American Multinationals in Europe: Managing Employment Relations Across National Borders
Phil Almond and Anthony Ferner
Abstract
This book addresses some of the major contemporary issues in comparative business and employment relations. At its core are the findings of a four-year international exploration of the management of employment relations in American multinational companies in the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. Data from detailed case studies are used to illuminate the tensions between the forces of globalization and the continuing distinctiveness of national business systems. It looks at what is distinctively American about US multinationals, asking how the US business system’s particular features influence t ... More
This book addresses some of the major contemporary issues in comparative business and employment relations. At its core are the findings of a four-year international exploration of the management of employment relations in American multinational companies in the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. Data from detailed case studies are used to illuminate the tensions between the forces of globalization and the continuing distinctiveness of national business systems. It looks at what is distinctively American about US multinationals, asking how the US business system’s particular features influence their management of human resources across national borders. It shows that the transfer of ‘Americanness’ is not a technical, top-down, managerial process, but a highly political and ‘negotiated’ one in which groups and individuals at different levels within the company try to influence the terms of transfer. The book uses a wealth of empirical material to explore the ways in which US multinationals manage international employment relations in different host countries. Four areas of policy and practice are considered in detail: pay and performance; collective employee representation; the management of workforce ‘diversity’; and managerial careers. It shows how global HR policies are made; how they are diffused internationally; and how they are adopted, adapted, or resisted by overseas subsidiaries. It also explores some of the structures and processes that characterize US multinationals: the changing balance between centralization and subsidiary autonomy; the management of international learning; and the structure and role of the international human resource function.
Keywords:
comparative business,
US multinationals,
pay and performance,
collective employee representation,
workforce management,
managerial careers,
international human resources,
centralization,
subsidiary autonomy,
international learning
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2006 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199274635 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2007 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274635.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Phil Almond, editor
Lecturer in Employment Studies, Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester
Author Webpage
Anthony Ferner, editor
Professor of International Human Resource Management, Leicester Business School de Montfort University
Author Webpage
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