Leadership, knowledge and people in knowledge-intensive organisations: implications for HRM theory and practice

In order to offer insights into the management of HR challenges in Knowledge Intensive Firms/Organisations (KIO’s), this Special Issue explores three strands of research: International HRM, leadership and the knowledge-intensive firm/organisation. In this introduction against the background of global developments affecting KIOs, we will first highlight the key leadership issues in global KIOs, including managing, creating and sharing knowledge, and motivating and developing those employed in KIOs. Then we introduce the papers in the special issue, including a Practitioner’s Vision of HRM in a global KIO, and seven research papers from authors from Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom on leadership in KIOs that reflect the title of this article: leadership, leading knowledge and leading people in knowledge-intensive organisations. And finally, we sketch some future developments and recommendations for further research relevant to international HRM.