Sinéad Monaghan

Weathering the storm? Multinational companies and human resource management through the global financial crisis

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of the global financial crisis on human resource management (HRM) in multinational companies (MNCs) in Ireland. It focuses on four key areas of HR, namely staffing, pay and benefits, industrial relations and the HR function. Design/methodology/approach – It uses a mixed methods approach involving four major data sources combining objective information reported on the impact of the GFC on HRM with subjective perspectives on HRM practice within MNCs. Findings – Specific findings are presented in regard to staffing, pay and benefits, industrial relations and role of HR function. The authors find extensive evidence to indicate that MNCs have been in the vanguard of organisations engaging in multidimensional restructuring programmes in response to the GFC, incorporating many initiatives in the domain of HRM. These include job cuts, short-term working, reduction in training and development expenditure, pay cuts and freezes, reduced benefits and changes in industrial relations. While the authors find that HR function has played a central key role in “delivering” responses to the GFC within MNCs, they also find evidence of a reorganisation of, and financial pressure on, the HR function itself. Originality/value – This paper contributes to and develops the extant literature on the impact of economic crisis on human resource management.

Multinationals and regional economies: embedding the regime shoppers?

In a context in which multinational corporations are increasingly able to choose their locations of production, this article examines how social and political governance actors in host regional economies attempt to attract and retain foreign direct investment. Based on a comparative study of two regions in each of Canada, Ireland, Spain and the UK, it shows both national and in some cases sub-national variations in the nature of attempts to attract and retain foreign investment, as well as in the actors involved. The article also discusses how these differences in policy interact with the characteristics of specific foreign investors. Our findings support arguments that attempts to embed regime-shopping firms are facilitated by active governance from social as well as state actors.

Firm-location dynamics and subnational institutions: creating a framework for collocation advantages

Abstract The dynamic interaction between locational attributes and foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important condition for successful economic activity. Yet while significant research has identified the integral role of socio-spatial aspects to the duration, composition, performance and coevolution of multinational enterprise (MNE) activity, there is limited understanding of how subnational regions coordinate with investment over time. This paper seeks to explore how subnational regions, and their composite institutions, function in coordinating – or not – to attract multinational investment and facilitate collocation advantages. Using case study analysis of two subnational regions within a single advanced economy, we illustrate the potential variation and implications of subnational institutional structure, posturing and engagement with FDI. Our findings are discussed in terms of the role of subnational variation for MNEs and insights to industrial policy for developed countries.

Multinational Corporations, Sub-national Governance and Human Resources: A Cross-national Comparison for Europe

In the context of the transnationalisation of productive systems and changing dynamics of competition to host foreign direct investment (FDI), it is commonly argued, both in economic geography and in discussions of the political economy of FDI, that relatively local, sub-national governance actors play an increasing role in attempting to connect regions to global production. This applies both to negotiating with current and potential investors, and to establishing wider business systems which will attract FDI and try to ‘embed’ it within the relevant geographical space.