An analysis of human resource management research in multinational enterprises in Australia: highlighting the empirical deficit

There is now a vast international literature on the human resource practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, empirical studies in the Australian context are limited or are just not published in the top academic journals. Consequently it is unsurprising that Australian management academics have struggled to make an impact in the field. This paper reviews publications in top tiered journals since 1990 and notes the limited number of empirical studies in respect to the human resource management, employment relations and industrial relations practices of MNEs in Australia. In particular there has been a lack of organisational level studies with the primary focus of existing research on the individual unit of analysis, primarily in the realm of expatriates or repatriates. Further, a noticeable finding is the lack of large-scale survey work meaning very little is known on even the most basic characteristics of MNEs in Australia. In noting these deficiencies we also highlight two key issues, namely a lack of comprehensive, reliable, publicly available information on who exactly are the MNEs in Australia and the bias against the discipline in respect to research funding.