operations again creating barriers for the introduction of performance driven measures in markets like Western-Europe and China. Whereas in the U.S. traditionally hierarchy is low and employee idea generation is common, Chinese culture is more subversive and critical idea generation practices will fail (Zhu 2005). Similarly hiring and training practices are different across cultures: The U.S. and Europe allow for the application of best practices in recruitment and training. In Asia Lincoln needs to align to the environment of conducting rather relationship oriented hiring and in-depth skill development (Warner 2005). Thirdly, different market maturity and industry-life-cycles between developed and developing markets affect Lincoln’s HR approaches with differences in hiring, training and workforce participation.

3.2.2 Internal factors

The first major internal factor affecting Lincoln’s HRM is the life-cycle of the respective subsidiary. U.S. and Canadian operations have a historical presence with high levels of employee loyalty, trust, identification with the individual performance culture and a well attuned work organization and low hierarchies (Bjorkman & Galunic 2003). Due to recent acquisitions and Greenfield investments in Europe and Asia loyalty and identification with the overall corporate objectives and working ethics is unincisive (Hastings 1999). Lincoln is challenged developing HR-approaches to create employee involvement and implement the performance driven internal values. Especially, immense discrepancies between the subsidiaries’ international managers and the U.S. headquarters’ management are major obstacles for the development of globally coherent HRM strategies which can enforce the overall company’s performance (e.g. objections against incentive system, language barriers, management philosophies) (Hastings 1999). Lincoln’s executives do not possess the required international management skills and are very much minted by idealized U.S. practices.