The impact of host country environment and headquarters on strategic human resource development practices at mne subsidiaries: A survey from Turkey

Today, the acceleration in globalization and competition has given rise to an increased emphasis for MNEs in managing their international human resource base. One of the most important concerns for MNE subsidiaries is whether they adapt their human resources practices to local context (local responsiveness or isomorphism) or their HR practices are similar to those of their parent company. MNEs operating in multiple countries face the pressure for taking the demands requested by country-specific environmental forces into consideration. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of MNE organizational factors, environmental factors, subsidiary characteristics and MNE characteristics on local responsiveness of strategic human resource development (SHRD) practices of overseas MNE subsidiaries?wholly foreign owned MNE subsidiaries ? operating in Turkey. Considering the significant increase of FDI in Turkey and the potential of further exploration about pressures for global integration-local responsiveness of MNEs, the main objective is to investigate the distinct forces for global integration and local responsiveness and to explore the strength of the existing relationship. The study tests the influencing dimensions on the SHRD practices through considering Institutional, Resource Dependence and Contingency Theories. Moreover, the strength of the significantly observed relationships is also examined. The evidence presented showed that local responsiveness of strategic HR practices being management of performance appraisal, management of career planning and also recruitment and selection criteria are dependent on the forces imposed from MNE organizational factors (national origin, control orientation, and international strategy) and environmental factors (the subsidiary?s dependence on the local context, relationship with local customers and competitors). In addition, moderating influences were found regarding certain categories of the sample. Finally, the study presented limitations and proposed recommendations for further studies.