Dynamics of Central Control and Subsidiary Autonomy in the Management of Human Resources: Case-Study Evidence from US MNCs in the UK
Identifieur interne : 001922 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 001921; suivant : 001923Dynamics of Central Control and Subsidiary Autonomy in the Management of Human Resources: Case-Study Evidence from US MNCs in the UK
Auteurs : Anthony Ferner ; Phil Almond ; Ian Clark ; Trevor Colling ; Tony Edwards ; Len Holden ; Michael Muller-CamenSource :
- Organization Studies [ 0170-8406 ] ; 2004-03.
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Abstract
This article revisits a central question in the debates on the management of multinationals: the balance between centralized policy-making and subsidiary autonomy. It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is negotiated by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. In such negotiation, actors’ leverage often derives from exploiting differences between the national business systems in which the multinational operates.
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DOI: 10.1177/0170840604040041
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ISTEX:200053F57C0D09E2AE5DC47C6F0D62EA3806CD6ALe document en format XML
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iachum@dmu.ac.uk</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Colling, Trevor" sort="Colling, Trevor" uniqKey="Colling T" first="Trevor" last="Colling">Trevor Colling</name><affiliation><mods:affiliation>De Montfort University, UK tchum@dmu.ac.uk</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Edwards, Tony" sort="Edwards, Tony" uniqKey="Edwards T" first="Tony" last="Edwards">Tony Edwards</name><affiliation><mods:affiliation>Kings College, London, UK tony.edwards@kcl.ac.uk</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Holden, Len" sort="Holden, Len" uniqKey="Holden L" first="Len" last="Holden">Len Holden</name><affiliation><mods:affiliation>De Montfort University, UK lthhum@dmu.ac.uk</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Muller Camen, Michael" sort="Muller Camen, Michael" uniqKey="Muller Camen M" first="Michael" last="Muller-Camen">Michael 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It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is negotiated by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. In such negotiation, actors’ leverage often derives from exploiting differences between the national business systems in which the multinational operates.</div></front></TEI><istex><corpusName>sage</corpusName><author><json:item><name>Anthony Ferner</name><affiliations><json:string>De Montfort University, UK afhum@dmu.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Phil Almond</name><affiliations><json:string>De Montfort University, UK palmond@dmu.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Ian Clark</name><affiliations><json:string>De Montfort University, UK iachum@dmu.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Trevor Colling</name><affiliations><json:string>De Montfort University, UK tchum@dmu.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Tony Edwards</name><affiliations><json:string>Kings College, London, UK tony.edwards@kcl.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Len Holden</name><affiliations><json:string>De Montfort University, UK lthhum@dmu.ac.uk</json:string></affiliations></json:item><json:item><name>Michael Muller-Camen</name><affiliations><json:string>International University in Germany, Bruchsal, Germany michael.muller-camen@i-u.de</json:string></affiliations></json:item></author><subject><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>US multinational companies</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>human resource management</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>centralization</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>subsidiary autonomy</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>power</value></json:item></subject><articleId><json:string>10.1177_0170840604040041</json:string></articleId><language><json:string>eng</json:string></language><originalGenre><json:string>other</json:string></originalGenre><abstract>This article revisits a central question in the debates on the management of multinationals: the balance between centralized policy-making and subsidiary autonomy. It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is negotiated by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. 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It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is negotiated by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. In such negotiation, actors’ leverage often derives from exploiting differences between the national business systems in which the multinational operates.</p></abstract><textClass xml:lang="en"><keywords scheme="keyword"><list><head>KWD</head><item><term>US multinational companies</term></item><item><term>human resource management</term></item><item><term>centralization</term></item><item><term>subsidiary autonomy</term></item><item><term>power</term></item></list></keywords></textClass></profileDesc><revisionDesc><change when="2004-03">Published</change></revisionDesc></teiHeader></istex:fulltextTEI><json:item><extension>txt</extension><original>false</original><mimetype>text/plain</mimetype><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/200053F57C0D09E2AE5DC47C6F0D62EA3806CD6A/fulltext/txt</uri></json:item></fulltext><metadata><istex:metadataXml wicri:clean="corpus sage not found" wicri:toSee="no header"><istex:xmlDeclaration>version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"</istex:xmlDeclaration><istex:docType PUBLIC="-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v2.3 20070202//EN" URI="journalpublishing.dtd" name="istex:docType"></istex:docType><istex:document><article article-type="other" dtd-version="2.3" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="hwp">sposs</journal-id><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">OSS</journal-id><journal-title>Organization Studies</journal-title><abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">Organization Studies</abbrev-journal-title><issn pub-type="ppub">0170-8406</issn><issn pub-type="epub">1741-3044</issn><publisher><publisher-name>SAGE Publications</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="other">10.11770170840604040041</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1177/0170840604040041</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">10.1177_0170840604040041</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Articles</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Dynamics of Central Control and Subsidiary Autonomy in the Management of Human Resources: Case-Study Evidence from US MNCs in the UK</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ferner</surname><given-names>Anthony</given-names></name></contrib><aff>De Montfort University, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="afhum@dmu.