Human Resource Management in Multinational Enterprises: Evidence From a Late Industrializing Economy

This paper examines the extent to which human resource management (HRM) practices in multinational enterprises (MNEs) from a small, late developing and highly globalized economy resemble their counterparts from larger, early industrializing countries. The paper draws on data from a large-scale representative survey of 260 MNEs in Ireland. The results demonstrate that there are significant differences between the HRM practices deployed in Irish-owned MNEs and that of their US counterparts but considerable similarity with UK firms. A key conclusion is that arguments in the literature regarding MNEs moving towards the adoption of global best practices, equating to the pursuance of an American model of HRM, were not obvious. The study found considerable variation from ‘US practices’ amongst indigenous Irish MNEs.

Delineating human resource management practice in domestic and foreign owned multinational enterprises in Australia

To date there is an absence of any systematic and extensive data on Australian multinational enterprises (MNEs). This research paper fills the information gap and leads to a discussion of the human resource management (HRM) practices of Australian MNEs in the global arena and whether there is a distinctive national identity associated with these practices. We report on the profile of Australian-based multinational enterprises (MNEs). Drawing on a systematic database developed by the authors in 2010–11 we are able to identify the numbers of Australian MNEs and their characteristics and compare them against a representative sample of foreign-owned MNEs operating in Australia.

From Customer-Oriented Strategy to Organizational Financial Performance: The Role of Human Resource Management and Customer-Linking Capability

Drawing on the organizational capabilities literature, the authors developed and tested a model of how supportive human resource management (HRM) improved firms’ financial performance perceived by marketing managers through fostering the implementation of a customer-oriented strategy. Customer-linking capability, which is the capability in managing close customer relationships, indicated the implementation of the customer-oriented strategy. Data collected from two emerging economies – China and Hungary –established that supportive HRM partially mediated the relationship between customer-oriented strategy and customer-linking capability. Customer-linking capability further explained how supportive HRM contributed to perceived financial performance. This study explicates the implication of customer-oriented strategy for HRM and reveals the
importance of HRM in strategy implementation. It also sheds some light on the ‘black box’ between HRM and performance. While making important contributions to the field of strategy, HRM and marketing, this study also offers useful practical implications.

The pervasiveness and trajectory of methodological choices: A 20 year review of human resource management research

This paper examines the methodological choices of researchers studying the HR practices–outcome relationship via a content analysis of 281 studies published across the last twenty years. The prevalence and trajectory of change over time are reported for a wide range of methodological choices relevant to internal, external, construct, and statistical conclusion validity. While the results indicate a high incidence of potentially problematic cross-sectional, single informant, and single level designs, they also reveal significant improvements over time across many validity relevant methodological choices. This broad based improvement in the methodological underpinnings of HR research suggests that researchers and practitioners can view the findings reported in the HR literature with increasing confidence. Directions for future research are provided.

Adaptive Measurement-Based Policy-Driven QoS Management with Fuzzy-Rule-based Resource Allocation

Fixed and wireless networks are increasingly converging towards common connectivity with IP-based core networks. Providing effective end-to-end resource and QoS management in such complex heterogeneous converged network scenarios requires unified, adaptive and scalable solutions to integrate and co-ordinate diverse QoS mechanisms of different access technologies with IP-based QoS. Policy-Based Network Management (PBNM) is one approach that could be employed to address this challenge. Hence, a policy-based framework for end-to-end QoS management in converged networks, CNQF (Converged Networks QoS Management Framework) has been proposed within our project. In this paper, the CNQF architecture, a Java implementation of its prototype and experimental validation of key elements are discussed. We then present a fuzzy-based CNQF resource management approach and study the performance of our implementation with real traffic flows on an experimental testbed. The results demonstrate the efficacy of our resource-adaptive approach for practical PBNM systems

Do conflict management systems matter?

The most influential current idea in the theory of conflict management concerns the design features and supposed superior outcomes of conflict management systems combining interest-based and rights-based practices for resolving conflict in organizations. Yet much of the literature in the area is highly prescriptive and draws heavily either on exemplary case studies or descriptive data. Using focus groups of HR practitioners and experts in conflict resolution to develop a questionnaire covering the main conflict management practices associated with the theory of conflict management systems, the study analyzes data from a survey of firms in the Republic of Ireland to examine quantitatively the effects of conflict management systems on organizational outcomes. While proactive line management and supervisory engagement in conflict resolution as a key dimension of conflict management systems is found to be positively associated with a range of organizational outcomes, no evidence is found for the kind of system effects proposed in the theoretical and prescriptive literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Firms and Innovative Conflict Management Systems in Ireland

This article examines the practices adopted by firms in the Republic of Ireland to manage conflict involving groups of employees, focusing in particular on the uptake of 'alternative dispute resolution practices'. The article reveals that conflict management practices take the form of 'systems', and it estimates the incidence of innovative conflict management systems, incorporating alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices, as involving about 30 per cent of firms. A series of influences are shown to be associated with innovative, ADR-based conflict management systems, especially commitment-oriented HRM practices and whether unions are recognized. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2010.

Managing SMT Resource Usage through Speculative Instruction Window Weighting

Simultaneous multithreading processors dynamically share processor resources between multiple threads. In general, shared SMT resources may be managed explicitly, for instance, by dynamically setting queue occupation bounds for each thread as in the DCRA and Hill-Climbing policies. Alternatively, resources may be managed implicitly; that is, resource usage is controlled by placing the desired instruction mix in the resources. In this case, the main resource management tool is the instruction fetch policy which must predict the behavior of each thread (branch mispredictions, long-latency loads, etc.) as it fetches instructions.