Organizational Life Cycles and Strategic International Human Resource Management in Multinational Companies: Implications for Congruence Theory

This article seeks to extend our understanding of congruence of “fit” theory in strategic human resource management (HRM) as a result of developing an organizational life cycle (OLC) model of international HRM (IHRM) for multinational companies (MNCs). International and longitudinal dimensions provide several contributions to congruence theory as it relates to IHRM. First, two additional IHRM-context fits should be considered in strategic human resources. Second, the need for flexibility in strategic IHRM is explored in greater detail. Next, the concepts of fit and flexibility are explored in complement by examining their relationship over the entire OLC. A series of propositions is formulated concerning the relationship of fit and flexibility to organizational effectiveness in MNCs. Finally, new research directions are suggested relating fit to flexibility over the OLC for different organizational and environmental contexts.