Human resource managers' role consistency and HR performance indicators: the moderating effect of interpersonal trust in Taiwan

This study explores the consistency between human resource (HR) managers' roles and HR performance indicators. In particular it considers the moderating effects of interpersonal trust on the relationship between HR managers' roles and HR performance indicators. We selected 116 HR managers from the top 500 manufacturing companies in Taiwan as our sample, and hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. The results showed that the HR managers' roles were consistent with HR performance indicators. Also, a high level of affective trust weakened the positive relationship between HR manager roles and HR performance indicators. Thus we suggested that Chinese companies should design HR performance indicators according to the roles HR managers play. Additionally, when HR managers are playing the role of a strategic partner or change agent, top executives should avoid high affective trust with HR managers.     

Antecedents of organizational identification in multinational corporations: fostering psychological attachment to the local subsidiary and the global organization

This article reports the results of an empirical case study of the antecedents of organizational identification among local managers in a multinational corporation (MNC). Organizational identification, which refers to an individual's psychological attachment to the organization, has gained increasing attention because of its assumed link with behaviour associated with enhanced organizational performance. Yet little work has been done on what fosters organizational identification, particularly within the context of a MNC. Moreover, there is empirical evidence showing that managerial employees of MNCs draw a distinction between their local subsidiary and the global organization as manifest in separate group identifications. This suggests that there may be differential sets of antecedents of identification with the local subsidiary and with the global organization. The results of the present study indicate that there are different sets of factors that promote identification with the local and global levels of the organization. The results further show a complementarity of causal variables; identification with the local subsidiary is fostered primarily by factors which pertain to the local company context, while identification with the global organization is fostered primarily by factors which pertain to the MNC as a global entity.     

The impact of organizational and leader–member support on expatriate commitment

Using data from expatriates at MNC subsidiaries in China, this paper investigates the relationships between parent company and local subsidiary perceived organizational support (POS), leader–member exchange (LMX) and affective commitment of expatriates. The study examines the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS and affective commitment. Results support the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS, LMX and the expatriate affective commitment, and the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between parent company POS and affective commitment.     

Employees' Nonwork Obligations and Organizational Commitments: A New Way to Look at the Relationships

The authors 1 adopted a family resource view of nonwork obligations and examined these obligations' relationships to dimensions of employees' organizational commitment. Complex interactions were found between employees' marital status, number of children, and having relatives nearby as related to the continuance dimension, but not the affective dimension, of commitment. In particular, results were strongest when the focus was on employees' perceptions of whether they would experience a high personal sacrifice if they were to leave their organizations. These findings are discussed in the context of developing family‐friendly human resource programs that may help employees feel less “trapped” in organizations. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Driving Forces of Subsidiary Absorptive Capacity

The study investigates how a multinational corporation (MNC) can promote the absorptive capacity of its subsidiaries. The focus is on what drives the MNC subsidiary's ability to absorb marketing strategies that are initiated by the MNC parent, as well as how the subsidiary enacts on this absorptive capacity in order to compete in its focal market. The dual embeddedness of MNC subsidiaries plays a key role in this investigation, as subsidiaries belong to the MNC network and are simultaneously embedded in their host country environment. We argue that subsidiary absorptive capacity is formed as a purposeful response to this dual embeddedness. An analysis of marketing strategy absorptions undertaken by 213 subsidiaries reveals that MNCs can assist their subsidiaries to compete in competitive and dynamic focal markets by forming specific organizational mechanisms that are conducive to the development of subsidiary absorptive capacity. The findings hold important theoretical and practical implications.     

Valuing Japan-based German expatriate and local manager's functions: do subsidiary age and managerial perspectives matter?

