Multinational Teams in European and American Companies

Incorporating team context into research and practice concerning team effectiveness in multinational organizations still remains an ongoing challenge. This book aims at drawing the attention of researchers and practitioners towards the importance of various ‘layers’ of context on multinational teams and developing an empirically derived framework for multinational team functioning in business organisations. It shows how companies make use of these teams and how these teams contribute to competitive advantage. The study has been conducted in an Austrian, a German, and an American company. It reveals that if managed appropriately, these teams reduce the complexity of operations by facilitating the creation and transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge and by transferring appropriate dimensions of headquarter corporate culture between geographically dispersed business units

Cultural influences and the mediating role of socio-cultural integration processes on the performance of cross-border mergers and acquisitions

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This paper reports findings from a longitudinal case study (2005–2011) of a merger between an Austrian and a German energy provider. I develop a model of socio-cultural integration processes based on an analysis of critical incidents expressed in 71 problem-centred interviews and observations with acquired and acquiring employees at four different points of time: immediately before the takeover and during the first negotiation talks, and one, three and six years after the takeover. The findings suggest that the relationship between national and organizational cultural differences and M&A outcomes is mediated by socio-cultural integration processes defined in terms of the formation of interpersonal relationships, trust and shared identity. Based on these findings I formulate specific propositions and build an evidence-based model of M&A socio-cultural integration processes that guides future research and practice

Acculturation, coping, and integration success of international skilled migrants: An integrative review and multilevel framework

In this article, we review the limited but growing body of research on international skilled migrants and examine to what extent knowledge generated in adjacent research streams-specifically, work on assigned and self-initiated expatriates-can be meaningfully applied to aid our under- standing of the challenges, coping strategies, and acculturation dynamics of skilled migrants. We develop a framework that explains how variables and processes at multiple levels (individual, organisational, and societal) influence migrant acculturation and coping and result in integration-related outcomes in the domains of personal/family life and workplace/career. We discuss directions for future research and implications for practice

Global migrants: Understanding the implications for international business and management

Global migration has always impacted individuals, organizations, and societies, but the attention given to migration in international business and management (IB/IM) has not been commensurate with its importance. In this article we detail why a focus on migration is needed, how this topic has been addressed so far in the field, and especially how it could contribute to generating knowledge and relevant insights for practice and policy. We underline the relevance and significance of the phenomenon by introducing a collection of studies in a special issue on global migration and its implication for IB/IM

Knowledge Exchange Processes in Multicultural Teams: Linking Organizational Diversity Climates to Teams’ Effectiveness

We developed an evidence-based model illuminating team knowledge exchange processes as a key link between organizational diversity climate and the effectiveness of multicultural teams (MCTs). Our analysis is based on 143 in-depth interviews and extensive observations of team interactions that occurred in 48 teams from 11 companies. Our findings revealed that teams that oscillated between assertive and cooperative knowledge exchange processes were more effective. We also found such dual processes were more prevalent in organizations that had an engagement-focused diversity climate characterized by utilization of diversity to inform and enhance work processes based on the assumption that cultural differences give rise to different knowledge, insights, and alternative views. Based on our findings we developed specific propositions about optimizing MCT knowledge-exchange processes to guide future research and practice

Multinational Teams in European and American Companies

Incorporating team context into research and practice concerning team effectiveness in multinational organizations still remains an ongoing challenge. This book aims at drawing the attention of researchers and practitioners towards the importance of various ‘layers’ of context on multinational teams and developing an empirically derived framework for multinational team functioning in business organisations. It shows how companies make use of these teams and how these teams contribute to competitive advantage. The study has been conducted in an Austrian, a German, and an American company. It reveals that if managed appropriately, these teams reduce the complexity of operations by facilitating the creation and transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge and by transferring appropriate dimensions of headquarter corporate culture between geographically dispersed business units

Global migration: implications for international business scholarship

Migration is increasingly viewed as a high-priority policy issue among politicians, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, and civil society throughout the world. Its implications for the private sector, for economic prosperity, and for the cross-border activities of firms are undeniable and likely to grow in importance. Yet, despite its relevance to International Business, treatment of migration in the mainstream International Business literature has been limited. In this contribution, we set out key aspects of migration that are germane to International Business. Specifically, we suggest recent migratory shifts are transforming important elements of the context in which multinational enterprises operate, with significant implications for their international human resource management practices, for firms’ entry modes and market selection approaches, and for the manner in which international strategies are formulated and implemented. We offer a research agenda to motivate International Business scholars to study global migration in more depth and to reevaluate the generalizability of aspects of their theories in light of developments in global migration

Enhancing the role of human resource management in corporate sustainability and social responsibility: a multi-stakeholder, multidimensional approach to HRM

This paper focuses on the increased pressure for corporations to engage in corporate sustainability (CS) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to address the current crisis of confidence in business, align their activities with the needs and expectations of a broader set of stakeholders, and help tackle the world's grand challenges. We argue that human resource management (HRM) has a potentially vital role to play in contributing to a firm's CS/CSR efforts, but so far has failed to deliver. We explore the reasons for this failure and discuss ways for HRM to play a more prominent role in the design and implementation of a firm's CS/CSR strategy. Building on earlier attempts to integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability into the HRM performance construct, we propose a multidimensional, multi-stakeholder approach to sustainable HRM that encompasses activities aimed both at avoiding harmful consequences for stakeholders and contributing to positive outcomes along the triple bottom line (i.e., people, planet, and prosperity). We discuss implications for research and develop a set of propositions and guidelines for future research