Literature Review
Managing talent in emerging economy multinationals: integrating strategic management and human resource management.
Most of the developing and emerging economies have established their first overseas operations according to the study by Klaus (Meyer.E & R.Xin, 2018). The Multinational enterprises (MNEs) originating from these emerging economies are rapidly expanding beyond the national borders to the international level. However, the emerging economies multinational enterprises face a major challenge of developing and aligning human resource management to lead international enterprise operations. Recent studies highlight some reasons on why the emerging economy enterprises rapidly expand to the international level. According to the study, need to acquire new technologies and brands is one of the reasons that cause the emerging economies to expand internationally. To implement their strategic ambition, the emerging economies need leaders and managers who can lead and support their international operations. On the global stage, managers with specialized skills who can engage with business partners and other stakeholders in each foreign location are required. The main challenge, thus facing the emerging economies multinational enterprises is to attract, develop, and retain talent with a global mindset and the mindset to implement growth strategies. Acquiring such leaders required in emerging multinational economies a major challenge. The study by Klaus seeks to develop a research agenda on human resource management and strategic management in emerging economies enterprises whose main objective is to explain the obstacles faced by the emerging economies multinational enterprise.
The study by Klaus uses an inductive approach method to develop a research agenda around the challenges identified in the management of emerging economies multinational enterprises. A theoretical review of the existing research was conducted in this particular study to determine how the emerging economies lead their international operations. From the past research, Klaus established that emerging economies multinational enterprises lack experienced talents to favorable compete in the global business networks, thus the need to attract and retain skilled human resource managers. The study draws on diverse empirical sources to develop the research questions with regard to challenges faced by the emerging economies in the process of attracting and retaining talented leaders to lead the international operations. To determine the effectiveness of home country talent in human resource management, an interview that was based on Chinese systems was conducted. From the interview, talented foreign mangers who worked on Chinese systems lacked an adequate understanding of the Chinese culture, which resulted in conflicts in the organizations. The research questions suggested by the Study by Klaus was useful for future research. The major limitation of the study conducted by Klaus is that it only focused on Chinese emerging multinational enterprises, hence providing limited evidence on the effectiveness of local talent in human resource management of international operations.
Contemporary Knowledge Workers and the Boundaryless Work-Life Interface: Implications for the Human Resource Management of the Knowledge Workforce.
In the last decade, the ways of working and living have changed tremendously in the post-industrial economies according to research by Justin (Craig & Xi, 2018). The change in mobile communication technologies, rise of flexible working arrangements, shifting of expectations on ideal motherhood and fatherhood are some of the factors that have contributed to a dramatic change in ways of working and living. The study by Justin suggested that knowledge work has dominated the post-industrial economies where ideas are manipulated and transmitted instead of goods. Due to intense work and non-work activities, knowledge workers work at place and time, but they manage to achieve a balance between work and their family lives. Depending on the existing theory, the research classified the work-life interface theories into three streams namely; negative side of the work-life interface, positive side of the work-life interface, and blurring of boundaries between work and life. The conflict between the work and family life roles among the knowledge workers contributes to the role strain. Knowledge workers involve a high degree of flexibility facilitating to the state of ‘boundaryless.’ The study by Justin aimed to determine the implications of work-life interference on human resource management.
A case study was conducted in this particular research to determine the perceptions of knowledge workers on balancing of the work and life roles. To achieve the aim of the research, an analysis was conducted based on the response provided by each of the participants. The knowledge workers interviewed were from an Australian multinational technology company that had 130,000 employees worldwide. At the time of the study, 2,100 employees were in Australia while the other workers were outside the country. Before conducting the interview, a pilot interview was conducted on five participants to test the efficiency of the interview template. The overall interview was then performed, and a thematic qualitative text analysis technique was used to examine common elements and differences between the participants. The research found that flexible knowledge workers perceive the work-life interface as boundaryless. Also, the study established that most of the knowledge workers do not know when they are at work and when they are at home due to lack of physical boundary between work and home life. The research suggested that human resource managers should ensure that there is a balance between technology provision, work, and home demands.
The study by Justin had several limitations. First, the study by Justin did not consider full-time co-workers, but only the part-time workers were interviewed. Also, the research did not focus on the influence of culture on the knowledge workers work-home interface perceptions. Furthermore, the analysis by Justin failed to consider how the work-home interface perceptions of younger employers differ from those of the older worker.
