Cultures and institutions: Dispositional and contextual explanations for country-of-origin effects in MNC ‘ethnocentric’ staffing practices
Lee,Hyun Jung Yoshikawa,Katsuhiko Harzing,Anne-Wil
Lee,Hyun Jung
Yoshikawa,Katsuhiko
Harzing,Anne-Wil
Abstract
Although the country-of-origin effect on staffing practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) is well-known, its underlying mechanisms are under-theorized. Drawing on the cross-cultural management and comparative institutionalism literatures, we propose an overarching, theory-based framework with two mechanisms, dispositional and contextual, that might explain country-of-origin effects in MNCs’ use of parent-country nationals (PCNs) in their foreign subsidiaries’ top management teams. The tendency of MNCs from some home countries to staff these positions with PCNs is typically labelled as ‘ethnocentric’, a word imbued with negative intentions referring mainly to the dispositional rationale behind this staffing choice. However, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of staffing practices of MNCs from ten home countries shows that both mechanisms – dispositional and contextual – have considerable explanatory power. Our methodological approach enables us to analyse conceptually distinct, yet empirically intertwined, societal-level explanations as a pattern, and thus offers a viable solution to integrate different perspectives in international and comparative research.
Description
Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.
Date
2022-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Netherlands, ethnocentrism, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), global staffing, multinational corporations (MNCs)
Citation
Lee, H J, Yoshikawa, K & Harzing, A-W 2022, 'Cultures and institutions : Dispositional and contextual explanations for country-of-origin effects in MNC ‘ethnocentric’ staffing practices', Organization Studies, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 497-519. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406211006247