Towards An Extended International HRM Model for Emerging Multinational Enterprises

Authors: Connie Zheng

Abstract:

This paper critiques several exiting strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) frameworks and discusses their limitations to apply directly to emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs), especially those generated from China and other BRICS nations. To complement the existing SIHRM frameworks, key variables relevant to emerging economies are identified and the extended model with particular reference to EMNEs is developed with several research propositions. It is believed that the extended model would better capture the recent development of MNEs in transition, and alert emerging international managers to address several human resource management challenges in the global context

Keywords: China, human resource, MNEs, strategy

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1327955

References:

[1] UNCTAD. 2009. World Investment Report 2009: Transnational Corporations, Agricultural Production and Development, New York: United Nations.
[2] UNCTAD. 2010. World Investment Report: Investing in Low-Carbon Economy, NY: United Nations.
[3] Warner, M. 2011. Whither Japan? Economy, management and society. Asia Pacific Business Review. 17, 1-5.
[4] Warner, M. and Rowley, C. 2010. Chinese management at the crossroads: setting the scene. Asia Pacific Business Review. 16(3), 273- 284.
[5] Taylor, S., Beechler, S. and Napier, N. 1996. Toward an integrative model of strategic international human resource management. The Academy of Management Review. 21(4), 959-985.
[6] Schuler, R.S. and Tarique, I. 2007. International human resource management: A North American perspective, a thematic update and suggestions for future research. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 18(5), 717-744.
[7] Dowling, P. J., Festing, M. and Engle, A. D. Sr. 2008. International Human Resource Management. 5th edn. Thomson, Australia.
[8] Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R. 2005. Blue ocean strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant? Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
[9] Mathews, J.A. 2006. Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23, 5-27.
[10] Milliman, J., von Glinow, M.A. and Nathan, M. 1991. Organisational life cycles and strategic international human resource management in multinational companies: implications for congruence theory. The Academy of Management Review. 16(2), 318-339.
[11] Schuler, R.S., Dowling, P.J. and De Cieri, H. 1993. An integrative framework of strategic international human resource management. Journal of Management. 19(2), 419-459.
[12] Harvey, M.G., Novicevic, M.M. and Speier, C. 2000. Strategic global human resource management: The role of inpatriate managers. Human Resource Management Review. 10(2), 153-175.
[13] Tarique, I. and Schuler, R. 2010. Global talent management: literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research. Journal of World Business. 45, 122-133.
[14] Dunning, J. H. 2001. The Eclectic (OLI) paradigm of international production: Past, present and future. International Journal of the Economics of Business. 8(2), 173-190.
[15] Peng, M.W. 2003. Institutional transitions and strategic choices, The Academy of Management Review. 28(2), 275-296.
[16] Meyer, K.E. 2006. Globalfocusing: From domestic conglomerates to global specialists, Journal of Management Studies, 43(5), 1109-1144.
[17] Warner, M. and Zhu, Y. 2010. Labour and management in the People's Republic of China: seeking the ÔÇÿharmonious- society. Asia Pacific Business Review. 16(3), 285-298.
[18] Briscoe, D., Schuler, R. and Claus, E. 2009. International Human Resource Management, 3rd edn, London: Routledge.
[19] Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. 1997. Dynamic capabilities and strategic management Strategic Management Journal. 18(7), 509-533.
[20] Teece, D., and Pisano, G. 1994. The dynamic capabilities of firms: an introduction, Industrial and Corporate Change. 3(3), 537-556.
[21] Eisenhardt, K. M., and Martin, J. A. 2000. Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strategic Management Journal. 20(10/11), 1105-1121.
[22] Björkman, I. & Lervik, J. E. (2007). Transferring HR practices within multinational corporations. Human Resource Management Journal, 17(4), 320-335.
[23] Zhang, M. and Edwards, C. 2007. Diffusing "Best Practice" in Chinese multinationals: The motivation, facilitation and limitations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(12), 2147-2165.
[24] Wooldridge, A. 2007. The battle for the best, The Economist: the World in 2007, p. 104.
[25] Dietz, M., Orr, G. and Xing, J. 2008. How Chinese companies can succeed abroad, McKinsey Quarterly, May.
