The Role of Strategic Groups in Understanding Strategic Human Resource Management

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emerald acumen. com/0048-3486. htm The habit of strategicalal crowds in understanding strategic military personnel imagination counseling Judie M. Gannon Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK The fictitious character of strategic themes 513 Liz Doherty Business School, Shef? eld H whollyam University, Shef? eld, UK, and Angela rope-maker School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK AbstractPurpose This article objective lenss to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies attempts to create competitory advantage by means of their human bes resources and HRM practices squirt be kick upstairsd by insights into the concept of strategic meetings within industries. Based within the inter issue hotel industriousness, this study identi? es how strategic groups emerge in the ab disembarr assgment of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds electric arc on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the concenter on ? rm and intentness take aim analyses.Design/methodology/approach Senior human resource administrators and their teams across eight populace-wide hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of keep company documentation complementing the interviews. Findings The ? ndings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies subprogramd to cook hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel effort. The value of understanding assiduity structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis be app atomic number 18nt where speci? industries perspective occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies net survey. Research terminal points/implications This study indicates that get along research on strategic groups leave enhance the theoretical understanding of strategic human resource solicitude and speci? cally the forces that act to constrain the achievement of combative advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.Practical implications This study has implications for companies engagement with their executives perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will scrape to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions argon consistent with their competitors. Originality/value developings in strategic human resource vigilance gather in relied on the conceptual and theoretical increments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their influence of SHRM has non been previously explo bolshie.Keywords strategical groups, strategic human resources, Strategic human resource management, International human resource management, Hotel and catering industry, International business Paper type Research paper The authors would like to express their thanks to the organisations who participated in the research and the reviewers and Editors who provided insightful and slight feedback on early drafts. Personnel Review Vol. 41 No. 4, 2012 pp. 513-546 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0048-3486 DOI 10. 1108/00483481211229401 PR 41,4 14 Introduction Most developments in strategic human resource management (SHRM) and international human resource management (IHRM) let drawn heavily on the strategic management literary works (Becker and H givelid, 2006 Schuler and Jackson, 2007). almost of the earliest models associated with SHRM (such as Fombrun et al. , 1984 Beer et al. , 1984 Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986 and Guests (1989) model) provide insights into h ow leading HRM thinkers form approached the strategic dimensions of HRM. such insights apply focused on the links or ? amid scheme and HRM, environmental analyses as the base of operations for strategic management informing (and in any(prenominal) cases informed by) HRM, and borrowing concepts and theories with their origins in the strategic management publications, such as organisational and product life cycles, and competitive strategies (Schuler and Jackson, 1987 Sanz-Valle et al. , 1999 Miles and Snow, 1984). Despite the advances do in both areas on that point has been minimal consideration of the ways that strategic groups, not only industries and ? rms, in? ence HRM strategies and practices in the pursuit of competitive advantage (Boxall, 2003). Strategic group research identi? es how groups of ? rms engage in identical strategies in rate to compete effectively within industries and shape industry structure and competition. Panagiotou (2006 p. 440) de? nes strateg ic groups as . . . those groups of ? rms within an industry, which are characterised by similarities in their structure and competitive beliefs as thoroughly as their tendency to follow similar strategies along key strategic dimensions in a speci? operating environment. The surgical process differences between strategic groups are the focus for much of this research, al angiotensin converting enzyme mobility between groups and the morphological dimensions of industries strike also received attention (Ferguson et al. , 2000 Leask and Parker, 2006 Porter, 1980 Reger and Huff, 1993). As such strategic group research has authentic as a central research theme in strategic management. One of the most notable aspects of strategic groups research is that it highlights and reinforces the importance of particular industry mounts.This is an important consideration for the development of SHRM research as in that location is now exploitation recognition of the value of industry and sec tor speci? c SHRM research where the nuances and structural dimensions of industries are emphasized (Boselie et al. , 2009 Paauwe, 2008 Paauwe and Boselie, 2008 Tyson and Parry, 2008). The aim of this study is to explore how the strategic group concept can inform SHRM approaches. Speci? cally it sets start to identify how strategic groups can champion us understand why companies struggle to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.This aim is achieved by initially investigating the strategic group literature and evaluating where it adds insight and value to the SHRM approaches literature. in that respectafter the ? ndings from an in-depth empiric study of the HRM practices and strategies deployed across a orbicular industry are used to highlight the determination of strategic groups in limit companies capacities to diametriciate their SHRM approaches and practices. Accordingly this article also satis? s the demand for more than sector led SHRM research (Paauwe, 2008 Paauwe and Boselie, 2008 Tyson and Parry, 2008). This article unfolds as follows. Initially an evaluation of the strategic group literature is provided followed by an analysis of the contemporary debates in SHRM (Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2003, 2008 Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). The limitations of the SHRM literature are re? ected on in light of the strategic group literature and the say-so contribution this ? eld towards a more nuanced understanding of SIHRM approaches and practices.The research tendency for the study is subsequently outlined alongside an overview of the context of the research, the global hotel sector. The soft take awayive information analysis is then considered with the HRM practices and approaches which are found to be common land across the whole industry, similar across particular strategic groups and distinctive to speci? c companies explored sequentially. The implications of these various layers of HRM practices and strategies, and speci? cally the strategic group dimension, are then discussed in relation to the extant research. Of speci? c note is the way such ? dings reinforce the challenges companies face when pursue competitive advantage through human resources and how the national, industry