Concerning relationships between headquarters and the their subsidiaries, the
main tasks of headquarters human resources departments of Japanese firms we
studied are to manage Japanese expatriates and to help their subsidiaries work
through major issues and/or changes. The headquarters human resources
departments make performance appraisal systems for Japanese expatriates, which
are not affected by company vision/mission. Performance appraisal systems for
Japanese expatriates at the J4 firms are more merit-oriented than performance appraisal systems for Japanese employees in Japan. In terms of actual
evaluations, business units of the Japanese firms are often involved with the
appraisals for the Japanese expatriates. (When Japanese expatriates are sent
from headquarters departments, the departments often evaluate the expatriates.)
At the JS3 subsidiary in Taiwan, the president first evaluates Japanese expatriates.
And then, business units in Japan, which the Japanese expatriates belong to,
appraise them. At the JS7 subsidiary in Taiwan, the Japanese vice president first
evaluates the Japanese expatriates, followed by the president. Concerning job
transfers of Japanese expatriates within the firms, a headquarters human
resources department of the J7 firm decides transfers of the Japanese expatriates
of the JS7 subsidiary in Taiwan, while accepting suggestions from the Japanese
president of the subsidiary. Job transfers of Japanese expatriates of the JS3
subsidiary in Taiwan are decided by business units in Japan.