ILPC 2026

 In recently years, a growing number of Chinese multinationals have started to acquire firms in the developed countries as a pathway towards upgrading their technological and management capability (Peng, 2009; Elia and Santangelo, 2017). While there are some empirical research showing the mixed purpose of acquisitions, the complex process of post-acquisition integration and performance outcomes of the parent and acquired firms, limited workplace-based studies have been done to unpack the meaning of human resource management (HRM). In fact, the meaning of HRM is seldom discussed as if HRM is a set of coherent activities that can be applied to any case of cross-country acquisition. In this paper, we aim to address this research gap by examining workers’ narratives about the roles HRM played in the post-acquisition technological upgrading process, with a particular focus on comparing the interpretation of HRM made by workers expatriated from the parent firms and to the local workers.

The empirical data are collected from two Chinese multinational firms, both of which acquired an upstream supplier in early 2010s. Company A is a semi-conductor manufacturer in the UK, acquired by a Chinese state owned transport machinery manufacturing group. Company B is a chemical pulp mill in Canada acquired by a Chinese private owned nylon fibre production plant. Company A adopted an employee engagement approach to implement the changes brought by upgrading production technology and retraining the engineers, technicians and workers. By the time this fieldwork was conducted, Company A was on course to becoming the largest R&D hub of the parent firm outside China. Company B, in contrast, followed a more confrontational route, which led to an 18-month suspension of production.

Despite the contrasting experiences of the workers in the two companies, some common features emerged from the initial phase of comparing what human resource management means to the workers. The Chinese managers and expatriated workers are found to be championing ‘job insecurity, hard-work and self-sacrifice’ as key to effective technological upgrading, and hence the objective of HRM. This point echoes findings from previous research conducted in Chinese multinationals in the developing countries (Lee, 2014; Rui, Miao and Shipment, 2017). The local workers, in contrast, put emphasis on ‘equality, autonomy and self-development’ as critical to the technological upgrading process. HRM is presented as playing mediating roles. The contrasting meanings reveal underlying tensions as both firms move forward in technological upgrading.

Deng, P. (2009) Why do Chinese firms tend to acquire strategic assets in international expansion? Journal of World Business, 44(1), 74-84.

Elia, S. and Santangelo, G.D. (2017) The evolution of strategic asset-seeking acquisitions by emerging market multinationals. International Business Review, 26(5), 855-866.

Lee, C. (2014). The spectre of global China. New Left Review, 89(3), 29-56.

Rui, H., Zhang, M., and Shipman, A. (2017). Chinese expatriate management in emerging markets: A competitive advantage perspective. Journal of International Management, 1-15. (published online first).