Sustainable development is a current topic that increasingly transcends the original meaning of a socio-ecological process of fulfilling human needs while preserving the quality of the natural environment for future generations. In its 2004 report ‘A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All’, the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, created by the International Labour Organization (ILO), calls for sustainable development and argues that

“The quest for a fair globalization must be underpinned by the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of economic development, social development and environmental protection at the local, national, regional and global levels” (p. ix).

Globalization and internationalization are fundamentally changing the external framework for human resource management and employment relations. This has been particularly true for multinational companies but also largely due to their actions. By making FDIs and exporting jobs into low-cost countries they increasingly affect also other business organizations’ competitiveness and strategic HRM options worldwide.

In the area of human resource management, the primary goal of ‘sustainable’ HRM is to sustain the company’s competitive position and the labour productivity without jeopardizing employee well-being. The ultimate goal is to build long lasting competitive advantage via human resources and aim at the fulfillment of psychological contracts with the employees despite pressures of global competition.

One of the current challenges in HRM research is the problem that the mechanisms that link HRM to organizational performance and employee outcome variables are at least multi-faceted. While a large proportion of current research on HRM and performance has been conducted in industrialized countries or on multinational companies based in industrialized countries, studies on the management of human resources in developing countries or multinational companies based in countries outside of the Western sphere have been fairly rare.

Moreover, comparative studies on the HRM models and practices within and between different economic areas (i.e. in western countries, transitional economies of former socialist countries and rapidly developing countries of Asia, and underdeveloped countries in Africa and parts of Latin America) are only appearing. Yet there are huge differences between HRM systems and preconditions for good HRM in underdeveloped, transitional and market economies. Some of the distinctions are caused by the differences in the political order, safety and stability of society thus having great effect on the applicability of HR practices in different countries.

Decent work has been one of the fields of interests in the current discussions of international employment relations. The 1999 report (‘Decent Work’) of the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) puts decent work as the primary goal of the ILO. Decent Work refers to opportunities for women and men to obtain productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The 1999 report states the following:

”Decent work means productive work in which rights are protected, which generates an adequate income, with adequate social protection. It also means sufficient work, in the sense that all should have full access to income-earning opportunities. It marks the high road to economic and social development, a road in which employment, income and social protection can be achieved without compromising workers' rights and social standards.“

Fair and equitable globalization and decent work for all received worldwide endorsement by many governments and multilateral institutions, including that of the Summit of the United Nations General Assembly in 2005. When MNCs import western originated HRM models into developing economies there is a need to study its consequences and HR functions role and possibilities in securing decent work in different locations. As there are great variations in the working conditions, legislation and labor market circumstances in different countries, the primary concerns of HR professionals ranges from fighting against the psychological overburdening of work and providing ergonomic office chairs (in the West) to safeguarding workers lives during their commuting from home to workplace (e.g. in some of Latin American countries).