Title: Human resources and internationalisation processes: a cognitive-based view

Authors: Francesco Caputo; Marco Pironti; Roberto Quaglia; Roberto Chierici

Addresses: Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy ' Department of Computer Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ' ESCP European Business School, Paris, France ' Department of Business and Law, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

Abstract: The paper aims at contributing to the complex debate about the role of human resources in advancing or hampering companies' internationalisation processes. Adopting a cognitive-based view, a set of variables for coding the role of human resources in internationalisation processes are identified, and their relations with companies' return on sales (ROS) in foreign countries are tested using structural equation modelling. From empirical research involving 638 employees from 45 Italian small and medium enterprises, the findings extend the managerial literature on internationalisation processes and human resource management, highlighting the impact of employees' previous international job experience, culture of origin, cultural orientation towards globalisation and educational background on companies' ROS in foreign countries.

Keywords: human resources management; internationalisation; cognitive view.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2023.129532

European Journal of International Management, 2023 Vol.19 No.4, pp.518 - 536

Received: 11 Dec 2018
Accepted: 14 Jun 2019
Published online: 14 Mar 2023 *

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