International staffing practices by Kenya Commercial Bank group within the East Africa Region

Abstract

This study investigates senior management staffing practices in foreign subsidiaries of the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group. Previous research on MNCs staffing practices mainly focused on expatriate staffing policy and practices in US, Canadian, Japanese and European MNCs. Sharp differences are revealed among the MNCs affiliates suggesting strong country effects supporting the view of MNCs as composed of differentiated practices. The study addressed two research objectives, to determine international staffing practices by KCB Group in the East African region and to determine what factors influences KCB Group international staffing practices within its subsidiaries in the East African region, contributing to the scarce research on international staffing practices of homegrown Kenyan Multinationals like KCB Group. Grounded in literature review of the reasons for employing either parent country nationals or host country nationals in senior management positions in foreign subsidiaries, a number of factors influencing the choice between these alternatives were identified. Using a case study approach, the international staffing practices of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group in its subsidiaries in the East African Region are examined. Data from focused interviews and existing documents on human resources strategy & policies, and organization charts were used. Data from the interviews and documents reviewed was analyzed using content analysis and the analysis of the findings revealed congruence with theoretical strategies identified in previous studies. A number of factors influencing the choice between PCNs and HCNs were identified. It was found that Kenya commercial bank group has adopted an ethnocentric approach to staffing its international subsidiaries through use of parent country nationals (PCNs) for senior management positions. As hypothesized, all best practice variables were found to apply in KCB Group, albeit in differing degrees. From the findings, it’s clear that KCB group has been motivated by a number of factors to use PCNs, the main ones being control, reinforce corporate culture, and filling positions where qualified human resource is lacking. From the findings it’s clear that KCB group experiences some challenges in staffing its foreign subsidiaries including cultural distance, human resource constraints and host country government regulations.