The Context of Strategic Human Resource Management Policy in Complex Firms

Abstract

Complex multinational enterprises have to establish human resource policies to meet the needs of different product-markets and socio-cultural environments. How can they tackle this task, central to the challenge of developing a strategic approach to human resource management? This article addresses this question. The multidivisional structure has obviously emerged to cope with different product-markets, and the role of HRM is assessed at corporate, divisional and business element levels. On the other hand, globalism and polycentrism are alternative strategies for adaptation to the different socio-cultural environments of geographic markets. Finally, the potential conflicts between product-market and socio-cultural logics are analyzed.

Paul Evans is Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, Fontainebleau. He is Chairman of Insead’s Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Chair Program in International Human Resource Management, a program undertaking studies and other activities in this field. He has an M.A. in Law from Cambridge University, an MBA from INSEAD, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from M.I.T. He has worked as a consultant to more than 40 multinational corporations, and has been a visiting professor/scholar at various universities on both sides of the Atlantic. His earlier research was in the field of career and management development.