Perhaps this should not be surprising as six years may be a relatively short time span in strategic terms and MNEs many not be particularly nimble, even in a region like CEE, a region that has seen so many changes in the last 30 years. Perhaps the region is a the “taking breath” after exertions of the last several decades. The only real change reported relates to a reduction (from 10.6% to 7.1% of respondents) in a tightly centralized form of HR policy control (see Table 2). Second, cross-cultural differences still count. On the sending side, Anglo-Saxon HQs exert more control over subsidiaries in the CEE region. It is mere speculation at this point as to whether this may be due to & Mendenhall 1990; Shenkar 2001), a “cultural distance” (Black heritage from U.S./U.K. based Tayloristic precision (Koumparoulis and Vlachopoulioti 2012) or the geographic and potential psychological distance between New York or London and – – Warsaw or Bucharest. Interestingly Southern European based firms also appear to follow less decentralized HR policies in the CEE possibly for similar reasons. Further pursuit of this line – of findings is warranted. that is business sector and subsidiary size as well as local HR Finally, “contextual settings” – reputation show an effect. Larger manufacturing firms allow subsidiaries more authority and control. At the same time, a MNE that emphasizes both HR competencies and concurrently perceives local HR units to have these HR capabilities reflects increased patterns of decentralization. How higher levels of this HQ demand meets a subsidiary supply of HR capability is another area worthy of further investigation. These HR capabilities may be more critical if and when the local firm has an enhanced subsidiary mandate for R&D activities. We are not aware of any previous empirical research that shows a positive relationship between R&D mandate and HR decentralization. Implications for Practitioners There is no substitute for an in depth understanding of doing business in a nation or a region.
Perhaps this should not be surprising as six years may be a relatively short time span in strategic terms and MNEs many not be particularly nimble, even in a region like CEE, a region that has seen so many changes in the last 30 years. Perhaps the region is “taking a breath” after the exertions of the last several decades. The only real change reported relates to a reduction (from 10.6% to 7.1% of respondents) in a tightly centralized form of HR policy control (see Table 2). Second, cross-cultural differences still count. On the sending side, Anglo-Saxon HQs exert more control over subsidiaries in the CEE region. It is mere speculation at this point as to whether this may be due to “cultural distance” (Black & Mendenhall 1990; Shenkar 2001), a heritage from U.S./U.K. based Tayloristic precision (Koumparoulis and Vlachopoulioti 2012) or the geographic – and potential psychological distance – between New York or London and Warsaw or Bucharest. Interestingly Southern European based firms also appear to follow less decentralized HR policies in the CEE – possibly for similar reasons. Further pursuit of this line of findings is warranted. Finally, “contextual settings” – that is business sector and subsidiary size as well as local HR reputation show an effect. Larger manufacturing firms allow subsidiaries more authority and control. At the same time, a MNE that emphasizes both HR competencies and concurrently perceives local HR units to have these HR capabilities reflects increased patterns of decentralization. How higher levels of this HQ demand meets a subsidiary supply of HR capability is another area worthy of further investigation. These HR capabilities may be more critical if and when the local firm has an enhanced subsidiary mandate for R&D activities. We are not aware of any previous empirical research that shows a positive relationship between R&D mandate and HR decentralization. Implications for Practitioners There is no substitute for an in depth understanding of doing business in a nation or a region.
WICH_CEEIHRM_2017_SUBMITTED.docx