Establishing the dimensions, sources and value of job seekers' employer knowledge during recruitment

Decision making in human resource management: a systematic review of the applications of analytic hierarchy process

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), and Analytic Network Process (ANP) methods are widely used for decision-making across various fields, and have shown success in numerous applications within human resource management (HRM). The purpose of this study is to present a systematic literature review on the applications of AHP, FAHP, and ANP in human resource management. The search process encompassed two main online databases, Scopus and Web of Science. This research covers a total of 180 application papers. To help readers extract quick and meaningful information, references are summarized in tabular format. The results showed that these methods have been applied in various domains of HRM such as performance management and appraisal, selecting human resources, talent attraction and retention, intellectual capital, workplace safety, reward management, e-HRM, green HRM, etc. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive research review has yet been conducted on the applications of AHP in HRM.

What constitutes an employer of choice? A qualitative triangulation investigation

Employer of choice (EOC) is a relatively new phenomenon, particularly in Human Resources Management. Existing employees and prospective talent have reasons and expectations to designate an employer as an EOC. While EOC has received extensive attention from both academics and practitioners over the past few years, the work has mostly focused on managerial and marketing perspectives, and thus far lacks a strong theoretical foundation. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET), based on Human Resources and employees' perceptions and experiences, this research aims to explore and investigate the factors that constitute/designate an employer as an Employer of Choice EOC. Two qualitative triangulated data sets were collected from existing full-time employees at a Saudi multinational corporation: open interviews and document analysis (cross-sectional and longitudinal). Thematic analysis (TA) was employed to analyze both methods. The findings reveal that company image, training, and development, satisfaction, involvement and commitment, fairness, work culture, reward, opportunities for growth, teamwork, motivation, and corporate social responsibility are the factors that lead employees to designate an employer as an EOC. This research contributes to knowledge conceptually, theoretically, and empirically, mainly in the area of Human Resources Management. This research represents one of the first studies to empirically identify and investigate employee-related factors and evaluate them all together in a multinational Saudi organization. Recognizing the findings of this empirical-based research assists HR managers in designating their organizations as an EOC for current employees and prospective talents.

Employer Attractiveness of EMNEs: The Role of CSR in Overcoming Country-of-Origin Image Constraints in Developed Host Countries

Attracting a qualified workforce is a challenge for all companies but in particular for foreign subsidiaries of emerging market MNEs (EMNEs) in developed countries due to their double disadvantages of liability of foreignness plus liability of emergingness. Based on signaling theory, this study investigates whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to overcoming these liabilities. A web-based experiment with realistic recruitment webpages, involving 490 potential applicants from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, reveals that potential applicants in developed host countries have lower job-pursuit intention to EMNEs than to developed market MNEs, but that good CSR helps mitigate this negative effect. Nonetheless, we find that applicants are not intensively searching for CSR information on a recruitment webpage, constituting an impediment in EMNEs’ attempts to reap maximum benefits from their CSR engagement.

Expanding branding: effects of multiple brand types on organizational attractiveness

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relative effects of three organizational brand types (product, employment and corporate social responsibility brands) on organizational attractiveness. The potential differences in the impacts exerted by each brand on organizational attractiveness between the US and Chinese job seekers are also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

A policy-capturing design was used among both US and Chinese participants to test the hypothesized relationships using multilevel modeling.

Findings

Results suggest that each brand type independently contributes to the prediction of attractiveness, with the employment brand a significantly stronger predictor than the other two. Besides, the strength of relationships between brands and organizational attractiveness varies among job seekers from different national contexts.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to the limited understanding of how different types of brands together influence organizational attractiveness among job seekers, and the role national context plays in it.

Occupation-specific recruitment: An empirical investigation on job seekers’ occupational (non-)fit, employer image, and employer attractiveness

Organizations may need to attract occupational groups they did not recruit so far to implement strategic changes (e.g., digital transformation). Against the backdrop of this practical problem, this study introduces and explores an occupation-based measure of person-organization fit: occupational fit. I investigate its relationship with employer attractiveness based on human capital theory and explore the role of employer image as a moderator in this relationship. I surveyed 153 software engineers and mechanical engineers to analyze whether their occupational fit with software engineering and mechanical engineering firms is related to employer attractiveness. I find that occupational fit is only related to a firm’s employer attractiveness among software engineers. Employer image does not moderate this relationship. A qualitative follow-up study proposes first explanations for the unexpected differences between the two occupations by indicating that occupations may differ in the logic they apply to determine fit and their degree of professionalization. The study contributes to research by highlighting the neglected role of occupation in recruitment research and exploring potential boundary conditions of recruitment for fit. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The relationship between employer branding, corporate reputation and intention to apply to a job offer

Purpose

Employer branding is a topic that has gained relevance in the organisational world. Currently, organisations need to differentiate themselves, and one of their biggest challenges is the search and retention of talent. One of the factors that have been associated with attracting talent is employer branding. However, studies that explore the relationship between this, corporate reputation and the intention to apply for a job are scarce. As such, this study aims to analyse the mediating role of corporate reputation in the relationship between employer branding and the intention to apply for a job offer.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the goals, data were collected from 225 Portuguese adults. The response rate was 75%. Based on a survey, respondents reported their perceptions of employer branding of a specific organisation, and they rated the organisation’s reputation and their intention to apply to that organisation.

