Citation:
Emma Parry, Michael Dickmann, Michael Morley, North American MNCs and their HR policies in liberal and co-ordinated market economies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Volume 19, Issue 11, November 2008, Pages 2024-2040
Abstract:
We explore the landscape of HRM in North American MNCs which have been for long
characterized as having an express preference for institutionalizing aspects of
the home business system when operating aboard. Drawing upon institutional
theory, both the USA and Canada are identified as liberal market economies.
Building on this, we examine the HR preferences of subsidiaries originating in
North America and operating in diverse liberal and coordinated market economies
in order to test the extent to which the host context influences the pattern of
HR policies and practices pursued, referring predominantly to the literature on
USA firms. The results indicate that the pattern of HR practices pursued by
North American owned MNCs varies widely depending on whether these North
American owned MNCs are operating in liberal or coordinated market economies,
lending support to the importance of context as a determinant of the likelihood
of, and limits to, the transfer of HRM practices and preferences.