What is Micro-Political Perspective

The design and implementation of a globally integrated e-HRM system within a multinational corporation (MNC) requires different parties to reach some form of agreement on which HR processes must be standardised and which must be locally adapted. In this respect, the IT-based integration of HRM presents an intriguing setting in which to study micro-political behaviour during HRM integration, that is, how parties promote their own interests and the strategies they use during negotiations. Accordingly, the study’s aims were to identify those issues which generated the greatest degree of conflict during the IT-based integration of HRM, the key actors involved and the resources that were deployed during negotiations. A longitudinal, in-depth case study approach was used, and followed the integration of a global e-HRM system in the Finnish subsidiary of a large European-owned MNC over a period of nearly two years. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured interviews with key subsidiary HR personnel and was complemented with company documentation. The findings indicate that the key areas of conflict were system design, the standardised use of English, and grey areas of HR policy. Three key parties were identified as being involved in subsequent negotiations. These parties utilised a range of negotiation resources including business case logic, technical know-how, internal benchmarking, local constraints and ignorance.