Human resources in Vietnam: The global challenge

This article takes a critical look at the management of people in Vietnam. It examines the prevailing business environment and the reform process and their implications for skill formation and the development of managerial expertise. The analysis then proceeds to examine on a thematic basis some specific human resource practices in four firms based in Hanoi—two state‐owned enterprises and two multinationals. The article analyzes the traditional and emergent human resource practices showing how they reflect industrial and historical‐cultural contextual factors. The discussion also considers the suitability and adequacy of these practices while locating them within the international human resource management debate. This article thus contributes to the critique of global human resource management by exploring the relevance of mainstream human resource theory and practice to the Vietnamese case, especially given the increasing role of multinational firms in the Vietnamese economy. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Outcomes and Benefits of a Managerial Global Mind‐set: An Exploratory Study with Senior Executives in North America and India

Globalization and its associated challenges are compelling managers in multinational corporations to develop appropriate skill sets. An emerging body of research in international management has suggested that meeting this challenge requires the cultivation and development of a managerial global mind‐set. There has been limited empirical work on the outcomes and benefits of a managerial global mind‐set and consequently this article attempts to fill that gap. Based on semistructured interviews with a total of 56 senior executives of multinational corporations in North America (United States and Canada) and India, this study identifies five outcomes of a global mind‐set with benefits for managers and their organizations. The findings have theoretical implications, which are discussed along with their practical applications for multinational corporations, their senior executives, and human resource professionals, with respect to identifying management development programs that assist in the cultivation and nurturing of a global mind‐set. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

E-business's impact on organizational flexibility

Organizations are finding that their ability to respond to unpredicted changes in the market is becoming a key factor in survival. The ability to adjust e-business processes to customer preferences (flexibility) has become a necessity for online systems. Despite the interest in e-business flexibility the academic literature has not kept pace with industrial developments. This research study builds upon previous work through two investigations. First, the results of five case studies are used to develop a seven (alliance/joint decision management and intelligence, enterprise-wide change management, organizational learning, process oriented agility, network centric information management, leadership of transformation and knowledge exchange meetings) factor model that depicts the influences of flexibility on organizational effectiveness in e-business environments. Second, this paper illustrates how the model can be used as a benchmarking tool and has the potential to become a key learning mechanism. The authors discuss the conclusions and managerial implications of the findings.     

Global Consistency Versus Local Responsiveness: Deutsche Telekom's Human Resource Management Strategies in Central and Eastern Europe

This article analyses the competing demands faced by Deutsche Telekom for global consistency and local responsiveness as it attempted to coordinate its human resource management strategies across its Eastern European subsidiaries. It considers the degree to which the former economic and political histories of Eastern Europe continue to influence and/or constrain multinational corporation strategies and practices in the post-2000 era. Institutional path dependency, strategic international human resource management, and international industrial relations theories are used to assist in analyzing the data. The study concludes that managerial constraints associated with the historical and economic legacies of these former socialist countries are rapidly declining, thereby allowing multinational firms to implement “Western-style” human resource management strategies. It further suggests that industrial relations institutions at the European Union level, rather than individual country level, have the greatest potential to impact on international human resource management strategies in the region. Multinational corporations should therefore engage in more-integrated strategic international human resource management and international industrial relations approaches.     

Dynamic capability in a small global factory

In order to balance their local and global operations optimally, SMEs are moving toward a ‘global factory’ type of organizational form, meaning a differentiated network of activities held together through the control of key assets and flows of knowledge, and coordinated by a focal firm. Managing such a network requires a specific dynamic capability comprising, according to our study, cognitive, managerial, and organizational capabilities. Cognitive capabilities – cultural awareness, entrepreneurial orientation, and a global mindset – are the basis for a global factory because they are the source for opportunity recognition and exploitation, and are therefore crucial. The focal firm's organizational flexibility and absorptive capacity, as well as managerial capabilities in the areas of interface competence and analytical capability, are needed in the steering of a small global factory, the success of which depends on the nurturing of these assets.     