and strategic group pressures for assimilation limit opportunities to develop idiosyncratic and integrated HRM interventions and strategic human resources. books review building bridges between strategic groups and SHRM approaches Strategic groups The strategic group concept emerged within strategic management as an attempt to remediate understand the competitive backdrop and demands faced by companies operating in an industry (McGee et al. 1995 Porter, 1980 Short et al. , 2007). Strategic management analysis has typically taken appear at the level of the ? rm and the industry, and has omitted the interface of ? rm and industry competitor behaviour. Originating from the broader ? eld of industrial organization economics in the 1970s, strate gic groups were identi? ed as clusters of companies within industries (Porter, 1980). Such divisions arise because industries are not collections of heterogeneous companies but subsets of ? ms separated by mobility barriers limiting shamment between groups (Ferguson et al. , 2000 McGee et al. , 1995). Strategic group research has facilitated a better understanding of how group structure can shape challenger and ultimately performance, as well as group identities and re rankations. It has also illustrated how strategic group reputations serve to reinforce mobility barriers to another(prenominal) industry competitors (Dranove et al. , 1998 Ferguson et al. , 2000 Leask and Parker, 2006 Peteraf and Shanley, 1997).The analysis of the business environment as an objective reality, achieved classically through cluster or factor analysis of company data (Reger and Huff, 1993), drives most investigations in this area. However, Panagiotou (2006, p. 441) summarises the problems of this presc riptive approach as leading to . . . a preoccupation by managers that strategic management is all just about prescribing strategies for horizoning a business in a particular industry structure, having ? rst carried out a thorough economic analysis found on the unverbalized notion that industry structures are relatively stable and easily identi? ble. The role of strategic groups 515 More recently a cognitive approach to strategic group research has emerged based on the argument that managers simpli? cation of their complex competitive environments and perceptions of similarities and differences among their rivals will shape strategic decision-making (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007 Reger and Huff, 1993). Such managerial insights into competitive groupings offer elapseer conceptions of the way decision-makers descry their own organisations and their rivals and therefore how these determine and implement strategies.These arguments suggest that strategists PR 41,4 516 understand (and appr oach) their competitive environments in similar ways, and are related to the ideas of institutional assimilation and isomorphy (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983 Powell and DiMaggio, 1991). Therefore, the capacity of ? rms to pursue distinctive practices for competitive advantage may be limited by constraints, such as organisational inertia and forms of isomorphism (Reger and Huff, 1993 Boon et al. , 2009). Strategic groups are then another important aspect of the structural dimensions which foster this organisational sluggishness.These are searing insights where the pursuit of competitive advantage through human resources, HRM practices and strategies has gained authentic support in recent years (Becker and Huselid, 2006 Boxall, 2003). However, this quest for distinctive or idiosyncratic HRM practices and strategies to attain competitive advantage guide to be resolved against the pressures to accommodate and achieve social legitimacy within sectors. The next section evaluates the con temporary SHRM approaches and highlights where the strategic group literature contributes to their enhanced understanding.The strategic HRM approaches Three main SHRM approaches have emerged as the keystone for understanding and achieving sustained corporate success through human resources (Purcell, 1999, 2001 Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). While the opportunities for simultaneously enacting these approaches are now well-rehearsed it is useful to revisit them brie? y as part of developing the theoretical connection with the strategic group literature. The outflank practice SHRM approach encourages companies to adopt in advance(p) or high performance practices across their human resources in order to achieve competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1998 Huselid, 1995).Considerable criticism of the outgo practice SHRM approach occurs in relation to what echtly represents sophisticated HRM practices and the empirical basis on which these practices are suggested (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000 Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Furthermore, the conventional outgo practice SHRM approach suggests that these superior HRM practices should be adopted regardless of various industrial and national boundaries (Marchington and Grugulis, 2000 Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008).Recent evaluations of the best practice SHRM approach have emerged recognising that within industries there may be certain HRM practices and approaches which are obligatory (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). The table stake concept suggests there are established (HRM) practices adopted by all businesses in an industry which serve to legitimise their position in that industry. This concept has thus been recognised as an adaptation of the best practice SHRM approach (Boon et al. , 2009 Bjorkman, 2006 Boxall and Purcell, 2003 Paauwe and Boselie, 2003).The table stake version of best practice SHRM approach is based on the institutional assimilation literature where organisations struggle to distinguish themselve s from their industry associates while simultaneously achieving legitimacy (institutional ? t) in their sector (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983 Powell and DiMaggio, 1991 Oliver, 1997). Isomorphism is the process which constrains organisations attempts to diverseiate themselves within the same institutional context (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Isomorphism emerges in dickens broad variations competitive isomorphism where commercialise pressures and performance tar enamours are emphasised and institutional isomorphism where institutional factors associated with socio- heathen, technological and economic parameters are highlighted. The adoption of best practice SHRM approach across an international setting has also been roundly critiqued (Brewster, 1999, 2006 Sparrow et al. , 2004) due to the ingrained national institutional and ethnic conventions, which are seen to regulate the value of various high performance HRM practices in other countries (Brewster, 1991, 2006 Sorge, 2004).However, t his does not mean that across a country all industries have the same HRM practices. Much of the IHRM literature could be seen as disproportionately focused on the parent and host country cultures and systems in light of the evidence on SHRM approaches and practices in hospitals, local anaesthetic government and hotels (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003). Such studies indicate that institutional and competitive isomorphisms differ across industry contexts creating distinct table stake HRM practices in different industries within the same country (Boon et al. , 2009 DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).Furthermore, such evidence recognizes that national institutional dimensions may have less of an impact than competitive institutional dimensions on most industries and their resulting commonwealth management practices. This level of industry