Tensions Arising from Process of Transferring HRM Practices across Borders: The Case of Taiwanese MNCs in the UK

Abstract

Research on headquarter/subsidiary relationships and the transfer of HRM strategies and practices abroad has mainly focused on western multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the advanced economies or developing economies (Guest and Hoque, 1996; Ferner and Quintanilla, 1998; Tayeb, 1998; Edwards and Ferner, 2004; Ferner et al., 2005). Although previous research has highlighted the need to examine these relationships in a different and dynamic way (for example, Birkinshaw and Hood (1998) envisaged the relationship as taking different forms and having different dynamics depending on the situation), little attention has been paid to the question of how MNCs’ country of origin might affect the transfer of HRM practices. Possible tensions that may arise from the transfer of HRM practices by MNCs from emerging or newly industrialized economies (NIEs) operating in the advanced economies have also not been systematically investigated.