DOES EXIST A WAY TO MANAGE HR IN PORTUGAL? AN ANALYSIS FROM GERMAN MULTINATIONALS HRM PRACTICES

Multinationals have operating problems due to the multiple contexts in which they operate. One of the greatest challenges for these organizations is the management of the cultural diversity of their human resources, in the sense of creating a collective of work capable of meeting the goals of the new economy. In Portugal, of the most represented countries at the level of their multinationals, Germany is the one that has a more antagonistic culture when compared with Portuguese culture, not preventing a multiplicity of successful cases. This paper firstly aims to characterize the HRM practices used in the Portuguese subsidiaries of the German multinationals and to see if there is a pattern in these same practices, trying to find out the "how" German companies manage with productivity the Portuguese human capital. The results dictated the existence of a pattern used in practices and a clear focus on human resources, identified by a clear approach to HRM soft model, without neglecting the importance of achieving the goals, improving empowerment, knowledge, skills and motivation.

, the FDI has a growth of more than 1000% (Mateus, 1992).In recent years, the European Union continues to be the main practices to subsidiaries around the world the results fall short of the desired ones, making it a challenge for these companies to find suitable practices for its subsidiaries (Ismail, 2010).This is even more relevant when comparing the values of the German national culture with the Portuguese natio nal culture, we perceive that they are practically antagonistic, having repercussio ns on the implementatio n of organizational culture (Hofstede, 1980(Hofstede, , 1984(Hofstede, , 1991(Hofstede, , 2011) ) and therefore in HRM practices (Mayrhofer and Brewster, 2005).However, when analysing This phenomenon has awakened the curiosity of researchers to understand this complex form of organization and the opportunities and obstacles to manage the diversified workforce with the goal o f increasing overall organizational performance (Aljayi, Fjer, Guennioui&Tamek, 2016).
MNCs understood as any "company that carries out transactio ns in or between two sovereign entities, operating in a decisio nmaking system that allows the influence on the resources and capacities, where the transactions are subject to influences of exogenous factors to the context of the country of origin" (Sundaram & Black, 1992:733), they have had in institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977;DiMaggio & Powell, 1983)  The way in which MNCs evolve, namely ho w they manage di versity , i.e. the identificatio n of new and efficient ways of capitalizing on the cultural potential available to them by the local employees of the subsidiary companies, is essential to get a dominant competitive positio n (Badea, 2013;Dupuis, 2014)., 2015).We can also highlight that 76% of companies are generally satisfied with the results of commercial investment (CCILA, 2010).

THE G E R M A N M U L T I N A T I O N A L S I N P O R T U G A L
In 2010, almost a third of the German multinationals operating in P ortugal had more than 250 employees, looking for core competencies as the ability to find solutions, work as a team and customer orientatio n.The most represented secto r (60%) is Industry, the result of the establishment in the country, mostly in the 80's and 90's, of companies focused mainly on exports, 24% are in commerce and 16% in services.

