There is a growing body of literature on multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the extent to which they diffuse or transfer their human resource management (HRM) practices in foreign subsidiaries. Much of the research, however, examines the HRM practices of multinational enterprises from developed countries operating in developing countries rather than vice versa. This study investigates the transfer of HRM practices in Indian information technology MNEs with subsidiaries in Australia and draws on data collected through interviews with senior subsidiary managers. The findings indicate that contrary to what is suggested in the existing literature, Indian IT MNEs do not operate using a polycentric HR model but behave in a manner similar to Western MNEs. They adopt a hybridisation approach using headquarter(HQ)-local practices that merge home-country policies with locally responsive HRM practices to suit their Australian subsidiary context. This article discusses the implications of this finding for theory and practice in EMNEs.

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to find out the effect of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior among employees in the context of Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. The study also aimed to investigate the mediating effect of one organizational-level variable, i.e. organizational climate and one individual-level variable, i.e. readiness for change on the direct relationship between authentic leadership and innovative work behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe study used survey method with a sample of 261 employees working in Indian startups that have gone global in the past one decade. Authentic leadership, organizational climate, readiness for change and innovative work behavior were measured using standardized questionnaires.FindingsStructural equation modeling revealed that authentic leadership had significant direct effect on innovative work behavior and this effect was mediated by readiness for change. However, organizational climate had no significant effect.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study have important implications for startups that employ millennials as employees and have plans to go global. Millennials have very different characteristics in the workplace and they regard authenticity in the leader very highly. Since they are assertive and they question everything, it becomes imperative for founder-leaders to exhibit authenticity in their actions, words and thoughts.Originality/valueThis is the first study in the context of Indian startups that have gone global by taking important variables of authentic leadership, readiness for change and innovative work behavior.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) from emerging economies to manage their subsidiaries in developed countries and their implications for human resource management practices. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on data collected through in-depth case studies and interviews with senior subsidiary managers of 12 major Indian information technology (IT) MNCs operating in Australia. Findings Indian IT MNCs rely heavily on the use of people-centric controls exerted through global staffing practices (via the transfer of parent-country nationals), which, in turn, influence their subsidiary’s discretion over their HR practices. The use of people-centric controls allows Indian IT multinationals to replicate parent-country HRM practices in their Australian subsidiaries in an ethnocentric manner and significantly leverage the people-based competitive advantages from India through short- and long-term expatriate assignments. Research limitations/implications The study investigates control and HRM practices from a single country and a single industry perspective. It provides an insight into the normative means of control in foreign subsidiaries of MNCs and enhances our understanding by explaining the integrated relationship that control mechanisms (and their people-centric components) have with HRM practices including the global staffing approaches and expatriate management practices of emerging MNCs. Practical implications Indian MNCs are using their business model to leverage the Australian immigration and skilled visa programme to maintain cost advantages. However, the immigration legislation in developed countries needs to be capable of allowing emerging multinational corporations (EMNCs) to maintain such advantages as developed countries seek to attract foreign direct investment from emerging economies. Originality/value The results indicate that the control practices of EMNCs are similar to the controls exerted by MNCs from developed countries. They also show that EMNCs do not adopt a portfolio approach to global staffing, and that the people-centric components of their control have a clear impact on their subsidiaries’ HRM practices.

PurposeThis research examines Indian service managers' perceptions on impact of convergent technologies on their work and resultant organisational performance. The research uses four dimensions – task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction and management control – taken together, to investigate the perceived impact of convergent technologies adoption in service organisations context and further examines the resultant organisational performance, based on these dimensions.Design/methodology/approachThe study used partial least squares (PLS) approach to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model. The study was conducted in service industry firms that have made a significant progression towards adopting convergent technologies.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrated higher levels of perceived impact of adoption of convergent technologies on all the four dimensions (i.e. task productivity, task innovation, customer satisfaction and management control). The results of the study also indicate that all the impact dimensions positively influence organisational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the study suggest that all the impact dimensions positively influence organisation, therefore the service sector managers should be aware about the role of adopting latest convergent technologies so as to enhance the task productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction and management control in their job roles.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of this research are derived on the basis of Future of Work, Labour Market Information Systems, Productivity, Enterprise Development, Enhancing skills of service employees and Employability themes.Originality/valueTo researchers best knowledge is to first study of its kind to evaluate the perceived impact of convergent technologies on organisational performance in Indian context.

