The transfer of human resource policies and practices from headquarters tosubsidiary locations becomes increasingly important in multinational enterprises asthey develop from being exporting organisations to having stand-alone countrysubsidiaries, as a step towards the globalisation of their operations. The ability totransfer knowledge effectively across borders is a key characteristic of successfulmultinational enterprises. International human resource managers need to keepinformed about the pressures of globalisation on their businesses and study localhuman resource issues relevant to their firms' operations. This study attempts tobridge the fields of international human resource management and strategicmanagement, by investigating how German multinational enterprises transfer humanresource policies and practices to their subsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand andIndonesia. While western multinational enterprises operating in Asian countries facedifferent human resource issues from those in their home countries, existing researchhas a strong focus on Anglo-Saxon experiences, which results in a lack of studies ofEuropean and specifically, German multinationals. This study focuses on a sample ofGerman multinational enterprises and the internationalisation of their humanresource function.Against this background, the research question is 'How do German multinationalcompanies transfer human resource policies and practices to and from theirsubsidiaries in South East Asia?' The themes to be investigated emerge from thefields of international human resource management; national, cultural and legaldifferences in human resource management in selected enterprises betweenGermany, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, and the impact of the headquarterspolicies and practices of these multinational enterprises on human resource issues intheir subsidiaries.The study investigates a number of research issues. The first is the internationalhuman resource management approach of German multinational enterprises'headquarters towards their subsidiaries. A second research issue deals with the keycultural, legal and societal differences that influence the transfer of human resourcepolicies and practices. A third research issue analyses whether there is a generalclimate of innovation and trust between headquarters and subsidiaries that facilitatesorganisational change. A fourth research issue investigates how specific policies andpractices could change when applied in different countries. Finally, the roles ofheadquarters people and subsidiary staff in the transfer process are studied.This exploratory study uses qualitative methodology and is based on the analysis ofcase studies. The three main cases are German Fortune Global 500 industrialcompanies from different industries, namely electrical, mechanical and chemical, andwith subsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Prior theory in the literaturereview and exploratory expert and pilot interviews led to the development of adetailed interview protocol. A total of 24 in-depth interviews with human resourcedirectors and line managers form the backbone of data collection.New contributions to the body of knowledge concern the incongruence between theinternationalisation of the business versus the human resource function, the linkbetween knowledge management and the human resource field, and the significanceof attitudinal relationships in the transfer process. Finally, cultural differences amongthe transfer coalition are found to have a more significant impact on the transfer thancultural differences of the respective workforces.The contributions to management practice include five recommendations forpractitioners. These revolve around increasing the international experience of thelocal human resource director to address the mismatch between the ever expandingrole of the local human resource director and the required, but presently lacking,international profile to fulfil that role. For the organisation of the human resourcefunction in headquarters, assigning a mentor to a country or region and providingmore practical guidance, rather than policies, are examples of recommendations.In brief, this study attempts to explain why German companies may experienceproblems when they transfer human resource policies and practices to theirsubsidiaries in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. In addition to being of interestacademically, the results of this study might assist managers of multinationalenterprises in designing better and more transferable international human resourcemanagement policies and practices. Contributions are made concerning the feedbackroutes from subsidiaries to headquarters, and finally, about the organisation of humanresource management.