Competition and Change in Human Resource Management by Japanese & Multinational Firms in the Lao Special Economic Zones

由于流行病，老挝人民民主共和国的数据收集工作尚未进行。因此，本研究以老挝人民民主共和国经济特区为研究对象，进行了二次数据收集和相关文献综述。该经济区已通过外商直接投资向日本、中国、马来西亚、德国、泰国、法国、荷兰等多个国家寻求国际合作。日本等国与老挝联合投资，充分利用当地利益。这就是为什么可以在与老挝当地雇员的工作中比较研究多国人力资源管理方法的原因。其中一个方面已经发现，东盟经济共同体(AEC)的进展慢于最初的计划，因为其成员国面临着更多的挑战。尽管如此，国际上对老挝人民民主共和国的兴趣越来越大，导致越来越多的跨国公司在那里开设和运营。特别是，老挝人民民主共和国的老挝-中国经济区似乎正在积极运作和发展。这一有趣的现象可以在田野调查开始后进一步研究。作为另一个发现，AEC似乎导致了当地劳动力最低工资的提高和熟练劳动力在成员国内的自由流动。这意味着跨国公司在竞争更激烈的当地劳动力市场下，因此需要留住当地劳动力。鉴于这些新的困难，包括日本公司在内的跨国公司如何在未来几年部署其新的人力资源管理战略需要进行调查。

The data collection in Lao PDR has not yet been undertaken because of the pandemic. That is why collecting secondary data and reviewing relevant literatures had been conducted instead.The special economic zone of Lao PDR has been the target of this research project. The economic zone has asked international cooperation through FDI from several number of countries including Japan, China, Malaysia, Germany, Thailand, France, Holland etc. Japan, and other countries have invested jointly with Laos to fully utilise local benefits. That is why multi-national HRM methods can be comparatively examined in working with local Lao employees. One of the aspects has been found that the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has progressed slower than being initially planned due to more challenging its member countries have faced with. Nevertheless, there has been more international interest in Lao PDR, leading to increasing number of multi-national companies (MNCs) opening and operating there. In particular, Lao-China economic zones in Lao PDR seem to actively function and be growing. This interesting phenomenon can be further examined once the fieldwork starts.As another findings, the AEC seems to cause an increase in the minimum wage of local labour and free movement of skilled labour within the member countries. It implies that MNCs are under more competitive local labour market and therefore required to retain local labour. Given these new difficulties, how have MNCs including Japanese firms deployed their new HRM strategies need to be investigated in the coming years.