Reviewing the Literature on Local Isomorphism and Multi-National Enterprises’ Human Resource Management Practices

Local isomorphism constitutes the regulatory, cognitive and normative profile of a host country. The regulatory institutional setting reflects the rules and legislation governing collective bargaining agreements, trade unions, local content laws and employment relationships. The cultural or cognitive dimension supports the widely held cultural and social knowledge and the normative profile acknowledges the influences of social groups and organizations on acceptable normative behaviour. The prior literature lends support to the importance of institutional profile and its influence in the design and implementation of multinational enterprise (MNEs) Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices. Local isomorphism encompasses the constraints and opportunities on the configurations of MNEs HRM practices, among these constraints, the institutional profile of the host country remain significant.