| Abstract: | Conclusions The relationships between TNCs and human resource development are complex and multi-faceted. The operation of TNCs have the
potential to make a considerable contribution to human resource development, particularly in developing countries. The contributions
of TNCs to human resource development lie mainly in the areas of education and training. In education, their role is largely
confined to direct or indirect investment in the provision of tertiary-level education, especially in business management.
The major role of TNCs in the development of human resources stems from the training and other learning opportonities they
provide to their staff in various forms. Such training may be valuable for workers in developing countries and others in which
opportunities for acquiring vocational, technical and management skills are limited.
Training and other forms of learning provided by TNCs are directed towards all categories of workers, although the main focus
is on managerial and technical personnel. Evidence suggests that the size and scope of TNCs enable them to provide substantial
formal and informal learning opportunities for employees. Moreover, the learning provided by TNCs often relates to new or
different production and management methods. Under appropriate conditions, the contributions of TNCs to knowledge, skills
and management experties of their employees can be disseminated more widely in the host economy and complement domestic human
resource development in promoting growth and strengthening competitiveness.
As the tendency of TNCs to pursue complex integration strategies proceeds and the links between parent companies and their
affiliates become more complex, the training requirements that are needed to manage successfully the corporate production
system and its geographically dispersed segments are likely to increase and become more sophisticated. Foreign affiliates
may be progressively involved in higher value-added and more specialized activities, and more training needed to improve the
quality of local personnel. The commitment to training in affiliates could be considerably reinforced by the growing interdependence
between operations at home and in the various affiliates. This may lead to a wider distribution of training packages throughout
the TNC.
The trend towards complex integration strategies and the increasing competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) make it
more important than ever for developing countries to build up their own human resource capabilities. In addition to providing
the basis for the development of the domestic economy, such capabilities would allow labour and national enterprises to interact
more effectively with TNCs. They would contribute to increasing the volume and raising the quality and sophistication of the
FDI that a country could attract, thereby strengthening the prospects for further human resource development. At present,
only a limited number of developing countries attract sizeable shares of FDI, particularly in areas that are technologically
sophisticated. For those countries, foreign affiliates linked to TNCs’ value chains are an important complement to national
programmes and efforts for upgrading human resources. However, other developing countries that do not-offer similar locational
advantages may also benefit, in terms of improving their human resource development from FDI and the emerging integrated international
production system. They need to consider how to formulate and co-ordinate policies so as to maximize the benefits to their
human resource capabilities.
Original language: English
Padma Mallampally (India) Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. From 1982 to 1988 she was employed by the Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok on transnational corporations. Prior to that she was a lecturer in economics at Delhi
University. She now works as a Transnational Corporations Affairs Officer, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,
New York. |
