Mutinationals in the New Frontiers: Institutions & Power in the Management of the Employment Relationship in Developing Economies

School of Business Research Seminar Series 2019/2020
Thursday, November 21, 2019 - 13:00 to 14:00
Rye Hall Lecture Theatre (North Campus)

This research seminar will explore Mutinationals in the New Frontiers: Institutions & Power in the Management of the Employment Relationship in Developing Economies - Dr. Julius Nyiawung

We know little about management practices of international oil firms, especially, in complex institutional settings of developing countries where most of ‘their’ oil fields are located. This paper contributes to the literature on institutionalism and power in the regulation and management of MNEs. The oil industry is chosen as it is the most politicized of all industries globally. It is a sector inimitably located at the interface of global – and local – political and commercial ambitions. It thus permits the examination of multi-level influences shaping management practices within MNEs. The analysis of data drawn from a case study showed that the arrival of Chinese oil MNEs in Cameroon adorned local political actors with new power resources to modify or block the ‘foreign’ structural influences on employment practices in all oil MNEs. These, it’s argued, reveal how an emerging market MNE disrupted long secured ‘settlements’ of developed markets MNEs thereby adorning incipient institutions with renewed strength. The theoretical contribution of this study is the contention that the operating context in which an MNE is established and functions is a fluid space - complex and emergent – whereupon the interests and power resources of key power holders within and beyond the MNC are continually being redrawn, enhanced and diminished.
 

To RSVP please email: business@mu.ie

Full schedule of School of Business Research Seminars for this academic year.