HR directors in India: navigating institutional incoherence for HRM stability and change
| Date | 29 March 2024 |
| Pages | 776-794 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2023-0338 |
| Published date | 29 March 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Tamer K. Darwish,Osama Khassawneh,Muntaser Melhem,Satwinder Singh |
HR directors in India: navigating
institutional incoherence for HRM
stability and change
Tamer K. Darwish
The Business School, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK and
Gulf Financial Center, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally, Kuwait
Osama Khassawneh
Department of Leadership and People Management, University Canada West,
Vancouver, Canada
Muntaser Melhem
The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, and
Satwinder Singh
University of Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to explore the strategic and evolving role of human resource management (HRM)
directors within the context of underdeveloped institutional arrangements. The study focuses on India and
conducts a comparative analysis of the roles of HRM directors in both multinational enterprises (MNEs) and
domestic firms.
Design/methodology/approach –Survey-based data from the HRM directors of 252 enterprises were
gathered for the comparative analysis, including both multinational and domestic enterprises.
Findings –HRM directors in MNEs lack the proficiency required to effectively fulfil their strategic role. In
addition, there has been a notable shift in the responsibilities of HRM directors in MNEs, with increased
emphasis on labour movements and trade union negotiations, as opposed to traditional human resource (HR)
activities. This shift suggests that the role of HRM in MNEs operating in India has been influenced by local
isomorphic forces, rather than following a “pendulum swing”between home and host country institutional
pressures. The prevalence of informality in the Indian institutional arrangements may act as a strong
counterforce to integrating the strategic agency of MNEs’home country HRM directors into the organizational
structure. Despite facing resistance from the local institutional context, HRM directors in MNEs are responding
with a pushback, prioritizing labour movements and trade union negotiations over core HRM activities.
Research limitations/implications –The study highlights the broader implications for theory and
practice, shedding light on the challenges faced by HRM directors in navigating incoherent institutional
arrangements. It emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of local forces in shaping HRM practices
within multinational settings.
Originality/value –We contribute to the comparative HRM literatureby elaborating on power struggles that
HRM directors face amid the dichotomies of formal power and authority that are encoded in the organizational
structure versus culturally contingent power that can be accrued from engaging in informality. We also
highlight their engagement in prolonged institutional mediation and change, which serves as a compensatory
mechanism for the institutional shortfalls they encounter within the context of emerging markets.
Keywords HRM director, Comparative institutional analysis, Trade unions, India, Emerging markets
Paper type Research paper
ER
46,4
776
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.
The authors declare no financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to this
article.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon
reasonable request.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 9 July 2023
Revised 2 February 2024
21 February 2024
Accepted 22 February 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 4, 2024
pp. 776-794
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2023-0338
Introduction
The strategicand changing role of the HRM directorshas been under researched in emerging
market contexts, where institutional arrangements are known to be complex and
underdeveloped. This complexity intensifies when organizations cross borders into unique
emerging market contexts, encountering the intersection of global and local institutional
environments (Darwish et al., 2022;Zhang et al., 2023), with the latter exerting a substantial
influence on shaping HRM practices. Although the HRM Director’sroleisbecomingmore
strategic, the successful execution of this strategy requires formal power and authority to
effectivelynavigate the complexitiesof managinghuman capital amid institutionalcomplexity.
Hence, this comparative analysisaims to examine the strategic andchanging role of the HRM
director in domestic enterprises (DEs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs), with a specific
focus on the Indian context. India, with its rapidly growing emerging economy and diverse
workforce, presents an intriguing context to explore the role of HRM directors. Unlike their
domestic counterparts, MNEs operationstranscend national borders,bringing with them local
and expatriate workforce with diverse cultures, linguistic and professional backgrounds,
adding layers of complexity to the HRM director’srole (e.g., Chung et al., 2020). Both domestic
and MNEs powerstructures are encoded in the organizational hierarchy (Beckert,1999). MNE
HRM directorsleverage theirauthority within localand global structures(Br ewster et al.,2 016a,
b), enabling themto shape international HRM practicesand policies, ensuring alignmentwith
organizational goals and maintaining adherence to local demands and global standards
(Kotabe and Kothari, 2016). However, summoning formal power and authority can be
challenging within India’s informal institutional context, which aligns more closely with the
local national context. This complexity makes it difficultfor HRM directors in MNEs to fully
exercise thestrategic role ascribed to theirposition. In contrast, domesticHRM directors often
wield more localized power, prioritizing compliance with specific national labour laws and
norms overstrategic values (Alanezi et al., 2020;Wood etal., 2020;Bapuji et al., 2023). However,
within these incoherent institutional fields and unstructured power dynamics, it remains
unclear how power andpolitical resources shape HRM director’sroleinIndia.
To address our focus, we rely on the institutionalist approach as a theoretical lens in our
comparative work in the Indiancontext; existingliteratureon comparativeinstitutionalanalysis
has primarily concentrated on analysing the variations in macro-economic and societal factors,
considering people management practices as a conduit influenced by the wider institutional
configurations and resulting socio-economic impacts (Wood et al., 2014;Singh et al., 2019). In
essence, the emphasis in the institutionalist approach in the comparative HRM literature has
been derived from the economic theory that directs our attention towards the Western model for
actors’rationalization and considers institutions as constraints (Gooderhamet al., 2019;Beckert,
1999). Thus, undermining power and mindful agency for comparative HRM analysis (Saqib
et al., 2022;Brewster et al., 2016a,b). In addition, although comparative institutional analysis has
gained significant prominence in explaining the actions of firms within specific contexts, the
emphasis appears to lean more towards indigenous firms. While existing literature
predominantly focuses on the broader political economy, suggesting that it exerts common
pressures on all firms operating in a given context, there is a notable oversight in addressing the
unique case of MNEs (e.g., Hancke et al., 2007;Hall and Soskice, 2001). It is also argued that
MNEs, by their very nature, are less tied to any particular context and face sometimes conflicting
pressures from each of the countries in which they operate; this inherent flexibility allows MNEs
to deviate fromestablished norms and challenge prevailing practices (Dore, 2008).
By tappinginto the under-research area of power and political resourcesin the comparative
HRM literature(Brewster et al., 2016a,b), we seek to explore the strategic role of HRM directors
in India in comparative perspective (MNEs vs DEs). We contribute to the comparative HRM
literature by elaboratingon power struggles that HRM directors face amid the dichotomiesof
formal power and authority that are encoded in the organizationalstructure versus culturally
HRM directors
in India
777
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