HR managers at all three INGOs dismissed the notion. However, the majority acknowledged the need for accompaniment in unsafe contexts, and for adherence to the security protocols that are in place (e.g., use of a white land cruiser). Aside from safety (security) issues, the theme of work-life balance emerged repeatedly as a health challenge among both male and female program managers and country representatives. In particular, work overload was cited by many as being highly problematic.

‘‘It is often difficult for a humanitarian organization to be a warm, fuzzy employer. ThereÕs a lot of Ôuse them, abuse them, and toss them to the trashÕ. You get these yearly contracts and you are out there slogging and doing everything you can and then the contract is over. Okay, youÕre gone. [And you try to] build a career versus taking every job as a single assignment.’’ – EXPAT COUNTRY REP (CARE CANADA-CR1) These challenges were more prevalent at CARE Canada, due to their relatively greater use of expatriates.

International labour regulations (ILR)
Although there was only one challenge in this IHRM category (which is why it, too, does not warrant a separate table), it was reported as significant by the HR interviewees at all three INGOs (the Director, in the case of the CFTC). Specifically, becoming familiar with (and remaining current with) country-specific labour legislation proved highly challenging for those with HR responsibilities: ‘‘We have had arguments where it has come up related to which law applies when you get into a termination situation. . ..the international [employee] was working in Chad for Care Canada on a Care Canada contract, and when we terminated the contract, he argued that Chadian law should apply.’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADAHR2). ‘‘I feel I must know [national country] law. In Canada, a person on maternity leave has their job when they return. I had to find out if this applied there [in national country] as well.’’ – HR MANAGER (OXFAM CANADAHR1).

Discussion
Repatriation and career management
One challenge was that HCNs who had moved onward and upward in their careers in the aid sector faced cultural reintegration challenges in the workplace upon repatriation: ‘‘We had a national [host country] Kenyan staff person who worked in one of our country offices for a number of years. She started getting positions with CARE internationally in other country offices as well. She did her studies in the U.S. Now, the person returned back to Kenya in an assistant country director position, which was quite a senior level position. Some of the approaches that she is taking with her fellow Kenyan staff, they are taking exception to. She still has her Kenyan cultural base but she has learned a number of traits from her travels, from the cultures she has worked with, etc. Now, those are no longer acceptable in her own country. ÔYou should be one of us. You shouldnÕt be doing that.Õ’’ – HR MANAGER (CARE CANADA-HR2) The other challenge is that, although there is considerable demand for seasoned INGO expatriates in the aid industry, few positions tend to be available at headquarters. Thus, expatriates, many of whom are not permanent employees, are often responsible for building their career out of a series of competency-building contract assignments: Whereas the development INGO management literature merely underscored the importance of strategic human resource planning (HRP) (e.g., Fowler, 1997), this study provided empirical evidence that strategic IHRM poses a significant challenge for development INGOs, and that this challenge is complicated by an inability to pay for IHRM expertise that could enable them to move beyond firefighting operational issues and into designing IHRM strategies. In this respect, the participating INGOs are somewhat like many large private multinationals which are not as strategic as they could be in relation to their IHRM activities (e.g., Harris and Brewster, 1999), with the key difference being that private-sector multinationals have fewer externally imposed constraints on their expenditure decisions. In regard to staffing, some of the findings of this study echo existing development INGO management research (e.g., Fowler, 2002) and the IHRM for-profit literature (e.g., Novicevic and Harvey, 2004). The debate over whether to select expatriates (i.e., with the accompanying issues of language and cultural differences) versus HCNs (i.e., with issues such as the risk of nepotism and the scarcity of local competencies) is a case in point. However, this study extended that debate by observing additional, INGO-specific challenges related to hiring expatriates (e.g., issues such as quality of life expectations, because INGO expatriates are

