Managing Expatriates of Chinese Multinationals: Toward an Institutional Work Perspective

Received:October 15, 2017  Revised:October 15, 2017

Key Words:  global work, institutional work, Chinese MNEs, expatriates, international HRM

Author NameAffiliation
Di Fan* Curtin University 
Yiyi Su0 Tongji University 
Fang Lee Cooke0 Monash University 

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Abstract:
      This paper proposes that institutions in host and home countries jointly determine expatriate management in Chinese Multinational Enterprises (MNEs); meanwhile, global work undertaken by expatriates in Chinese MNEs dynamically shapes home and host institutions. Drawing from the institutional work perspective, this study identifies six forms of global work – boundary work, cultural work, identity work, practice work, strategy work and value work – to investigate the mechanism that underpins the institution work and expatriate management. This paper further examines the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in strategically managing expatriates and their assignments in a dynamic context. Demystifying global work in Chinese MNEs is illustrated through two qualitative case studies: a cross-case comparison study and a single-case longitudinal study. The paper outlines general directions for future study on global work in the international business context.

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