Gaining competitive advantage through performance related pay: Does country of origin matter?

By Ruby Ranjan, Ron Edwards
DOI: 10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2022.01.275

Performance-related pay (PRP) is an integral part of Reward Management (RM) and is considered to have beneficial effects on organisational performance and employee motivation. Drawing on 14 case studies, this paper examines the Reward Management practices of local and multinational companies in Australia with specific consideration to PRP within the debate over the applicability of the transfer of the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices between nations through subsidiary-parent company relationships. After reviewing the relevant literature(s), the study concentrates on finding whether multinational corporations (MNC) in Australia pursue similar or different RM practices compared to their domestically owned Australian counterparts with special reference to PRP. It also investigates whether there are national variations between multinational companies in terms of the nature and character of their practices. The findings reveal country of origin differences in the way PRP practices are applied in subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies in Australia and local Australian firms. The case studies are used to examine and explain the practices.