HRM in Transition in Croatian Subsidiaries of MNCs in Line with Central And Eastern European Survey

The Central and Eastern European International Research Team (hereafter CEEIRT) – composed of researchers from universities from the Central and Eastern European Region has developed a model of human resource management practices in the subsidiaries of multinational corporations in CEE Region. This model was used to explore and describe the changes of key HR variables in the light of different fi rm specifi c factors. The model was equally applied across the SEE Region and in research have been included 12 countries and 286 subsidiaries of foreign owned companies. Based on this model, an interview and on-line survey of top level HR executives at 10 subsidiaries of large multinational companies in Croatia and at 276 executives in other CEE countries was completed. The paper describes how these practices and roles have developed in response to the sweeping economic changes within the region and points out the expectations of practitioners for the future. According to the model applied, the research has covered the most important organizational and economic characteristics of the MNC subsidiaries in Croatia, key indicators of the HR function, the most important HR characteristics of the period examined, knowledge management in the fi eld of HR including main directions, methods and characteristics of knowledge fl ows, and fi nally, the future of HR describing the most signifi cant changes from a HR point of view occurring in the next period.