HRM and IR in Multinational Corporations in Denmark: Uneasy Bedfellows?

Steen Erik Navrbjerg, Dana Minbaeva

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

As multinational corporations operate in multiple countries, headquarters must take into account differences in local settings when seeking the means to coordinate and control subsidiaries. The local system of industrial relations sets the framework for what kind of human resource management a multinational corporation can implement. Yet another question is whether the still stronger multinationals can change the existing systems of industrial relations, directly or indirectly.

The paper analyzes four Danish enterprises over a 10-year period. This longitudinal study shows that none of the multinationals directly try to interfere in local industrial relations. However, by exercising their management prerogative in a way that differs from the Northern European tradition of industrial relations, they do influence the cooperation between employers and employees. In particular, the results show, that a shift from a stakeholder to a shareholder management style and an increased degree of HQ control have an effect on the whole cooperative atmosphere in each of the companies. In the long run, they may affect the collective bargaining system as such.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Human Resource Management
Volume20
Issue number8
Pages (from-to)1720-1736
Number of pages17
ISSN0958-5192
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009

Keywords

  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • HRM, IR, MNC's, Coordinated Market Economies, Liberal Market Economies

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