Inter-firm learning and knowledge-sharing in multinational networks: An outsourced organization's perspective

This research provides insights into how learning and knowledge are exchanged multinationally between customer firms and their outsourced suppliers who provide non-core, yet essential, services. The paper seeks to understand: (1) how information is exchanged in these networks; (2) how cumulative knowledge adds value in these networks; and (3) how boundary-spanners assist in the dissemination of knowledge and learning within the network. Based on a pharmaceutical industry case, the results suggest that: (a) multinational firms operate more effectively and interact by sharing knowledge with outsourced firms which reflect the customers' structure and fit; (b) networked firms benefit from interactions through economies of scope, but knowledge is not necessarily shared equally among partners; (c) learning and knowledge-sharing interactions are tightly coupled at the product development stage; and (d) outsourced firms interact with external boundary-spanners as needed. The research provides insights for managers of multinational organizations and managers of firms from where essential services are outsourced.     

Human Resource Management of Japanese Companies in Hungary: How do Japanese and Hungarian Styles Blend?

ABSTRACT

A qualitative interview-based research with 32 participating companies, this article investigates the human resource management practices of Japanese subsidiaries in Hungary. The findings indicate that human resource management practices in Hungarian subsidiaries of Japanese companies are characterized as a hybrid of Japanese and Hungarian styles. Greater Japanese influence was found in the characteristics of the human resources department, corporate culture, safety practices, and trainings, whereas greater Hungarian influence was found in pay, benefits, and recruitment methods. The findings contribute uniquely to the understanding of whether and how the country-of-origin effect, localization effect, and dominance effect interplay in configuring human resource management practices in foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies.     

MNE performance during a crisis: An evolutionary perspective on the role of dynamic managerial capabilities and industry context

As the likelihood of worldwide crises increases due to globalization and the resulting economic contagion, understanding why some multinational enterprises (MNEs) prevail in such environments becomes ever more critical. Drawing from the concept of dynamic managerial capabilities, we posit that MNE in-crisis performance is associated with the pre-crisis development of asset management capabilities, or the capacity of managers to orchestrate assets so as to extract more value from the firm’s resource pool. Specifically, we argue that because dynamic managerial capabilities evolve as a response to a firm’s task environment, MNEs that operate in dynamic industries develop stronger asset management capabilities. However, we also posit that whether these capabilities contribute to in-crisis performance is contingent upon the munificence of the industry environment in which the capability evolves. Asset management capabilities that evolve in munificent environments would encompass a wider spectrum of routine-altering activities, and thus increase the ability of the MNE to react to more revolutionary events, such as global economic crises. Conversely, asset management capabilities that evolve in resource-scarce environments will result in more strategic lock-in due to firms' constrained ability to experiment with novel resource configurations, resulting in poorer in-crisis performance. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 854 MNEs in the context of the global financial crisis of 2008, and find support for our hypotheses. We discuss implications for the dynamic capabilities view and MNE resilience.     

Characteristics and influences of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture: The case of the advertising sector

This paper undertakes an exploratory study into the characteristics of entrepreneurial culture of the multinational subsidiary; and, into the associated influences and manifestations linked to multinational corporation (MNC) and environmental contexts. The theme of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture is an unexplored theme in the literature, and has considerable research and managerial significance. This qualitative research is based on eight multinational subsidiaries in the advertising sector in the UK. The evidence suggests that the constituents of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture include global vision, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial MNC network management. The related influences and manifestations refer to subsidiary autonomy, target market servicing and responsiveness to local environmental conditions. In addition, the findings show that while entrepreneurial behaviour was evident in all investigated subsidiaries, its locus varied significantly. Specifically, entrepreneurship in multinational subsidiaries can be subsidiary-, headquarters-, or jointly-driven.     

Global talent management: Literature review,integrative framework,and suggestions for further research

The environment for most organizations today is global, complex, dynamic, highly competitive, and extremely volatile, and is likely to remain so for years to come. In addition to these external conditions, most organizations are also facing several global challenges including those related to: talent flow; the managing of two generations of employees, viz., older or mature workers and younger workers; and a shortage of needed competencies. One major result of these challenges for organizations is that they have to be global and that they have to be systematic in managing their human capital if they wish to have any hope of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in the years ahead. Many human resource practitioners and consultants (HR professionals) are now recognizing this, especially those that operate globally, the multinational enterprises. Academics are also showing a strong interest as evidenced by their work in the new area referred to as “global talent management”. In this article we review that academic work and attempt to organize that literature by creating an integrative framework for understanding and advancing further research in global talent management. To guide this research our framework highlights several selected challenges in global talent management, and several drivers of those challenges. It also highlights the potential role of IHRM activities in addressing those selected challenges. A discussion of possible criteria of global talent management effectiveness completes the framework. Hopefully this integrative framework may guide further academic research on global talent management and might also inform the work of HR professionals.     

