Soehardjojo, J. (2018) Knowledge and HRM practice transfer in emerging economies: the case of Japanese joint ventures in Indonesia. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the mechanisms used to transfer the management practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) to an emerging market economy (EME) context. Examining an MNC’s ownership and control of its subsidiaries in a setting of institutional resistance, this research focuses on the objectives and processes of the MNC’s diffusion of human resource management and industrial relations (HRM-IR) “best practice” to standardise subsidiaries’ practices, control their management and influence policy developments.

The case involves a dominant MNC headquarters (HQ) and low-power subsidiary actors, with implications for cross-border management practice transfer, coordinated actors and conflicts of interest. This study seeks to enhance our understanding of the HQ’s systematic circumvention and manipulation of hostcountry regulatory barriers, particularly those barriers designed to protect local systems, policies and practices from foreign management’s direct control of human resources in Indonesian subsidiaries. HQ actors find ways of influencing, standardising and changing subsidiaries’ HRM norms, policies and practices.

This thesis explores the power resources, motivations and strategies of MNC actors at inter- and intra-organisational levels in 12 Indonesian automotive manufacturing firms that have Japanese (co-)ownership or are part of the Japanese producer’s supply chain. Three levels of institutional analysis offer a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of cross-border transfer relating to power, politics and conflicts in MNCs: (1) HQ actors’ strategies to control foreign subsidiaries’ management practices, (2) subsidiary actors’ strategies to maximise the benefits of cooperation with MNC’s global networks, and (3) the business group’s proactive influence of labour market institutions. The findings are relevant to an understanding of the emergence of high-quality production networks in EMEs characterised by “weak” and immature institutions, as well as to the transferability of dominant work, employment and organisation systems.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Indonesia, International business enterprises -- Japan, Automobile industry and trade -- Indonesia, Absorptive capacity (Economics), Japan, Joint ventures
Official Date:	September 2018
Dates:	Date Event September 2018 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Warwick Business School
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Driffield, Nigel L. ; Meardi, Guglielmo ; Wood, G. (Geoffrey)
Sponsors:	Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation ; British Association for Japanese Studies ; Kokusai Kōryū Kikin ; Nihon Zaidan ; European Association for Japanese Studies ; Research and Development Management Association ; Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies ; Harvard University
Description:	Winner of the Thomas A. Kochan and Stephen R. Sleigh Best Dissertation Awards, Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), USA, March 2020 ; Runner-up of the Adam Smith Best Dissertation 2020 Award, Academy of International Business UK & Ireland (AIB-UKI), June 2020 ; Highly commended winner of Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award 2020, Human Resource Management category, September 2020.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	300 leaves : illustrations, charts
Language:	eng

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