Study Of Multinational Corporations Research Articles

Quality of work life: a study of multinational corporations in Malaysia

Believed to help improve productivity and commitment to the workplace, work-life balance and quality of work life are widely studied issues of interest. Much is still to be learned about how best to improve workplace wellness especially with the increasing need to work beyond office hours, not to mention family demands and other challenges in life. This study contributes by examining the extent to which supervisor support can enhance quality of work life at multinational corporations in Malaysia via a questionnaire survey. Results suggest that supervisor support enhances quality of work life, which in turn, motivates organisational commitment and improves quality of life. Such findings suggest the importance of educating supervisors, especially expatriates, of what constitutes supportive supervisor behaviour and essence of a satisfying experience at work that inspire organisational commitment and improve overall life satisfaction.

Quality of work life: a study of multinational corporations in Malaysia

Quality of work life: a study of multinational corporations in Malaysia

Politics and Power within Multinational Corporations: Mainstream Studies, Emerging Critical Approaches and Suggestions for Future Research

Given the increased public interest in the use and misuse of power in multinationals in the aftermath of the financial crisis, it is notable that power relations in multinational corporations (MNCs) have not gained enhanced attention in the academic community. What is missing so far in the study ofMNCs is a systematic examination of how power and politics withinMNCs have been addressed in mainstream international business (IB) and sociological research studying theMNC. This paper starts by critically reviewing these two mainstream approaches in the study ofMNCs as organizations and seeking to understand the shortcomings of former research. Next, it reviews new emergent critical perspectives, which the authors call socio‐political studies ofMNCs, where power and politics are addressed not just more prominently, but also differently, from a more bottom‐up and actor‐centred perspective. After reviewing this emergent stream of research, the authors propose that future studies should take a more micro‐political perspective and focus in more detail on the micro‐foundations of power relations. In the concluding section, the authors show how future studies ofMNCs can learn from both critical interactionist and discursive theories when analysing organizational politics and power relations. A framework is proposed for the study of micro‐level political game‐playing inMNCs, based on a three‐dimensional framework for organizational power (episodic, rules of the game and domination), and some key research questions for future studies are suggested.

Major determinants affecting the autonomy of multi national corporation subsidiaries in China

In recent years, studies of multi-national corporations (MNC) have shifted their focus from the perspective of the MNC itself to the perspective of transnational networks, which has resulted in greater recognition of the role and function of MNC subsidiaries. China’s membership of World Trade Organization has offered more opportunities for MNC in China with the consequence that many of their subsidiaries have become international players where subsidiary autonomy is considered an essential competency. World famous MNCs set up subsidiaries in succession to occupy a market share in China. Therefore, it is worthy to study MNCs' Chinese subsidiaries’ behaviour. This quantitative study therefore examined the role and autonomy of MNC subsidiaries in China and their relationship with their parent corporations. This quantitative study analysed the way in which the literature on subsidiary autonomy has evolved and identified determinates of such autonomy. The findings revealed that there are correlations between MNC procedure justice, subsidiary integration, subsidiary local responsiveness, and subsidiary relative capability and their influence on subsidiary autonomy. This suggests that the role of a subsidiary is highly influenced by its position in the MNC network.

Family friendly work practices, organizational climate, and firm performance: A study of multinational corporations in Hong Kong

AbstractWe developed and tested a conceptual model to examine the impact of family friendly work practices (FFWPs) at the organizational level. In our model, top management support for equal opportunities is considered an antecedent of FFWPs and positive organizational climate, and firm performance and employee turnover are considered outcome variables. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data collected from a sample of HR managers in multinational corporations (MNCs) in Hong Kong. The results showed that top management support for equal opportunities was positively related to a firm's level of FFWPs and organizational climate. In addition, FFWPs were positively related to organizational climate. We further found that organizational climate acted as a mediator between FFWPs and firm‐level outcomes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

School-to-Work Transition Programs Within Third-Party Government

The authors investigated third-party government, that is, the realignment of public sector agencies from “service providers” to “service managers.” Using a model developed in studies of multinational corporations, the authors examined key processes within school-to-work transition programs for students with developmental disabilities. The findings suggest substantial variations among processes in agencies providing transition services. Transition programs exhibited traditional, hierarchical, bureaucratic structures, as well as flattened, horizontal, and networked structures. The variation and flexibility apparent in these structures are consistent with changes in both the policies that govern the delivery of services as well as the practice of implementing person-centered planning.

Institutional Theory in the Study of Multinational Corporations: A Critique and New Directions

This paper was motivated by the growing interest of scholars of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the institutional perspective. Our review of the literature suggests that international management applications of this perspective have been dominated by a narrow set of neoinstitutional ideas. We develop a set of provocations that challenge the validity of traditional neoinstitutionalism in the context of MNCs. We then offer ideas for more novel theory building in the study of MNCs, based on integrating “old” and “new” institutionalism.

