Suchergebnisse

Limited, in-depth, evidence exists as to the dynamics that underlay human resource reform in situations where multinationals acquire undertakings in developing countries on a basis short of full ownership. This article uses three case studies of human resource reform within privatised Jordanian undertakings acquired by French multinationals to shed further light on these dynamics. It concludes that the reforms introduced by the multinationals reflected their more general approaches to post-entry human resource reform, but that the pace and manner of change was influenced by local factors, including the influence that the Jordanian government was able to exert as a result of its continuing role in the ownership and management of the companies.

Purpose - To explore the influence of host-country effects on how multinational corporations (MNCs) approach the management of human resources within overseas subsidiaries.

This paper draws on the findings of two case studies to examine how two French multinationals used expatriates and training and development to introduce and support a process of cultural reform in companies that they had acquired under the Jordanian government's privatization programme. It notes that in both cases these mechanisms of cultural change had been extensively employed and that the overall purpose of the organizational reforms they were intended to support exhibited many similarities. For example, in each of the companies a central aim of the reforms being introduced was to make the acquired organizations more business- and target-orientated and, to this end, incorporated initiatives to improve appraisal and selection procedures, establish closer links between pay and performance and introduce more devolved and decentralized management structures. In addition, expatriates were being widely used to develop and implement desired reforms and training and development was being actively used to engender supportive attitudinal changes. More generally, it was noticeable that neither of the multinationals adopted a markedly different approach to the management of their Jordanian operations, notwithstanding that they were based in a developing country and were either only partially owned or operated under a management contract. At the same time, marked variations existed in terms of the extent to which these reforms were centrally determined and hence authored, variations that, in part, appeared to stem from product market differences. The authors consequently warn against assuming too close an association between the human resource strategies of multinationals and the national business systems in which they are based. In addition and more generally, they note that it is often difficult to draw a clear distinction between cultural change, on the one hand, and structural and policy reforms, on the other, since all of these reforms, arguably, had a 'cultural dimension'.

AbstractThis paper examines how far the workplace inspection program established under the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety has served to improve safety in Bangladesh garment factories, and the extent to which its operation has been influenced by factors that the literature suggests are important in shaping the outcomes of private regulatory initiatives. The findings suggest that such regulation can generate positive outcomes, even in the absence of strong public regulatory support. They also caution against discounting the role of compliance‐based enforcement strategies, while highlighting the importance of their adequate resourcing and transparency. Some support is also offered for the argument that such regulatory initiatives could directly influence the market dynamics that shape supplier working conditions.