The HRM of Foreign MNCs Operating in Europe

Europe has been a major destination for foreign direct investment as one of the triad economies with the USA and Japan. MNCs have brought not just financial resources but also human resources and, in many cases, particular ways of managing workforces from their home base. Transferring HRM practices could be highly complex and challenging, as human resources are the most country-bounded resources. Foreign MNCs operating in Europe face cross-national challenges stemming from the process of transfer and adaptation of HRM practices, due to the uniqueness of European traditions as well as the national diversity within Europe in relation to employment relations. This paper examines how MNCs from three different countries – the USA and Japan, the two other triad economies, and South Korea, a home base of emerging MNCs – have dealt with the challenges in managing human resources in their European operations within the given institutional contexts.