Geary, John and Nyiawung, Julius
(2022)
The impact of Chinese investments on western multinational enterprises’ work and employment practices: A consideration of institutional, political and dominance effects.
Human Relations, 75 (5).
pp. 842-870.
ISSN 0018-7267
Abstract
One of the most significant developments in international business in recent years is
the dramatic expansion of Chinese – often state-led or state-supported – investment
in Africa. While we know something of Chinese multinational enterprises’ strategies,
we know comparatively little about their work and employment practices and even
less about their influence on western multinational companies (MNEs). We examine
these important issues by looking at the practices of a major Chinese MNE alongside
those of a French MNE and a US MNE in Cameroon’s oil industry. We find that while
the French and American MNEs were successful in importing their preferred practices
and in evading host-country regulations for many years, this was challenged upon the
arrival of the Chinese MNE. We query why and by what means did the entrance of
a major MNE lead to significant changes in the behaviours of long-resident MNEs.
The translation of the identified effects is explained by drawing on different levels of
analysis that include an appreciation of the location of the MNE and the state within the
international political economy of capitalism, attendant shifts in the frontiers of political The translation of the identified effects is explained by drawing on different levels of analysis that include an appreciation of the location of the MNE and the state within the international political economy of capitalism, attendant shifts in the frontiers of political influence, isomorphic institutional influences, actors’ postures within and beyond the MNE, and their relational interplay.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Africa; Cameroon; China; dominance; international HRM; international political economy of capitalism; multinationals; neo-institutionalism; oil; power; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business |
| Item ID: |
18335 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726721998432 |
| Depositing User: |
Julius Nyiawung
|
| Date Deposited: |
28 Mar 2024 15:26 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Human Relations |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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