Dialectical Analysis of Global Staffing Policy

Global staffing is an essential aspect of human resource management in multinational corporations (MNC) (Collings & Scullion, 2009). As the positioning of multinational organizations gradually becomes global, multinational companies must cultivate suitable global personnel. Flexible and adequate staffing and management skills can give transnational corporations a particular competitive advantage in global operations (Collings & Scullion, 2009). Understanding the background of the local market and gaining and sharing tacit knowledge in jobs around the world are all necessary professional skills for the multinational company (Harvey et al., 1999). However, human resources management departments also face more significant challenges as the multinational company expands its business globally. Learning how to effectively respond to the staffing problems of multinational companies in the course of operation reflects the company's operating capabilities. This article will first define and elaborate the global staffing policy, while the factors that will make the system more effective will be introduced. Secondly, the current problems and challenges faced by multinational companies will be listed, followed by corresponding measures. Finally, other recommendations will be provided in some areas for the human resources of multinational companies.

Research insights: Global mobility in a post-covid world1

How multinational enterprises staff their global operations has been a key question for researchers in international human resource management (IHRM) for a number of decades. It is widely recognised that getting staffing right on the global scale is key in enabling multinational enterprises (MNEs) to deliver on their strategic objectives. However the landscape of global staffing has been evolving considerably over recent decades with a much more complex landscape of global mobility emerging. The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant challenge for the future of global mobility and amplifies a number of trends already challenging our understanding of global staffing arrangements. In this paper, we reflect on these challenges and the likely future for global mobility. We also identify some critical areas of focus for scholars in researching global mobility moving forward.

Global staffing and control in emerging multinational corporations and their subsidiaries in developed countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) from emerging economies to manage their subsidiaries in developed countries and their implications for human resource management practices. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on data collected through in-depth case studies and interviews with senior subsidiary managers of 12 major Indian information technology (IT) MNCs operating in Australia. Findings Indian IT MNCs rely heavily on the use of people-centric controls exerted through global staffing practices (via the transfer of parent-country nationals), which, in turn, influence their subsidiary’s discretion over their HR practices. The use of people-centric controls allows Indian IT multinationals to replicate parent-country HRM practices in their Australian subsidiaries in an ethnocentric manner and significantly leverage the people-based competitive advantages from India through short- and long-term expatriate assignments. Research limitations/implications The study investigates control and HRM practices from a single country and a single industry perspective. It provides an insight into the normative means of control in foreign subsidiaries of MNCs and enhances our understanding by explaining the integrated relationship that control mechanisms (and their people-centric components) have with HRM practices including the global staffing approaches and expatriate management practices of emerging MNCs. Practical implications Indian MNCs are using their business model to leverage the Australian immigration and skilled visa programme to maintain cost advantages. However, the immigration legislation in developed countries needs to be capable of allowing emerging multinational corporations (EMNCs) to maintain such advantages as developed countries seek to attract foreign direct investment from emerging economies. Originality/value The results indicate that the control practices of EMNCs are similar to the controls exerted by MNCs from developed countries. They also show that EMNCs do not adopt a portfolio approach to global staffing, and that the people-centric components of their control have a clear impact on their subsidiaries’ HRM practices.