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The purpose of this paper is to explore the specific difficulties that senior managers face when employing expatriate, Chinese and local‐hired foreign managers in China‐based subsidiaries of Western multinational companies (MNCs). Furthermore, it aims to examine the resultant coping strategies to overcome identified weaknesses.

This research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi‐structured interviews with key‐informants from senior management in 44 Australian and German companies operating in China.

The study identified specific difficulties associated with the employment of expatriate, local Chinese, and local‐hired foreign managers in Australian and German subsidiaries in China. The interviewees indicate a widespread intention to replace expatriate managers with Chinese managers and local‐hired foreign managers. The striving for localization of staffing is more pronounced in German than Australian MNCs. German companies offer more comprehensive development activities for the Chinese talent than Australian companies.

The small number of participants and the restriction to one key informant per company limit the generalizability of the findings. The effects of different staffing options still need to be researched in longitudinal studies and in varied contexts.

Localization of staff suggests the need for specific, culture‐sensitive approaches to personnel development. The findings also suggest that the knowledge transfer between expatriate and local managers deserves more attention. Finally, the return on investment that companies receive from differing staffing options should be assessed using a multidimensional set of success criteria.

This paper has two main contributions to existing research. First, it links academic discussion about the options of international staffing with the experience of practitioners from Western MNCs operating in China. Second, it provides further support for the existence of country‐of‐origin effects in international staffing.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an employer perceptive on the employability of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) by contrasting SIEs with other identified staffing groups available for the staffing of MNC subsidiaries in China.

This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 24 Westerners with direct staffing responsibilities in subsidiaries of western MNCs located in China. The employability of each identified staffing group was assessed using the person-to-environment fit approach from four-fit perspectives (person-to-job and to-group, organisation and cultural context).

The study revealed how from the employer perspective SIEs do not form a heterogeneous group, but instead there are two groups with different fit profiles. The study illustrates how western SIEs are an uncommon and under-used staffing group in cross-cultural staffing settings in China due to their low employability in comparison to alternative staffing groups. The study also revealed the prevalent bipolarity (the Westerners vs the Chinese) and heterogeneity within the identified staffing groups.

The study recognises the lack of employer perspective in SIE literature and also that SIEs are an under-represented group in the staffing literature.

The findings help explain how MNC staffing is culturally bound and how the staffing process should incorporate more than just an assessment of job-related qualifications. The findings also help explain the challenges SIEs can experience in cross-cultural career settings.

The study is one of the first to provide an employer perspective on SIE careers and contrast SIEs to the other alternative staffing groups available to MNC subsidiaries in China.

This paper aims to explore the micro-political complexities of operating over institutional distance in a modern international enterprise. The focal sector of the study is the pharmaceutical industry, which, in its latest phase of global development, has engaged in “internal sourcing” of research and development (R&D) talent from China. This paper contributes to emergent “socio-political” theorization in international business through revealing complex forms of workplace segmentation and conflictual forms of practice at micro-organizational level.

The author of this paper and a UK-based research associate visited the Shanghai-based R&D facility of a major Western owned pharmaceutical concern to carry out interviews with key managers, expatriates and scientists to “hear their stories”. Access was gained to the research site through insider contacts.

It was discovered that, in the context of an enterprise intent on innovation, motivational logics themselves emanate from the embedded positions of diverse organizational actors, in turn bringing to the fore issues of power, resistance, ethnicity and language.

Generalizations from a single case study may have limited significance. However, the unique case setting provides the scope for a novel contribution to the field of international business by examining contradictory and asymmetrical factors in the social construction of a Global Value Chain extending from West to East to source emergent local talent.

The case offers the possibility for managerial learning in the areas of working across cultures, managing expatriation, dealing with linguistic and etymological differences and formulating international business strategy (integration or differentiation in the MNC). The study highlights the significance of critical realist perspectives in fostering reflexive behaviours of actors in multilayered and complex micro-environments.

The work has significance concerning the devolution of both managerial and medical responsibilities to local agents in China. This is a vital social factor in the emerging economy context. The work also casts light on social and personal issues confronting international managerial and scientific migrants.

