Multinational corporations and employment relations in the People's Republic of China: the case of Beijing Hyundai Motor Company

Abstract

This contribution examines the transfer of employment relations policies and practices from the domestic operations of the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in Ulsan, Korea to its joint venture in China, the Beijing Hyundai Motors Company (BHMC). An integrated ‘political economy’ theoretical framework is used to analyse the complex interaction of institutional, strategic and micro-political forces that have shaped the hybrid model of employment relations at BHMC. The study shows that the transfer of policies and practices from Ulsan to Beijing has been influenced not only by institutional differences between the home and host countries and the strategies pursued by HMC management, but also by the political contests between various actors within and outside BHMC. Our research findings show that HMC headquarters has sought to maintain control over employment relations at BHMC through the transfer of its core policies and practices from its Korean operations to BHMC. However, a hybrid model has emerged at BHMC with some notable differences to HMC's Ulsan plant. Utilising an integrated political economy perspective, this contribution has shown that BHMC's employment relations policies and practices have been shaped and conditioned by a complex interplay of institutional and market forces, strategic choices and ongoing political contests between various actors within and beyond BHMC.

Keywords:

• Beijing; China; Chinese employment relations; cross-border transfer of policies; Hyundai; Korean autos; multinational corporations; South Korea

Notes

1. Hukou is a system of residency registration in China, invented in the period of a planned economy. People can only access public services and welfare entitlements in their place of registration. The system has contributed to significant inequality between rural migrants and urban residents, although there have been some recent reforms to enable rural migrants to obtain urban hukou under certain conditions.