436 not nearly as pampered as those from the private sector), hiring HCNs (e.g., issues such as class differences), and hiring in general (e.g., having to accommodate donorsÕ diverse regulations about staffing). The brand risk posed by locally controversial hires emerged as a challenge only in Oxfam Canada; it may have been more salient for them given their relatively greater emphasis on advocacy. In addition, this study is the first to contribute the HCN Country representativeÕs voice to the discourse about the risk of HCN nepotism, providing the counter-perspective that nepotism is not a challenge for HCNs who have professional values. Whether or not HCN professionalism can entirely eliminate the risk of nepotism remains to be determined empirically. However, by bringing the HCN voice into the conversation, it becomes more evident that HCN perceptions of procedural justice may be damaged (and communication interventions might be required) if it becomes known that expatriates have been preferred for this reason. Finally, although it seems fairly intuitive that those who work in development may not necessarily be suited for emergency-type INGO work, the finding that the reverse can be problematic is a surprising one, and also seems unique to the development INGO context. However, it should be noted that the challenge of shifting from emergency (i.e., humanitarian aid) to development is more applicable to CARE Canada than to the other two INGOs, the latter of whom only minimally undertake humanitarian aid projects. In regard to performance management, this study confirmed the development INGO management literatureÕs finding that performance reviews lack instrumentality (re: Fowler, 1997). However, it extended this research by suggesting a lack of international experience among raters (i.e., program managers) as an additional possible explanation. In this regard, private-sector HRM research, with its coverage of the importance of rater qualifications (e.g., Piggot-Irvine, 2003; Tahvainen, 1998) is considerably more advanced. The results also suggest that the lack of instrumentality of performance reviews was less of a concern at Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC), which is a much smaller organization than the other two INGOs, raising the possibility that it may be more difficult for poor performance to go unchecked in smaller INGOs. The finding that language differences can impede international performance management had also been noted in the private-sector IHRM literature (e.g., Harzing and van Ruysseveldt, 2004). However, the finding that remaining vigilant against corruption is an ever-present challenge provides a cautionary note to SachÕs (2007) suggestion that development INGOs may be relatively immune from corruption challenges. Conceivably, such suggestions could ironically serve as disincentives to further counter-corruption innovations in Canadian INGOs. Other performance management challenges noted by the IHRM for-profit management literature, such as having to decide whether to standardize or customize rating forms (e.g., Gregersen et al., 1996) were not identified as challenges by the participants; however, this could reflect the lack of awareness of the nuances of IHRM issues among those working in INGOs. In regard to compensation, this study confirmed the development INGO management and private-sector IHRM literaturesÕ findings that challenges arise with regard to both internal and external equity (e.g., Fenwick, 2005; Festing

S.L. OÕSullivan et al., 2007), and that poaching from larger agencies was a problematic factor in this (Fowler, 1997). However, it also explicated additional reasons for these equity challenges, highlighting the significant role that diverse donor policies play in creating internal inequities (a challenge that appears to be applicable to INGOs but not to private-sector multinationals), the role of economic issues (e.g., exchange rates, COLA fluctuations), and the role that greater compensation expertise could play in mitigating these challenges. In regard to training, this study confirmed the INGO management literatureÕs finding that northern development INGOs do conduct formal training (as per AndersonÕs (2001) coverage of WVAÕs practices). However, it also echoed observations that northern development INGOs actually spend relatively little on formal training (Smillie and Hailey, 2001), compared to their emphasis on OJT (as per Dartington, 1992). Moreover, unlike Smillie and Hailey (2001), this studyÕs results do not suggest that such minimal expenditures on formal training reflect Northern NGOsÕ failure to prioritize the capacity building of their own staff (relative to the capacity building of their southern NGO partners). Rather, it reflects fund restrictions and funding volatility associated with donor preferences, and short lead times prior to departure, the latter of which is likely related to the northern INGOsÕ lack of resources for Strategic HR planning. In addition, whereas the development NGO management literature (e.g., Fowler, 2002) and the for-profit IHRM literature (e.g., Mendenhall et al., 1987) merely identified OJT as one of many cross-cultural training options for expatriates, the results of this study expanded on OJT as a form of cross-cultural training in INGOs. Specifically, it raised awareness of the challenges associated with insufficient recognition of OJT trainers (with beneficiaries as a trainer option being unique to the INGO context) and the inadequacy of job rotations as a form of cross-cultural OJT. Finally, the need for systematic evaluation of training, which had been identified in the private-sector IHRM literature (e.g., Morris and Robie, 2001), was not acknowledged as one of the more pressing challenges in this study. Clearly, evaluation of any IHRM function can potentially enhance its effectiveness. This oversight may reflect the participantsÕ acceptance that, realistically, few personnel are available within their organization to devote attention to such strategic IHRM initiatives. Participant descriptions of their health and safety/security challenges confirm existing development INGO management research which has found that significant security challenges, such as Ôguilt by associationÕ, exist (e.g., Fenwick, 2005), and that blurred accountability is problematic in INGOs (Billis and Harris, 1996), particularly in relation to H&SS. On the other hand, internationally accepted protocols pertaining to the neutrality of INGOs and likeminded agencies (e.g., use of white land cruisers, etc.) may render INGO employees less vulnerable to security risks than their counterparts in the private sector. On a related note, in stark contrast to the emphasis in the private-sector IHRM literature about the myriad challenges associated with females undertaking international assignments (e.g., Linehan, 2001), little concern was expressed by either male or female interviewees in this study regarding any differential risk to females being sent into hazardous or otherwise inhospitable zones. The presence of an elaborate security appa-

