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Seventh Global Conference on International Human Resource Management Postponed
After careful consideration, CIHRS has postponed the Seventh Global Conference on International Human Resource Management. Penn State University affiliated travel to Cyprus has been suspended following a U.S. State Department travel safety advisory. To prevent travel disruptions and address safety concerns, the conference will now be held in October (final date to be confirmed) at the University of Cyprus, Cyprus.
Executives and scholars will come together to discuss the theme: Critical Perspectives on IHRM: How to Be More Inclusive?
All abstracts that were accepted for the conference will remain accepted. CIHRS will also open a second round of the Call for Papers, at which time authors are invited to submit new papers and ideas for consideration.
CRANET Research Network
CRANET is affiliated with the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State and housed within the Center for International Human Resource Studies (CIHRS). CIHRS coordinates the research and activities of the CRANET global network of academic institutions, which conducts a regular survey of human resource management (HRM) practices in organizations across more than forty countries. Participation in the study benefits HR practitioners by enabling benchmarking of HRM practices and trends, while also providing rigorous academic data for publications and teaching materials.
CIHRS oversaw the planning and execution of a CRANET international meeting in Vienna, Austria in May 2025, followed by an online meeting in November 2025. During these meetings, CIHRS led collaboration efforts to launch the 2026 CRANET survey. The now ongoing data collection is expected to include more than 40 countries and focuses on HRM practices globally. The in-person and virtual network meetings continue to support a global network of more than 100 researchers who have collaborated for over 30 years, strengthening participation and coordination across countries.
The CIHRS team is the USA representatives for the research network and has launched data collection for the 2026 CRANET survey. If you hold an HR position in your organization, please consider helping us by completing the survey.
By completing this survey you will have the chance to enter to win a $100 gift card! Results will be shared and can be used as a benchmarking tool to compare your HR function.
2025 CRANET Data Publications
Berber, N., Stavrou, E., Slavić, A., & Gašić, D. (2025). Flexible Work Arrangements in Central and Eastern Europe: Effects on Organizational Outcomes. Journal of East European Management Studies, 30(4), 44450. https://doi.org/10.31083/JEEMS44450
https://www.imrpress.com/journal/JEEMS/30/4/10.31083/JEEMS44450
IHRM Database Project
The CIHRS continues its initiative to provide CRANET Research Network members and other IHRM scholars with a valuable resource for accessing, assessing, and comparing IHRM databases. This project aims to maintain and enhance a centralized resource for international human resource management (IHRM) databases. Further details regarding this valuable resource will be shared later in 2026.
Events
IHRM Webinar Series
The IHRM webinar series, started in 2020, continues into its sixth year due to its outstanding success in showcasing distinguished scholars worldwide. The webinar events include a collaboration between the CIHRS (Penn State) and PennWest University in the United States, the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and ESCP Business School in Germany and France. All previous webinars are available on the IHRM Webinar Series YouTube channel.
This year, more than 100 new subscribers found our channel, and there are now more than 800 subscribers following the IHRM Webinar channel on YouTube. These webinars have thousands of views and are a fantastic resource to spark research creativity and shed light on topics in IHRM. They are a valuable resource for professors and students in the classroom as well as practitioners working in international HRM.
Other IHRM Events
Director of the CIHRS, Elaine Farndale, delivered two keynote speeches this year. The first at the First Biennial Global People Practice Conference: Fostering Sustainable People Practice Research, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Parys, South Africa.
Read more about the successful International Week Symposium that CIHRS Director Elaine Farndale was part of at the event.
Director Elaine Farndale in traditional Masai Mara dress and the second keynote delivered at the First Human Resource Management International Conference (HRMIC) at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya, in June 2025.
International HRM Scholarly Research Award
Every year at the Academy of Management Meeting, CIHRS sponsors the HR Division’s International HRM Scholarly Research Award, which recognizes the most impactful scholarly article on an international HRM topic published in the previous year. In 2025, the winners were Jana Bucher (Hochschule Bremen City University of Applied Sciences), Benjamin Bader (Newcastle University Business School), and Jürgen Deller (Leuphana University of Lüneburg) for their paper: Cross‐Border Knowledge Transfer in the Digital Age: The Final Curtain Call for Long‐Term International Assignments? Journal of Management Studies, 61(5), 1792–1824.
Visiting Scholars
The CIHRS provides opportunities for scholars engaged in research matching our international HRM agenda by supporting a visiting scholars program.
The CIHRS welcomed visiting scholar, Giorgia Chimara Varzoni (master’s degree in administration from University of São Paulo) from September 2025–December 2025. Giorgia is Ph.D. student at University of São Paulo in the School of Economics and Business. She is a CRANET member, representing Brazil. She has experience as a professor in some Brazilians institutions, more recently as assistant professor at the Foundation Institution of Administration (FIA) and as Human Resource consultant at Fia and Growth Consultancy.
Giorgia’s Ph.D. thesis is about the relations between the strategic human resource management, labor relations and remote work (a cross-national comparative study between United States, Brazil and Germany). As a visiting scholar she worked to improve her thesis research, acquired new knowledge, and expanded her network. Giorgia gained valuable experience visiting the CIHRS and experiencing a new culture.
To apply for a visiting scholar position, please submit a full CV and cover letter, clearly explaining how you could see your research contributing to the vision of the CIHRS.
Applications can be emailed to cihrs@psu.edu at any time. Please note that visiting positions do not have any financial support, and applicants must provide evidence of how their visit would be fully funded.
CIHRS Fellows
Jaime Bonache (Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain)
Chris Brewster (Henley Business School, United Kingdom)
Wayne Cascio (University of Colorado, United States)
David Collings (Dublin City University, Ireland)
Fang Lee Cooke (Monash University, Australia)
Marion Festing (ESCP Business School, Germany)
Sven Horak (St. John’s University, United States)
Mevan Jayasinghe (Michigan State University, United States)
Mila Lazarova (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Dana Minbaeva (Kings College London, United Kingdom)
Maral Muratbekova-Touron (ESCP Business School, France)
Maja Vidovic (RIT Croatia, Croatia)
Graduate Assistant Spotlight
Alyssa joined the CIHRS in fall 2025 and has been focusing on data collection by locating firm census data for CRANET member countries. Through this work, she’s had the chance to see how data varies across international contexts, strengthen her skills in organizing and analyzing raw data, and learn how to communicate results in concise ways.
Stay in the Loop
If you would like to sign up for monthly news and announcements from CIHRS, please email cihrs@psu.edu with your preferred email address.
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