International business (IB) and international human resource management (IHRM), the two fields of studies with a shared interest in multinational enterprises (MNEs), yet often criticized for the lack of dialogue and collaboration beneficial to extending the knowledge in these fields. At the same time, both IB and IHRM have expanded into the international development area, for example, there is growing interest in the role of MNEs in promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this presentation, Fang Lee Cooke aims to address some of the critiques, challenge existing assumptions, and provide examples of research avenues that may critically examine the role of MNEs in promoting SDGs through their HRM practices from the perspective of developing countries.

Fang Lee Cooke is a professor at Monash Business School, Monash University, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Her research interests are in the area of strategic HRM, knowledge management and innovation, outsourcing, international HRM, diversity and inclusion management, employment relations, migrant studies, HRM in the healthcare sector, digitalization and implications for employment and HRM; climate change, energy transition and the future of work; Sustainable Development Goals and the role of multinational firms. Fang Lee Cooke's recent research projects examine some of the tensions, challenges, and implications associated with these topics for various key stakeholders such as the state, employers' associations, trade unions, workers, and labor NGOs.

Moderator: Elaine Farndale, professor of human resource management and director of the School of Labor and Employment Relations, Penn State, and founder and director of the Center for International Human Resource Studies.