Consequences of transnational strategies for IHRM practices. Evidence from German MNCs

This paper analyses the consequences of multinational corporations’ (MNCs) move

towards integrated transnational networks (ITNs) which leads to an increase in the

interdependency of organizational entities. We suggest that this increased interdependency

requires new ways of coordination that change the nature of international human resource

management (IHRM) practices in MNCs. In this paper, we present a framework that addresses

these effects and empirically test it using data from a questionnaire survey among 142 overseas

subsidiaries of German MNCs. The findings suggest that shifts towards integrated transnational

networks have consequences for the use and design of a number of IHRM instruments. We

conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for IHRM practitioners and scholars.