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The purpose of this paper is to argue that the direct application of an imported model of human resource management (HRM) is seldom successful. The dissemination and transfer of management practices of European firms to their counterparts in the Maghreb cannot simply be cloned. Indeed, in order to gain legitimacy, internalization of HRM practices of multinationals implemented in the Maghreb must include elements of contingency (culture, religion, etc.). The paper asks: does hybridization have an impact on employee commitment? Does it have an effect upon turnover?

In total, 187 executives operating within 40 subsidiaries of multinational companies in the Maghreb and employed in HRM positions participated in the survey. Respective hypotheses connected with hybrid models were supported using structural equation modelling procedures.

The results show that hybridization of HRM practices increases an employee's commitment and reduces the intention to quit.

The present study is limited in particular by the perceptual and self‐report nature of the data assembled.

Multinational companies' image operating in the Maghreb may be enhanced through hybrid HRM practices. Hybrid HRM practices will open new avenues for a Mediterranean collaboration.

This paper advances the state of HRM research in the Maghreb and provides a unique empirical investigation on the consequences of the internationalization of HRM practices in the Maghreb.

This paper investigates how entrepreneurs in an emerging economy in Latin America bundle resources to develop capabilities related to entering new markets whilst creating value for their firms. In particular, the paper explores how individual resources (experiential knowledge and social networks) impact on entrepreneurs' capabilities to exploit new market opportunities.

The paper employs a case study approach to investigate five cases of entrepreneurs driving technology-based businesses in Brazil. Effectuation theory is used as a lens to ascertain how resources impact on the decision-making capabilities of the entrepreneurs and firms. The research adopts a longitudinal approach, capturing data from thirty interviewees over a period corresponding to domestic and international market entry of these TechnoLatinas ' businesses.

This paper builds on previous resource-based view (RBV) studies by supplementing evidence that individual and firm-level resources determine the development of capabilities to exploit new market opportunities for new firms. The presence of experiential knowledge (in particular, business planning, market analysis and experimentation) and social networks (individual resources) drives to a mix of causal and effectual heuristics; however, in the presence of firm-level resources (human and financial capital), new entrepreneurs tend to shift towards a stronger causal orientation.

The case companies are high technology, knowledge-intensive Brazilian start-up firms sharing a similar institutional setting. Further research should include a more diverse range of cases including other sectors and other countries in Latin America adopting quantitative design to confirm and generalise these findings.

For policymakers and practitioners, this research provides guidelines on how entrepreneurs' know-how and social networks can be enhanced by providing access to the international market to speed up the growth of a new firm. For entrepreneurship educators, this research explains how effectual orientation (EO) or causal orientation (CO) influences the entrepreneur to exploit the available resources to maximise the growth of businesses in the international market.

The resource-based literature usually ignores the challenges faced by new resource-constrained firms and the individual-level resources of the entrepreneurs. This research contributes to the RBV, entrepreneurship and internationalisation debate by identifying the interplay between RBV and effectuation theory, particularly by bringing forward the impact of individual resources and capabilities of entrepreneurs to make the decision to enter a new market. Moreover, by using the effectuation theory, the research contributes to a better understanding of how resources are managed to create value and growth in new firms.

This paper aims to accomplish two purposes: firstly, it revisits the “positional identity” – the ambivalent-hybrid disposition – of human resource management (HRM) in the (postcolonial) Global South. Secondly, it seeks to reframe the role of Southern agents of the epistemic community of HRM, particularly human resource (HR) managers, in managing people in the South.

This paper takes inspiration from the postcolonial theory of Homi Bhabha, his notions of hybridity, the Third Space and colonial positionality, to revisit the positional identity of HRM and to reframe the role of HR managers in the South.

In postcolonial Southern organisations, HR managers play a dual role – as “mimics” and “bastards” of Western discourses of HRM. The dual role tends to put the managers in Southern organisations in a “double–bind”.

This paper helps in the understanding of the role of HRM as well as HR managers in Southern organisations regarding the (post-)colonial legacy of the South.

This paper provides new insights into the identity of HRM in the Global South beyond the dualistic understanding of HR practices, such as convergence–divergence and the mere form of crossvergence. It argues that hybridisation of HRM in Southern organisations takes place in the form of (post-)colonial hybridity.

Highlights current HRM practice and its potential future developments in Austria. Develops a framework for analysing Austrian HRM, focusing on the regulatory environment at plant and supra‐plant level, the impact of industry structure on HR practice, and finally on geo‐political and economic influences. Using empirical data from the study of the Cranfield Network on European HRM (CRANET‐E), analyses the characteristics of current practice in Austrian HRM. Identifies and assesses future developments, especially those triggered by Austria′s accession to the European Union and discusses their implications for Austrian HRM theory and practice.

