This report presents the results of a research project which draws on an ambitious large-scale survey, conducted in Spain, of the employment practices of multinational companies (MNCs) to develop an international comparative study of how these firms configure and transfer their human resources (HR) policies and practices across borders as a function of their strategy and organizational structure.

Among its goals is to ascertain whether there is a trend towards global convergence in the HR policies and practices transferred by MNCs or, on the contrary, whether determined practices are primarily influenced by each country’s institutional framework for business. The survey centered its analysis on certain basic areas of HR management, particularly performance evaluation and compensation, professional training and development, diversity, the role of the personnel function, knowledge management, work organization, participation and reporting systems, and labor relations, looking at both MNCs operating in Spain and those under Spanish ownership operating abroad.

The result is a global overview of the considerations guiding MNCs in their HR processes over recent years, and how these processes might change in an increasingly fast moving environment. The report also draws some initial comparisons between findings in Spain and those obtained as part of the same project by leading universities in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.