INDU1130 International Human Resource Management Assessment 1: Essay Brief 2025-26 | UOG

INDU1130 Assessment 1: Essay

This essay counts for 50% of the overall module mark and has a 2000-word limit. The essay has two questions and focuses on the theoretical aspects of IHRM. The questions you are required to address are: 

• Question 1: What are the different conceptual approaches International Human Resource Management (HRM) takes when examining HRM in an international context. Illustrate your answer with references to conceptual ideas and empirical evidence from the literature. (1,000 words)
• Question 2: “Globalisation means that eventually HR policy and practice will converge into a single ‘best practice’ everywhere in the world”. Discuss and evaluate this claim. Illustrate your answer with reference to conceptual ideas and empirical evidence from the literature. (1,000 words)

The first questions will form part first of the essay. To answer the first question, you are required to briefly outline the three approaches to IHRM: cultural, institutional, and global. You must illustrate this with critically analysing the specific theories, by means of outlining the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches to exploring HR policies and practices. This critical examination should be supported by empirical evidence from the literature. 

The second question forms the second part of the essay and is a convergence-divergence debate. In this section, you will evaluate the statement “Globalisation means that eventually HR policy and practice will converge into a single ‘best practice’ everywhere in the world”. This statement should examine two views. The first view should examine and discuss that globalisation, technology, and competition will eventually force similar HR policy towards a single ‘best practice’. You should find a journal article/paper which shows the evidence for this view. The second view should consider the opposing view examining and discussing that cultural, institutional, and other national differences mean there will always remain a divergence between difference countries and companies in how they do HR. Again, this will be evidenced with a journal article/paper.  

Marking Criteria for the Essay