The human dimension in multinational management: A way forward

SummaryResearch on multinational management has focused on strategising in this complex organisation rather than operating in it. The field has struggled to incorporate the human dimension; that is, the “lived experience” of managing and working in the multinational. We argue that taking the human dimension seriously has far-reaching implications for conceptualising and researching this organisation. This has value not just for describing but for explaining the way in which the multinational operates. We compare how the human dimension, particularly language, is treated by four theoretical perspectives: the design, the network, the institutional and the critical perspectives. While advocating a critical perspective on the multinational in order to take the field forward, we note how the other approaches could also be enriched by incorporating the human dimension.