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CALL FOR SPECIAL ISSUE PAPERS
Journal: Social Identities (Journal of Race, Culture and Identity)
Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA) Rank ‘A'
Title: The Identities of Emerging and Developed Multinational Corporations and their effect on business and society
Guest Editors:
Dr Vijay Pereira, University of Portsmouth, UK
Dr Ashish Malik, University of Newcastle, Australia
Rationale 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 international-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 Dates:
Due 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 2017
Please e-mail proposals to [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask]
The Social Identities Journal can be found here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/csid20/current
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 Theory
References:
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.
BIO’S for SI Guest Editors- Vijay and Ashish:
Vijay Pereira, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in International and Strategic HRM and ex-leader in Knowledge Services (Human Capital Development) in the Organisation Studies and HRM group at the Portsmouth Business School, University of Portsmouth, UK. He holds six academic qualifications, and has published in journals such as HRM, Journal of World Business, International Journal of HRM; International Journal of Manpower, International Studies of Management & Organization, Culture & Organisation, Journal of Organisational Change Management, Thunderbird International Business Review, etc. He has published three research books/monographs (Routledge, Springer & Palgrave Macmillan), and has also contributed to several book chapters. Over the years he has consistently attracted research funding/grants. His previous experiences have been in consulting and industry, both in India and the UK. He was the former Area Editor of the Journal of Asia Business Studies, is currently on the International Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of South Asian History and Culture, and is an elected Executive Board Member of the Indian Academy of Management (Affiliate of Academy of Management, USA). He was recently awarded with the Indo-United Nations (UN) Pin. Only 100 Indo-UN Pins have been created by the United Nations to be conferred upon those personalities who have contributed to the society in general and the spread of Gandhian Philosophy in particular all over the World.
Ashish Malik, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia and teaches HRM and related courses. Ashish completed his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and has published his research in academic journals such as Asia-Pacific Business Review, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Health Care Management Review and Industrial Marketing Management. Dr Malik has co-edited/authored four books (Routledge, Springer and Palgrave Macmillan) on themes including Indian culture, business models and human capital.