The Local Embeddedness of the Transnational Corporation-A Case Study of the Temporary Staffing Agencies in Taiwan
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Chang, Yu-Yuan
Abstract
Since the 1990s the largest transnational temporary staffing agencies have dramatically expanded the geographical extent of their operations. This article examines the modes of local embeddedness of these agencies and offers an initial assessment of their glocalization strategies in the ‘emerging markets’. It demonstrates how agencies explore different types of temporary staffing markets and interact with regulators, transnational agencies and local agencies. In addition, it attempts to contemplate the effect which these agencies affect their host country’s labor market employments. Basically, this article will bring up three main questions: (1) How could industry circumstance in Taiwan especially labor regulation condition attract FDI to come in? Is there any reregulation in national labor market ‘flexibilization’ or path dependence in human resource business practice? (2) How could transnational agencies govern crossing border? How they entry the market and expand their branch and franchise networks? Is there any mechanism of coordination and tension deriving from their activities? (3) What kind of change or transformation have the host country’s labor market employments came through as transnational agencies arrived in Taiwan?rawing primarily on data from in-depth interviews, this article reveals three arguments as following: (1) Taiwan is one of the newly industrialized countries (NICs). In order to maintain high economic development and efficiency, the labor condition tends to being flexible essentially. When the state faced higher unemployment rate, government purposed to promote a series of labor market flexibilization policy and tried to legalize temporary staffing. In this condition, the transnational agencies possessed their advantage of ownership in capital and knowledge to come in and developed quickly in Taiwan. (2) Although subsidiary companies have power relations in capital and know-how with parent companies. However, they don’t lose their authorities at all. In order to interact local customers directly and rapidly, subsidiary companies shows high autonomy in negotiation with local clients, coordination with other agencies and even organization transformation. (3) Because of the deployment of temporary staffing agencies, labors have more mobility in the labor markets. Labors stay no longer in a single workplace, they can migrate to all types of field especially for high-end labors. They can acquire more embodied knowledge and experience when they change their workplace. At the same time, they can solve problems which clients encounter efficiently and create more agency. Even they may influence the employers to create more favorable environment for their production and reproduction. However, this agency is still only limited to the institution of the system, as well as the logic of capitalism.
Subjects
temporary staffing firms
glocalization
social embeddedness
labor markets
power relationships
SDGs
Type
thesis
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