A Taxonomy of Potential Contributions of the Host Country National Local Liaison Role in Global Knowledge Management

This article builds on the existing conceptualization of multinational corporation (MNC) knowledge management by exploring the critical liaison role played by host country nationals (HCNs), especially those working directly with expatriate managers. We first discuss this proposed HCN local liaison role between expatriate and local employees within theoretical constructs of network theory and absorptive capacity. Then we present a model of five possible important HCNL role componentsÑincluding cultural interpreter, communication manager, information resource broker, talent manager, and internal change agentÑand related specific behavioral functions for each component. We also consider benefits and limitations of this HCN local liaison role, as well as areas for future research to help elucidate and validate this present model of the HCN local liaison role. This model also provides some practical guidance to assist multinational organizations in taking advantage of this potentially valuable liaison role for enhancing performance in host‐country operations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Ethnicity as a Management Issue and Resource: Examples from Malaysia

There has been recognition for some time that the management policies in overseas operations of multinational companies may be complex. This is not only due to diverse business or product market strategies, but also because the political, economic, social, legislative and cultural environment varies between locations. In particular, a neglected aspect of the context is ethnicity, especially in locations which are multi-ethnic. Such environments provide not only ‘constraints’, but also ‘opportunities’ in terms of management. Ethnicity is not only an issue which calls for ‘management’ itself, but is itself a potential managerial resource. Ethnicity is important for organizations at both external (contextual) and internal (operational) levels. We use the example of Malaysia to highlight such issues.     

Multinational risk and performance outcomes: Effects of knowledge intensity and industry context

A multinational presence can diversify corporate business activities and provide access to diverse overseas resources. This can enhance operational flexibility and create new business propositions that increase responsiveness to global market changes. Establishing an international corporate structure may also require irreversible investments and impose maintenance and processing costs that contravene the implied resilience and agility benefits. We distinguish between downside risk and upside potential as the relevant outcome measures to assess the implied advantages of multinationality. Consistent with the rationales of the OLI paradigm, we argue that multinational reach particularly in knowledge-based industries can reduce downside risk and enhance upside potential. These results introduce more nuances to the ongoing debate about multinational risk and performance effects. Based on a large cross-sectional dataset, we find that flexibility and responsiveness thrives on a multinational presence among firms operating in information-driven knowledge businesses. In contrast, internationalizing firms in capital-based network services display adverse risk effects.     

Organizational international career logics (OICLs): A conceptual tool for analyzing organizational expatriation patterns and their consequences for the management of organizations

Expatriation can be regarded as a specific way for multinational corporations (MNCs) to organize the process of environmental scanning and to provide opportunities for further internal information processing. This contribution develops the concept of organizational international career logics as a theoretical construct to describe expatriation patterns in MNCs. This article contains a discussion about the informational link between organization and environment based on the theory of self‐organizing social systems. In particular, environmental scanning as the process of generating information through expatriates and its further informational processing within the organization will be discussed and analyzed from a constructivist and systems theoretical perspective. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Colliding Employer‐Employee Perspectives of Employee Turnover: Evidence from a Born‐Global Industry

Set in the context of internationalization of the global division of labor, this article provides a deeper exploration of qualitative themes of conflicting accounts of employees’ reasons to quit and managerial strategies to prevent employee turnover in six business process outsourcing firms operating in India. Such differences in cognition and action between the two constituencies suggest that the decision to quit is not a linear and rational process as highlighted in most extant models of employee turnover. Our findings suggest that employees are attached more to a place or people they work with rather than the organization per se. Intergenerational differences between Generation Y knowledge workers and Generation X managers and the ineffectiveness of espoused human resource practices suggest the presence of “push” human resource management (HRM) systems. Our findings have implications for employee turnover models, intergenerational theory and high‐commitment HRM, and practitioners. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The overlooked distinction of multinational enterprise subsidiary learning: Its managerial and entrepreneurial learning modes

The theme concerning modes of learning in multinational subsidiaries is the focus of enquiry in the current study. This theme is closely linked to the issue of how subsidiaries become alert and seize opportunities. Such an investigation is also important for management practice because effective subsidiary learning can render sustainable competitive advantage in the host country. We performed an in-depth case examination on six multinational subsidiaries of a large Finnish firm. We identify two learning modes of multinational subsidiaries that we refer to as managerial and entrepreneurial learning. We find that managerial learning shares characteristics with the systems-structural learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the MNE system; and, transferred in the MNE through many conventional and reverse knowledge flows. On the contrary, entrepreneurial learning shares characteristics with the interpretive learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the host country; and, transferred in the MNE through relatively fewer reverse knowledge flows. The distinction between these two learning modes and their discrete characteristics enlighten past research that has largely failed to pinpoint the importance of the two modes for MNE subsidiary activities.     

