ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the process of globalization poses two distinct research problems. The first concerns an understanding of changing multinational company (MNC) business strategy and structure, and the relationships between these elements and changes in MNC human resources/ industrial relations (HR/IR) strategy applied at subsidiary level. The second concerns the details of subsidiary HR/IR policies and their consequences for patterns of workplace relations. The chapter summarizes the industrial, corporate and workplace research context including changes in business and HR strategy at corporate and subsidiary level. It describes the salient characteristics of the two plants and the methodology used in the study. The chapter presents survey data on workers' perceptions of changes in aspects of work organization, management and trade unions, and their future priorities and preferences. It focuses on workplace relations in diverse subsidiaries within an emerging global MNC.