To date, the phenomena of Global Value Chains have been approached in a relatively transactional and economistic fashion. The paper shed light on GVCs as humanistic and political phenomena. A relatively new departure of the study is to demonstrate that workplace actors in modern and modularized industrial enterprises located in the emerging economy setting respond to environmental volatility through engaging in variant and conflictual forms of institutional entrepreneurship.

Expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment is one of the crucial factors for multi-national corporations’ (MNCs’) global success, which if neglected can lead to poor performance and increased turnover rates. On the other hand, cultural intelligence (CQ) is an important perspective for understanding international business success. Utilizing a relatively large sample of foreign professionals (n = 402) working in Mainland China, this study aims to test the effects of cultural intelligence on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment and their turnover intentions.

Data were collected via a cross-sectional survey, and the hierarchical multiple regression technique was used to test the hypotheses. The facets of cross-cultural adjustment were treated as potential predictors of turnover intentions and mediators in the relationship between CQ and turnover intentions.

With the exception of CQ-behavioral, the other three dimensions of CQ had varying positive effects on the three facets of expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment. When the variable of turnover intentions was regressed on the four dimensions of CQ, the motivational dimension was the only predictor. Also, general and work adjustment facets had strong effects on turnover intentions, thus when they entered in the third step after CQ-motivational, they provided full mediation.

Given the strong and positive effects of all CQ dimensions on all facets of cross-cultural adjustment, MNCs should assess and select individuals with high CQ levels for international assignments. Based on the correlations of the control variables, age and level of education, MNCs should keep an eye on those who are young and those with higher levels of education as they are more likely to leave their international assignments prematurely. Expatriates themselves should set long-term personal plans for acquiring the needed cultural knowledge.

This research extends the relationship between CQ and cross-cultural adjustment to expatriates’ turnover intentions, a very costly problem for MNCs, yet barely researched in the context of CQ. This study also extends the geographical validity of CQ to Mainland China, a very lucrative market for global MNCs, yet a challenge for Western expatriates in particular.

This paper aims to propose practical recommendations in accordance with the strategic roles played by research and development (R&D) in multinational companies (MNCs).

This study applies a qualitative method to investigate the talent management (TM) practices implemented in MNCs’ R&D units.

The findings identify four R&D strategies and four sectors of TM practices. Furthermore, there exists an alignment between R&D strategies and TM practices.

This paper has several limitations. This qualitative research is exploratory, and larger samples or quantitative methods are needed to ensure the wider applicability of the findings. When possible, longitudinal studies yield superior results in revealing the evolving strategic roles of R&D subsidiaries and their TM practices. The authors used China as the research context, and similar studies in other emerging countries with active R&D activities are required to further validate or complement the findings in this study.

This study has some practical implications for companies with regard to aligning their TM practices with R&D strategies.

R&D units play an increasingly significant role in MNCs and TM is a key issue. However, there is a lack of TM research focusing on R&D employees by taking strategies into account.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a comparative conceptual framework to analyze hybrids of western and Chinese strategic management types, where the foundation is an institutional strategic management theory.

This framework is then applied to develop a research instrument that is used in a pilot study of 21 cases in China, primarily Swedish MNCs.

In this study, a complex picture emerges of the various mixes of management types in international firms operating in China. The results demonstrate that the comparative institutional strategic management framework developed seems to work for studying such mixtures of management types.

The discussion is based on the assumption of two dominating management types in international firms in China. The authors have found different mixtures among the firms. Besides strategic management, the theory and instrument might also be useful for human resource management issues like recruitment and talent management.

Practical implications include a potentially useful measurement tool for strategic management in international firms and for evaluating executives in existing and new positions. Moreover, a contribution is made to global management, since the framework is also useful for comparing strategic management types of international firms in and outside China.

This paper contributes to this research in two ways. First, a comparative theory is specified to study the hybrids of strategic management types of international firms, especially for firms in China. Second, an instrument is developed for researching such management mixes and used on a pilot study of international firms operating in China.

Since previous research has mainly focused on “how multinational companies generally practise knowledge management”, this paper seeks to suggest that very little is known of the particularities of knowledge‐sharing and knowledge management practice in the context of a specific country and culture.

