International Human Resources Management of Japanese, American, and European Firms in Asia: The Roles of Headquarters and Subsidiaries

The main role of the headquarters international human resources departments/business units of seven Japanese firms we researched is to manage the Japanese expatriates at their subsidiaries in Asia; they have little involvement with the management of local employees. The headquarters international human resources departments/business units at five researched American firms tend to maintain strong company value/mission that drives use of their performance appraisal/promotion systems for employees worldwide. In addition, the headquarters human resources departments/business units of the American firms tend to supervise senior-level managers regardless of their nationalities. Although two researched European firms manage senior-level managers worldwide, their international human resources management systems are not as rigid as those of American firms.