The topography of global mobility within multinational enterprises (MNEs) is evolving where we now have a portfolio of flexible global working arrangements (FGWAs) including: international business travellers, flexpatriates, short-term international assignees, international commuters, and rotational assignees. The need for more agile structures and more efficient mechanisms to transfer globally dispersed knowledge are two key enablers in this evolution. With increased interest, this paper offers the first systematic, integrative review of 100 articles on FGWAs. The review indicates that these forms of global work appear to be a somewhat overlooked double-edged sword in that they may confer significant but unrealised value for MNEs alongside hidden, adverse consequences for individuals. Notable was the lack of insight into the HR function's input or oversight at either a strategic or operational level. We find that there is a distinct lack of strategic linkages to global mobility and/or HR functions. We propose a research agenda that centres on better understanding the international HR function's role and responsibility in providing a more strategic and sustainable perspective of these increasingly common FGWAs alongside virtual work. The COVID-19 pandemic may offer a critical juncture point in which there is greater strategic consideration on the utilisation and support of such arrangements.

We consider how in issue selling, subsidiaries draw on different forms of legitimacy to attract corporate headquarters' (CHQ) positive attention and minimise negative CHQ attention.Through case study evidence, we find that directing CHQ attention to subsidiary issues needs to be executed as a balancing act through forms of subsidiary legitimacy, namely; the personal legitimacy of key individuals at the subsidiary; consequential legitimacy vis-à-vis peer subsidiaries; and linkage legitimacy in the local environment. We develop a typology of subsidiary issue-selling roles and illustrate how negative CHQ attention results from a failure to legitimise issue selling.

Research Summary: This paper emphasizes the social and political dimensions of subsidiary influence in strategically repositioning the subsidiary's mandate. The specific skills subsidiary actors deploy in attempting to influence corporate headquarters have largely been neglected in existing literature. Drawing from a micro‐political perspective, we provide a more nuanced, fine‐grained understanding of subsidiary influence by illuminating how influence is augmented and enriched through the concomitant effects of subsidiary actors' social and political skills. Using a multiple case study analysis and drawing on qualitative interviews, we illustrate how subsidiary actors' social skills are used to continuously create, maintain, and develop spaces of social engagement with corporate decision makers, whereas political skill involves the ability to leverage social spaces by developing specific influence tactics such as targeting, showcasing, and framing. Managerial Summary: Subsidiaries of multinational companies play an increasingly dominant role in the global business environment. The role of the individual subsidiary actor in influencing corporate management is crucial to the development of the subsidiary mandate. Despite this, very little is known about the microlevel skills individual subsidiary actors draw upon to influence the development of their mandates. This article explores how subsidiary actors channel key social and political skills in strategically repositioning their mandates within the multinational enterprise. We find that subsidiary actors may use their social skills to establish increased interaction and communication with key corporate decision makers, whereas political skill is used to develop a variety of influence tactics.

The increased research focus on the networked perspective of the multinational enterprise (MNE) reflects a greater delegation of responsibility from corporate headquarters (CHQ) to subsidiary and intermediary units such as regional headquarters (RHQ). This shift has increased the intensity of political interactions between key actors within the MNE. Despite the recent rise in studies on the micro‐political perspective of the MNE to date, little empirical work has explored this issue in the context of the CHQ–RHQ relationship. Drawing insights from agency theory and micro‐politics, the authors focus on the context in which RHQs develop micro‐political strategies in order to manage the flow and exchange of knowledge with CHQ. They show how RHQ may exhibit a ‘dual agency’ role when dealing with CHQ, in that it is characterized as a principal and agent, each requiring different micro‐political knowledge strategies. As a principal, RHQ will develop micro‐political knowledge strategies to increase alignment with CHQ. As an agent, RHQ develops micro‐political knowledge strategies to pursue its self‐interests. Having identified different RHQ agency roles, the authors develop a conceptual model that outlines how alignment and self‐interest‐seeking behaviours from RHQ are manifest through different micro‐political knowledge strategies in its agency relationship with CHQ.

Scholars and practitioners both agree that the increasing deployment of individuals on short-term international assignments (SIAs) presents significant challenges that have not yet been met with the development of appropriate organisational policies and practices. This paper explores the specific forms of training and support that individuals on SIAs receive. In doing so, we illuminate the unique challenges that short-term assignees face, and identify specifc forms of training and support that organsiations may develop in responding to these challenges. Drawing on in-depth exploratory qualitative interviews with a sample of German assignees, the findings identify the need for tailored training and support through formal and informal mechanisms, developed in predeparture and post-arrival contexts. Given the inherent time constraints for SIAs, the significance of informal support, in both pre-departure and post-arrival contexts is especially emphasised. The paper makes key contributions through providing much needed empirical evidence on the training and support short-term assignees receive and in so doing we identify specific forms of training and supports deemed relevant from the perspective of individuals on SIAs.