interplay on the best practice approach is valuable but in light of the strategic group insights it is clear that companies do not compete directly with every other company in their industry. Instead they are likely to have particularly close rivals whose practices, products, managers, innovations and initiatives will be of speci? interest to them (Panagiotou, 2006 Peteraf and Shanley, 1997). As such there may be another layer of consistency and similarity in HRM practices due to the close rivalry of strategic groups, in addition to those identi? ed by the table stake version of the best practice SHRM approach across an industry. The best-? t SHRM approach suggests a ? rms market position and strategies drive and shape its HRM policies and practices. Within the best ? t SHRM approach a range of theories have emerged from those that more simplistically link speci? strategy choices to HRM practices and policies (Delery and Doty, 1996 Miles and Snow, 1984 Schuler and Jackson, 1987) to more complex models (Fombrun et al. , 1984 Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986) which envision a range of corporate characteristics (strategies, positions, portfolio ch aracteristics) determining state management practices. Within the IHRM area, much of the research has also focused on the in? uential nature of national differences as well as strategic models (Perlmutter, 1969 Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000 Edwards et al. , 1996).For example the models of international orientation (Perlmutter, 1969 Heenan and Perlmutter, 1979) product life-cycle phases (Adler and Ghadar, 1990) and international responsiveness versus integration (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, 2000 Edwards et al. , 1996) are all based on strategic choice arguments derived from the strategic management ? eld. The main thrust of the strategic dimension to IHRM has revolved around the head word of whether HRM practices are determined by corporate or business strategies and customised or like across national boundaries with many authors providing detailed analyses of the contingency of speci? factors (Boselie et al. , 2002, 2003 Coller and Marginson, 1998 Easterby-Smith et al. , 1995 Ferner, 1994, 1997 Ferner and Quintanilla, 1998 Hannon et al. , 1995 Newman and Nollen, 1996 Rosenzweig and Nohria, 1994 Rosenzweig, 2006 Thompson et al. , 1998). The weaknesses of the best ? t SHRM approach are its distorted attention on the international context as determining strategies and practices based on market positioning, heathenish and institutional factors and its softness to secure competitive advantage where several companies within the same sector pursue similar strategies and marketThe role of strategic groups 517 PR 41,4 518 positions (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008 Kamoche, 2001 Wright and Snell, 1998). Such criticisms are similar to those voiced by contemporary strategic management researchers on the objective and prescriptive versions of strategic management being the primary in? uence on strategic thinking and decision-making at the expense of managers and executives perceptions of positions and rivalries (Reger and Huff, 1993).Indeed Panagiotous (2006, 2007) research on executives perceptions, as opposed to the economic analysis of the competitive terrains, competitor strategies and industry dynamics shaping strategic groups, highlights that executives whose ? rms belong to the same strategic groups react to events and market factors in similar ways. This suggests, that not only are companies constrained by the suggested strategies and market positions they develop, but that there are limitations to the options they can take to distinguish themselves because of the added level of similarity strategic groups create.Finally, the resource based view (RBV) SHRM approach has been proffered as an alternative to the best practice and best-? t approaches due its internal focus based on creating competitive advantage through the leverage of valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable and rent achieving (human) resources (Morris et al. , 2006 Wright et al. , 1994, 2004). The empirical research back up the RBV SHRM approach (Boxall and Steenev eld, 1999 Leonard-Barton, 1995 Marchington et al. , 2003) clearly highlights that human resources can ful? l the criteria of resources which deliver competitive advantage.The most valuable human resources are those identi? ed as the strategic human resources or rainmakers who ful? l the RBV criteria of adding exponential supplementary value to companies. By developing HRM practices, which are idiosyncratic and interdependent, the RBV approach argues that companies can capitalise on their proprietary friendship and transfer it creatively and effectively across its workforce. Several authors (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999 Harvey et al. , 1999, 2000 Taylor et al. , 1996) have adopted this approach and identi? d that capitalising on internal resources to achieve competitive advantage is quite an different from the best-? t SHRM approach because it surmounts the external views of the best-? t approach. This view is neatly outlined in the frustrations of Cappelli and Singh (1992 in Wright et al. , 2004 p. 11) . . . many within strategy have implicitly assumed that it is easier to rearrange complementary assets/resources given a choice of strategy than it is to rearrange strategy given a set of assets/resources, even though the empirical research seems to imply the opposite.The RBV SHRM approach offers speci? c insights into the value of internal resources in securing successful international operations (Bonache and Fernandez, 1999 Harvey et al. , 2000). Speci? cally particular groups of human resources are seen to have an honoured position within companies where they transfer tacit experience to new markets and provide sustainable competitive advantage (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990 Scullion and Starkey, 2000). Taylor et al. s (1996) study used the RBV approach to identify the critical role of HRM competence within international ? ms, the part senior management play in identifying the companys potential to develop HRM competence and the different groups of human resour ces who constitute ? rm strategic human resources. However, the weaknesses of this SHRM approach are its omission to clearly depict the interplay between internal resources and environmental factors, and the recurring evidence that ? rms struggle with the challenges of their competitive sector to achieve distinctiveness and success through their human resources and HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Once again the strategic groups literature provides speci? insights here in querying whether the pursuit of competitive advantage through the leveraging of the ? rms distinctive resources is restrained by the in? uence of their closest strategic group (Panagiotou, 2006, 2007). Clearly for each one of the SHRM approaches (table stake best practice, best-? t and RBV) have rough resonance and these perspectives are summarised in control panel I in terms of their initial focus and the levels of context where their attention is directed. There is an overall tendency across the SHRM literature for tensions, contradictions and imbalance (Boselie et al. 2009) as evidenced in the overly prescriptive best practice approach, the highly contingent best ? t approach (focusing on speci? c market or national context factors) and the RBVs spotlight on the internal resources of the organisation. Individual adoption of these approaches is unconvincing to provide a meaningful depiction of how companies might pursue competitive advantage via their human resources or HRM practices. Instead it is argued that companies can use a unite and