N A T I O N A L D I F F E R E N C E S A S K EY F A C T O R I N H R M
Human Reso urces Management as a concept "born" in USA academic circles when Fombrun, Tichy&Devanna (1984) and Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills & Walton (1985) bring a new perspective about the human relations in organizations.
The "hard" model developed by Fombrun et al. (1984) assumes that people are a means to an end.The "soft" model of Beer et al. (1985) is more humanistic, people are The "soft" model finds its roots in Resource -Based View Theory, which understands that internal resources are the main so urce o f competitive advantage (Penrose, 1959;Wernerfelt, 1984;Barney, 1991), providing the theoretical foundations that not only human resources can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage (Schuler & MacMillan, 1984;Pfeffer, 1994), as well as human resource practices have the potential to become key components of a company's overall strategy (Werbel&DeMarie, 2005).In this sen se, people will have to be managed in a way that ensures that o nly the best are selected, that they are given appropriate training, merit is rewarded, and look for their commitment to the organization, in Longterm perspective management.This approach giv es priority to a positiv e relationship between employee and employer, based on mutual trust, developed through participation and involvement in decisio n-making processes, employee empowerment, teamwork and collaboration (Druker et al., 1996;Wilton, 2011).
This "pioneering" brings the hegemony of US conceptions of HRM and gives legitimacy to the US version of HRM, and saw the practices derived fro m these models being increasingly adopted in Europe (Fenton -O'Creevy, Gooderham &Nordhaug, 2005;Mayrhofer & Bre wster, 2005).
Despite this strength, many scholars shows that the US model assumptio ns about the nature of HRM is inappropriate for Europe (Guest, 1994;Mayrhofer & Brewster, 2005;Brewster,2007), because national differences remains a key factor in HRM (Mayrhofer & Brewster, 2005).
The literature shows that it is difficult to import US HRM practices into Europe and it is also difficult to find a European model of HRM, because the European approach under-emphasize the level at which such differences are mos t cogent, the natio nal level (Mayrhofer and Brewster, 2005).The  (Moura, 2000).
At the beginning of the 21st century, the characteristics that shaped relations in organizations in Portugal were still poorly understood, both from a theoreti cal and practical po int of view, so that a typification could be used to act at the organizatio nal  feminine and short -term culture (Hofstede, 1980(Hofstede, , 1984(Hofstede, , 1991(Hofstede, , 2011)).Teamwork is undervalued by a leadership that is autocratic due to high values of power distance.This results in absolute control on the part of the leader over all decisions o f the company, and the consultations of the opinio n of the group members are infrequent (Cunha, 2005).According to Lopes (2010), this is the great anathema that prev ents the competitiveness of

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Since the study was an exploratory one, we opted for a qualitativ e research in order to perceive the co ntext and the functioning o f real organizations, using as empirical investigation the case study which is indicated in situations where the key investigation question it is an "how" type (Yin, 2002).

I N V E ST I G A T I O N G O A L S
There is very little scientifically based informatio n showing how German multinationals ma nage Portuguese subsidiaries so this research will have an exploratory character.Thus, the main goal of this paper will be to characterize the HRM practices applied in German MNC subsidiaries in Portugal and to understand if there is a standard of perform ance in these companies.

D E F I N I N G C A T E G O R I E S O F A N A L Y S I S
We supported the set of categories in the work of Liu et al. (2007).These authors' elaborated a meta -analysis of the published papers in the journals of the specialty that show the relation of the practices of HRM and the organizational performance.From these 92 studies, which involved more than The performance appraisal practice can be focused on results or behaviour.Behaviourbased appraisal focus on the behaviour that the worker needs to do his job effectively.
Results -based appraisal focus on the consequences of this behaviour and usually produce quantifiable information.
Behaviour -centered appraisals are most effective for ro utine tasks.

I N ST R U M E N T -S E M I -STRUCTURED I N T ER V I E W
The semi-structured interview was used as the data collection instrument and script was elaborated in order to meet the research goals and was based on the metaanalysis elaborated by Liu et al. (2007).The HRM practices referenced by the authors gave rise to the interview questionnaire and later to the content analysis categories of the interviews.

D A T A P R O C ES S I N G -C O N T EN T A N A LY S I S
In order to analyse the data, we use the technique of co ntent analysis, based on Bardin (1995).In this sense, we defined categories that meet the research goals and they are sustained on a theoretical basis.
Thus, an analysis was developed that tries to characterize, through the interv iew data, the HR management practices applied by German MNC subsidiaries in Portugal.

