Multinational companies (MNCs) are increasingly striving for organizational integration across borders. They often standardize product and service offerings, rely on international production or service delivery processes, and have cross-national teams. Global integration promises to deliver efficiency and greater managerial oversight, but can be challenging to set up and maintain. To be effective, cross-border integration needs to be underpinned by common understandings on issues such as the firm’s responsibilities towards its stakeholders, how to assess performance, or what constitutes fair allocation of work. Where such common understandings are established across borders and influence day-to-day practices, we refer to them as ‘global norms’. Establishing and operating workplace norms across borders is no easy task. Just as culture often differs significantly between countries, so do approaches to doing business and assumptions in the workplace. Global norm-making is therefore almost inevitably a complicated, sometimes fraught, process. It requires people with foresight, inclination and skills to form, operationalize and maintain global norms successfully. We call those who are active in the process of global norm formation ‘globalizing actors’. The project is based on partnerships with a range of British multinational organizations, with an emphasis on diversity of organizational forms and economic sectors. We work with over 20 organizations, from boutique creative agencies to global consultancies, from manufacturers to non-profits. This diversity benefits our research and—in anonymized form—provides useful benchmarks to participating organizations. We use a multi-method approach to generate in-depth understanding of norming processes and globalizing actors’ behavior as well as broad coverage. This includes: a) In-depth interviews with participants in various roles. These interviews serve to establish the organizational context, understand how norms within the firm are perceived, and identify and investigate relevant global norms and globalising actors. b) a multi-source survey of globalizing actors identifying individual-level skills and capabilities associated with global norm-making. c) A diary or ‘repeat survey’ of globalizing actors tracking the utilization of their globalising skills over time.In a globalised economic and business context, the norms that shape human resource management travel internationally. This is particularly the case within the multinational company, where individuals are responsible for the creation, diffusion, interpretation and negotiation of norms - which may be rules, principles or guidelines - across international operations. We refer to such individuals as 'globalizing actors'. The aim of our research is to identify the resources mobilized by globalizing actors in the creation, diffusion, interpretation and negotiation of norms concerning the global coordination of human resources (see 'Objectives' for more detail). Previous research has examined individuals in important international positions, focusing on their orientations and values (e.g. whether they possess 'global mindsets'), the management of international assignments and the characteristics of members of the international business elite. However, these literatures have not systematically examined the actual roles of globalizing actors within firms, and precisely how they create, diffuse, and manage international norms. We examine what such actors actually do within a theoretical framework that sees the behaviour of globalizing actors as shaped by institutions: the institutions in the country in which they originated affect their competencies; they must be sensitive to a variety of host national institutions; and they must navigate their way through a growing range of transnational institutions. Their role is also shaped by organizational context, particularly how the firm derives synergies from integrating their operations internationally, which influences the types of global norms required. However, globalizing actors are not prisoners of institutional and organizational contexts. They can create new norms, develop strategies that help shape the 'rules of the game' and attempt to exploit institutional contradictions and ambiguities. We will explore the individual level resources of these actors to deal with these contexts, such as their skills and knowledge - 'human capital' - the relationship these actors have to others in terms of power, position and trust - their 'social capital' - and their transnational experiences or exposure. We will examine UK MNCs, both at home and across subsidiaries in Europe, North America and East Asia. The research will use multiple methods, consisting of five steps: 1) Pilot Work. Using seed-corn funding, we have tested key concepts and generated contacts for twelve full case studies in subsequent stages of the research. 2) UK interviews. These will focus on those charged with creating new norms, spreading them across international operations, or ensuring compliance. 3) Foreign Subsidiary Interviews. We will conduct interviews in the international operations of each firm, enabling us to understand frames of reference and actor choices in foreign subsidiaries. 4) Multi-level Survey. The survey of a set of globalizing actors will establish individual level capabilities associated with the establishment and diffusion of global norms. 5) Quantitative Diary Study. This methodological innovation allows us both to explore what globalizing actors actually do and to test predictors of behaviours and attitudes. The research will make a substantial and distinctive contribution to understanding of the processes of international management, through focusing on individual "globalizing actors" within the contexts of the multiple institutional and organisational contexts within which they make decisions. Equally, through the development and communication of a strong evidence base on how firms build individual and organisational capabilities in international management, the research also aims to enable improvements in the economic effectiveness of UK firms with overseas operations, while acting in ways that respond to the need for social responsibility at local-host and global levels.

We use a multi-method approach to generate in-depth understanding of norming processes and globalizing actors’ behavior as well as broad coverage: In-depth interviews with participants in various roles. These interviews serve to establish the organizational context, understand how norms within the firm are perceived, and identify and investigate relevant norming process as well as the globalising actors involved. We use a semi-structured approach that uses a prepared set of questions to ensure consistency and triangulation of data, but is also flexible to respond to instances of norm-making that participants lead us to. Multi-source survey of globalizing actors identifying individual-level skills and capabilities associated with global norm-making. Two questionnaires were designed. The first is sent directly to globalizing actors, and includes questions about their roles, behaviours and social skills related to their globalising work, as well as their own assessments of its impact. The globalising actors nominate five colleagues that they work with who have been impacted by their cross-national working efforts in some way. The second questionnaire asks these colleagues directly about their experiences of changes in their global work. The survey instrument was administered through the qualtrix platform. A diary or ‘repeat survey’ of globalizing actors tracking the utilization of their globalising skills over time. By surveying the same people over time, it is possible to examine patterns of change for individuals and teams. For example, it is possible to examine whether key variables (e.g. commitment to global team effort, global team climate) follows a general trend of improvement over time and whether this trend is significantly faster or slower for some individuals or groups. A repeat survey was conducted, with measures taken at the end of every month over a three-month period. The same survey was sent to group members and group leads (i.e., the globalising actors). The survey instrument was administered through the qualtrix platform.