Dr. Elaine Farndale is Professor of Human Resource Management and Director of the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the Pennsylvania State University (USA). Elaine is also Founder and Director of the Center for International Human Resource Studies (CIHRS), a research center at Penn State. CIHRS is the hub of the global HRM research network, CRANET.
Books
Biron, M., Boon, C., Farndale, E., & Bamberger, P. (2024) Human Resource Strategy: Formulation, Implementation, and Impact (3rd edition).Lazarova, Thomas, & Farndale (2021): Essentials of International Human Resource Management: Managing People Globally (2nd Ed)
Brewster, Mayrhofer, & Farndale (2018): Handbook of Research in Comparative Human Resource Management, 2nd ed. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Paauwe & Farndale (2017): HRM, Strategy & Performance: A contextual approach. Oxford University Press.
Background
Elaine is a graduate of the University of Hull (BA Hons in French and Modern Dutch Studies), Kingston University (MA in Personnel Management), and Cranfield School of Management (Ph.D. in HRM) in the UK. Elaine’s dissertation explored the status and strategic role of the HR function in UK universities. She worked previously as an HR specialist for several years.
In addition to various ad hoc reviewing activities, Elaine was Co-Editor-in-Chief from 2016 to 2021 for Human Resource Management Journal published by Wiley. She has also previously been Associate Editor of Human Resource Management, published by Wiley, and Associate Editor of International Journal of Human Resource Management, published by Taylor and Francis.
Elaine has been elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the HR Division of the Academy of Management (2012-2015) and of the International Theme Committee (2018-2021). She is also an Academic Fellow of the Centre for International Human Resource Management at Judge Business School, Cambridge University, UK, and an Affiliate of the International Consortium for Research in Employment and Work (iCREW), Monash University, Australia.
Elaine has presented numerous papers at international conferences and has published articles and chapters in both the practitioner and academic press. Elaine has also been an instructor on various bachelors, masters, MBA and executive training courses focusing primarily on international HRM.
Elaine’s specialist areas of interest and research include:
*International and comparative HRM
*Global talent management
*HRM and firm performance/employee well-being
*The credibility, professionalism, and roles of the HR department
Career history
2009-present: Elaine started her current position with the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the Pennsylvania State University. She advanced to becoming Director of the School in 2021 and is Director of the Center for International Human Resource Studies. She primarily teaches international HRM courses in undergraduate, graduate, and professional master’s programs both in residence and online. She is involved in conducting various research projects and writing for academic and practitioner publications. Elaine founded the Center of International Human Resource Studies in 2013, organizing regular biennial Global Conferences on International Human Resource Management.
2006-2009: Elaine took up her position as Assistant Professor at Tilburg University, working with Professor Jaap Paauwe. Elaine was involved in numerous research projects (including a SHRM Foundation-funded project looking at employee engagement), authoring publications, teaching graduate students, mentoring doctoral students, and conducting executive development activities. Elaine was the organizer of the 2007 5th International Conference of the Dutch HRM Network held at Tilburg University.
2004-2006: After completing her Ph.D., Elaine joined Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands where she was the lead researcher on an international HR Excellence project: The Global HR Research Alliance. This project was aimed at establishing the practices and mechanisms that generate/improve HRM effectiveness in multinational companies. Sponsored by the Sanyo Corporation, the research involved in-depth case studies among selected multinationals in Asia, USA, UK, and mainland Europe, along with a global web-based survey. From 2004-2009, Elaine also collaborated with Professor Veronica Hope-Hailey and colleagues in the Change Management Consortium, during which time she was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bath (UK).
1998-2002: Elaine joined Cranfield School of Management as a Research Officer in the Research Centre for European Human Resource Management, headed by Professor Chris Brewster. Her main role was as a researcher in the CRANET international comparative HRM research project. Since 2013, she has been the US representative for CRANET at Penn State.