Managerial functions valued by expatriates and reasons for appointing host country managers were examined in an exploratory, multimethod (interview and questionnaire) study with expatriates and local managers as the respondents. Based on theoretical perspectives of agency theory, transaction costs theory, resource-based views and organizational learning theory, changes in the valuation of these functions were hypothesized and examined for subsidiary age and nationality of the respondent. Expatriate and local managers' views supported previous research on certain management functions but differed on others (e.g. management development). The data indicated curvilinear relationships for a number of managerial functions between nationality of top manager and age of the subsidiary. Strategic factors were analysed by subsidiary age and nationality of the respondent manager to understand more about maturity of host company operations and strategic orientations. The results indicated the growth in the strategic functions of technological leadership and market development/branding in older subsidiaries. Implications of the results were discussed.     

Interaction effects of dual organizational commitment on retention in international assignments: the case of Western expatriates in Vietnam

The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction effects of two commitment foci (parent company and local operation commitment) on a focal work behavior (retention in an international assignment). Accordingly, this study formulated and tested four hypotheses by using hierarchical regression, moderated regression analyses and plots of two-way interactions. The data were gathered from 471 Western expatriates working for the subsidiaries of multinational companies in Vietnam. The results confirmed that all components (affective, normative and continuance) of parent company commitment and local operation commitment positively predicted retention in international assignments; however, the retention was more driven by the parent company commitment. Besides, the relationships between two components (affective and continuance) of local operation commitment and retention were moderated by the corresponding components of parent company commitment. The findings improve the understanding of dual commitment's links to work behaviors in international business contexts. Moreover, as to the practical implication, multinational companies were recommended to be aware of the level of expatriate commitments to two foci in order to reduce the rate of premature return.     

Investigating Managers' Exploration and Exploitation Activities: The Influence of Top‐Down,Bottom‐Up,and Horizontal Knowledge Inflows*

abstract This paper develops and tests hypotheses on the influence of managers' knowledge inflows on managers' exploration and exploitation activities. Based on a survey among managers of a leading electronics firm, the findings indicate, as expected, that top‐down knowledge inflows of managers positively relate to the extent to which these managers conduct exploitation activities, while they do not relate to managers' exploration activities. Furthermore, as expected, bottom‐up and horizontal knowledge inflows of managers positively relate to these managers' exploration activities, while they do not relate to managers' exploitation activities. We contribute to current literature on exploration and exploitation by focusing on the manager level of analysis, and by adding the importance of knowledge flow configurations to studies which investigate the impact of organizational factors on exploration and exploitation.     

Antecedents and Employee Outcomes of Line Managers' Perceptions of Enabling HR Practices

To learn more about the role of line managers in the implementation of HR practices, we propose and test a model of line managers' perceptions of enabling HR practices on the one hand and employee outcomes on the other. In a field study of 89 line managers and 631 employees, we observed that the relationship between line managers' perceptions of enabling HR practices and employees' intrinsic motivation, affective organizational commitment, and turnover intention was mediated by employees' perceived supervisor support. Line managers' perceptions of enabling HR practices, in turn, were predicted by line managers' perceived quality of the HR training they received. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Turnover culture in the hospitality industry

Although turnover culture is considered to be a major problem in the hospitality industry, there is little to no research examining its influence on an employee's decision to stay or leave. This study attempts to address this deficiency by testing a causal model of employee intent to leave using a sample of 246 employees from six five-star accommodation hotels in Australia. The results indicated that turnover culture was the most important determinant of intent to leave, followed by the variables of job search behaviour, job opportunity, organisational commitment, union loyalty, job satisfaction, career development, routinisation, promotional opportunity, role conflict, and negative affectivity. Based on these findings various HR strategies are formulated, which have wider implications for the management of turnover in other work settings.     

Managing the transfer of capabilities within multinational corporations:: the dual role of the subsidiary

In this article, the relation is explored between the external technical embeddedness of the subsidiary, its assigned role, and capability development in the MNC. It is argued that assigning roles of responsibility or mandates to certain subsidiaries can effect integration of subsidiary-developed knowledge in the MNC. Departing from literature on the market-as-networks perspective and writings from recent years on subsidiary roles, hypotheses are developed and a model outlined. The model describes a significant link between the external technical embeddedness of the subsidiary and its assigned role within the MNC, and a significant relation between the subsidiary's assigned role and its importance for other units’ capability development. The model is tested on a sample of 97 subsidiaries using the LISREL 8.3 statistical method. The final model implies that by assigning specific roles to different subsidiaries, headquarters can exploit the knowledge developed in the external environments of these subsidiaries.     

