Introduction

Increased foreign direct investment across the world and the trend for operating across national borders mean that organizations are now expanding into a variety of geographical locations. In this context, managing human resources has become increasingly dynamic and complex. Employers have to deal with the demands of managing people in different national settings and to understand the context in which they are operating by developing human resource management policies and practices that are appropriate for their specific location (Brewster, Mayrhofer & Morley, 2004). To this respect, multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their subsidiaries must seek a balance between the implementation of HRM practices that conform to the legitimate expectations and requirements of their host environment and the pursuit of more distinctive practices in their foreign subsidiaries based on those employed at home or best practices learned from other sources (Gunnigle et al., 2001).