Recent developments in the global economy and in multinational corporations have placed significant emphasis on the cognitive orientations of managers, giving rise to a number of concepts such as ‘global mindset’ that are presumed to be associated with the effective management of multinational corporations. This paper reviews the literature on global mindset and clarifies some of the conceptual confusion surrounding the construct. We identify common themes across writers, suggesting that the majority of studies fall into one of three research perspectives: cultural, strategic, and multidimensional. We also identify two constructs from the social sciences – cosmopolitanism and cognitive complexity – that underlie the perspectives found in the literature. We then use these two constructs to develop an integrative theoretical framework of global mindset. We then provide a critical assessment of the field of global mindset and suggest directions for future theoretical and empirical research. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 231–258. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400265

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A multilevel analysis of environmental (country) and organizational (affiliate) factors is used to explain the differential utilization rates of U.S. nationals in overseas professional positions of a major U.S. bank with 84 branches in 43 countries. The research suggests that to the extent that the affiliates of a multinational corporation operate in environments with differing levels of political risk, cultural distance, and competition and have operations with different levels of complexity and interdependence, a single staffing policy may be inappropriate. An analysis of existing research and theory on the utilization of expatriates reveals that while many have written about expatriates versus local nationals few have based their statements on empirical evidence [Robinson 1978; Robock and Simmonds 1983; Ronen 1986].1 The theoretical and prescriptive literature has proposed many company, host country, and individual factors to consider when determining whether to staff an overseas position with a U.S. or host country national [Ronen 1986: 506-507]. The little empirical research that exists has raised at least as many questions as have been resolved [Perlmutter and Heenan 1974; Thng 1982, 1984; Youssef 1973; Zeira and Harari 1977]. The question of when U.S. nationals should be sent abroad remains open. A recent, provocative article by Kobrin has made the above question very timely [1988]. Kobrin argues that American multinational corporations (MNCs) are making a significant strategic error by reducing the number of

This article tests a model of organizational commitment in multinational corporations (MNCs). According to the model, organizational culture and human resource management (HRM) affect employee commitment directly as well as indirectly through top management team orientations. Szpecifically, we examined the effect of top management team global orientation and geocentric orientation, which are seen as contributing uniquely to employee commitment in MNCs. The model was tested on a sample of 1664 core employees working in 39 affiliates of 10 MNCs. We found strong overall support for the model. In particular, organizational culture characterized by high adaptability and a HRM system characterized by high performance work practices were found to have a significant and direct effect on employee commitment. In addition, we found that the effect of these traditional elements of the human organization is partially mediated through top management orientations, specific to international firms. The validity and generalizability of these results are reinforced by the control of a set of demographic variables as well as nationality of parent company.

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