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Local isomorphism and multinational enterprises’ human resource management practices: Extending the research agenda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2018

Desmond Tutu Ayentimi
Affiliation:
Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, Hobart, Australia
John Burgess*
Affiliation:
School of Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Kantha Dayaram
Affiliation:
Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: john.burgess@rmit.edu.au

Abstract

Local isomorphism constitutes the regulatory, cognitive and normative profile of a host country. The regulatory institutional setting reflects the rules and legislation governing collective bargaining agreements, trade unions, local content laws and employment relationships. The cultural or cognitive dimension supports the widely held cultural and social knowledge and the normative profile acknowledges the influences of social groups and organizations on acceptable normative behaviour. Earlier literature lends support to the importance of institutional profile and its influence on the design and implementation of multinational enterprises’ human resource management policies and practices. This paper seeks to advance the concept of local isomorphism and highlight the implications of local isomorphism for future research on the transfer of multinational enterprises’ human resource management practices across and between subsidiaries.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2018

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