The study of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) has focused mainly on the policies, practices and strategies of Human Resource practitioners in individual multinational firms. The goal of this special issue is to move beyond this narrow focus at the enterprise level and situate HRM within wider economic, organizational, political and institutional contexts. HRM differs across countries but to date the comparative literature has tended to focus on cultural issues. Research that systematically analyzes socio-economic, institutional and societal contexts and their impact on HRM remains underdeveloped and there is a significant opportunity for work which draws on theory from adjacent fields - e.g. the varieties of capitalism literature, theories of cross-national organization and research in comparative political studies and economic geography all offer potentially useful frameworks. Companies are socially embedded on different levels; local economies, regional districts, national institutions, international networks and transnational regulation are all aspects of the social, organizational and economic structures in which companies are situated.

Despite the all-pervasive talk of globalization, the seasoned international business traveller will

be acutely aware of differences in the ‘way of doing things’from country to country and from

region to region. Such differences are seldom more apparent than in the field of organization and

management. Not only will the traveller be aware that conventions for doing business are culturebound, but also that systems and structures for ‘the management of people’are uniquely determined by forces of tradition. If the business traveller were to discuss the issue of fairness of pay with

a Japanese worker, the latter could well reiterate the proverb ‘The nail that sticks out should be

hammered down’, thus