Introduction

Substantial effort has been devoted to exploring the extent to which human resource management practices can be transferred from one national context to another. Particular attention has been paid to the manufacturing sector, to countries with ‘strong’ HRM traditions and to transfers between economically developed countries. This chapter addresses the transfer of a retail sector firm's HRM practices from the United Kingdom to China. Despite its significance both in economic terms and as a source of employment, the transfer of HRM in the service sector, and retailing in particular, has been rather neglected. Similarly, despite the global orientation of many UK firms, few studies have explored the extent to which they have transferred their HRM approach overseas. By contrast, numerous studies have explored the transfer of HRM practices from countries such as Japan, where these are seen to be a source of competitive advantage (e.g. Gill and Wong, 1998; Purcell et al., 1999). When research has focused on UK firms, the exploration tends to remain within the realm of economically developed countries (e.g. Edwards, Ferner and Sissons, 1996; Edwards, Rees and Coller, 1999).

It is thus a timely point to focus on the transfer of HRM practices from a UK multinational retailer (hereafter StoreCo) to its subsidiary (UK-Store) in China. Since the early 1990s China has been the recipient of vast amounts of foreign direct investment, including substantial investment from the United Kingdom.