RESULTS
Table 4 summarizes  There are studies that argue that a high turnover rate has implications for the company's results (Schuler & Jackson, 1987 ; Sun, Aryee& Law, 2 007), because of the costs associated with recruitment and selection, training, development Skills, and productivity loss, this is at least initiall y (Tracey &Hinkin, 2008).On the other hand, safety at work, through a natio nal culture marked by a high index of uncertainty control, is much to the liking of the Portuguese (Hofstede, 2011).
In all the companies was a concern the wellbeing of its worker s and the balance of the work-family binomial.This concern is mirrored in the hourly flexibility that companies try to im plement, although in production units that work in shifts, it is impossible to flexibilize the pro duction line.
There is, however, an effort not to overload We can also conclude that t here is a geocentric approach (Perlmutter, 1969),  companies whose m anagement of people has historically been referred to as one of their "Achilles heel" (Moura, 2000;Lopes, 2010Lopes, , 2012 ; ;Barroso, 2016).
As limitatio ns of this investigation, we hav e the fact that all the case studies analyzed in this investigation are units of production, with their specificities in the level of human resources management.For this reason, and also due to the small number of firms observed, it is necessary in the future to use a significant sample, so that the conclusions of this study can be generalized.
Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 of the Portuguese economy underwent a decisive bo ost with the country's accession to the Euro pean Community (EC) in 1985.Entry into the EC brought a significant acceleration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Portugal, as demonstrated by the fact that in the first five years of integration the countries with the highest FDI accumulated in Portugal, we highlight Germany, which in addition to generating 20.7% of the GDP of the European Union is still the largest Euro pean market, and the fourth most competitive economy in " of German companies in Portugal, attest ed by the presence record in Portugal, its importance in the creation o f value and the degree of satisfaction that the German entrepreneurs manifest by being in Portugal (CCILA, 2010), raise some questions in particular from the management and HRM point of view, about how these companies, being part of a co untry with levels o f productivity that fall short of the desired one, are able to be globally competitive.According to Giardini, Kabst& Müller-Camen (2005), in the light of institutional theories the transfer of management philosophies, especially those related to HRM, become very difficult because the companies have to reflect the cultural, social and political environment of their count ry.When MNCs' managers try to export their organizational Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2154 the CEO or HR Director trying to understand which HRM practices they use and why they use them.The paper starts with the theoretical framework abou t multinationals evolution, in particular the German multinationals in Portugal.Then we introduce the topic of natural differences as key factor in HRM and what is the bo dy of knowledge of HRM in Portugal.After the explanatio n of the research methodolo gy we present the results and conclusions.foreign subsidiaries of M NCs is still expanding and by the end of 2016 its number was 860 000.Some indicators of the activity of this foreign affiliates shows their Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2155 strength, for example, during the perio d 2014-2016 there was a 12,3% increase in sales, 13,59% in value added (product) and 8,7% in employment (UN, 2017).
Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2157 different from other resources and cannot be seen and analyzed in the same way as an equipment or a number.These is the reaso n of antago nism and am biguity that surrounds HRM in practice (Price, 2011).The model "hard" is associated with intensive work, the practices of low wages, insecure feeling at work, tight contro l, setting short -term goals, reduced concern for the human being behind the worker, resulting in low levels of participatio n and commitment by workers (Wilto n, 2011).
El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2158 constrains (or suppo rts) them, limits the unchanged application of HRM ideas (Giardini, Kabst& Müller -Camen, 2005).Although it is very tempting to find a European model of HRM, in the sense o f opposing the US mo del and the Japanese model, a number of studies shows the differences between various aspects of HRM in European co untries which reflects at the same time the nati onal origins of the M In Portugal, the role of HRM has undergone a profound evolutio n in the last years characterized by a growing concern with the management of skills and knowledge and the active role of human resources in competitiveness and excellence (Neves(Rego et al., 2015), but it seems to be Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2159 Some of the disti nguishing features of HRM in Portugal are high power distance and uncertainty avoidance, collectivism , an easy task.According toRego et al. (2015), HRM in Portugal approaches the Anglo -Saxon model in a wide range of activities, such as the majority use of monetary in centive system s indexed to individual and organizational performance, individualized, direct and more frequent communication between employees and employers, with the new technologies playing an active role, and the introductio n of performance management processes that are applicable to different categories of organization members.
Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2160 S EL EC T I O N O F C A S E S T U D I E S The case studies were selected in order to meet the research objectives.Given the exploratory nature of our work and with the support of the German Chamber of Commerce, we were able to establish contact with 4 subsidiaries and interview the HR Director (3 cases) or the CEO (1 case) in each of them.All these subsidiaries hav e been working in Portugal for several years (between 25 and 50 years), in industry sector as productio n units, have between 180 and 517 human resources and belong to German economic groups that are well established on the internatio nal scene, and can fall into the realm of what we can catalogue as successful cases both in Portugal and in the rest of the world.The interviewed directors have between 1 and 25 years of seniority in the company, between 30 and 59 years old and all of them are high educated.
19,000 organizations,Liu et al. (2007) found HRM practices t hat, according to them, affect more than one of the three processes ident ify people with the right set of knowledge, skills and abilities that fit the task and the organizational environment of the company.Interviews, competency and cognitive skills tests, and follow -up studies of recruitment sources are an integral part of th is HR practice.The training and development practice is defined as the amount of formal training given to workers.Training may focus on company-specific policies and procedures, task-related skills or leadership and social skills (Liu et al., 2007).With regard to the compensation level, Liu et al. (2007) argue that attractive Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 benefits offered by companies are often related to the remuneration policy and the incentiv e system, being a com petitive fac tor in the labour market.A System of Benefits can be considered as a set of programs / plans offered by an as a complement to the remuneration system.The benefits system can improve workers' quality of life, organizational climate, reduce ab senteeism and turnover, increase productivity levels and facilitate HR recruitment.

