Purpose

This study aims to explore how a change in the staffing configuration of foreign subsidiaries affects subsidiary performance by focusing on staffing localization.

Design/methodology/approach

The relationship between localization and subsidiary performance is analyzed from the perspective of human capital. Hypotheses are tested using a panel data set of foreign direct investment by Japanese multinational enterprises.

Findings

The analysis demonstrates that localization has a positive effect on subsidiary performance when subsidiaries can access a pool of competent local managers in the host country. It also shows that when competent local managers are highly available, localization has a positive effect on subsidiary performance under high cultural distance. In comparison, when the availability of competent local managers is limited and cultural distance is high, localization has a negative effect on subsidiary performance.

Originality/value

Using human capital theory, this study theorizes how localization, which is a change in the configuration of human capital toward a reliance on local-specific human capital, enhances subsidiary-specific advantages. It introduces the effects of changes in the configuration of human capital over time, into studies on subsidiary staffing. In addition, from a different viewpoint than previous studies, this study proposes one possible path where human capital leads to organizational performance. Specifically, it shows that a change in the configuration of human capital affects subsidiary-specific advantages, which eventually impacts subsidiary performance.

中文翻译：

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人力资本、文化距离和人员配置本地化

目的

本研究旨在通过关注人员配置本地化来探索外国子公司人员配置的变化如何影响子公司的绩效。

设计/方法/方法

从人力资本的角度分析了本土化与子公司绩效的关系。假设使用日本跨国企业外商直接投资的面板数据集进行检验。

发现

分析表明，当子公司可以在东道国获得一批称职的当地经理时，本地化会对子公司绩效产生积极影响。它还表明，当有能力的本地管理人员高度可用时，本地化对高文化距离下的子公司绩效有积极影响。相比之下，当有能力的本地管理人员的可用性有限且文化距离很大时，本地化会对子公司绩效产生负面影响。

原创性/价值

本研究利用人力资本理论，对本地化（即人力资本配置向依赖本地特定人力资本的变化）如何增强子公司特定优势进行理论化。它将人力资本配置随时间变化的影响引入到对子公司人员配备的研究中。此外，从与以往研究不同的角度，本研究提出了人力资本导致组织绩效的一种可能途径。具体而言，它表明人力资本配置的变化会影响子公司的特定优势，最终影响子公司的绩效。