IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rdg/jhdxdp/jhd-dp2019-02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Implementing ‘Global HRM Standards’ across Multi-layered Subsidiary Contexts in an MNE

Author

Listed:
  • Chul Chung

    (Henley Business School, University of Reading)

  • Chris Brewster

    (Henley Business School, University of Reading)

  • Ödül Bozkurt

    (University of Sussex Business School, UK)

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which, and how, ‘best-practice’ global HRM policies are transferred by an emerging multinational enterprise (EMNE) across its subsidiaries. We focus on how socio-political dynamics unfold, identifying the role of national and subsidiary functionspecific institutional contexts, and managerial agency. We discuss substantial resistance to the importation of purported ‘global best practices’ by the subsidiaries and show that an EMNE’s ability to disseminate ‘global best practices’ across advanced as well as emerging economies is influenced by power dynamics between HQ and the subsidiaries, conditioned by the EMNE’s industry position, the home institutional context, national and subsidiary function-specific local institutional contexts, and local actors’ abilities to construct compelling localization logics that relate the distinct local contexts to significant business risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Chul Chung & Chris Brewster & Ödül Bozkurt, 2019. "Implementing ‘Global HRM Standards’ across Multi-layered Subsidiary Contexts in an MNE," John H Dunning Centre for International Business Discussion Papers jhd-dp2019-02, Henley Business School, University of Reading.
  • Handle: RePEc:rdg:jhdxdp:jhd-dp2019-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://assets.henley.ac.uk/defaultUploads/JHD-2019-02-Chung-et-al.pdf?mtime=20190716115345&_ga=2.18787071.794894739.1578997389-1539690275.1507819089
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schlie, Erik & Yip, George, 2000. "Regional follows global: strategy mixes in the world automotive industry," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 343-354, August.
    2. John Geary & Roberta Aguzzoli, 2016. "Miners, politics and institutional caryatids: Accounting for the transfer of HRM practices in the Brazilian multinational enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 47(8), pages 968-996, October.
    3. Tony Royle, 2006. "The Dominance Effect? Multinational Corporations in the Italian Quick‐Food Service Sector," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 757-779, December.
    4. Anthony Ferner & Phil Almond & Trevor Colling, 2005. "Institutional theory and the cross-national transfer of employment policy: the case of ‘workforce diversity’ in US multinationals," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(3), pages 304-321, May.
    5. Johngseok Bae & Chris Rowley, 2003. "Changes and continuities in South Korean HRM," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 76-105.
    6. Yves Doz, 2011. "Qualitative research for international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(5), pages 582-590, June.
    7. Beamond, Maria Teresa & Farndale, Elaine & Härtel, Charmine E.J., 2016. "MNE translation of corporate talent management strategies to subsidiaries in emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 499-510.
    8. D. Eleanor Westney, 1993. "Institutionalization Theory and the Multinational Corporation," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Sumantra Ghoshal & D. Eleanor Westney (ed.), Organization Theory and the Multinational Corporation, chapter 3, pages 53-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Phillip M Rosenzweig & Nitin Nohria, 1994. "Influences on Human Resource Management Practices in Multinational Corporations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(2), pages 229-251, June.
    10. Thite, Mohan & Wilkinson, Adrian & Shah, Dhara, 2012. "Internationalization and HRM strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies—A conceptual framework," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 251-258.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Song, Ji-Won, 2021. "How MNE subsidiaries transfer HRM practices in distant environments: A tale of two IKEA subsidiaries," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2).
    2. Fortwengel, Johann & Gutierrez Huerter O, Gabriela & Kostova, Tatiana, 2023. "Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(3).
    3. Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O & Jeremy Moon & Stefan Gold & Wendy Chapple, 2020. "Micro-processes of translation in the transfer of practices from MNE headquarters to foreign subsidiaries: The role of subsidiary translators," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(3), pages 389-413, April.
    4. Fortwengel, Johann & Jackson, Gregory, 2016. "Legitimizing the apprenticeship practice in a distant environment: Institutional entrepreneurship through inter-organizational networks," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 895-909.
    5. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Cooper, Cary L., 2016. "Intercultural influences on managing African employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers’ HRM practices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 28-41.
    6. Ji-Won Song, 2022. "Subsidiary Agency in Gender Equality Practice Implementation: The Case of Korean MNE Subsidiaries in Sweden," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 103-135, February.
    7. Bader, Anna Katharina & Froese, Fabian Jintae & Cooke, Fang Lee & Schuster, Tassilo, 2022. "Gender diversity management in foreign subsidiaries: A comparative study in Germany and Japan," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    8. Chung, Chul & Sparrow, Paul & Bozkurt, Ödül, 2014. "South Korean MNEs’ international HRM approach: Hybridization of global standards and local practices," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 549-559.
    9. Björkman, Ingmar & Smale, Adam & Sumelius, Jennie & Suutari, Vesa & Lu, Yuan, 2008. "Changes in institutional context and MNC operations in China: Subsidiary HRM practices in 1996 versus 2006," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 146-158, April.
    10. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & Igor Álvarez, 2019. "National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 598-611, May.
    11. Lazarova, Mila & Peretz, Hilla & Fried, Yitzhak, 2017. "Locals know best? Subsidiary HR autonomy and subsidiary performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 83-96.
    12. Patel, Parth & Bhanugopan, Ramudu & Sinha, Paresha & Prikshat, Verma & Boyle, Brendan, 2024. "Home country and firm-specific advantage influences on HRM replication versus adaptation in EMNEs operating in advanced economies: A qualitative comparative analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Liu, Xiaming & Yang, Na & Li, Linjie & Liu, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Co-evolution of emerging economy MNEs and institutions: A literature review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    14. Deybbi Cuéllar-Molina & Antonia M. García-Cabrera & Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt, 2018. "Is the Institutional Environment a Challenge for the Well-Being of Female Managers in Europe? The Mediating Effect of Work–Life Balance and Role Clarity Practices in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, August.
    15. Gelbuda, Modestas & Meyer, Klaus E. & Delios, Andrew, 2008. "International business and institutional development in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, March.
    16. Nishani Bourmault & Jordan Siegel, 2022. "Why Local Adaptation Sometimes Fails to be Effective for MNEs: Exploring the Dynamics of Collective Bonuses, Egalitarianism, and Informal Norms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 886-924, June.
    17. Ilgaz Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Neglected elements: What we should cover more of in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(7), pages 1484-1507, September.
    18. Prince, Nicholas R. & Krebs, Benjamin & Prince, J. Bruce & Kabst, Rüediger, 2022. "Revisiting Gooderham et al. (1999) “Institutional and Rational Determinants of Organizational Practices: Human Resource Management in European Firms”," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(6).
    19. Conroy, Kieran M. & Collings, David G., 2016. "The legitimacy of subsidiary issue selling: Balancing positive & negative attention from corporate headquarters," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 612-627.
    20. Chul Chung & Masayuki Furusawa, 2015. "The HRM of Foreign MNCs Operating in Europe," John H Dunning Centre for International Business Discussion Papers jhd-dp2015-04, Henley Business School, University of Reading.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    emerging multinational enterprise; global best practice; international HRM;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rdg:jhdxdp:jhd-dp2019-02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marie Pearson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bsrdguk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.