PurposeThis narrative review presents a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM, based on extant research in the domains of ethical HRM and ethical AI. More specifically, the authors identify critical ethical issues pertaining to AI-augmented HRM functions and suggest ethical principles to address these issues by identifying the relevant stakeholders based on the responsibility ethics approach.Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows a narrative review approach by first identifying various ethical/codes/issues/dilemmas discussed in HRM and AI. The authors next discuss ethical issues concerning AI-augmented HRM, drawing from recent literature. Finally, the authors propose ethical principles for AI-augmented HRM and stakeholders responsible for managing those issues.FindingsThe paper summarises key findings of extant research in the ethical HRM and AI domain and provides a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM functions.Originality/valueThis research's value lies in conceptualising a multi-stakeholder ethical framework for AI-augmented HRM functions comprising 11 ethical principles. The research also identifies the class of stakeholders responsible for identified ethical principles. The research also presents future research directions based on the proposed model.

The rationale behind reshoring activities remains unclear. Multinationals reshore their subsidiaries when regulations in the host country become too costly or difficult to manage. However, it is unclear whether the positive association between the propensity for reshoring subsidiaries and the host country's regulations applies to all types of subsidiaries (i.e. majority or minority owned) and whether it is moderated by other factors. We suggest that external stakeholders play a crucial role in strengthening the relationship between the decision to reshore and the host country's regulations. Within the context of international business, we examine the reshoring decision of a panel of subsidiaries controlled by UK multinationals located in 39 countries and focus on a specific set of environmental and corporate governance regulations. Our findings suggest that reshoring amongst minority-owned subsidiaries is more likely to happen in countries with weak protection of shareholders and mandatory environmental disclosure. Such a relationship is also strengthened by the presence of external stakeholders, namely, foreign directors sitting on subsidiaries' boards. We contribute to the reshoring literature by showing the role of external stakeholders and the impact of institutions and regulatory requirements on reshoring decisions.

PurposeThis article aims to examine the challenges faced by highly skilled expatriates (i.e. professionals and managers) from the Indian subcontinent (i.e. India and neighboring countries) as they attempt to advance their careers in Australia. Extant literature has revealed significant gaps between policies for skilled migration proposed by governments in developed countries and the response to policies by organizations in those countries. By employing the theories of habitus, disembedding, sensemaking and acculturation as frameworks for analysis, the authors explore and explain how these expatriates settle and integrate into their new lives and careers as they resolve their experience of habitus.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed phenomenology and narrative research techniques using 21 in-depth, semistructured interviews with expatriate professionals from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to explore and examine their expatriation experiences and their occupational progress in Australia.FindingsThe findings reveal that on migrating to Australia, expatriate professionals are uprooted from their home country habitus and thrust into new conditions that cause them to lose their cultural, economic, intellectual and social capital, which further leads them into a state of “disembeddedness.” These highly skilled expatriates then rely on sensemaking and acculturation to resolve their crisis of habitus. The authors also found that gender is a significant factor in this process, as female expatriates faced more career-related barriers compared to their male counterparts.Originality/valueThis article brings into focus previously unexamined avenues of expatriation research and proposes a novel theoretical framework that is instrumental in explaining the settlement and integration process of highly skilled professionals from emerging nations.

PurposeThis study examines how emerging market multinational enterprises operating in the service sector manage knowledge and team members in their overseas subsidiaries and what role expatriates play in their operations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multiple case study design and interview 20 senior managers representing 16 Indian IT firm's subsidiaries in Australia. The onsite-offshore concept and the SECI model are used to explain the knowledge management process.FindingsThe findings show that Indian IT firms mostly transfer knowledge from their headquarters in the parent country to their subsidiaries in the host country using the onsite-offshore model where work is divided and coordinated between team members situated between the two locations. Furthermore, the host country subsidiaries have limited independence in decision-making due to a forward, one-way diffusion of knowledge, thus limiting a two-way interaction between the HQ and the subsidiary for opportunities to create and exchange new knowledge.Originality/valueThe study is one of the few to investigate the onsite-offshore phenomenon in service-based emerging market multinational enterprises.