International human resource management challenges in Canadian development INGOs ratus for both male and female employees was perceived to diminish this risk. Yet, despite this substantial security apparatus, the INGO participants seemed quite concerned about the prospect of leaving HCNs behind when there is a need to evacuate (something which has not, to date, been flagged as a concern in the private-sector IHRM literature). All of these findings offer insight to the private-sector IHRM literature, which has only begun to assess political risk management from an HR perspective (e.g., Czinkota et al., 2004). Finally, the challenges observed with work-life balance (and, specifically, work overload) in the INGO sector appear to be at least as significant as in the private sector; however, comparative studies of work overload with the private sector would seem warranted. Similar to both the private-sector IHRM literature and the development INGO management literature on repatriation and career challenges, which have identified repatriation challenges for parent-country expatriates (e.g., Lazarova and Caligiuri, 2001; Anderson, 2001; Fenwick, 2005), the results of this study have also observed challenges of cultural re-integration, albeit with regard to a narrower category of expatriate (i.e., HCNs who had become Third-Country Nationals (TCNs), returning to work in their home country, which was one of the INGOsÕ host countries). However, unlike the repatriates described in the for-profit literature, the Canadian parent-country nationals in this study seemed more resigned to the job insecurity inherent in their industry, and more willing to accept responsibility for developing their own career out of a series of competency-building assignments. This did not always result in outcomes desired by the INGO, however. For example, experienced delegates became more selective of the amount of volatility they would accept in subsequent assignments, but volatile contexts are often where their experience is most needed. In private-sector research, the field of industrial relations tends to be a distinct body of literature from human resource management (Edwards, 2004), which is why the literature on international labour legislation was not reviewed in the literature section. In this study, however, country differences in employment legislation, pertinent to both unionized and non-unionized employees, and to HR functional areas such as performance management and compensation, emerged as a significant challenge for HR managers. Perhaps such legislative challenges have not featured as prominently in the private-sector IHRM literature because it is simply presumed that private-sector firms will have access to international labour lawyers. Given their expenditure restrictions (imposed by donor constraints), the same presumption cannot be made of development INGOs. This study offers additional insights into the question of whether IHRM challenges differ by type of INGO. First, the results suggest that if non-religious northern INGOs are indeed less attentive to the strategic IHRM needs of their organization than religious INGOs (Anderson, 2001), it may not necessarily be due to a lack of a Ôpastoral careÕ ethos (as conjectured by Fenwick, 2005; Anderson, 2001); it could also simply be the result of a lack of unrestricted funds and HR personnel, which impedes their ability to devote sufficient resources to strategic IHRM. This, in turn, may result not only from the types of fundraising strategies used by the INGO (e.g., seeking government funds vs. unrestricted public funds), but also from the degree to which such strategies