Dual organizational identification among Japanese expatriates: the role of communication in cultivating subsidiary identification and outcomes

Dual organizational identification is significant for the success of multinational corporation (MNC) employees. This study has extended this research area by examining expatriates of Japan-based MNCs. In addition, this study has extended the existing identity-matching principle by incorporating a communication perspective. It investigated the antecedents and outcomes of subsidiary identification. Self-report survey data from 159 Japanese expatriates in the USA were analyzed. The results indicated the significance of local language proficiency in the development of identification with the subsidiary. In addition, local identification was the predictor of expatriates' adaptation to the subsidiary. Furthermore, the results showed that local organizational identification is related to their stress level in international assignments. These results also supported the growing view of situation-oriented identification. The follow-up interviews reinforced these results.     

An integral model for the implementation of environmental policy strategy

This article responds to demands for a more in‐depth study on how to implement an environmental policy strategy (EPS). Following the strategic choice framework, this study seeks to address this issue by testing a theoretical model of several managerial and organisational variables associated with a firm's EPS. The managerial variables examined include managers' perceptions of environmental pressures, managers' consciousness of environmental problems, and managers' perceptions of the potential benefits associated with the implementation of an EPS. The organisational variables that are investigated relate to the structure, systems, and processes of the representative organisations. Control variables include the firm's industrial sector, its country of origin, its size, and its international character. A model based on structural equations with the weighted least squares estimation method is used to test the hypotheses in a large sample of firms. The results confirm the need to consider a multidisciplinary view of the implementation of an EPS.     

Unravelling the complexities of high commitment: an employee‐level analysis

Research within HRM has faced criticism for failing to focus adequately on employee experiences of HR practice. In particular, the ‘high‐commitment’ models fail to recognise employee perspectives on HRM, the complexities of the commitment construct and the possibility that organisations configure HR systems in various ways. This paper explores the impact of employee attitudes towards HR practices on affective, continuance and normative commitment, and intention to leave in three organisational contexts. The findings suggest that different HR systems can yield different attitudes towards HR practices, which in turn can impact on different forms of commitment and levels of intention to leave. The findings provide insights into the ways in which organisations manage the commitment process through HR practices and the response by employees to these interventions.     

Commitment and turnover intention in the UAE oil industry

This paper aims to explore the links between two components of commitment – affective and continuance – and employees' intention to stay/quit in the oil industry. A self-administered questionnaire was used in order to collect study data from 600 employees representing three levels of management. Eight hypotheses were developed such as there is no significant relationship between affective commitment and intention to quit the organization, there is no significant relationship between affective commitment and intention to stay with the organization, there is no significant relationship between personal variables and organizational commitment and its dimensions, and there is no significant relationship between job-related variables and organizational commitment and its dimensions. These hypotheses were examined using various tests drawn from the SPSS program, for example, correlations, factor analysis and multiple regressions. Findings confirmed the multidimensionality nature of commitment. A significant negative relationship between organizational commitment and intention to quit was also reported. The results related to demographic factors and commitment show some evidences that support these links. The implications of the findings for both practitioners and researchers are discussed in the paper with some guidelines for future research in this field.     

A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between multiple commitments and withdrawal cognitions

This paper examines the relationship between multiple commitments (affective organizational commitment, continuance organizational commitment, occupational commitment, and job involvement) and withdrawal cognitions, with three different time intervals between the two. One hundred and twenty-two community center employees (a 37% response rate) in Israel participated in the study. The findings showed that commitment forms were related to withdrawal cognitions, even when withdrawal cognitions measured earlier than or at the same time as commitment forms were controlled for. The results also showed that the timing of the measurement of the research variables had a strong effect on the findings. More specifically, the prediction of withdrawal is better, the shorter the interval between its measurement and the measurement of multiple commitments. The findings also showed that commitment and withdrawal are both dynamic concepts. That is, the effect of timing on the accuracy of the prediction can be a result of more immediate changes in commitment forms across time, or more immediate changes in withdrawal cognitions over time. Other implications of the findings for future research on commitment and withdrawal are also discussed.     