It uses an in‐depth case‐research approach focusing specifically on Siemens ShareNet in China. A total of 35 interviews have been conducted with executives, general managers, and line managers within different units at the headquarters as well as in China.

Knowledge management needs to take the cultural dimension into consideration, as culture decisively influences knowledge‐sharing behavior. Potential for knowledge sharing in the emerging market of China is higher than one may expect, if the necessary adjustment to the cultural context can be made.

This research paper investigates a single case focusing on Siemens ShareNet in China. Thus, the findings may have limitations in their generalizability. Any future research needs to pay more attention to both “non‐monetary incentives” and “cultural impact” of knowledge sharing, as theses two issues are of particular value while so far largely unexplored.

Knowledge management officers are able to deepen their understanding of motivations and barriers of knowledge sharing especially in the Chinese context. The paper also demonstrates potentials for hands‐on improvements.

This study reveals that knowledge management needs to take the cultural dimension into consideration, as culture decisively influences knowledge‐sharing behavior. It also indicates that the potential for knowledge sharing in an emerging market such as China is higher than one may expect.

This paper aims to investigate the ability of performance measurement systems (PMS) that were implemented by headquarters at foreign subsidiaries to influence decisions made by the subsidiary. This is important because PMS are important control mechanisms in the relationship between headquarters and subsidiaries within multinational firms.

Acknowledging that controlling foreign subsidiaries is particularly challenging when they are geographically distant to headquarters, the authors collect survey‐based data from Chinese subsidiaries of multinational firms. They develop several hypotheses which are tested on a sample of 148 subsidiaries using multiple regression analysis.

The results suggest that the influence of headquarter‐designed PMS on subsidiary decisions is higher when the compensation of subsidiary management is linked to PMS, when additional formal control is enforced, when PMS are affected by external events, when PMS are comprehensive, and when subsidiaries are embedded into the local business environment. Also, the authors find a negative interaction effect between comprehensive PMS and the extent to which PMS are affected by external events on the decision‐influence of PMS.

Limitations arise from the study setting in China. As management accounting research originates from and has mostly focused on Western countries, it remains somewhat unclear whether the constructs and instruments used in this study are fully transferable to China, despite the statistical and conceptual remedies that were applied.

The study offers new insights into the role of PMS in multinational companies. It extends earlier research by offering empirical evidence from one of the most important emerging economies. As such, the results are relevant for almost every global firm using PMS to control foreign subsidiaries.

Current global business challenges and circumstances are responsible for the need for global talent management (GTM) within multinational corporations (MNCs). Social media and networks are becoming key channels for global communication and collaboration. For GTM in MNCs, an effective usage of social media can potentially result in a competitive edge and create value. The purpose of this study is to answer the question of how.

By means of the Delphi method, three groups of experts were interviewed with questionnaires in two rounds: HR managers, HR researchers, and students following a Master of Science program in Business Administration.

The findings show that all groups assessed the necessity of GTM in MNCs. The HR managers and HR researchers agreed on the areas of focus and instruments that are essential for a successful GTM system. But concerning the application of social networks, the groups have different views. The graduate students are especially open-minded about social networks, and therefore they advocate the use of this tool. The HR managers, however, are skeptical toward this new media and even now have not integrated social networks into GTM to a great extent.

This study presents a GTM model for MNCs based on the combined findings from the literature review and the Delphi study. To our knowledge, this is a new approach. The model helps researchers and practitioners to align GTM in MNCs with the support of social media.

The purpose of this study is to examine talent management process in a region that has been influenced by Eastern culture.

This research is a multiple case study of six MNCs in Asia. Cross-cases analysis was used to reveal differences and similarities. The data were collected through phone interviews with HR managers and written communications as well as organizations’ websites.

The studied companies were dealing with several challenges regarding talent management process, including challenges of attracting and retaining talent, tension between subsidiaries and headquarters, tension between high potentials and non-high potentials and tension between generations. These companies’ strategies for addressing these challenges were also identified and discussed.

This paper revealed talent management orientation, the approach toward and definition of talent and context-specific issues regarding talent management of the selected companies in a region in which this topic has not been sufficiently studied in the past.