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National and firm-level drivers of the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers

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Abstract

Multinational companies must understand the influences on responsibility for managing people so that they can manage talent consistently thus ensuring that it is transferable across locations. We examine the impact of firm and national level characteristics on the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers. Our analysis draws on data from 2335 indigenous organizations in 21 countries. At the firm level, we found that where the HR function has higher power, devolution is less likely. At the national level, devolution of decision making to line management is more likely in societies with more stringent employment laws and lower power distance.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of members of the Cranet Network for collecting the data used in this Research Note.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen, Norway

    Paul N Gooderham

  2. Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Michael J Morley

  3. Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, UK

    Emma Parry

  4. Department of Public and Business Administration, The University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Eleni Stavrou

Authors
  1. Paul N Gooderham
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  2. Michael J Morley
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  3. Emma Parry
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  4. Eleni Stavrou
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma Parry.

Additional information

Accepted by Paula Caliguri, Area Editor, 21 January 2015. This research Note has been with the authors for three revisions.

All the four authors of this Research Note have contributed equally.

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Gooderham, P., Morley, M., Parry, E. et al. National and firm-level drivers of the devolution of HRM decision making to line managers. J Int Bus Stud 46, 715–723 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2015.5

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