The Identities of Emerging and Developed Multinational Corporations and their effect on business and society Social IdentitiesDue date for a 500 word proposal is 31st May 2016 Due date for decisions on proposals for development of full papers is 30th June 2016 Due date for final paper 30th November 2016 Final Decisions 28th February 2017Rationale for this Special Issue: The rapid pace of globalisation and an increasing level of trade and business integration between advanced and emerging nations pose challenges in managing the diversity of workforce, business ideologies and the many social identities that people and nations possess. Whilst a number of studies have explored the impact of cultural issues in dealing with multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in emerging markets such as India (Giorgi, Lockwood and Lynn, 2015; Pereira & Malik, 2013, 2015: Laleman, Pereira & Malik, 2015; Malik & Pereira, 2016), relatively little research has been undertaken on how emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) operate in advanced nations and deal with the attendant issues of race, nationalism, and self- and social-identities.Identity is an important element of scholarship within international business (IB). Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are major actors within the IB system and have an identity that is shaped by their country-of-origin effects (Almond et al., 2005; Almond, 2011). Examples include BP-British, TATA-Indian, Walmart-US, De Beers-South African and Lenovo- Chinese. Also, as the first MNCs, “(h)istorically, the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) and the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) were privately owned commercial English and Dutch organisations, respectively” (Pereira and Malik (2015, 358). Since then there has also been a move from simpler forms of MNC ‘identities’ to much more complex identities as a result of increasing mergers, acquisitions and takeovers, by both emerging market economies, as well as the advanced nations in both economies. For example, the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) by Tata Motors India from Ford, an American MNC, that owned the British brand JLR. There was a strong perception by Ford (who sold JLR) that the JLR brand would be diluted if they sell it to TATA. However, the new emerging and re-emerging economies of the Middle East/ Latin America / Indian / Chinese markets perceived this new identity differently, and behaved differently. Today JLR has upturned Nissan to become the largest car manufacturer in the UK. Ironically the TATA group is the largest manufacturing employer in the UK, with national-brand acquisitions such as Tetley foods, former British Steel, JLR and several others (Pereira, 2012). Lenovo, the IBM branch of laptops and home computers was bought by the Chinese and given a unique Chinese identity, which today is the leading branded company in China. Another example is the exploitation of transnational suspicions and differences in marketing and the treatment of businesses, for example the treatment of the Chinese MNC Huawei when seeking to operate in countries such as Australia.Theoretically we can put forward several arguments. We look at two, but these are not exhaustive for the purpose of this special issue. First, the above examples suggest that a firm has a certain identity and it is viewed by society in certain ways (good or bad) and vice versa. While the literature on social identity theory (Ashforth & Mael, 1989) has produced several studies in the field of IB and international human resource management (IHRM) (Bonache, Langinier, & Zárraga-Oberty, 2016; Salk & Shenkar, 2001; Quintanilla, & Ferner, 2003), there is little understanding of how this occurs in the context of MNCs in emerging markets. The Identity, both national and social, of a firm has a strong influence on the strategy, structure and behaviour of the MNCs. The effect of this identity plays out both ways: business on society and vice-versa. This identity of EMNCs has not been researched in detail in the literature and would add valuable knowledge to the field, and would also derive a lot of interest amongst interdisciplinary scholars within both International Business and the Social Sciences.Secondly, given the complex globalisation and expansion of MNCs, there is an increasing need to explore the impact of self-identity of employees associated in diverse groups. This throws up an interesting question: do issues of such differing self-identities and cultural openness lead to a different or complex identity with the MNC/Parent group? Further, with the proliferation of merger, acquisition and takeover activity globally, such an understanding is also relevant when it comes to managing the (social) identity challenges of employees within multinational firms, especially in emerging markets. Social identity theory suggests the prevalence of in-group bias which results in preferential treatment of the existing group relative to those belonging to other groups (Tajfel and Turner 1979), thus leading to potential episodes of power misuse and an increased conflict between two employee groups (Dick, Ullrich and Tissington, 2006). Others have argued for