simultaneous version of the three SHRM approaches in an attempt to balance the external and internal perspectives adopted by the best-? and RBV approaches, while also recognising the important in? uence industry isomorphism (table stakes) has on the creation of a set of HRM practices (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008). Even where such a combined and simultaneous model of SHRM has been advocated (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008) there appea rs insuf? cient understanding of, and insight into, the industry or sectoral level of analysis (Boselie et al. , 2009 Boxall, 2003 Paauwe, 2008 Paauwe and Boselie, 2008). By exploring SHRM practices and approaches across an industry, rather than across speci? national or company contexts, a better understanding of the internal and external challenges faced by competing organisations to achieving distinctive HRM strategies and practices becomes manifest. Alongside this evaluation of the SHRM approaches, the strategic groups literature highlights that these clusters of close rivals may compound the SIHRM approaches Primary focus Level Company/? rm The role of strategic groups 519 Resource based view (RBV) Competitive advantage achieved through developing resources Internal which are Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable and Rent achieving Best ? Based on crafting HRM practices tie to strategic management External models typically through strategic analyses tools of market po sition Based on aligning HRM practices to different international and domestic cultural and institutional contexts and company demand for standardization Best practice Originally identi? ed as sophisticated practices capable of External achieving competitive advantage straightway associated with HRM practices which are table stakes essential for operating with social legitimacy within an industry Competitive market National contexts and competitive market constancy Table I.The initial focus of SIHRM approaches PR 41,4 challenges ? rms already face in realising eminence through their human resources and HRM practices. Indeed where industry analyses highlight the importance of accordance of industry members, to particular HRM practices and systems, strategic groups suggest another layer of orthodoxy among closest rivals which limit the pursuit of distinctive competitive advantage by ? rms. Research design Analysis of strategic groups requires an industry focus and this researc h was undertaken within the context of the international hotel sector.This sector has been identi? ed as international by nature (Litteljohn, 2003 Litteljohn et al. , 2007) with companies achieving appendage through a range of market admittance modes, typically engaging with different equity partners (Whitla et al. , 2007). Managing portfolios of hotels with diverse self-possession arrangements (such as the asset light options of management contracts, franchises and part equity agreements) has created challenges for international hotel companies (IHCs) (Beals, 2006 Eyster, 1997 Gannon et al. , 2010 Guilding, 2006).Traditionally hotel general managers (HGMs) have been seen as strategic human resources (Boxall and Steeneveld, 1999 Marchington et al. , 2003) responsible for creating pro? table hotel units through their leading and operational expertise in the hotel industry (Forte, 1986 Kriegl, 2000 Ladkin and Juwaheer, 2000). However, the asset light market innovation modes dem onstrable more recently as a result of IHC portfolio expansion have resulted in managers and executives experiencing different challenges and requiring enhanced skills sets.At the heart of this study was the aim to explore how IHCs have developed IHRM strategies and practices to manage their international managerial resources within the broader context of the sectors competitive forces, growing industry concentration and in the presence of strategic groups (Curry et al. , 2001 Litteljohn, 1999 Roper, 1995). Any attempt to capture lot management strategies and practices across an industry, as well as at the ? rm level, involves the adoption of a comprehensive examine of organisations. This study used an industry de? nition of global operations based on companies operating hotels across ? e out of the six economically viable continents, as a purposive sample technique (Saunders et al. , 2000). This research stage comprised substantial secondary data collection on the broader interna tional hotel industry with information on service levels, ownership modes, brands, portfolios and geographical penetration and the information is captured in Table II. Only order companies met these global criteria and eight of these nine companies granted access to their senior human resource executives (typically unrighteousness chairpersons of Human Resources) and administrative teams, and HR systems and materials.The ? eldwork interviews took place at the European corporate headquarters, regional of? ces and in hotel units for the eight companies. Interviews with the senior HR executives for each of the eight companies form the main part of the data. These interviews lasted around four hours on average. In addition, time was also spent with administrative teams, reading documentation and observing meetings. A checklist was developed to complement the interview questions and data, and to systemise the collection of company documentation, observations and interactions with the administrative teams (Robson, 2002).Documentation included HRM policies, performance appraisal forms, develop manuals, organisational charts, company communications, job descriptions, succession plans and demonstrations and hard copies of HR databases. The interview 520 International hotel companies Suggested strategy and methods of growth Differentiation strategies based on the power of the companys hotel brand name. Expansion in prime city centre and resort locations and the development of hotel clusters in countries or regions achieved through management contracts and joint ventures Various strategies deployed at the different market levels.Budget brands operate on a no frills strategy. International luxury properties follow a specialisation (premium price) strategy. One third of properties are owned and two-thirds are management contract arrangements. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership cogitate differentiation strat egy based on distinctive design and architectural features associated with properties and attention to detail service style. Grows solely by securing management contract agreements with select investors Differentiation strategy based on developing modern and ef? ient ? rst class hotels. Growth achieved through management contracting, rather than ownership, and a global partnership with one of the Statess largest international hotel corporations Operates at different market levels particularly concerned with distinctiveness and value for money and therefore a broad intercrossed strategy is identi? ed Mixed type of operation is used across portfolio approximately 46 per cent owned, 21 per cent leased, 22. 5 per cent management contracts and 10. 