International human resource management in multinational companies: Global norm making within strategic action fields

The formation of global norms that affect work is a crucial element to how multinational companies (MNCs) achieve a degree of HR integration internationally. We establish a 'strategic action fields' framework to guide research into global norm-making in MNCs in general and for analysing the work of those that we term 'globalising actors'-those who are active in globalising a firm's management of its human resources-in particular. We position our framework with relation to existing research in international human resource management, and show how the field can benefit from achieving an approach to global norm-making that is contextualised, personalised and contested.