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This paper considers the importance of context in mobile systems. It considers a range of context issues and focus on location as a key issue for mobile systems. A design framework is described consisting of taxonomies of location, mobility, population and device awareness. The design framework informs the construction of a semantic model of space for mobile systems. The semantic model is reflected in a computational model built on a distributed platform that allows contextual information to be shared across a number of mobile devices. The framework supports the design of interactive mobile systems while the platform supports their rapid development.

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Considerable attention has focused on how multinational corporations (MNCs) deal with the simultaneous pressures of globalization and localization when it comes to human resource management (HRM). HR function activities in this process, however, have received less focus. The study presented here identifi es confi gurations of the corporate HR function based on international HRM (IHRM) structures, exploring how issues of interdependency shape corporate HR roles. The study is based on 248 interviews in 16 MNCs based in 19 countries. The fi ndings are applied to develop a contextually based framework outlining the main corporate HR function confi gurations in MNCs, including new insights into methods of IHRM practice design.

Global fi rms often struggle to replicate practices among their culturally and geographically dispersed subsidiaries. Part of the reason for this is that certain practices, including human resource management (HRM) practices, are complex and context specifi c. In this study, we develop a framework to help identify how fi rms might overcome challenges of practice replication through alignment of information systems, application processes, and people. We fi nd that managerial alignment of formal processes and systems, along with informal alignment of people (shared objectives), improve the capability of a multinational corporation (MNC) to replicate human resource practices across subsidiaries. We also discuss managerial implications. JONATHAN TREVOR is a University lecturer in human resources and organizations at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Jonathan teaches and conducts research across a range of organizational behaviour-related subjects, focusing specifi cally on compensation, human resource management, and internationalization.PHILIP STILES is senior lecturer in Organizational Behaviour at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK. Philip's research work focuses on international human resource management, in particular the nature of performance management within and across borders and the determinants of international HR strategy. He works with a number of major companies worldwide and is currently Director of the Centre for Internal Human Resource Management at the University of Cambridge. GÜNTER K. STAHL is professor of International Management at WU Vienna, Austria, and Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, France and Singapore. His research and teaching interests include the dynamics of trust within and between organizations; sociocultural processes in teams, alliances, mergers, and acquisitions; and how to manage people and culture effectively in those contexts. SCOTT SNELL, professor of Business Administration, teaches in the Leadership and Organization area at Darden. He is the author of over 50 publications in professional journals and edited texts and has coauthored three books: Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World, Managing Human Resources, and Managing People and Knowledge in Professional Service Firms. Professor Snell has worked with companies such as American Express, AstraZeneca, CIGNA, Deutsche Telekom, Shell, and the World Bank to address the alignment of human resource issues and strategic management. JAAP PAAUWE (Ph.D., Erasmus University Rotterdam) is professor of Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University and also affi liated to Erasmus University Rotterdam. His main research interests are in the area of HRM and performance, corporate strategy and change, industrial relations, and institutional theory. His latest book is HRM and Performance: Achieving Long Term Viability (Oxford University Press, June 2004), for which he received the Dutch HRM network Award in 2005. Together with Cambridge, INSEAD, and Cornell Universi...