The research agenda for the field of international human resource management (IHRM) is clear. For a better understanding and to benefit substantially, management scholars must study IHRM in context (Jackson, S.E. and Schuler, R.S. 1995. Understanding human resource management in the context of organizations and their environment. Annual Review of Psychology, 46: 237–264; Geringer, J.M., Frayne, C.A. and Milliman, J.F. 2002. In search of ‘best practices’ in international human resource management: research design and methodology. Human Resource Management, forthcoming). IHRM should be studied within the context of changing economic and business conditions. The dynamics of both the local/regional and international/global business context in which the firm operates should be given serious consideration. Further, it could be beneficial to study IHRM within the context of the industry and the firm’s strategy and its other functional areas and operations. In taking these perspectives, one needs to use multiple levels of analysis when studying IHRM: the external social, political, cultural and economic environment; the industry, the firm, the sub‐unit, the group, and the individual. Research in contextual isolation is misleading: it fails to advance understanding in any significant way (Adler, N.J. and Ghadar, E. 1990. Strategic human resource management: a global perspective. Human Resource Management in International Comparison. Berlin: de Gruyter; Locke, R. and Thelen, K. 1995. Apples and oranges revisited: contextualized comparisons and the study of comparative labor politics. Politics & Society, 23, 337–367). In this paper, we attempt to review the existing state of academic work in IHRM and illustrate how it incorporates the content and how it might be expanded to do so.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the diffusion patterns of eight information technologies that are transforming HR service-delivery in North America and Europe: HR functional applications, integrated HR suites, IVR systems, HR intranets, employee and manager self-service applications, HR extranets, and HR portals. Little is known about the diffusion process for these innovations within or across countries despite mounting professional and academic interest in their proliferation. Design/methodology/approach -The paper shows that external-, internal-, and mixed-influence models were applied to the HRIT-adoption decisions of a cross-sectional sample of US, Canadian, UK and Irish firms. Parameter estimation was guided by nonlinear regression procedures with starting values for p and q set at levels similar to those reported in prior IT-diffusion studies. Senior HR executives provided the underlying data by means of a dynamically branching, web-based survey. Findings -The paper finds that overall diffusion was best characterized as an outgrowth of internal influences, fueled primarily by contacts among members in the social system of potential adopters. Similar results were obtained when controls were introduced for national setting, targeted end-user, and technology type.Research limitations/implications -The paper shows that future investigations would benefit from higher response rates outside of North America and the utilization of smaller time intervals to identify when each application was acquired. Practical implications -In the paper the modest correlation between the number of acquired ITs and HR-transaction automation supports the general call for more formalized HR-technology strategies at the firm-level to coordinate purchasing and implementation decisions. Originality/value -In addition to reviewing the extant literature on HR information systems, this paper presents the first empirical study of the diffusion process for HR software applications within and across countries.

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This study tested propositions from Florkowski's (1987) profit-sharing model based on the responses of 160 individuals. As predicted, performance-reward contingencies and pay equity were significant determinants of plan support. Profit-sharing support, in turn, was an important determinant of organizational commitment. The hypothesized link between influence on decision making and plan support was not substantiated, nor was there evidence that job satisfaction moderated the relationship between support for profit sharing and organizational commitment.