International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 6; April 2011 1 International Human Resource Management Practices from a Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective: An Exploratory Investigation Kristen Shanine Foster College of Business Administration Bradley University 1501 W. Bradley Ave Peoria, IL 61625 United States of America Phone: 309-397-2941, E-mail: kshanine@mail.bradley.edu Aaron Buchko Foster College of Business Administration Bradley University 1501 W. Bradley Ave. Peoria, IL 61625 United States of America Phone: 309-677-2273, E-mail: aab@bumail.bradley.edu Anthony R. Wheeler Schmidt Labor Research Center College of Business Administration University of Rhode Island 36 Upper College Rd Kingston, RI 02881 Phone: 401-874-9491, E-mail: arwheeler@uri.edu Abstract This paper analyzes the Resource-Based View (RBV) approach to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and presents an alternative integrative framework using Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). Keywords: Resource-Based View, Complex Adaptive Systems, International Human Resource Management Introduction We are truly living in times of exponential change. Rapid technology development is growing economies and changing the interface of business. Such turbulence increases the importance of a company’s human resources, or its creative capital, in order to compete within this dynamic, unstable environment. Consequently, International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is becoming increasingly important as we move to a more knowledge- based and interactive global economy. However, IHRM research has been limited over the years and largely focused on a few issues because of cost and time constraints (Schuler, Budhwar, & Florkowski, 2002). Several areas need further attention, including the utilization of more theoretical perspectives to predict and explain relationships (Schuler, Budhwar, & Florkowski, 2002). The most widely used theory in HRM literature, the Resource-Based View (RBV), demonstrates how companies can use HRM to gain a strategic competitive advantage; thus, HRM practices are linked with each other and linked to a company’s mission (Barney, 1991). This theoretical perspective has been extended to IHRM research, which has led to a more strategic view of IHRM. The RBV-IHRM relationship has sparked controversy within academia concerning the multinational enterprise’s (MNE) need to localize and differentiate practices, as well as simultaneously integrate best practices across the firm (Morris, Snell, & Wright, 2005).