Abstract:
With increasing levels of export intensity firms begin
to face new demands. The first set of resources
brought to bear on the issues, and those
resources that are most quickly mobilised, are
the employees. Indeed, higher levels of exporting
require activating relatively less mobile resources
through the building of organisational structures
and mechanisms for managing repositories
of knowledge (particularly orga nisational
specialisation and selectively hiring appropriately
skilled staff).This paper explores the management
of human capital across different levels of export
activity in Australian manufacturing firms. Analyses
were based on 90 Australian-headquartered
manufacturing exporters that responded to a
survey. Overall the results support the notion that
firms need to accumulate knowledge as they
internationalise. These results are discussed in
terms of their consequences for HRM practices.
