Global talent management and multinational subsidiaries' resilience in the Covid-19 crisis: Moderating roles of regional headquarters' support and headquarters-subsidiary friction

Abstract

Resilience is central to developing organizational capability to respond to global crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, few studies have examined the relationship between global talent management (GTM) and the organizational resilience of multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries during crises. This study contributes to the GTM and crisis management literature by examining the role of GTM in MNE subsidiaries' resilience during the Covid-19 crisis. Based on the sample of 166 Korean MNEs and their 1227 foreign subsidiaries, including 293 regional headquarters, operating in 49 host countries, this study shows a positive and significant impact of GTM on the resilience of Korean MNEs subsidiaries. Drawing on agency problems at the subsidiary level and bounded rationality at the headquarters level as factors that may bring about failure in TM in MNEs, as well as a core competence perspective, we shed light on the importance of the three-layered governance structure of MNEs in the analysis of GTM and MNE subsidiaries' resilience. The study has practical implications for Korean MNEs and the organizational resilience of MNEs' subsidiaries during crises more generally.