TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender diversity management in foreign subsidiaries
T2 - A comparative study in Germany and Japan
AU - Bader, Anna Katharina
AU - Froese, Fabian Jintae
AU - Cooke, Fang Lee
AU - Schuster, Tassilo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Gender (in)equality varies strongly across countries. However, research has not sufficiently addressed how subsidiaries of multinational companies respond to differences in gender equality between home and host countries. Based on interviews with 34 managers, our study explores how subsidiaries experience gender-related challenges in their home and host countries, what kinds of practices they implement to increase gender equality, and which role the headquarters play in the implementation of these practices. We do so by examining the cases of German subsidiaries in Japan and Japanese subsidiaries in Germany, two countries that differ greatly in gender equality. Building on our analysis, we systematically compare how subsidiaries respond to the institutional pressures from their home and host countries and develop a theoretical model that illustrates how gender diversity management in a subsidiary is contingent on the interaction of (1) global integration pressure from the headquarters and (2) the level of gender equality in the home country relative to the host country, linked via different types of collaboration and practice transfer from the headquarters. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
AB - Gender (in)equality varies strongly across countries. However, research has not sufficiently addressed how subsidiaries of multinational companies respond to differences in gender equality between home and host countries. Based on interviews with 34 managers, our study explores how subsidiaries experience gender-related challenges in their home and host countries, what kinds of practices they implement to increase gender equality, and which role the headquarters play in the implementation of these practices. We do so by examining the cases of German subsidiaries in Japan and Japanese subsidiaries in Germany, two countries that differ greatly in gender equality. Building on our analysis, we systematically compare how subsidiaries respond to the institutional pressures from their home and host countries and develop a theoretical model that illustrates how gender diversity management in a subsidiary is contingent on the interaction of (1) global integration pressure from the headquarters and (2) the level of gender equality in the home country relative to the host country, linked via different types of collaboration and practice transfer from the headquarters. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
KW - Foreign subsidiaries
KW - Gender diversity management
KW - Gender equality
KW - Germany
KW - Japan
KW - Multinational companies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121238898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85121238898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.intman.2021.100921
DO - 10.1016/j.intman.2021.100921
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121238898
SN - 1075-4253
VL - 28
JO - Journal of International Management
JF - Journal of International Management
IS - 3
M1 - 100921
ER -