Exploring the configuration of international HRM strategies for global integration and local responsiveness in MNEs

Abstract

This study examines the configuration of international HRM strategies to understand how an MNE pursues global integration and local responsiveness simultaneously in HRM. Drawing upon cases of eight South Korean and Japanese MNEs, we identify different patterns of configuration of five international HRM strategies that shape distinct sets of activities. We show that the firms pursue global integration and local responsiveness simultaneously, but in distinct ways, by configuring international HRM strategies for both integration and responsiveness rather than solely just relying on either one. Our findings offer insight into how MNEs actually manage the duality of global integration and local responsiveness at the strategy level beyond the hybridization of global standardization and localization of practices.