Intra‐stakeholder alliances in plant‐closing decisions: A stakeholder theory approach

This article discusses plant‐closing decisions by multinational enterprises (MNEs) applying a stakeholder theory approach. In particular, we focus on the emergence of “intra‐stakeholder alliances,” that is, alliances among the various stakeholder groups of a specific corporation. We analyze the emergence of stakeholder alliances in reaction to MNEs' decisions to terminate production locally and discuss their influence on the outcomes of such decisions. Our research is inspired by two exceptional case studies of two multinational breweries that announced their decisions to close niche breweries in small towns in Italy and Belgium. In both cases, the initial decision was ultimately reversed through the actions of intra‐stakeholder alliances. We combine insights from stakeholder theory and the social movement literature to analyze the action and influence of intra‐stakeholder alliances in seven cases of plant‐closing decisions. We conclude by formulating four general propositions that can provide guidance to MNE management in plant‐closing decisions. Our findings extend managerial stakeholder theory, show how this approach can improve strategic management analysis, emphasize the importance of the relationships among (local) stakeholders in the (global) value‐creation process, and shed light on the collective action and influence of intra‐stakeholder alliances.     

Understanding cross‐border mergers and acquisitions of African firms: The role of dynamic capabilities in enabling competitiveness amidst contextual constraints

This article builds on existing international business literature that examines the drivers of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within emerging and developing economy contexts, theoretically exploring how dynamic capabilities (DCs) are connected to these drivers, and how African emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) can pursue them to achieve competitiveness. The article's contribution is the development of a DC framework and testable propositions for African EMNEs' cross‐border M&As. The theoretical framework shows the division of DC dimensions—sensing, seizing, and transforming—and establishes explanations for their linkage with institutional and resource drivers for African EMNEs' cross‐border M&A competitiveness. In addition, the article outlines managerial implications to this effect. Overall, the article contributes to the emerging literature on the international expansion of African EMNEs through cross‐border M&As by underscoring the role of DCs.     

Multinational operational flexibility,within-network redundancy,and downside risks and divestment rates of international investments

This study takes the multinational operational flexibility perspective anchored in real options theory to examine how intra-firm connectedness and switchability affect the performance and longevity of international investments. We postulate that more extensive intra-firm trade connectedness, along with multinationality, reduces downside risks and divestment rates. Through an empirical examination of a large sample of Korean multinational corporations, we find that more extensive trade ties within the same MNC network are negatively associated with downside risks. We also find that decreased downside risks decrease divestment rates. Furthermore, we observe that these impacts of intra-firm trade ties are more salient when more in-network manufacturing subsidiaries produce the same product type and operate in negatively correlated countries in terms of labor costs. These findings indicate how the flexible configurations of international investments influence their performance and longevity.     

Extending Business Education Beyond Traditional Boundaries: A Case Study in Negotiated Problem Resolution in a Remote Regional Indigenous Community in Australia

It is widely accepted that the concepts and practices of management can only be of benefit when they are anchored to the contextual architecture of people, processes, structures, and technologies. The challenge of establishing a bridging program for providing managerial competencies to Australian Indigenous people has become a serious one for multinational mining companies. As the wings of globalization interact with the long-ignored reality of marginalized local milieu, a need for an innovative management education system has become a major imperative compelling multinational mining companies to work collaboratively with the government, educational institutions, and Indigenous communities. The article outlines a specific decision-making dilemma in an Indigenous context, while explaining the imperatives for educators, who have the challenging task of instructing potential graduates how to manage the unique contextuality of rural Australian Aboriginal communities. The article presents implications for large-scale modern multinationals as they move to geographically remote regions of the world where large number of marginalized local people need to be drawn into the workforce not only as an act of a social responsibility imperative, but also as sound business pragmatism.