Human Resource Management in Hospitality Multinational Enterprises: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The increasing liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) combined with an ever increasing shortage of professional manpower and advances in technology has resulted in large scale changes to human resource management practices throughout the world and Asia-Pacific region firms are unlikely to be immune from these challenges. An exploratory study was conducted with hospitality multinational enterprises (MNEs), based in India to assess their human resource management practices and comparing these practices with foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in India. A key aim of the study was to establish if the human resource management practices of MNEs that operate in the important hospitality industry, are aligned with global practices. Using data collected from hospitality multinational enterprises located in India, we compare the two groups on specific HRM practices. The aim is to show how HRM practices of Indian MNEs differ from those of foreign MNEs and examine the extent and the way these HRM practices reflect firm specific factors such as nationality, age (years), number of employees and industry sector. The empirical results indicate that HR practices in India reflect firm-specific factors to a great extent. Moreover, they imply that in some areas MNEs have realised a considerable degree of adaptation, embracing practices that are in line with the Indian environment. A salient focus of the study is to assess if globalised foreign owned MNEs are more likely to align their HRM practices with global trends rather than with the practices employed by locally owned MNEs. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for HR practitioners, particularly those in Indian.