ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Human resource management (HRM) practices in Chinese Emerging Market Multinationals (EMMs) are subject to the influence of contextual factors generated from home and host countries as well as those within the organisation. China represents one of the Eastern cultural groups characterised by strong collectivist values, high power distance and a Confucianist orientation. Institutional theory serves as an important theoretical lens for HRM research, as it helps unpack the macro, meso and even microlevel contexts of HRM. The theory explains how the contexts, such as national cultures, organisational structures, and routines, operating at multiple levels of jurisdiction, could cause organisational behaviour to be similar. Reward structures in organisations could also be subject to control by state regulations and labour legislation. Australia has been migrant country for centuries. The findings from the present study show that Australian labour laws and regulations were designed to achieve common goals of improving employees’ wellbeing, health and safety and maintaining living standards.
