American Multinational Companies’ Attractiveness As Employers In China

The war for talents is heating up.Compared to local companies,foreign multinational companies(MNCs),which incur liability of foreignness and cultural differences in host country,face more difficulties in attracting prospective employees.However,few studies have investigated factors influencing MNCs’ attractiveness overseas.Therefore,based on the instrumental-symbolic framework of job/organization attributes,person-organization fit,ASA model,signaling theory,and Hofstede’s value dimensions,this research examines the effects of instrumental and symbolic job/organization attributes and Chinese job seeker’s individually held values on perceived attractiveness of American companies as future employers.Results from 356 participants in this study reveal that instrumental job/organization attributes,perceived subjective values congruence,and individually held cultural values are significant predictors of perceived organizational attractiveness of American MNCs.Specifically,those who perceived that American MNCs provide higher pay,better benefits,and more advancement opportunities are more attracted to American MNCs.Those who perceived a higher level of congruence between American MNCs’ organizational values and their own cultural values would find American MNCs more attractive.Among the six studied individually held values,only power distance was significantly related to perceived organizational attractiveness of American MNCs.Those who are low in power distance are more attracted to American MNCs.Symbolic attributes of organizational personalities showed no significant correlations with organizational attractiveness.In addition,English proficiency and having working experiences in American MNCs are positively related to attraction to American MNCs.Perceived amount of potential job opportunities is negatively related to evaluation of American MNCs’ attractiveness.From a theoretical perspective,these findings generally justify the personorganization fit theory,demonstrated the influence of individual values on organizational attractiveness,and extend recruitment literature by applying a cross-cultural perspective.At a practical level,implications for American MNCs’ recruitment practices and human resource management in China are discussed.