[26] Ashton, D., Brown, P. and Lauder, H. 2010. Skill webs and international human resource management: Lessons from a study of the global skill strategies of transnational companies. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 21(6), 836-850.
[27] Altenburg, T., Schmitz, H., and Stamm, A. 2008. Breakthrough? China's and India's transition from production to innovation. World Development. 36(2), 325-344.
[28] De Cieri, H., Cox, J.W. and Fenwick, M. 2007. A review of international human resource management: integration, interrogation, imitation. International Journal of Management Reviews. 9(4), 281-302.
[29] UNCTAD. 2008. World Investment Report 2008: Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge, New York: United Nations.
[30] UNCTAD. 2007. World Investment Report 2007: Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development, New York: United Nations.
[31] Melin, L. 1992. Internationalization as a strategy process. Strategic Management Journal, 13(S2), 99-118.
[32] De Cieri, H. and Dowling, P.J. 1999. Strategic human resource management in multinational enterprises: Theoretical and empirical developments. In PM Wright, LD Dyer, JW Boudreau & GT Milkovich (Eds.) Research in personnel and human resources management: Strategic human resources management in the twenty-first century. Supplement 4, JAI Press: Stamford, CT.
[33] Buckley, P.J., Clegg, L.J., Cross, A.R., Liu, X., Voss, H. and Zheng, P. 2007. The determinants of Chinese outward foreign investment. Journal of International Business Studies. 38, 499-518.
[34] Deng, P. (2004), Outward investment by Chinese MNEs: Motivations and implications. Business Horizons, 47(3), 8-16.
[35] Hong, E. and Sun, L. 2006. Dynamic of internationalisation and outward investment: Chinese corporations- strategies. The China Quarterly. 187(1), 610-634.
[36] Yamakawa, Y., Peng, M.W. and Deed, D.L. 2008. What drives new ventures to internationalise from emerging to developed economies? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. January, 59-82.
[37] Luo, Y.D., Xue, Q.Z. and Han, B.J. 2010. How emerging market governments promote outward FDI: Experience from China. Journal of World Business. 45, 68-79.
[38] Laurent, A. 1986. The cross-cultural puzzle of international human resource management. Human Resource Management. 25(1), 91-102.
[39] Zheng, C., Soosay, C. and Hyland, P. 2008. Manufacturing to Asia: Who will win the emerging battle for talent between dragons and tigers? Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. 19 (1), 52-72.
[40] Beer, M., Spector, B., Lawrence, P. R., Mills, D. Q. and Walton, R. E. 1984. Managing Human Assets: The Groundbreaking Harvard Business School Program, New York: The Free Press, Macmillan, Inc.
[41] Guest, D.E. 1997. Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 8(3), 263-276.
[42] Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. 1991. Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solutions, London Business School.
[43] Christmann, P. 2004. Multinational companies and the natural environment: Determinants of global environmental policy standardization. The Academy of Management Journal. 47(5), 747-760.
[44] Alden, C. 2007. China in Africa. New York: Zed Books.
[45] Frynas, J.G. and Paulo, M. 2007. A new scramble for African oil? Historical, political and business perspectives. African Affairs. 106/423, 229-251.
[46] Taylor, I. 2008. Sino-African relations and the problem of human rights, African Affairs, 107/426: 63-87.
[47] Watson, T. J. 2010. Critical social science, pragmatism and the realities of HRM. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 21(6), 915-931.
[48] Bisson, P., Kerkland, R. and Stephenson, E. 2010. The great rebalancing, McKinsey Quarterly, June.
[49] Paauwe, J. 2004. HRM and performance: Achieving long-term viability, Oxford University.
[50] Ramamurti, R. 2004. Developing countries and MNEs: Extending and enriching the research agenda. Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 277-283.
[51] Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J. and Sutton, R. I. 2005. Economics language and assumptions: How theories can become self-fulfilling. Academy of Management Review. 30, 8-24.
[52] Pfeffer, J. 2010. Building sustainable organizations: The human factor. The Academy of Management Perspectives. 24(1), 34-45.
[53] Delbridge, R. and Keenoy, T. 2010. Beyond managerialism? The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 21(6), 799-817.
[54] Amba-Rao, S. C. 1993. Multinational corporate social responsibility, ethics, interactions and Third World governments: An agenda for the 1990s. Journal of Business Ethics. 12(7), 553-572.
[55] Corkin, L. 2007. Strategic entry of China-s emerging multinationals into Africa. China Report. 43(3), 309-322.
[56] Luo, Y. and Tung, R.L. 2007. International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective. Journal of International Business Studies. 38, 481-498.