Going the extra mile: local managers and global effort

Abstract

The competitive international environment of the twenty‐first century is said to require greater collaboration between the multinational corporation (MNC) units, where local employees work toward global as well as local goals. What does it take to motivate local employees to go the extra mile for the sake of the MNC as a whole? This article reports the results of a study conducted among 317 local managers at the Indian and Pakistani subsidiaries of a British MNC in the consumer products industry. Organisational identification, or a psychological bonding with the organisation, was one of several factors contributing to the willingness of local managers to exert extra effort toward organisational goals. Implications of the findings are drawn for expatriate managers who work alongside local managers, and for international human resource management.