Home country and firm-specific advantage influences on HRM replication versus adaptation in EMNEs operating in advanced economies: A qualitative comparative analysis

Parth Patel, Ramudu Bhanugopan, Paresha Sinha, Verma Prikshat and Brendan Boyle

Journal of Business Research, 2024, vol. 170, issue C

Abstract: This article examines a variety of home and host-country factors and explains how they influence the global integration versus local adaptation of human resource management (HRM) in subsidiaries of emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) in advanced economies. The study draws on data collected from 15 multiple case studies using semi-structured interviews with senior directors and managers working in Australian subsidiaries of Indian multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the information technology (IT) services industry. The findings reveal that despite originating from weak institutions, Indian IT service MNEs do not face hurdles in replicating their home-country HRM model to their subsidiaries in Australia. International staffing of expatriates was a key industry-specific resource and capability enabling reverse country-of-origin effect to allow the Australian subsidiaries to be managed ethnocentrically. This article challenges the notion that EMNEs struggle to adapt their indigenous HRM systems and model due to weak institutions as it sheds light on the reverse relationship that exists between management practices and country-of-origin in leveraging home-country institutions. It also demonstrates that EMNEs derive competitive advantages mainly from their traditional firm and industry-specific resources and capabilities which allow them to achieve global integration of HRM.

Keywords: Emerging MNEs; Global integration versus local adaptation; Human resource management; Advanced economies; Indian IT service MNEs; Australian subsidiaries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:170:y:2024:i:c:s014829632300694x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114335

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