5 per cent franchised (continued) 150 ? prestige international brand National UK mid-market brand 48 Number of hotelsBrands Number of countries Anglo-American agiotage Britbuyer 900 Nine brands at international and domestic levels Upscale Mi d market Budget 50 Contractman International 200 Four luxury or upscale brands 35 Euroalliance One upscale brand 16 50 * Euromultigrow 2,500 ? Seventeen brands split into Upscale and midscale Economy and budget Leisure hotels 73 521 The role of strategic groups Table II. Pro? les of global hotel companies in sample PR 41,4 522 International hotel companies 2,300 ? Five brands two at mid market Prestige brand Budget brand Holiday resorts 63 FranchiseKing GlobalallianceUSBonusbranda 700 Seven brands Two at both mid market and budget levels Prestige brand Suites Holiday resorts Prestige brand Mid-market brand North America 63 35 US fluxedeconomy Note a This company did not participate in the ? nal stages of the research Table II. Number of hotels Brands Number of countries Suggested strategy and methods of growth hybridizing strategy based on presence across a range of market sectors but competitively priced in each sector. Company documentation states the aim as To be the preferred hotel system, hotel management company, and lodging franchise in the world.To build on the strength of the FranchiseKing name utilising quality and consistency as the fomite to enhance its perceived value for money position in the middle market. Focused differentiation strategy based on international flick and expertise in the luxury hotel market. Growth through management contracting, franchising or marketing agreements and some ownership Deploys several strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties at the prestige level.Growth through management contracting and franchising, with limited ownership Adopts a physique of strategies including a hybrid strategy for its domestic units and a differentiation (with premium price) strategy for most of its international properties. Growth through management contracting some ownership and franchising 190 Prestige brand Mid-market bra nd North America 70 460 transcripts, ? eldwork notes and documentation allowed cases to be written for each company which were sense-checked by industry informants and against the research teams notes and observations.Access was granted to the eight companies on the basis of offering con? dentiality to participants and organisations. Each company was protected through the allocation of pseudonyms and all data and notes collected removed company names and trademarks to provide con? dentiality. This is in keeping with the widely acknowledged dif? culties of gaining access within this industry (Litteljohn et al. , 2007 Ropeter and Kleiner, 1997). The cases strengthened on the interview transcripts, observations and company documentation data meant that ualitative analysis was achieved through the tools and computer aided techniques recommended by key authors (Miles and Huberman, 1994 Silverman, 1997, 1999). The process of initial cryptograph identi? ed HRM practices, management crit eria and company strategies and characteristics. Descriptive coding was then used to highlight speci? c activities and relationships between HRM practices and approaches, and company characteristics. Further interpretive coding and analytic coding were highlighted through the themes presented by the respondents and the theoretical relationships arising from the data and initial coding (Silverman, 1997, 1999).Of particular importance were the themes of similar and distinctive HRM practices deployed by the companies, strategic groups and across the sample. Results Across the sample of eight IHCs evidence of common HRM interventions deployed included a reliance on well internal labour markets for unit management positions fostering programmes with universal components the use of performance appraisal as a mechanism for overseeing and evaluating human resources genius, the deployment of speci? c contractual agreements and conventions the recurrent use of corporate communications cha nnels and speci? HRM responses to cultural and international challenges. The shared aims of these practices indicated that the IHCs were adopting the table stake version of the best practice SHRM approach across their international portfolios (Boxall and Purcell, 2003, 2008 Boselie et al. , 2003, 2009). The next stage of data examination pertain the identi? cation of company speci? c HRM practices based on the best ? t and RBV SHRM approaches. However, subsequent analysis of the qualitative data began to identify another layer of similar HRM interventions centred on the appearance of strategic groups within the sample.There appeared to be similarities between the companies based on strategic variables such as parent company ownership, the scope of the hotels organisations activities (levels of internationalisation, geographical coverage, and market segments) resource commitments (including size, brands and market creation modes) and centric and transnational orientations. As a res ult the sample was demarcated into three strategic groups. These are labelled the Multi-branders, Mixed Portfolio Purchasers and Prestige Operators.Table III summarises the strategic similarities and differences between the three groups and their IHC members. Patterns of HRM interventions across the three strategic groups are apparent from the data supplied by the executives, their teams and the documentation. These patterns focus around six areas The role of strategic groups 523 PR 41,4 Similarities Differences 524 Table III. International hotel company strategic groups Strategic Group 1 The Multi-branders (two companies) National cultural origins FranchiseKing and Parent companies related horizontally Euromultigrow diversi? d Mid-market brand dominates in Large size 2,000 ? hotels one company while distinct High levels of internationalisation but brands used for different market strong domestic base ( french and USA) segments by other Multiple brands (luxury to budget) Dif? cul ties aligning parent company, brand One company uses more names and operations franchising Hybrid strategies avow of market entry modes Ethnocentric orientation Global organisation Strategic Group 2 The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers (two companies) Britbuyer and Similar size (between 400 and 1,000 hotels) Diversi? ation of parent companies is different USmixedeconomy Mid-position in internationalisation index Strong domestic presence and distinctive One company has more international operations ownership/partial ownership of Range of market entry modes hotels Acquisitive growth of European prestige brands One company has much smaller Brands offered at similar market levels Challenges of aligning disparate domestic budget brand domestic interests and international portfolios, corporate strategies and new acquisitions Ethnocentric orientation but with some Ptolemaic aspirations Multinational rganisation Strategic Group 3 The Prestige Operators (four companies) Two companies have sepa rate Parent companies related diversi? ed Anglo-American domestic operations Similar size (between 50 and 202 hotels) Premium Similar levels of low internationalisation Contractman Two companies have grown Focus on luxury, ? st class hotel market International through strategic partnerships (resort and business) Euroalliance Strategies broadly differentiation and Globalalliance One company uses a broader focused differentiation range of market entry modes Growth primarily through management contracting Broadly geocentric but with some aspects of ethnocentrism Transnational organisation (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) the levels where HRM is focused different views about management skills and transferability across brands how international and domestic operations function extent of owner in? ence and cultural differences how and where managerial talent is found and where speci? c career interventions emerge. Table IV captures some of the comments from interviews across these six levels and the three strategic groups. The HRM interventions and features developed by the three strategic groups are outlined in Table V along with the strategic variables which distinguish the groups. Strategic group 1 Multi-branders The real size and scale of their multi-branded operations indicated parallels between the HRM approaches taken by the Multi-branders (see comments in Tables IV and V).Both companies