The role of culture on knowledge transfer: the case of the multinational corporation

PurposeThis paper aims to look at the issue of culture's role in knowledge transfer within multinational corporations (MNCs). Studies of MNCs have hinted at the importance of culture to the performance of subsidiaries. Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity, it is argued that the location of subsidiaries along each of these cultural dimensions will significantly impact the possibility of knowledge transfer occurring between subsidiaries.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives were achieved by providing additional insights into the complex nature of knowledge transfer efforts in MNCs. To do so, a discussion of the challenges associated with the dimensions of culture is presented. These challenges are further complicated by the degree to which the home office is involved in the strategic decision‐making process surrounding inter‐subsidiary knowledge transfers.FindingsThe paper suggests that managers should pursue knowledge transfer activities cautiously. Although these efforts may be supported by the home office, resistance to change and sharing must be carefully managed. Furthermore, knowledge transfer efforts are most likely to be successful if the parties are culturally aligned. And, when this is missing, success is highly dependent upon home office directives and support.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper forces us to address a critical question: how do subsidiaries deal with the challenges to knowledge transfer efforts posed by cultural differences? While research has looked at various aspects of culture and its impact on MNC activities, more research is needed on these issues. As knowledge continues to be emphasized as the basis for performance differences, more thorough examination of the issues affecting it is necessary. In addition, variables such as spatial distance, native origin, and language differences, all of which make translation difficult, are not considered.Practical implicationsThe ideas presented here reinforce the notion that national context and its impact on culture has major consequences for inter‐subsidiary knowledge transfer efforts. This is particularly the case when these transfers involve subsidiaries with different cultural dynamics. Since, knowledge is contextual, this helps subsidiaries identify their partners in this process, what are there benefits to be gained from engagement, and how involved the home office needs to be in these transfer efforts. Therefore, managers need to pay careful attention to contextual issues that affect knowledge transfer efforts.Originality/valueIt reinforces the notion that subsidiaries have access to confidential information regarding developments in other subsidiaries. This access to inside information allows for the speedy pursuit of knowledge transfer opportunities. However, such pursuits must be tempered by understanding that cultural differences may inhibit success.

The management of training in multinational corporations: comparative case studies

Discusses the similarities and differences in the ways in which the training and development function is managed in multinational corporations (MNCs). Presents a comparative analysis (at three levels: international, industry and enterprise, with emphasis on enterprise) of enterprise‐based training in the UK and Australia, set in the context of the food and drink industry; and some of the government policies that affect the industry. Includes case studies of MNCs that operate in both countries, giving details of training strategies. Concludes that similarities in training and development strategies outweigh the differences; contrary to previous studies which draw attention to the differences between organizations and industries. Points out the relevance to managers and researchers who have an interest in the human resource management function in large organizations that operate across borders.

The Revolutionary Mission: American Enterprise in Cuba

HENRY W. CATLIN OF GENERAL ELECTRIC arrived in Cuba in 1922, on a revolutionary mission. Armed with $8 million from a G.E. subsidiary, Catlin acquired most of Cuba's primitive, electrical generating network within eighteen months. Sweeping in behind Catlin came accountants and engineers, the troops of the United States' second industrial revolution. Within a few short years, they transformed the island's generating plants into a modern power network and revamped the work relations of their Cuban labor force. Working and middleclass resistance to these changes generated a wave of popular protest that swept G.E. into the vortex of the Cuban Revolution of 1933. As American corporations set up businesses in every part of the globe at the beginning of this century, they triggered responses that had profound and far-reaching effects on the societies they encountered. Despite an increasingly rich historiography on the rise of modern American corporations, our understanding of their encounters with Third World societies remains rudimentary. Historians have previously traced many of the forces in American society that shaped multinational enterprises. Business and social historians have examined the organizational and technological revolutions that forged these corporations, worker resistance to rationalization of the workplace, and the emergence of the new professional classes as mediators between labor and capital. Studies of multinational corporations have enhanced our understanding of the forces that propelled them overseas and of the corporate culture they carried with them. Yet, aside from structuralist studies of economic development, we know little about the interaction between American multinationals and the societies in which they functioned. This study of the G.E. experience in Cuba addresses some of the basic issues surrounding the effects of globalizing American corporations. It explores the salient features of the culture these companies carried with them and the responses of the Cuban working and middle classes to the activities of a business

THE VISIBLE HAND OF THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION A REVIEW

ABSTRACTThis article is a taxonomy of a new field of interest to political scientists, namely the study of multinational corporations as political actors on the local, national and international level. It describes the interests and activities of the four major actors involved: parent companies, subsidiaries, investor countries, and host countries. The article bases itself in part on seven books which represent these various actors'perspectives, and suggests what kind of further research is needed to describe the cooperative and conflictual relations among them. The theoretical challenges presented by the multinationals are related in part to their dual character as economic and political actors, and in part to the fact that they integrate activities among various levels of political organization, thus cutting across traditional divisions of scholarly disciplines such as local, comparative and international politics, as well as economics, international business, and industrial relations.