| dc.description.abstract | The main purpose of this thesis is to analyse how changes in internationalization strategy affect
human resource management (HRM) convergence and the degree of knowledge sharing within
MNCs. In order to answer our two research questions, we collaborated with the Telenor head office
and two Telenor subsidiaries. We had the opportunity to interview people from different business
units (BUs) and to derive a general picture of how HRM functions in the company. During our
research we found evidence that HRM convergence was affected by two main external factors:
cultural and socio-economical factors and institutional factors. We found evidence that these
dimensions foster the need for local adaption of practices cascading from the group level.
Furthermore, we concluded that: 1) a low degree of similarity between a subsidiary and parent’s
HRM practices is shown as the company has moved from a multi-domestic to a more globally
integrated strategy; 2) knowledge sharing has increased remarkably as the company has moved
from a multi-domestic to a more globally integrated strategy; 3) the increase in the degree of
knowledge sharing was driven by alternative, management-initiated practices (i.e. transmission
channels) that happen independently of HRM convergence.
It has been perhaps a first attempt to understand how and if HR represents a function that is likely to
be centralized and it offers fresh insights on how to foster knowledge sharing when multi-national
corporations (MNCs) are moving from a multi-domestic to a more globally integrated
internationalization strategy. It is a remarkable theoretical development in the field of
internationalization and MNCs and opens up a new agenda for future research. Furthermore, our
research offers noteworthy implications for MNC managers as it provides guidelines on how better
to approach changes in the internationalization strategy as well as on how to foster knowledge
sharing within MNCs. | nb_NO |