boasted a critical mass of hotels in key countries or regions of the world resulting in more localised recruitment and development approaches. For example, they operated UK only management training schemes and then speci? c recruitment initiatives tailored to educational systems, notably the French training and German apprenticeship schemes. The size of these two companies also meant they allowed their distinct brands to develop mortally which had apparently resulted in some speci? brand HRM practices. Both companies recognised there were few opportunities for managers to transfer between the different brands leading to bottlenecks in internal labour markets, where some brands grew more quickly and offered extensive transfer and promotion possibilities. The Multi-branders had seek to deal with these issues in slightly different ways, though both now had structures, enabling moves between managerial levels across brands to achieve some overall similarity across their company.In one company (Euromultigrow) there was a go to the different positions within each brand to encourage internal brand transfers of human resources. This guide was based on extensive negotiations with managers across the companys brands, although parent country nationals (PCNs) dominated among these managers and the companys University was responsible for the roll-out training for this guide. Franchiseking had developed a competency-based HRM system designed to identify common areas of expertise across its brands and as one HR executive identi? d all managers with line responsibilities had to attend and use this framework. The competencies were developed in accordance with a HRM consultant ? rm and used existing and future high potential managers across the companys portfolio to identify usurp behaviours of successful managers. Competencies were heavily in? uenced by the companys existing management team comprising mainly PCNs. The company then ran a series of training sessions for its senior managers so the competencies formed the basis for all selection, performance appraisal, promotion and training decisions and activities.These attempts to closely manage their large portfolios of standardised brands across geographically disparate locations meant the Multi-branders adopted an ethnocentric orientation to internationalisation with PCNs dominant in subsidiary management positions, which runs somewhat counter to their critical mass of units and attempts to localise too. The Multi-branders commented less extensively, compared with the members of the other two stra tegic groups, on the level of injectnce from property owners where management contracts were used.They argued this was probably because their highly standardised brands, even at full-service levels, meant owners knew what to expect, and they did not attempt to interfere in the day-to-day management of hotels. The selection of managers for managed properties was also less troublesome for the Multi-branders. In most cases executives could appoint whomever they cherished and The role of strategic groups 525 PR 41,4 526 The levels of focus for HRM Table IV.Responses from HR executives from the strategic groups Multibranders Our area, regional human resource executives run national versions of our company University training and recruitment programmes to ? t with national vocational education. participator HR director for Euromultigrow EAME We have a critical mass of hotels in certain countries and have built real presence so we need to adopt some of their practices as long as they ? t now with our competences. Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing In France, Germany, the UK and the Benelux and Scandinavian countries, where we have critical mass, they have some ? xibility for recruitment and training. It has been a bit of a struggle with our acquisition of M to get this right, though. Britbuyer HR EAME director Some areas, with more hotels, have a little bit more autonomy than others and we have them do their own management recruitment and training, based on our head-of? ce materials. Vice hot seat HR USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators We run a graduate management programme to ensure we have our next crop of managers waiting in the wings. We also have an executive management programme which includes an MBA both are designed to get us the GMs of the future. Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance Our graduate management programme is being revitalised for next year and well be targeting the brightest from the hotel schools in Holland and Switzerland for EAME. All our graduates must(prenominal) have language skills and meet speci? c knowledge requirements. Anglo-American Premium Vice hot seat of HRs I dont think graduate management schemes per se work. Instead we recruit graduates, mainly from Switzerland and the Dutch schools, into real jobs and although theyre a hotel resource, we (headquarters) monitor their progress and target them with speci? courses to try and bring them on. HR Vice President Euroalliance (continued) Multibranders We had to respect what was there. The predominant national culture of the newly acquired company) meant that we had a lot of communicating and educating to do within our company and within theirs. We moved managers within (names the acquired company) between units to give them a fresh start and many of them are still with us. It worked out well really. Regional HR director USmixedeconomy Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Views ab out management skills No, not so many people transferred.It was and transferability across brands quite common between one brand and also quite common between (names two other company brands at the same market level) but not at all between the others. It was dif? cult, not good. Now we will have a stronger parent company from this new structure. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow GMs skills needs fall into four skill sets which one is managing myself based on the premise that if I cant manage myself then I cant really manage anybody else. Then managing others and then the third one is problem solving and decision making and the fourth one is pro-active achievement.Very dif? cult to measure, but the actual achievement levels and the go for it and taking that extra risk, the entrepreneurial part. And then there is the languages and We have been training them in the use of behavioural event interviewing to help them, When we acquired company M there was cultural bit. HR Vice Preside nt Euroalliance . . . to spot the competencies. This allows us a bit of a standoff basically because they to see where in the portfolio of brands they complimentsed to be acquired by somebody else It It lifes it is dif? ult to see where a young managers next move is in an international can move to Corporate Training and didnt help that the CEO of our company company without the right language skills Development Director FranchiseKing went round their hotels saying get rid of this or do that. Things have changed now, to allow widening of transfer options. Anglo-American Premium Vice again. Theres more appreciation of what President of HRs acquired company does right on the international scene and were a lot more There are core or critical parts to our open to learning from them.Its now twobusiness marketing and sales, managing way. Britbuyer HR EAME director human resources, ? nancial management, creative decision making and leadership. These need to be displayed across cultures a cross properties to make it as a GM. Vice President HR Contractman International (continued) The role of strategic groups 527 Table IV. PR 41,4 528 How international and domestic operations function For an international GM you need languages and international recognize that is why some managers from brands back home dont make it. Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Table IV. Multibranders Most of these potential GMs do tend still to be the same nationality as the company, but I dont know why. We dont necessarily want that, at all. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow All GMs are informed that the best way to read and become familiar with the (competency) guide is to read the slope version ? rst this is the authoritative version. Corporate Training and Development Director FranchiseKing Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Why the four different parts of the world?Well each one has some strengths. I mean that States you take marketing and very different human resources. A sia you still have the luxury of being able to have a lot of employees and a far bigger budget because costs are lower. Japan because the way, the mentality of the Japanese market and customer is different, and Europe to do same thing but with a very tight budget because costs are so high. Vice President HR EAME Contractman International Our domestic brand managers arent our international mangers. There is no transfer, well ok I can think of one or two.You need international experience which creates a bit of a catch 22 because it is the old thing of you cant get the job without the experience and you cant get the experience without the job. Britbuyer HR EAME director A future GM must have worked outside his or her home country before they can be promoted to this level. It is important for managers to have language skills not only to help them operate in particular locations but also because there are far more career opportunities for those individuals who can demonstrate language pro? ciency. Transfers are then an important aspect of developing a career. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) Multibranders Well most of the time, it depends on the case of course, most of the time, the shareholder of the hotel will be an investor but he will not be an operational actor. He is interested in the bottom line, not what goes on inside the hotel. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Usually owners interview the three candidates we put forward for each GM position and invariably, well they select the candidate preferred by the company, though Vice Presidents often have to use some powers of persuasion. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs We have to know our owners really well to give them the GMs they want and need. Thats a tough call when youre growing so much. Vice President HR Contractman International Some owners are really dif? cult and have to be managed carefully. Thats where our Region al guys come in. Others are great and they are our business partners, with us for the long haul. HR Vice President Euroalliance Owners do have a lot of in? uence because if we give them somebody and they say we dont think this guys any good, wellAlthough we could force them on them it isnt a very rational thing to do. So the owning company does have a big bearing on the GM slot. Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance (continued) Extent of owner in? uence and cultural differences We have owners, for example, . . . but we have owners who are very, very clear about the people who we are likely, or more often than not, we cant employ. Usually its in terms of nationalities and colours, race and sexual preferences they dont like.It is their hotel and if they say I dont want somebody with red hair then you dont put somebody Owner interference depends on our brands, with red hair in, its as simple as that. Britbuyer HR EAME director the more exclusive the brand the more in ? uence but mainly we propose people this candidate has our ? rm support. The frequency of moves our managers obviously the quality of the relationship make are also driven by how tightly an with the owner is very important and you owner wants to hang on to them.So were must respect their wishes pertaining to GMs constrained by hardship factors, and but it doesnt cause us much trouble really. owners predilections and preferences. Vice President for HR FranchiseKing Regional HR director USmixedeconomy The role of strategic groups 529 Table IV. PR 41,4 530 How and where managerial talent is found Table IV. Multibranders We have our area, regional human resource people help our GMs identify their managers who might one day make it, who have the potential to be GMs too. The area human resource people then run some courses and do the training we have developed through our company university. HR Vice President for Euromultigrow Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators How do we ma nage our GMs? Well we include all managers here well its a very integrated approach to career development, or management development and the annual appraisal and it all comes together with succession planning and the work we coordinate here (gestures to the corporate head-of? ce). Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance Were the executive team in the hotels a lot, and the President was really great, yesterday he was saying You know everybody whether youre ? ance or business development or marketing, when youre in the hotels and you spot people who are really good, notice it, you know get a note of the name, make sure that were also all talent spotting our own people. HR Vice President Euroalliance We must therefore nurture excellence in every one of our employees, especially our local nationals the people who live in the countries where we operate hotels. Vice President HR EAME Contractman International At the Vice President and divisional director levels were alwa ys travelling, listening to what are people are saying and telling them about whats happening across the company.And spotting talent too. Anglo-American Premium Vice President of HRs (continued) I mean I am very conscious from this conversation we are not doing all we could to develop the next generation of GMs. It is partly because the number two position in some units has disappeared. So there arent enough opportunities for heads of departments to move on and develop their experience. We havent had a problem so far but as we increase (grow) we might be struggling for the right calibre of GMs in a Some of our approach to identifying GM few years time. Britbuyer HR EAME potential is systematic, some is opportunistic. Were trying to become more director systematic, through the new competencies process. Weve recognised we have to have You must realise that traditionally we have more local nationals and fewer expatriates. consciously developed very good resident managers/EAMs (Execu tive Assistant Corporate Training and Development Managers) so when these individuals took Director FranchiseKing over their own units there was a very low risk of failure.Since our purchases and down-sizing, however, there are now some properties that no long-dated have a number 2 manager. Thus we have effectively stopped developing this almost risk free human resource it may cause us problems in the long term. Vice President HR USmixedeconomy Multibranders Our restructuring of brands and growth in franchising means we have to be clear about what managers do to make the hotels successful. Our company university is critical for training to our brands so all our managers know. Assistant HR director for Euromultigrow EAME Potential GMs . . Its very intensive (the assessment centre) with individualised counselling, tests to see where their stresses and strains are, and management skills across the board, running from 8 in the morning to 10 at night. Its really very intensive and w e have people When we go outside, well we steal from the from across the world, with different Performance of our business is crucial and competition and just rely on the grapevine or