顾客关系承诺研究:模型与实证

顾客关系承诺有三个维度,持续性承诺、规范性承诺以及情感性承诺。顾客关系承诺意愿越强,则其转换意图就越弱,忠诚度越高。持续性承诺的影响因素包括转换成本和服务质量;情感性承诺的影响因素包括满意和信任;规范性承诺的影响因素为主观规范。对山东省服务业的调查分析显示,情感承诺、规范化承诺和持续性承诺都与转换意向负相关,但是情感承诺由规范化承诺中介,即情感承诺越强,对服务供应商的规范化承诺越强。主观规范与转换意图之间的关系由规范性承诺中介,信任与转换意图之间的关系由情感承诺中介,转换成本与转换意图之间的关系由持续性承诺中介,服务质量和转换意图之间关系没有由持续性承诺中介。     

Global,national and local practices in multinational corporations: towards a sociopolitical framework

This paper intends to shed some light on strategies and power resources of subsidiary managers and employee representatives involved in ‘charter changes’ and the implementation of ‘best practices’ developed elsewhere. Research shows that local managers face a dilemma in that they need both internal legitimacy (within the MNC itself) and external legitimacy (within the local context). It is argued that the power resources key actors draw on in the (internal) decision-making processes of ‘charter changes’ are intertwined with certain (external) national business system (NBS) characteristics, an aspect often neglected in North American research about MNCs. The authors identify three key influences, which restrain or empower local management and employees in their ability to make strategic choices and gain power within the MNC. They are (1) the overall strategic approach of the multinational group, (2) the strategic position and the economic performance of the subsidiary itself and (3) the degree of institutional embeddedness of the subsidiary in the host country. Comparative mini-case studies are used to illustrate the effect of local management and employee representatives' empowerment on their ability to retain skills and work practices supportive of a diversified quality production process in the face of MNC pressure to adopt global ‘best practices’ based on more standardized production processes.     

What Determines Managers' Perceptions of Cash Flow Forecasting Quality? Evidence From a Multinational Corporation

In this article, we develop and test a model of the determinants of managers' perceptions of cash flow forecasting quality in nonfinancial companies. We expect and find that managers' perceptions of the quality of cash flow forecasts are determined by the perceived quality of the input data, the effort invested in forecasting, and the efficiency of the related processes, and ultimately by a company's orientation toward financial goals. Our empirical analysis is based on data from a worldwide questionnaire survey at a multinational industrial company. While we find that managers assess forecasting effort lower and forecasting efficiency higher for direct cash flow forecasting than for indirect method forecasting, our analyses reveal that the variables in our model, the postulated relationships between them, and the estimated effect sizes are equally valid for both forecasting methods.     

Determinants of variable pay for top managers of foreign subsidiaries in Finland

There is a large body of research dealing with top management compensation from an agency theory perspective. Difficulties in monitoring top management (the agent) are exacerbated in the multinational corporation, where there are significant information asymmetries between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries. Headquarters may use variable pay for subsidiary top managers to reduce the agency problems. By studying 110 foreign-owned subsidiaries located in Finland, this paper attempts to identify determinants of variable pay to the subsidiary general manager. In line with agency theory, the results suggest that the roles played by the subsidiary influence the compensation strategy used for the subsidiary general manager. However, while agency theory predicts that the cultural distance beween the home country of the multinational corporation and the location of the foreign subsidiary would have an effect on the compensation system, no such effect was found. Instead, in accordance with the institutionalization perspective, we found a significant 'nationality effect' on the use of variable pay.