Human resource management in multinational and domestic enterprises: A comparative institutional analysis in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This article looks at the relative impact of context on the role of senior managers. It compares HR directors of domestic enterprises (DEs) with those of multinational enterprises (MNEs), within an emerging market setting, based on a survey of HR directors in Brunei. We found that, with the exception of some aspects of selection and recruitment, HR directors of MNEs accorded a higher priority to strategic tasks but were more reluctant to delegate. This study confirms the importance of MNEs in pioneering more modern and integrated approaches to people management but also demonstrates the limitations to the extent where they might act as evangelists of new practices that are adopted by their local peers. In contrast, local firms were more likely to concentrate their attention on administrative, rather than strategic, issues. We draw out the implications of our findings for theory and practice.

Human Resource Management and Organisational Performance: The Mediating Role of Social Exchange

“…It is held that certain HRM practices are expected to serve as a main source of enhanced performance and competitive advantage (see Pfeffer, 1998; Singh et al, 2019). This view has led to explore into the effect of HR practices on the overall firms' performance.…”

Resource Cursed Economies and HR Practices

“…A wealth of foreign investment has been attracted into Brunei during more recent periods, with these predominantly witnessed following oil and gas; however, across a number of petro-states, the non-oil and -gas industries have come to experience a number of critical obstacles when aiming to achieve a competitive edge (Singh et al 2019). This work has identified the urgency with which HR Directors in Brunei need to adopt a more wide-ranging role spanning beyond HRM and its daily technicalities.…”

“…Nonetheless, across a number of different petro-states encompassing significant foreign labour forces carrying out both unskilled and semi-skilled positions, HR devolvement can also highlight problematic aspects, regardless of industry. As is widely recognised, foreign workers tend to have very few legal rights, and it may therefore be seen that desire for HR devolvement in such a situation could similarly highlight an inclination to repeal responsibility for the low value-added 'dirty work' of adopting authoritarian approaches to employment and work onto low-level management and frontline staff (Darwish et al 2017;Singh et al 2019).…”

“…Brunei may be described as a quickly developing micro-petro-state; in much the same way as other regions of a comparable status, Brunei may be recognised by its generally strong presence of foreign multinationals and its significant number of expatriate workers, both in the skilled professionals arena and that of semi-skilled and unskilled (Darwish et al 2017). It is possible that professional expatriates could come to face a number of problems when it comes to adapting to the local environments and its cultures; however, they offer unique capabilities, insights, and skills (Singh et al 2019). On the other hand, in the case of those employees recognised as semi-skilled and unskilled, such individuals are more likely to be given only low wages and corresponding low-status work, with dismissal and deportation likely in the event of poor performance (Santoso 2009).…”

“…This is predominantly seen to be as a result of the oil and gas sector to cause an overflow of investment across human and physical capital in other domains linked with governance issues, a propensity for policymakers to turn to oil and gas to overcome developmental issues as opposed to encouraging more wide-ranging institution-building, and the over-valuation and associated instability of currency (Collier 2010;Ross 2012). In a number of different petro-states, the oil and gas sector is seen to be well controlled and regulated, whereas there is a complete neglect in this regard when it comes to non-resource sectors (Auty 1993;Singh et al 2019). In the case of such difficult situations, it may be suggested that the human aspects of business competitiveness are bestowed with specific value.…”