the frequency of contacts as a critical factor shaping the social identification of an employee with its firm or that of the acquiring firm.Based on the above rationale and discussion we have suggested possible keywords and theoretical lenses through which we look to solicit contributions. We emphasise that this list is not exhaustive and would welcome contributions exploring issues in the areas related to this call for papers. Key words include:•Globalisation•Multinational corporations•Transnational communication•Identity development / adjustment•Social context / identity•Merger and acquisitions•Liability of foreignness•Religion•Culture•Expatriates•Diaspora•Post-colonialism•Country of Origin•Nationalism Key areas to analyse / theorise for this Special Issue could include:•Social Identity•Social Network Theory•Institutional Theory•Cultural Communication•Post-colonial TheoryReferences:Almond, P. (2011). Re-visiting country-of-origin effects on HRM in multinational corporations. Human Resource Management Journal, 21, 258–271. Almond, P., Edwards, T., Colling, T., Ferner, A., Gunnigle, P., Muller-Camen, M., …Wächter,H. (2005). Unraveling home and host country effects: An investigation of the HR policies of an American multinational in four European countries. Industrial Relations, 44, 276–305. Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 20-39. Bebenroth, R. (2015). Organizational Identification at Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions: A Theoretical Concept. In International Business Mergers and Acquisitions in Japan (pp. 173-186). Springer Japan. Bonache, J., Langinier, H., & Zárraga-Oberty, C. (2016). Antecedents and effects of host country nationals negative stereotyping of corporate expatriates. A social identity analysis. Human Resource Management Review, 26(1), 59-68. Dick, R., Ullrich, J., & Tissington, P. A. (2006). Working Under a Black Cloud: How to Sustain Organizational Identification after a Merger. British Journal of management, 17(S1), S69-S79. Giorgi, S., Lockwood, C., & Glynn, M.A. 2015. The many faces of culture: Making sense of 30 years of research on culture in organization studies. The Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), pp. 1-54. Laleman, F., Pereira, V., & Malik, A. (2015). Understanding cultural singularities of ‘Indianness’ in an intercultural business setting. Culture and Organization, DOI: 10.1080/14759551.2015.1060232, 2-21. Malik, A. & Pereira, V. (Forthcoming 2016) Indian Culture and Work Organisations in Transition. New Delhi: Routledge Pereira, V. (2012). “People and Organisational Management Practices in an Emerging Market Multinational Operating in the UK: The Case of Tata Consultancy Services.” HR Bulletin: Research and Practice 7 (2): 5–8. Pereira, V., & Malik, A. (2013). East is East? Understanding Aspects of Indian Culture(s) within Organisations. Culture and Organization Vol. 19(5), pp. 453-456 Pereira, V., & Malik, A. (2015) Making sense and identifying aspects of Indian culture(s) in organisations: Demystifying through empirical evidence, Culture and Organization, 21:5, 355-365, DOI: 10.1080/14759551.2015.1082265 Pereira, V., & Malik, A. (2015). Investigating Cultural Aspects in Indian Organizations: Empirical Evidence. V. Pereira, & A. Malik (Eds.), Switzerland: Springer Publishing. Salk, J. E., & Shenkar, O. (2001). Social identities in an international joint venture: An exploratory case study. Organization science, 12(2), 161-178. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The social psychology of intergroup relations, 33(47), 74. Quintanilla, J., & Ferner, A. (2003). Multinationals and human resource management: between global convergence and national identity. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(3), 363-368.Biographies for Special Issue Guest Editors Vijay and Ashish:Vijay Pereira, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in International and Strategic HRM and Leader in Knowledge Services (Human Capital Development) in the Organisation Studies and HRM group at the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth, UK. Ashish Malik, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia and teaches HRM and related courses. Submission InstructionsPlease e-mail proposals to
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[email protected] the Social Identities homepage to view the Aims & Scope, Instructions for Authors and more. Editorial information• Guest Editor: Vijay Pereira, University of Portsmouth, UK • Guest Editor: Ashish Malik, University of Newcastle, Australia Explore Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture Published by Routledge 6 issues per year Stay up-to-date with the latest research Sign up to table of contents alerts and receive an email as soon as new research is published or subscribe to the journal's RSS feed. Find out more on Taylor & Francis Online: Journal home page Editorial board Aims & scope Instructions for authors Published on 11 February 2016. Last updated on 17 February 2016.
Period | 2016 |
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Type of journal | Journal |
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ISSN | 1350-4630 |
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