Multiculturals as strategic human capital resources in multinational enterprises

• Published in: Journal of international business studies Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 95 - 125
• Main Authors: Hong, Hae-Jung, Minbaeva, Dana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.02.2022; Palgrave Macmillan
• Subjects: Advantages; Business and Management; Business Strategy/Leadership; Comparative advantage; Competition; Competitive advantage; Employment; Ethnography; Human capital; International Business; Language policy; Leadership; Management; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Multinational corporations; Organization; Resources; Teams; Transformation; competitive advantage; multiculturals; qualitative method; strategic human capital; ethnographic field study

Multiculturals – individuals with notable cultural knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) – are widely assumed to contribute to MNE performance leading, ultimately, to global competitive advantages. We nuance this general belief by arguing that what matters for an MNE’s comp...