Talent management of western MNCs in China: Balancing global integration and local responsiveness
Many organizations in the world have realized that knowledge, skills, and their talented employees are necessary for favorable competition in the congested market. According to the research by Evi, despite this discovery, many organizations in the world are faced by a significant challenge of attracting and retaining talented employees (Hartmann, Feisel, & Schober, 2010). China, one of the fastest-growing economy if faced by a shortage of talented employees, which negatively affect the growth of their current and future economy. According to the research, over 50,000 multinational companies enter the Chinese market every year in search of talented employees, which leaves the country with few gifted workers. In the transfer of human resource management practices from the host country to the foreign country, the cultural difference between the involved countries significantly influences adaptation and responsiveness of the human resource management practices. The research shows how western multinational companies in China identify and retain talented employees.
The research by Evi is based on two primary research questions: “How do western multinational companies identify, develop, and retain talented employees?” and “Do institutional and cultural differences influences lead to the adaptation of talent management practice to the focal subsidiary in China?” The research is based on seven case studies conducted from western multinational companies operating in China. To collect the desired data in this particular research, data was collected from qualitative interviews with employees working in multinational companies in China. Senior human resource managers and middle human resource managers were involved in face-to-face English interviews. Data analysis was conducted in two phases to achieve the objectives of the research. In the analysis of the data, the data was first read and documented in tables. Secondly, cross-case analysis of the tabulated data was carried out to detect differences and similarities in talent management practices by multinational companies in China. The data showed that multinational companies have a great interest in attracting and employing talented Chinese workers. The research observed that China is focused on creating an atmosphere that helps to retain its talented employees. Also, the research also established that western multinational companies operating in China had established various mechanisms to integrate skilled Chinese employees without cultural difficulties. The major limitation of this research is that it only concentrated on seven multinational companies operating in China. For more generalized and reliable results, a vast pool of western companies operating in China needs to be interviewed. Also, the research did not intensively focus on longitudinal studies required to determine the long term perspective of Chinese management of talents.
Virtual Teams Research: 10 Years, 10 Themes, and 10 Opportunities
New communication technologies and usage of work teams have advanced in the last decade. The use of virtual teams will continue to rise in the future, according to research by Lucy and her colleagues (Gilson & Travis, 2015). The study by Lucy acknowledged the suggestion of the previous surveys that 66 % of multinational companies utilize virtual teams, and the use of virtual teams in 80% of these companies will continue to rise. By the research, virtual teams researchers have diverted their focus on the implications of the leveraging technology. The earlier research focused mainly on knowledge and skills as the virtual teams inputs. Over the last decade, research has been shifted to composition, culture, and task considerations as the inputs of the virtual teams. The aim of the research was to synthesize the empirical work about virtual teams done in the last ten years.
The research integrated approximately 450 articles from 200 different journals to synthesize the research on virtual teams. To provide the structure of the review, the research coded all the empirical studies in terms of the sample, methodology used, specific inputs, and outcomes examined in each study. From this detailed categorization by the research, a number of themes emerged in areas where there were consistent results or a large number of the proliferation of studies. The ten main themes that emerged from the research include research design, team inputs, team virtuality, technology, globalization, leadership, mediators and moderators, trust, outcomes, and ways to enhance virtual teams success. After reviewing the ten-year existing literature on virtual teams, ten opportunities for the future research were identified: study setting, generational impacts, methodological considerations, new and emerging technologies, member mobility, subgroups, team adaptation, transition process and planning, creativity, and team member well well-being. The research concluded that, with technological advancements, the virtual teams would continue to rise.
The research by Lucy had several limitations, just like any other research. First, the research focused on the empirical work that has been done in the last decade. To draw accurate and reliable conclusions on the rise of virtual teams, literature over a wide range of past years require to be reviewed. The research by Lucy did not how the presence of subgroups affect the well-being in virtual teams setup. Also, the research did not determine how emerging new technologies benefit the members of the virtual teams. Finally, virtual teams are influenced by both individual and team factors, and therefore, the research did not examine the topic of virtual teams in a multilevel longitudinal lens.
References
Craig, J., & Xi, W. (2018). Contemporary Knowledge Workers and the Boundaryless Work-Life Interface: Implications for the Human Resource Management of the Knowledge Workforce. 1-10.
Gilson, L., & Travis, M. (2015). Virtual Teams Research: 10 Years, 10 Themes, and 10 Opportunities. Journal of Managemnt, 1-25.
Hartmann, E., Feisel, E., & Schober, H. (2010). Talent management of western MNCs in China: Balancing global integration and local responsiveness. Journal of World Bussiness, 169-178.
Meyer.E, K., & R.Xin, K. (2018). Managing talent in emerging economy multinationals: integrating strategic management and human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-30.