languages and cultures, the mix of people is seen to be the best element of these maybe on-spec applications.Theres some that is why so much investment and events. Anglo-American Premium Vice development had been made in this area of use of executive search but thats very President of HRs expensive. Regional HR director competencies and performance management. Theres been a clear growth in USmixedeconomy For the assessment centre a report is pro? ts since the competencies were ? rst written on them based on what we feel they developed. Vice President for HR demonstrated, in the way they acted during FranchiseKing the course.What is okay and the right way, whats to be demonstrated and whats to be discussed, where they feel they need development in, and from that we can more or less determine the time span its going to take so that theyll be ready to be a GM, and what has to happen middle so the individual development is planned. Corporate Director of Human Resources Globalalliance In fact it is incredibly incestuous and people just seem to appear or materialise. We wouldnt directly poach someone, well . . . , but if someone made it clear to us theyd be interested then wed feel ? e about calling them up. Britbuyer HR EAME director They all go on a leadership development programme and I design and I teach those with a co-trainer, I like to see that Im there with them for a full week and we run an assessment process with the leadership development programme. So theyre booked for tests and exercises based on the four management skills areas and they have individual feedback during the brief to let them know how theyre doing. This sets them with an individual plan for the future. HR Vice President EuroallianceMixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Where speci? c career int erventions emerge The role of strategic groups 531 Table IV. PR 41,4 Strategic groups Strategic group variables HRM outcomes Brands and market segmentation Multi-branders Hard brands, serving several different market levels 532 Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Allows more localisation of management talent due to standardisation and clear criteria for operating brands Movement within and between brands facilitated to prevent career bottlenecks Some soft (international) and some Dif? ult to facilitate movement hard (domestic) brands between international brands due to recent purchases, no transfer between domestic and international brands due to skills mismatch Importance of communication to assimilate new acquisitions Softer brands fury on transfers to develop managerial experience of different countries/markets, and types of hotels Encourages and facilitates employees at all levels to gain international experience Large diverse organisations, structured on the basis of brands and some geographical factors Critical mass of units in some locations Organised on International and domestic divisions.Slow assimilation of newly purchased international brand Some critical mass of units Companies have developed guides to articulate management positions and skills across brands Critical mass allows multi-unit UGMs and more local recruitment and selection activities Some local recruitment and selection, less development through strong internal labour market and more acquisition of management talent Critical mass allows more localisation of management talent but not co-ordinated effectively throughout the companies Regional of? es co-ordinate transfers and HRM practices but also learn from subsidiaries to pass experience, knowledge and expertise on across other regions. IT plays an important role here Across company recruitment and development schemes rather than localised versions. Provides single ports of entry at (sub) department management level to local s (continued) Structure and organisation Multi-branders Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige OperatorsSmaller portfolios organised on regional lines Limited critical mass of units Table V. The IHC strategic groups, their strategic variables and the HRM outcomes Strategic groups Centric orientation Multi-branders Strategic group variables Primarily ethnocentric HRM outcomes The role of strategic groups Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators Highly standardised function seem to facilitate low reliance on PCNs at subsidiary level though they are prevalent at executive level Dif? ult to discern bypassing of PCNs still mainly in place for acquired companies, some stages through acquisitions locations with HCNs (critical (McKiernan, 1992) mass) but dominated by Western nationals Aspiring geocentric Attempts to harness managerial talent from around the world regardless of nationality through co-ordinated and integrated HRM activities UGMs still primarily from Western (European and American) backgrounds, executives in particular 533 Methods of growth and market entry expertise Multi-branders Growth through hard brands and the development of suitable investors (master franchisees and owners)Mixed Portfolio Purchasers Prestige Operators UGMs have speci? c knowledge and skills in operating highly standardised hotel services and passing knowledge onto others (franchisees) HRM mechanisms de? ne performance and selection criteria for managers and employees Acquisition used alongside mixed UGMs are likely to have expertise methods of market entry (mainly in exploiting value from purchased properties management contracts) De-layering of organisational hierarchies (disappearance of deputy UGM position) and local recruitment initiatives were seen to help realise returns on their acquisitions Managers demonstrate speci? Growth primarily through pro? ciency in managing more management contracting, some marketing agreements, and equity luxurious and culturally adapted hot els and their owners investment. Global but local More extensive and integrated prognosis HRM interventions, which support extensive transfers and development opportunities, throughout human resources, not just managers Table V. PR 41,4 534 only in a few hotels or in speci? c countries and with speci? c types of owners (for example, governments) were there two or three managers presented to owners in a beauty parade.The Multi-branders were more concerned about the co-ordination of franchise operators and training and communication were seen to be vital mechanisms for managing these issues. These were the only companies who identi? ed mandatory training courses for managers and held speci? c courses that their franchise partners were obliged to attend. Constant travelling by corporate executives was seen to win reinforce company values and assist in harmonization between geographically disparate franchised, managed and owned units.Both companies showed evidence of strong similariti es associated with managing their multi-branded, and multi-market entry strategies and large, diverse portfolios. Dividing their HRM interventions into areas or countries where there was a critical mass of units was appropriate given the scale of their operations. Strong values, often based on the origins of the company, ? were communicated through frequent communiques and training opportunities further reinforced the brand standards and achieved appropriate levels of corporate synergy in the face of competition from their smaller but potentially more nimble competitors.Strategic group 2 Mixed Portfolio Purchasers The Mixed Portfolio Purchasers had been through considerable periods of change and growth prior to the researchers ? eldwork. In addition to acquiring smaller European hotel chains they had substantially expand their domestic and international portfolios through other acquisitions and mixed market entry methods. Both had international and larger domestic sections which wer e managed almost completely separately, although