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are successful. A number of the funding managers reported that Canadian religious INGOs tend to be substantially more successful at soliciting unrestricted donations from the public. Second, the smallest INGO, CFTC, was a stand-alone INGO which made a strategic decision to limit the amount of restricted, government funding it sought (in comparison with Oxfam Canada and CARE Canada, which were members of international federations, and which sought – and received – proportionately more restricted government funding than unrestricted public funding). In some respects, CFTC seemed to experience fewer IHRM challenges (e.g., with respect to performance review instrumentality, internal compensation equity in field offices, repatriation of expatriates – since their country representatives were exclusively HCNs, and overall fewer HCN training and health/safety concerns due to having fewer HCNs). In other respects, the IHRM challenges they experienced seemed to be more profoundly felt (e.g., lack of strategic IHRM expertise on the part of one of the directors created significant challenges, particularly in the area of external equity in HCN compensation). Third, the one primarily-advocacy oriented INGO (Oxfam Canada) experienced advocacy-related staffing challenges (e.g., hiring locally politically controversial HCNs) which the others did not. Finally, the only INGO which also participated extensively in humanitarian aid projects (CARE Canada) was also the only one to report the transfer of staff from emergency to development contexts as a staffing dilemma.

Conclusions
Summary
This paper has addressed the question ‘‘What is the nature of the IHRM challenges faced by development INGO managers in the course of implementing development projects in the field?’’ In addition, it has explored how these challenges vary in different types of INGOs. By systematically demonstrating that northern (specifically, Canadian) development INGOs face significant, unique IHRM challenges as they implement their development projects, it has connected and contributed to two largely distinct bodies of literature, development INGO management and IHRM (on for-profit multinationals), and has responded to the socioeconomic imperative for a greater understanding of governance issues in development INGOs.

Limitations
Every research study has its limitations, and this paper was no exception. Given budget constraints, and the perceived benefits of sharing preliminary findings with study participants in a timely manner, a cross-sectional time horizon was selected for this study. In addition, only 3 organizations were studied and these were all Canadian. Nonetheless, the author believes that these findings provide a more comprehensive overview of the IHRM challenges in this sector than has been done to date. Subsequent research could later elaborate upon these findings through longitudinal studies (Neuman, 2006) and via validation studies with further organizations and other host countries for the purposes of greater generalization.

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S.L. OÕSullivan myriad donors demands an artful expression of tacit knowledge, which translates into a performance management and training burden. Government and multilateral donor agencies also have a significant role to play in aid effectiveness, and working toward establishing ISO standards in reporting expectations would seem to be an excellent start.

Implications for future research
Future research needs to investigate whether the IHRM practices employed by Canadian INGOs (as a means of addressing the IHRM challenges discussed in this paper) are as supportive of the INGOsÕ strategic objectives as they could be, given INGO funding constraints. A detailed investigation into the effects of funding uncertainty on IHRM practices would ideally be assessed from the perspective of all relevant stakeholders, and would ideally also compare smaller-scale development INGOs with those that form part of a larger federation, and INGOs funded primarily from government donors with those that receive more unrestricted funding, in order to determine the extent to which such differences are significant in resultant IHRM practices. Future research might also explore further the broader issue of knowledge sharing in the aid industry. With respect to which functional HR areas might development INGOs be motivated to share knowledge with fellow INGOs, given their competition over resources (i.e., scarce funding and HCN human resources)? And, how might this differ with respect to knowledge sharing among country-offices within a federation of INGOs (e.g., CARE International)? In addition, the issue of how INGOs manage corruption challenges deserves closer attention. Specifically, future research might explore in more depth how development INGOs monitor it, how they apply consequences when it is detected, and the challenges they experience in doing so.

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Samia Chreim and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript, and to acknowledge both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa for funding this research.

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Weidenbaum, M. (2007) Who will guard the guardians? The social responsibility of NGOs. Vital Speeches of the Day 73(8), 45–347. Weis, L. and Fine, M. (2000) Speed Bumps: A Student-Friendly Guide to Qualitative Research. Teachers College Press, New York. Whittemore, R., Chase, S. K. and Mandle, C. L. (2001) Validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research 11, 522–537. SHARON LEIBA OÕSULLIVAN is an associate professor of international human resources and cross-cultural management at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. Her current research program, funded by CanadaÕs Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, addresses the international human resource management challenges in development-related international non-governmental organizations. Sharon has published in several journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies, Human Relations, International Journal of Human Resource Management, International Business Review, Career Development International, and Human Resource Management.