Human resource management transfer challenges within multinational firms

Nana Yaw Oppong

Management Research Review, 2018, vol. 41, issue 7, 860-877

Abstract: Purpose - The paper aims to trace the challenges that multinational companies (MNCs) face as they grow out of their national borders into foreign countries and how they attempt to transfer human resource management (HRM) policies and practices across their subsidiaries for a best-fit HRM model. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the dilemma theory (involving two opposing values which doing one without the other creates a disadvantage but both cannot be done together) as the main analytical tool and reviews scholarly literature on MNCs’ HRM transfers for the assessment of the transfer challenges. Findings - It is found that MNCs face a dilemma as to how to find best-fit between home-country HRM requirements and host-country demands. In the face of this dilemma, MNCs attempt to build synergy between home-country requirements and host-country demands for a best-fit HRM that is beneficial to both the parent company and their foreign subsidiaries. Despite the best-fit HRM practices to diffuse the tension, parent company has greater influence in the final synergy product which is the trade-off between home-country HRM label and host-country contextual demands, thereby advancing the dominant HRM option of the dilemma. Practical implications - MNCs should be aware of the possible challenges as they internationalise and should equally be aware that though they may build a synergy (a blend of workable headquarters and subsidiary HRM), the final product will continue to favour headquarters’ HRM policies and practices. Originality/value - The paper generates theoretical implications into the issues and challenges that arise with HRM transfers within multinational firms by examining how the dilemma theory sheds light on the transfer process and challenges from the dominant-contextual tension till the fight for best-fit HRM. It also contributes to the development of cycle of cross-border HRM dilemma, cross-border HRM transfer framework and Synergy-Dominant theory.

Keywords: Human resource management; Host country; Multinational companies; Best-fit practices; Cross-border HRM; Dilemma theory; Home country; International HRM transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:mrrpps:mrr-02-2017-0038

DOI: 10.1108/MRR-02-2017-0038

Access Statistics for this article

Management Research Review is currently edited by Dr Jay Janney and Prof Lerong He

More articles in Management Research Review from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().