HRM and IR in multinational corporations in Denmark: uneasy bedfellows?

As multinational corporations operate in multiple countries, headquarters must take into account differences in local settings when seeking the means to coordinate and control subsidiaries. The local system of industrial relations sets the framework for what kind of human resource management a multinational corporation can implement. Yet another question is whether the still stronger multinationals can change the existing systems of industrial relations, directly or indirectly.

The paper analyzes four Danish enterprises over a 10-year period. This longitudinal study shows that none of the multinationals directly try to interfere in local industrial relations. However, by exercising their management prerogative in a way that differs from the Northern European tradition of industrial relations, they do influence the cooperation between employers and employees. In particular, the results show, that a shift from a stakeholder to a shareholder management style and an increased degree of HQ control have an effect on the whole cooperative atmosphere in each of the companies. In the long run, they may affect the collective bargaining system as such.     

French multinational companies’ strategies and co-ordination mechanisms: the role of human resource management in Europe and Nigeria

The everchanging European context may well lead to the evolution of MNCs’ strategies in Europe and to the evolution of the control mechanisms within their subsidiaries. The author analyses the issue from the angle of human resources management, considered as an informal control tool that is widely recognized by both scholars and managers. This research therefore aims at analysing whether or not and how HRM systems embody a possible integration process in the European economic space. The methodology is based on a case study from a French multinational company belonging to the automobile industry while the investigation, a comparative analysis of the headquarters-subsidiaries relationships in England, Spain and Nigeria, points out the specificity of the European context regarding corporate strategy orientations, subsidiary roles and personnel transfer policies. The major conclusions from such an analysis suggest a framework that gives prominence to the differentiation of the management process between Europe and Nigeria.

These results confirm previous literature on co-ordination mechanisms in complex business organizations.     

Quality and cost? The evolution of Walmart's business strategy and human resource policies and practices in China and their impact (1996–2017)

This study responds to calls for more in‐depth and qualitative studies, the return to a focus on external factors, and the inclusion of business strategy and industrial relations in human resource management (HRM) research, as well as more research in the retail sector in the Chinese context. We examine the coevolution of the business strategy and HR strategy of Walmart (China) in the last two decades and identify tensions in the context of intensifying competition in the Chinese retail market. We highlight the interactive effect of business and HR strategies through a historical lens. Our study reveals a shift from the original employee‐oriented win–win strategy through rent sharing between the firm and the employees to a win–lose strategy through the introduction of more cost conscious HR policies and practices. Findings of our study challenge the conventional wisdom that firms adopt either the cost or quality strategy and, along with it, the suggestion of matching the quality strategy with employee‐oriented HR policies and practices, and cost leadership with a transactional approach to HRM. We argue a cost and quality business strategy may be adopted, which requires the support of employee‐oriented, rather than cost‐oriented, HR policies and practices.     

Human resource management in developing economies: a comparison of India and Thailand

This paper reports the results of surveys of firms that were conducted both in India and Thailand. The surveys centred on a wide range of human resource management practices (staffing, training, compensation and evaluation). The sample consisted of both the subsidiaries of multinational corporations and locally owned companies. Statistical analysis suggests pronounced differences in employment practices between India and Thailand in some areas, while considerable similarities in other areas. The study controls for a variety of organizational factors (e.g., firm size, ownership (foreign versus domestic), union status).     

跨国公司在华本土化战略及启示

针对跨国公司大举进入中国的现状,探讨了跨国公司在华经营本土化产生的原因,分析了跨国公司在中国人才、R&D、市场等方面本土化的策略,以及跨国公司本土化对我国经济发展的积极和消极的影响,提出我国企业针对跨国公司的经营本土化策略应采取的相应对策和本土化战略对中国企业国际化的启示。     

The challenge of international human resource management: balancing the duality of strategy and practice

Over the last two decades there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of organizations that have internationalized their operations. The international movement of labour that has been concomitant with such expansion of international business has meant that issues associated with the management of human resources across international borders are increasingly important to international human resource managers and academics. The research presented in this paper examines international human resource management (IHRM) pedagogy and practice in Australia. It reports IHRM academicians' and practitioners' understanding of the major issues for teaching and practice in IHRM and elucidates current developments and directions for this field.     

Extending strategic international human resource management research and pedagogy to the non-profit multinational

This article calls for the inclusion of multinational non-profit organizations in the research and pedagogy of strategic international human resource management. Multinational non-profit enterprise is increasingly influential, both economically and philosophically, as economic and socio-cultural boundaries become more interdependent. Yet the multinational non-profit sector has been ignored by international human resource management scholars. When research and pedagogy overlook practice, a concern exists with regard to their relevance. By outlining the international development of multinational non-profit enterprise, the article contextualizes strategic international human resource management in multinational intermediate private aid and development agencies. Analysis of a particular example, World Vision Australia, illustrates the discussion.     

企业战略对人力资源外包决策的影响

人力资源外包可以使人力资源管理者把重点放在增加更多的价值的业务上,而且人力资源的外包是企业的实际劳动成本降低。通过外包,组织可以实现对有限资源的调配,并大大改善企业的经营运作。     

跨国公司在华物流外包对企业绩效影响的实证研究——以企业战略为调节变量

在现有理论文献和调查的基础上,提出假设,利用问卷统计分析,对跨国公司在华实施的企业战略在物流外包与企业绩效的调节作用进行了实证检验,研究结果表明,跨国公司在华实施的成本领先战略会促进物流外包对财务绩效、市场绩效和运作绩效的正向影响;跨国公司在华实施的差异化战略对物流外包与企业绩效间的关系不产生影响。     

Managing Human Resources in East Asia

This article reports on the management of international assignments (IAs) in fifteen UK companies who have expanded their operations into the international arena over the last three to twelve years.¹The results show that very few of these companies currently follow examples of ‘good practice’ as espoused by most management theorists and other commentators on the management of expatriate assignments. However, at this moment in time, they do not have any significant problems with either high expatriate failure rates (HEFRs) or with staff performing under par on IAs. However, many are experiencing considerable problems with returning expatriate staff. The implications of these findings for expatriate management are discussed in detail.