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">afhum@dmu.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Almond</surname><given-names>Phil</given-names></name></contrib><aff>De Montfort University, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="palmond@dmu.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">palmond@dmu.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Clark</surname><given-names>Ian</given-names></name></contrib><aff>De Montfort University, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="iachum@dmu.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">iachum@dmu.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Colling</surname><given-names>Trevor</given-names></name></contrib><aff>De Montfort University, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="tchum@dmu.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">tchum@dmu.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Edwards</surname><given-names>Tony</given-names></name></contrib><aff>Kings College, London, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="tony.edwards@kcl.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">tony.edwards@kcl.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Holden</surname><given-names>Len</given-names></name></contrib><aff>De Montfort University, UK <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="lthhum@dmu.ac.uk" xlink:type="simple">lthhum@dmu.ac.uk</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Muller-Camen</surname><given-names>Michael</given-names></name></contrib><aff>International University in Germany, Bruchsal, Germany <ext-link ext-link-type="email" xlink:href="michael.muller-camen@i-u.de" xlink:type="simple">michael.muller-camen@i-u.de</ext-link></aff></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><month>03</month><year>2004</year></pub-date><volume>25</volume><issue>3</issue><fpage>363</fpage><lpage>391</lpage><permissions><copyright-year>2004</copyright-year></permissions><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>This article revisits a central question in the debates on the management of multinationals: the balance between centralized policy-making and subsidiary autonomy. It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is <italic>negotiated</italic> by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. In such negotiation, actors’ leverage often derives from exploiting differences between the national business systems in which the multinational operates.</p></abstract><kwd-group kwd-group-type="KWD" xml:lang="en"><kwd>US multinational companies</kwd><kwd>human resource management</kwd><kwd>centralization</kwd><kwd>subsidiary autonomy</kwd><kwd>power</kwd></kwd-group><custom-meta-wrap><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>hwp-legacy-fpage</meta-name><meta-value>363</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta xlink:type="simple"><meta-name>hwp-legacy-dochead</meta-name><meta-value>Journal Article</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-wrap></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><ref><citation xlink:type="simple"> Adler, Nancy, and F. Ghadar <year>1990</year> ‘Strategic human resource management: A global perspective’ in Human resource management: an international comparison. R. Pieper (ed.), <fpage>235</fpage>–260. 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It does so through data from a series of case studies on the management of human resources in American multinationals in the UK. Two strands of debate are confronted. The first is the literature on differences between multinationals of different national origins which has shown that US companies tend to be more centralized, standardized, and formalized in their management of human resources. It is argued that the literature has provided unconvincing explanations of this pattern, failing to link it to distinctive features of the American business system in which US multinationals are embedded. The second strand is the wider debate on the balance between centralization and decentralization in multinationals. It is argued that the literature neglects important features of this balance: the contingent oscillation between centralized and decentralized modes of operation and (relatedly) the way in which the balance is negotiated by organizational actors through micro-political processes whereby the external structural constraints on the company are defined and interpreted. In such negotiation, actors’ leverage often derives from exploiting differences between the national business systems in which the multinational operates.</abstract><subject lang="en"><genre>KWD</genre><topic>US multinational companies</topic><topic>human resource management</topic><topic>centralization</topic><topic>subsidiary autonomy</topic><topic>power</topic></subject><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Organization Studies</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="abbreviated"><title>Organization Studies</title></titleInfo><genre type="journal">journal</genre><identifier type="ISSN">0170-8406</identifier><identifier type="eISSN">1741-3044</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">OSS</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID-hwp">sposs</identifier><part><date>2004</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>25</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>3</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>363</start><end>391</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">200053F57C0D09E2AE5DC47C6F0D62EA3806CD6A</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1177/0170840604040041</identifier><identifier type="ArticleID">10.1177_0170840604040041</identifier><identifier type="local">10.11770170840604040041</identifier><recordInfo><recordContentSource>SAGE</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
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