Lujia Feng, Paul Barry and Christopher Rees

Centre for Organisations in Development (COD)

Management and Governance in Development Group (MGD)

Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM)

School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED)

The University of Manchester

lujia.feng@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Research key words

- International Human Resource Management (IHRM)

-Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs)

-Africa

-Chinese headquarters and African subsidiaries

- standardization and adaptation of HRM

Research Topic

Reassessing the Practices of International Human Resource

Management (IHRM) in Chinese Multinational Corporations (MNCs)

in Africa: Standardization and Adaptation

Structure of the Presentation

• Research background

• Research aim and four objectives

• Research contextual factors and frameworks

• The case study of my research: a Chinese Multinational Corporation

1. Headquarter: Shenzhen, China

2. Subsidiaries: Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia, Africa

• Research methodology

• Research motivation

Research Background

The importance of multinational corporations in the world economy: nearly 61,000 MNCs controlling 900,000 subsidiaries (UN, 2009)

The development of Chinese MNCs since 1979: the ‘Go global' (Zou Chuqu) policy (Deng Xiaoping) in 2004 encourages many Chinese MNCs to enter and compete in the international market

The increasing investment from Chinese MNCs into African countries

The growing interest in the research on international human resource management

Research Aim and Objectives

Aim: to explore the practices of IHRM in Chinese MNCs in Africa, based on an integrative model, considering the specific factors that influence the balance of IHRM and related issues of policy and practice

Objectives:

To identify the main issues and contextual factors of IHRM in MNCs in the globalisation context through the pilot research

To interrogate the main issues and contextual factors which shape IHRM policies and practices in Chinese MNCs in their PRC headquarters

To interrogate the main issues and contextual factors which shape IHRM policies and practices in Chinese MNCs in their African subsidiaries from an integrative perspective

To explore IHRM policy and practice transfer from/to Chinese MNCs headquarters to/from African subsidiaries with reference to specific aspects including performance management

A ‘Soft’ Contextual Factor: Culture

• Chinese MNCs: The Confucian Culture

1. Hierarchy (Jie Ji): power distance

2. Perseverance (Jian Chi): uncertainty avoidance

3. Thrift (Jie Jian): budget plan

• Chinese MNCs in Africa: The colonial history

1. Bureaucratic: power distance and nepotism

2. Ethnic features: “Ubuntu”

altruism, benevolence, generosity

A ‘Hard’ Contextual Factor: Institution

• The role of the state and government

• The role of international organizations such as ILO and trade unions

• The dispute of neo-colonialism VS Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): ‘Shehui Zeren’

1. Definition: social good beyond the immediate interests of the organization and the requirement of law

2. Main issues: triple bottom lines and neo-colonialism

3. Public relations: ‘Gonggong Guanxi’

Internal Contextual Factors

• Business strategy:

1. Ownership: Chinese state-owned or private MNCs

2. Industrial sectors: knowledge-intensive or labour-intensive: Infrastructure, service or textile

• Organizational structure:

1. Country of origin

2. The host country

3. The international integration of the organization

Research Framework 1

IHRM policy and practice

CMNCs

External soft Internal factors: External hard

factor: culture Business strategy factor: institution

Organisational structure

IHRM

The Case Study of a Chinese MNC in Africa:

• Internal factors: Private owned in the hi-tech sector

• External factor 1: Institution

1. The regulation of local government

2. The diplomatic relation between China and Africa

3. The cooperation with international organizations

• External factor 2: Culture Chinese Confucian values

1. Generosity and win-win opportunity

2. Outsourcing and cooperation with local companies

The Balance of IHRM practices with the influence of Chinese Confucian Culture

The balance (He Xie) between organizational profit and local community development

Framework 2: Transfer of IHRM from the West (Europe/North America)

to the East (China) and then to the West (Africa)

IHRM with Chinese, Africa and West Europe/North America characteristics

IHRM with Chinese characteristic

Mature experience of HRM and IHRM in Western Europe and North America

Headquarters with Chinese characteristics

Subsidiaries with Chinese and African

characteristics

Comparison between Subsidiaries of Chinese MNCs in Africa

From the East (Tanzania) to the West (Ghana)

The Practices of IHRM in Subsidiary of the Chinese MNC in Ghana

• Four Core Policies of IHRM:

Selection, Training, Application and Retention

(Xuan, Yu, Yong, Liu)

• 'Qiu Tong Cun Yi': seeking common ground

and reserving differences with flexibility

• The issue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

An independent department: The Public

Relations Department (Gonggong, Guanxi)

Emerging Research Themes

• The practices of IHRM in Chinese MNCs in Africa

• Contextual factors:

1. Culture: Confucian value and Colonial history

2. Institution: Government and Non-governmental Organizations(NGOs)

3. Business strategy and organizational structure

• Neo-colonialism and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• Comparison of the Chinese subsidiaries in Ghana,Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia

Research Methodology- Triangulation

How the triangulation method applied in this research is

Source: compiled by the author

Questionnaires

and documents

as pilot and

initial study

To develop a

broad picture of

IHRM in the

African

subsidiary of

the Chinese

MNCs

Semi-structured

interviews to

explore policies

and practices of

performance

management

Focus groups to

further uncover the

contextual factors

which influence

policies and

practices of

performance

management

An integrative model to

explore performance

management of IHRM from

Chinese MNCs to African

subsidiaries

Research Motivation

For the Sake of My Dream

Make my small contribution to serve the world and to make a better world for us to

live in: reduce the imbalance and inequality in cross-border human resource management through the development of effective instruments to identify and share appropriate IHRM policies and practices

My PhD & My Dream