Staff management practices within multinational companies

Sammanfattning: The present dissertation attempts to shed light on the agents that moderate the transference and implementation of staff management practices across subsidiaries within multinational Companies. The dissertation thesis consists of three empirical studies on employees working across 10 different countries at the subsidiaries of two multinational companies. The empirical studies deal with the relationship between staff management practices and domestic normative sources such as culture and institutions. The studies consist of interviews and surveys, examining staff management practices and expectations toward managers and staff. Staff practices are approached in a dual sense, labelled tactical and strategic management practices. Tactical management practices are understood as any short-range routines exercised by managers when interacting with subordinates, and strategic management practices are understood as wide-range routines systematically exercised by management as summarised in policies and programs.The three studies offer substantial evidence that the institutional arrangements of countries are a robust explanatory variable of the transfer and implementation of strategic management practices in multinational companies. Besides, the results indicate that both cultural and institutional forces moderate the exercise of tactical management practices. One of the cardinal implications of this dissertation is the recognition of the intertwined effect of institutional and cultural normative sources on variances and commonalties in staff management practices within multinational companies across subsidiaries.