Commitment for hire? The viability of corporate culture as a MNC control mechanism

This paper discusses the effectiveness of corporate culture as a control mechanism in the multinational context. While there is widespread managerial support for its use, there is also considerable challenge to the idea that corporate culture can be ‘managed’. A review of relevant literature dealing with the internalisation of corporate values, organizational commitment, psychological ownership, and corporate identification provokes questions about the viability of corporate culture as a MNC control mechanism. Much depends on individual employee responses that range from support to outright resistance, and may be moderated by variables, such as managerial action and the extent of violation of the psychological contract. It is concluded that, in the long run, it may not be in the best interests of MNC management to have a strong corporate culture. A workforce of highly inculcated employees might, in fact, impede MNC management's need for strategic changes.