For
both are related to the use or non-use of management by goals.It is thus im portant to better understand the functioning and interconnectio n of the company's HR management practices, to understand how the staffing and productio n goal are managed.The authors point out that internal promotion practices help workers to create clear expectations about their future, motivating them not only to perform well in the positions they hold, but also to develop their skills and abilities for future positio ns.Workers' participation puts them in a position of proactive influence on how their work is done, giving them the ability(L iu et al., 2007).
Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2162 The authors co ntinue to argue that flexible working hours such as part -time work, jo a formal vehicle to the worker's voice, helping them in the effort they can make to change a jo b dissatisfaction situation.These procedures empower workers by offering them a way to resolve disagreemen ts with their managers or other workers (Liu et al., 2007).Liu et al. (2007) argue that policies that privilege employment security align workers' interests with the long -term goals of the organization.Committed workers have greater devotion to the visio n and goals of the organization.A stable relationship between the organizatio n and the workers helps them to develop longterm perspectives and a broad view of their work, enabling them to seek solutio ns to problems outside the action limits of their tasks.
The categories were defined based o n the research of L iu et al. (2007), which bases the HR management practices that improv El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2163 the results of the analysis of the interview content in the light of the define d indicators.The results sho w the presence of all categories in the 4 study cases, with a great homogeneity in the typology of response to the interv iew questionnaire, which opens the possibility of a standard in the HRM practices applied by the subsidiar ies of German multinational companies in Portugal.There are two channels of recruitment and selection in the multinationals studied, the external one, often through temporary work agencies, and the internal one, with the opening of new positions within th e company, which allo ws the maintenance of the family nucleus of the company's workers valorisation, as evidenced by internal promotion policies.For Brown, Forde, compensation level is greater in conte xts of work that promote their internal collaborators.It was also verified in o ur study that, rather than appraisal technical skills, it is important for these companies to validate the new workers behaviour.This approach is in line with Goleman's (1998) conclusions and later corroborated by Heckman & Kautz (2012(1998), in his seminal work, goes even further by pointi ng out that relational skills would weigh 70 % on effectiveness, while cognitive and motor skills would weigh only about 30%.Performance appraisal system are in line with the goals established in the company , which are also considered by Câmara (2006), are individual, global (quantitative and qualitative) and always in a development perspective, with intermediate meetings in order to correct trajectories.Gruman and Saks (2011) argue that in order for employees to feel comfortable expressing what they feel, they must trust that the organization and its managers treat them fairly, thereby increasing their involvement with the organization.Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331| 2165The individual goals, both for staff and fo r production line, derive from the general goals negotiated between the subsidiary by goals, argued that negotiating goals between employer and employee was essential if these goals were to be achieved.Although there was an openness to the negotiation of the staff goals, this was not the case in production line.Regarding the compensatio n level, it was evident the concern with the maintenance of the company competitiveness, no t preventing that the salaries are in the average or abov e to those practiced in the sector of activity.It should be noted that Pfeffer ) intends to be part of an effective compensatio n system.The reduced turnover is considered by the companies studied as the main benefit given to their workers, through the security they transmit, at a time where the the workload of workers.According to Lyubmirsky, King & Diener (2005) the wellbeing of workers benefits their performance in the labour market.The existence of the possibility of flexibilizing working hours seems to help to experi ence greater work Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2166 enrichment, which is associated with greater job satisfactio n and lower intentions of change (McNall, M asuda & Nicklin, 2009), as evidenced by the low values of turnover in the subsidiaries studied.The emphasis of training and developmen t policy is on the training of the worker, in terms of soft skills (as we saw previously, along the lines of Goleman (1998) and always in a logic of circulation and sharing of knowledge and experience.Despite the individualized plans, these are closely related to the needs of the company .This logic goes in the direction of the creatio n of the organization that learns, in the words o f Senge (1990).The author understands that with the constant turbulence of the contexts where organizations o perate, they wi ll have to transform themselv es in order to improve their learning capacity.According to the author, companies learn thro ugh the individual learning o f their collaborators.However, the collective learning of the organization is not the individual sum of the learning, but the ability to transform that individual learning into a collective learning (that is, at all levels o f the organization).The promotion of workers' autonomy, from the point of view of Drucker (2000), which determines the productiv ity of the knowledge worker, through monetary or symbolic incentive, so that they can think about their work and suggest improvements, is a common practice in subsidiaries of the , it was recognized by the managers interv i ewed the difficulty in managing this type of subject in their companies.According to Hofstede (1984, 1991), the oralization of a problem is difficult in a context of high hierarchical distance of Portuguese culture, a difficulty that is accentuated when i t is communicated in an indirect way, typical of a collectivist society such as the Portuguese one.In the subsidiaries studied, the workers' commitment is achieved through a set o f factors such as the company's reputatio n, low turnover, concern with the d evelopment of workers and concern for their families.Workers 'perceptio n of organizational support (in relatio n to family) is positively associated with employees' affectiv e commitment, fostered by both work -family and family attitudes (Wayne, Casper, Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 socio -emotional needs and demonstrating the organization's readiness to reward increased effort, employees form general beliefs about how much the organization values its co ntribution and cares about its well -Being (Rhoades, Eisenberg &Armeli 2001).In respo nding to collectivism and workers' safety needs, the subsidiaries are in line with what claim Bal, Bozkurt &Ertemsir (2014), that companies can raise the levels of organi zational commitment of their workers by using HRM practices according to the expectatio ns of its employees, developing the feeling that they are the most important organizatio n resource.It is important to remember that the practices evaluated in the subsi diaries are formalized, with procedures and processes defined for their execution.Only in one case was this formalizatio n still in progress, but it did not prevent the use and application of these practices, which according toLiu et al.   the isomorphism effect   (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) in studied MNCs.The HRM practices implemented are influenced by country of origin, by the operational context and by the best practices, which are adapted to the context.
where each subsidiary works in function of global and local go als, and there is an openness to a local adaptation o f institutio nalized practices and processes at the company headquarters.
Rev i sta El etr ôn ic a Ge st ão & Soc ied ad e v. 12 , n .31 , p . 2 15 2 -2 17 2 | Jan e iro /Ab ri l -20 18 IS SN 1 9 80 -57 56 | D OI: 1 0. 21 17 1/ g e s. v 1 2 i31.2331 | 2168 The aim of the stu dy is to characterize the HRM practices present in the Portuguese subsidiaries of successful German multinationals, that is to say, to understand the "how", these practices are carried out in what may be called the more tactical side On the other hand, another of the limitations lies in the fact that in this investigation only the discourse of the co mpany lead ership has been analyzed, lacking the confro ntatio n with the employees' perceptions.This study also opens up a whole set of possibilities for future research.On the one hand, we can see if, by replicating our study applied to MNCs, present in Portugal, f ro m different cultural realities, the results approximate those obtained by analyzing the German M NCs.