The Cross-National Transfer of HRM Practices in Multinational Companies Towards Their Swiss Subsidiaries (original) (raw)
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Human Resource Management Journal, 2007
Current international human resource management (IHRM) literature focusing on multinational corporations (MNCs) presents evidence of both similarities and differences in the HR practices adopted in different global locations. However, the drivers behind this duality require more detailed investigation. This article focuses on exploring why MNCs position themselves within global markets as they do, exploring how extant theory can help explain the drivers behind both global and national HR practices. Based on a worldwide sample of in-depth interview-based case studies of well-known MNCs, we explore the ways in which different firms react to both institutional and competitive pressures in selecting their approach to HRM. The findings uncover a differentiation between external global competitive isomorphic pressures, external national institutional isomorphic pressures, and internal processes of strategic choice and competitive differentiation. It is suggested that MNCs face all three drivers of HRM simultaneously, leading to different patterns of practice adoption, adaptation and innovation.
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The HR literature has been abundant in providing typologies of the roles of HR professionals in their organisation. These typologies are largely related to the changing nature of HRM over time, and the context in which empirical work was carried out. In this paper we focus on the context of the increasing internationalisation of firms and how this has an effect upon modern-day typologies of HR roles. We explore these roles by focusing on the way in which HRM practices come about. Especially in a MNC setting of increasing internationalisation of firms the issues of coordination, shared learning and standardisation versus leeway for adapting to the local context (customisation) are prominent. These issues present themselves both at the corporate and regional level and at the national and local (plant) level. On all these levels HR practitioners are active and find themselves amidst the interplay of both (de-)centralisation and standardisation versus customisation processes. This paper thus explores the way in which HR practices come into being and how they are implemented and coordinated. These insights help us understand further the roles of international corporate HR functions that are being identified. Our data is based on 65 interviews, which were held (as part of larger study of HR-function excellence) with HR managers, line managers and senior executives of six multinational companies in eight countries from September to December 2004. This data reveals new classifications of processes by which HR activities are developed, implemented and coordinated, both in terms of who is involved and how these processes are carried out.
Journal of World Business, 2001
A key current academic debate is the interaction between multinationals companies and national business systems, both the parent-country system in which they are embedded, and the host systems in which they operate. This article presents evidence from recent case-study research on German multinationals operating in Britain and Spain. It argues, first, that there are pressures on these companies to adopt many standard 'Anglo-Saxon' business practices in human resources and industrial relations (HR/IR), such as standardized international policies on appraisal, performance, management development, and an explicit, formalized corporate 'culture'. Second, however, significant manifestations of the influence of the German business system persist, including a long-termist orientation, and a management approach based on co-operation. 'Anglo-Saxon' practices are absorbed into this prevailing German managerial culture, and as a result operate in a distinctively 'German' way. Third, the country-of-origin effect is mediated by the institutional constraints of different national host environments. But even in highly regulated contexts, such as Spain, companies were able to create sufficient flexibility to preserve elements of a German style.
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2005
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ILR Review, 2013
Does the use of HRM practices by multinational companies (MNCs) reflect their national origins or are practices similar regardless of context? To the extent that practices are similar, is there any evidence of global best standards? The authors use the system, societal, and dominance framework to address these questions through analysis of 1,100 MNC subsidiaries in Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They argue that this framework offers a richer account than alternatives such as varieties of capitalism. The study moves beyond previous research by differentiating between system effects at the global level and dominance effects arising from the diffusion of practices from a dominant economy. It shows that both effects are present, as are some differences at the societal level. Results suggest that MNCs configure their HRM practices in response to all three forces rather than to some uniform global best practices or to their national institutional contexts.