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Lujia Feng, Paul Barry and Christopher Rees
Centre for Organisations in Development (COD)
Management and Governance in Development Group (MGD)
Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM)
School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED)
The University of Manchester
Research key words
- International Human Resource Management (IHRM)
-Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs)
-Africa
-Chinese headquarters and African subsidiaries
- standardization and adaptation of HRM
Research Topic
Reassessing the Practices of International Human Resource
Management (IHRM) in Chinese Multinational Corporations (MNCs)
in Africa: Standardization and Adaptation
Structure of the Presentation
• Research background
• Research aim and four objectives
• Research contextual factors and frameworks
• The case study of my research: a Chinese Multinational Corporation
1. Headquarter: Shenzhen, China
2. Subsidiaries: Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia, Africa
• Research methodology
• Research motivation
Research Background
The importance of multinational corporations in the world economy: nearly 61,000 MNCs controlling 900,000 subsidiaries (UN, 2009)
The development of Chinese MNCs since 1979: the ‘Go global' (Zou Chuqu) policy (Deng Xiaoping) in 2004 encourages many Chinese MNCs to enter and compete in the international market
The increasing investment from Chinese MNCs into African countries
The growing interest in the research on international human resource management
Research Aim and Objectives
Aim: to explore the practices of IHRM in Chinese MNCs in Africa, based on an integrative model, considering the specific factors that influence the balance of IHRM and related issues of policy and practice
Objectives:
To identify the main issues and contextual factors of IHRM in MNCs in the globalisation context through the pilot research
To interrogate the main issues and contextual factors which shape IHRM policies and practices in Chinese MNCs in their PRC headquarters
To interrogate the main issues and contextual factors which shape IHRM policies and practices in Chinese MNCs in their African subsidiaries from an integrative perspective
To explore IHRM policy and practice transfer from/to Chinese MNCs headquarters to/from African subsidiaries with reference to specific aspects including performance management
A ‘Soft’ Contextual Factor: Culture
• Chinese MNCs: The Confucian Culture
1. Hierarchy (Jie Ji): power distance
2. Perseverance (Jian Chi): uncertainty avoidance
3. Thrift (Jie Jian): budget plan
• Chinese MNCs in Africa: The colonial history
1. Bureaucratic: power distance and nepotism
2. Ethnic features: “Ubuntu”
altruism, benevolence, generosity
A ‘Hard’ Contextual Factor: Institution
• The role of the state and government
• The role of international organizations such as ILO and trade unions
• The dispute of neo-colonialism VS Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): ‘Shehui Zeren’
1. Definition: social good beyond the immediate interests of the organization and the requirement of law
2. Main issues: triple bottom lines and neo-colonialism
3. Public relations: ‘Gonggong Guanxi’
Internal Contextual Factors
• Business strategy:
1. Ownership: Chinese state-owned or private MNCs
2. Industrial sectors: knowledge-intensive or labour-intensive: Infrastructure, service or textile
• Organizational structure:
1. Country of origin
2. The host country
3. The international integration of the organization
Research Framework 1
IHRM policy and practice
CMNCs
External soft Internal factors: External hard
factor: culture Business strategy factor: institution
Organisational structure
IHRM
The Case Study of a Chinese MNC in Africa:
• Internal factors: Private owned in the hi-tech sector
• External factor 1: Institution
1. The regulation of local government
2. The diplomatic relation between China and Africa
3. The cooperation with international organizations
• External factor 2: Culture Chinese Confucian values
1. Generosity and win-win opportunity
2. Outsourcing and cooperation with local companies
The Balance of IHRM practices with the influence of Chinese Confucian Culture
The balance (He Xie) between organizational profit and local community development
Framework 2: Transfer of IHRM from the West (Europe/North America)
to the East (China) and then to the West (Africa)
IHRM with Chinese, Africa and West Europe/North America characteristics
IHRM with Chinese characteristic
Mature experience of HRM and IHRM in Western Europe and North America
Headquarters with Chinese characteristics
Subsidiaries with Chinese and African
characteristics
Comparison between Subsidiaries of Chinese MNCs in Africa
From the East (Tanzania) to the West (Ghana)
The Practices of IHRM in Subsidiary of the Chinese MNC in Ghana
• Four Core Policies of IHRM:
Selection, Training, Application and Retention
(Xuan, Yu, Yong, Liu)
• 'Qiu Tong Cun Yi': seeking common ground
and reserving differences with flexibility
• The issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):
An independent department: The Public
Relations Department (Gonggong, Guanxi)
Emerging Research Themes
• The practices of IHRM in Chinese MNCs in Africa
• Contextual factors:
1. Culture: Confucian value and Colonial history
2. Institution: Government and Non-governmental Organizations(NGOs)
3. Business strategy and organizational structure
• Neo-colonialism and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Comparison of the Chinese subsidiaries in Ghana,Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia
Research Methodology- Triangulation
How the triangulation method applied in this research is
Source: compiled by the author
Questionnaires
and documents
as pilot and
initial study
To develop a
broad picture of
IHRM in the
African
subsidiary of
the Chinese
MNCs
Semi-structured
interviews to
explore policies
and practices of
performance
management
Focus groups to
further uncover the
contextual factors
which influence
policies and
practices of
performance
management
An integrative model to
explore performance
management of IHRM from
Chinese MNCs to African
subsidiaries
Research Motivation
For the Sake of My Dream
Make my small contribution to serve the world and to make a better world for us to
live in: reduce the imbalance and inequality in cross-border human resource management through the development of effective instruments to identify and share appropriate IHRM policies and practices