Subsidiary Managers and the Transfer of Human Resource Practices in Multinational Companies –Institutional Work at the Intersection of Multiple Institutional Frameworks

We develop a conceptual framework to show how agency can be integrated more centrally into new institutionalist work on practice transfer in multinational companies. Drawing on the discussion on institutional multiplicity, we show the potential for agency that subsidiary managers enjoy at the intersection of multiple institutional environments. Referring to structuration theory, we analyze the conditions that shape whether managers can realize this potential. We argue that the nature of host country rules and the abundance of resources at subsidiary level create situations in which subsidiary managers are either enabled or constrained in their ability to influence the transfer process.