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Perceived senior leadership opportunities in MNCs: The effect of social hierarchy and capital

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Abstract

Drawing on the structural perspective in organizational theory, this study develops a conceptual framework of the social hierarchy within the multinational corporation (MNC). We suggest that parent country nationals (PCNs), host country nationals (HCNs), and third country nationals (TCNs) occupy distinctively different positions in the social hierarchy, which are anchored in their differential control or access to various forms of capital or strategically valuable organizational resources. We further suggest that these positions affect employees’ perceptions of senior leadership opportunities, defined as the assessment of the extent to which nationality and location influence access to senior leadership opportunities. Using multilevel analysis of survey data from 2039 employees in seven MNCs, the study reveals two significant findings. First, HCNs and TCNs perceive that nationality and location influence access to senior leadership opportunities more than PCNs. Second, three moderating factors – gender, tenure, and education – increase the perception gaps between PCNs on the one hand and HCNs and TCNs on the other, although these results are inconsistent. These findings indicate that the structural position of PCNs, HCNs, and TCNs in the social hierarchy affect sense-making and perceptions of access to senior leadership opportunities.

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that the social hierarchy within organizations is embedded in both the wider societal context and in the formal structure of the organization.

  2. A recent review of the vast body of evidence from biological, behavioral, and self-report studies concluded that the dominance behavioral system – a biologically based system that guides dominance motivation, dominant and subordinate behavior, and response to perceptions of power and subordination – enables people to recognize and respond to social ranking systems based on hierarchy and power. One brain-imaging study found that there were particular areas of the brain dedicated to processing social ranking information (see Johnson, Leedom, & Muhtadie, 2012).

  3. We paid particular attention to ensuring the quality and consistency of the education variable across national education systems. In each country, respondents were asked to indicate the highest level of formal education attainment using a local education schema. The data were then harmonized by carefully recoding the educational qualifications data into a common education schema.

  4. We thank a JIBS anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

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Acknowledgements

This article has benefited from inspiring discussions with Mila Lazarova and Anand Narasimhan. We sincerely thank the editor, David C Thomas, and the three anonymous JIBS reviewers for their invaluable comments and suggestions throughout the development and review process of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Orly Levy & Maury A Peiperl

  2. School of Business Administration, Portland State University, Portland, USA

    Sully Taylor

  3. Sabanci School of Management, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nakiye A Boyacigiller

  4. Department of Psychology, Portland State University, Portland, USA

    Todd E Bodner

  5. INSEAD, Long Beach, USA

    Schon Beechler

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  1. Orly Levy
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Correspondence to Orly Levy.

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Accepted by David C Thomas, Area Editor, 18 August 2014. This article has been with the authors for three revisions.

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Levy, O., Taylor, S., Boyacigiller, N. et al. Perceived senior leadership opportunities in MNCs: The effect of social hierarchy and capital. J Int Bus Stud 46, 285–307 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2014.53

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2014.53

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