Towards an understanding of configurational and national influences on international integration in the HR function in MNCs

Edwards, Tony, Tregaskis, Olga ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9954-5152 and McDonnell, Anthony (2022) Towards an understanding of configurational and national influences on international integration in the HR function in MNCs. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33 (7). pp. 1463-1488. ISSN 0958-5192

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Abstract

The human resource (HR) function plays a critical role in how multinational companies (MNCs) centralise decision-making or coordinate and exploit expertise internationally. However, there has been limited attention on the extent to which the HR function in MNCs is integrated internationally and the influencing factors behind this. Using nationally representative, cross-country comparative data, this paper identifies the degree to which internationally integrated HR functions exist and test the extent to which this is shaped by the strategy, structure and nationality of the MNC. We demonstrate the multidimensionality of an internationally integrated HR function; with the structural configuration, level of inter-dependencies between MNC operations and country of origin each partially impacting its nature. A key implication concerns the need to move beyond solely focusing on either nationality as per institutionalist theory, or corporate strategy and structure as characterised in the strategic international HRM literature, towards an integrated explanation that incorporates both sets of factors.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: hr function,multinationals,nationality,strategy,structure,strategy and management,organizational behavior and human resource management,management of technology and innovation ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1408
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Employment Systems and Institutions
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 19 Jun 2020 00:07
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 06:20
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/75705
DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2020.1771399

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