Article
Mind the gap: the role of HRM in creating, capturing and leveraging rare knowledge in hostile environments
The International Journal of Human Resource Management
(2017)
Abstract
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly entered markets in less developed regions of the world afflicted with weak institutions and political conflict. Some are characterised by ‘extreme’ cases of institutional voids and terrorism, creating a hostile environment for the organisation and its people. This in-depth qualitative study of a service company, a European telecommunications joint venture in Afghanistan, seeks to shed light and build theory on the human resource management (HRM) dimension of managerial learning and knowledge acquisition in hostile environments, as part of the MNE’s organisational learning process. Specifically, we investigate how knowledge gaps can be addressed through supportive HR practices, and how knowledge classified as ‘rare’ can be captured and leveraged through HR interventions such as debriefing. We stipulate that HR practices and interventions adapted to hostile environments, together with expatriate willingness to learn and share new knowledge, play a critical role in the creation, capturing and leveraging of rare knowledge for subsequent use by the MNE in other hostile locations. The study has implications for international HRM and organisational resilience, under the proposition that competitive advantage can be gained through exploitation of rare knowledge acquired in hostile environments.
Keywords
- Managerial experiential learning,
- institutional voids,
- terrorism,
- debriefing,
- international human resource management
Disciplines
Publication Date
August 1, 2017
DOI
10.1080/09585192.2017.1351462
Citation Information
Gabriele Suder, Carol Reade, Monica Riviere, Andreas Birnik, et al.. "Mind the gap: the role of HRM in creating, capturing and leveraging rare knowledge in hostile environments" The International Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 30 Iss. 11 (2017) p. 1794 - 1821 ISSN: 09585192 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/carol_reade/36/