The purpose of this chapter is to conceptually analyze reverse transfers of human resource management practices from subsidiaries of transnational corporations in emerging markets to their headquarters in developed countries.

This is a conceptual chapter based on a review of the pertinent literature. Analysis is performed at the organizational and national levels.

We identify the type of transnational corporation best positioned to learn and utilize the potential of its emerging market subsidiaries to advance its human resource management practices. We further identify the types of practices best suited for reverse transfer.

Empirical tests of our propositions are needed. We encourage researchers to extend our research by considering the regional (supra-national), industry and individual levels of analyses.

Managers are informed when and where potential for learning new practices is the greatest, and are urged to scrutinize those corporate units where such potentials exist, and yet transfers do not occur.

Emerging markets offer substantial learning potential for transnational corporations, yet most recent studies focus on transfer of technology and product innovations from subsidiaries, leaving the transfer of human resource management practices largely unexplored. Therefore, this study advances research on organizational knowledge and innovation management, and organization of transnational corporations.

In the highly competitive international consulting marketplace clients will always demand a world‐class service. A major challenge for PricewaterhouseCoopers is how to achieve the required level of international co‐ordination of the efforts of 160,000 people world‐wide without compromising responsiveness on a local scale in over 150 countries. Human resource management in general and management development in particular play an important role. A major investment is made in the development of the consultants, despite the acknowledged fact that most will leave the organization after only a few years. PwC uses a global framework of core competences as the key instrument in its development plan and every consultant is profiled according to it. Management development for partners has a more informal, self‐directed character. But the bottom line is still the optimization of international co‐ordination.

This study evaluated the practical relevance of the academic literature on international human-resources management (IHRM). To this end, 304 IHRM articles published in nine academic and eight practitioner journals during 1991–2000 were examined. Results suggested that academics and practitioners varied in their focus on HR topics, geographical regions, and cultural vs. institutional variables. In addition, academics were interested in individual level outcomes as opposed to practitioners, who were primarily concerned with organizational performance. Finally, citation patterns revealed little interaction between academics and practitioners, and academics appeared to be unconcerned with discussing the practical implications of their work.

Existing international human resource management research tends to omit context in investigating the HR needs of MNCs, and gives little attention to the role of IHR managers in strategic decision making. Building on prior works in “context-embedded” research, this paper incorporates an MNC’s strategic context into the analysis of its HR needs and identifies four new research directions that will help advance the academic study of IHRM and its contribution to practice, particularly for firms pursuing a global or transnational strategy. The rationale and significance of each research direction are discussed, and some preliminary propositions are offered to guide future investigation.

This paper aims to investigate whether patterns of human resource management (HRM) are converging or diverging across the globe.

The topic is analysed through a review of existing literature in the space, introducing the drivers for MNCs to seek the global integration of HRM practices, as well as the strategies MNCs may use for practice transfer. The debates of convergence and divergence in relation to HRM practices are then discussed in further detail whilst focusing on two key areas impacting these debates: the cultural factors and the institutional, political and economic factors.

This paper suggests that patterns of HRM practices are not converging to one set of best practices approach, and there are numerous other factors which influence convergence, such as local business systems, legal practices and cultural differences. This paper suggests that there is a mix of some HRM practices converging due to MNC influence, whereas others continue to diverge.

A holistic discussion is held on the theory of convergence and divergence, which will benefit HR professionals in assessing the state of convergence in their own organisation and common pitfalls to be wary of.

This study extends the contention that national culture affects human resource management (HRM) policies and practices and explores meaning and values of work orientation (MVWO) as an element of national culture in predicting HRM policy‐practice design choices. The data were obtained in a sample of 487 employees in domestic and foreign‐invested firms (FIF) in Sri Lanka. Eight distinct MVWO patterns emerged from the sample. Twenty‐six HRM design choices were clustered into four components: planned and open career and empowering system, qualifications and performance based reward system, generic functional perspective of job‐person fit, and job‐related competence and rewards. All the four HRM preference practices are influenced by MVWO. The evidence suggests MVWO relativity of HRM design choices in Sri Lankan context. The question of transferability of empowering and performance management to developing countries becomes evident. Moreover, MVWO relativity of HRM design choices is relatively high in FIF, reflecting that the “type of ownership” can have an impact not only on actual HRM practices but also on preferred HRM practices in FIF. The existence of business in the long‐run and host government expectations also seem to be important factors in understanding HRM preferences in FIF. Theoretical and practical implications for international HR managers are discussed.