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Local or Global? Human Resource Management in International Joint Ventures in China

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Changing Workplace Relations in the Chinese Economy

Part of the book series: Studies on the Chinese Economy ((STCE))

Abstract

In the international business literature, the strategy and operations of MNCs are often conceptualized in terms of global integration versus local responsiveness (Prahalad and Doz, 1987). The framework is typically used to analyse the advantages of global integration and/or standardization of the execution of certain tasks versus the benefits of adjusting to the contextual differences across nations (Ghoshal, 1987). A similar framework has been proposed for HRM policies and practices (Schuler, Dowling and De Cieri, 1993; Taylor, Beechler and Napier, 1996); in this chapter, we will use it to examine the HRM practices for local employees in JVs between Western companies and their local Chinese partners. The establishment of international equity JVs is a central strategy adopted by foreign companies in the PRC. According to China’s statistics, by the end of 1996, over 66 per cent of foreign directly invested firms were JVs (China Statistical Yearbooks 1985–95; Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, or MOFTEC, 1997).

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Authors
  1. Ingmar Björkman
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  2. Yuan Lu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wolfson College, Cambridge, UK

    Malcolm Warner (Fellow) (Fellow)

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© 2000 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Björkman, I., Lu, Y. (2000). Local or Global? Human Resource Management in International Joint Ventures in China. In: Warner, M. (eds) Changing Workplace Relations in the Chinese Economy. Studies on the Chinese Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333978030_7

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