Findings

The results showed that employer branding (interest value; social value; economic value; development value; application value) positively influenced an organisation’s corporate reputation, which, in turn, increased an individual’s intention to apply for an employment offer in that organisation.

Originality/value

The present study is a contribution to the literature on employer branding, as it reinforced the importance that employer branding and corporate reputation play in the intention of applying for a job offer.

Organizational reputation: does it mediate the effect of employer brand attractiveness on intention to apply in Indonesia?

This study aims to examine the role of organizational reputation in mediating the influence of employer brand attractiveness on intention to apply. Organizational reputation has an essential role in attracting potential talent to apply for an organization, as organizational reputation is an intangible and valuable resource to gain the competitive advantage that shows the working atmosphere in the organization. The study investigated organizational reputation as a mediating variable on the relationship between employer brand attractiveness as an independent variable and intention to apply as a dependent variable. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to 425 respondents. Respondents for this study were final-grade students from public universities in Indonesia. The path analysis technique was used to analyse the data. The result shows that employer attractiveness significantly influences the intention to apply. The result also reveals that employer brand attractiveness significantly affects the organizational reputation. Meanwhile, organizational reputation does not influence the intention to apply. Therefore, organizational reputation does not mediate the influence of employer brand attractiveness on the intention to apply. From this study, organizations can learn how to design programs that can improve employer brand attractiveness, particularly among gen millennials.

Employer branding and psychological contract in family and non-family firmsEmployer branding e contrato psicológico em empresas familiares e não familiaresEmployer branding y contrato psicológico en empresas familiares y no familiares

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess differences between employees of family and non-family firms regarding their perceptions of employer branding and psychological contract levels. Moreover, focusing on family firms, the authors assess the relation between the employees’ perceptions of employer branding and the psychological contract levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of 165 Portuguese employees, 76 employees of family firms and 89 non-family firms’ employees, who responded to a questionnaire that included employer branding and psychological contract measures. All respondents study in small and medium-sized private companies.

Findings

The results confirmed the research hypotheses, suggesting that employees of family companies show higher perceptions of employer branding and psychological contract levels than employees of non-family companies. Results also reveal that the perceptions of employer branding are positively related to the psychological contract levels of the family firm’s employees.

Originality/value

This paper aims to contribute to the literature by addressing two contemporary organizational aspects yet under-addressed in the comparison between family and non-family firms while pursuing to offer insights on the relationship between the perceptions of employer branding and levels of the psychological contract of employees working in family firms.

The Work Values of Portuguese Generation Z in the Higher Education-to-Work Transition Phase

The cohort of young people born with or after the Internet has been dubbed Generation Z (Gen Z, or post-millennials). They are now entering the higher education-to-work transition phase, although this is yet to be studied. Previous studies have found that work values and work preferences vary across generations and national cultures, justifying regular and localised examination. However, very little is known to date about the work values of Portuguese Gen Zs. In this study, we describe the work values of Portuguese university students in the higher education-to-work transition phase and examine their influence on salient work-related preferences. We surveyed over 3000 students attending university degrees from eight main Portuguese universities. We find that Portuguese Gen Zs value social values above all, followed by intrinsic and then extrinsic work values, potentially configuring a unique profile. Work values partially explain work preferences such as employer size and salary expectations. Gender differences mark our results, with women expressing higher work values in all three dimensions and lower entry salary expectations. These results can be useful for employers seeking to attract the best university graduates, facilitate their integration and promote their development.

The role of extracurricular activities in shaping university students' employment self-efficacy perceptions

Purpose

The present study aimed to understand how participation in university extracurricular activities has a beneficial or detrimental impact on students’ employment self-efficacy through the intervening mechanism of information search strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from active job-searching university students across two time-points and hypothesized that the breadth of extracurricular activity participation would positively impact employment self-efficacy perceptions and information search strategies (focused, exploratory and haphazard) would mediate this relationship.

Findings

Results indicate that the breadth of students' participation in extracurricular activities was positively associated with employment self-efficacy perceptions, and this relationship was mediated by focused and exploratory information-search strategies. Extracurricular activities exhibited a negative relationship with a haphazard search strategy.

Research limitations/implications

This research extends the understanding of the role of participation in extracurricular activities for influencing a job search. Future research may replicate these findings with different samples of job seekers.

Practical implications

Extracurricular activities are typically offered at universities as a way for students to develop skills and to improve employers' perceptions of students. The present results suggest that participating in extracurricular activities may also help university students to effectively conduct a self-directed job search.

Originality/value

We examined the role of extracurricular activities from the applicant's perspective, extending prior research examining extracurricular activities from the employer's perspective. The present results suggest that extracurricular activities play an important role in shaping the job search process of university students by influencing students' confidence for finding employment. Information search strategies mediated the effects of extracurricular activities on employment self-efficacy perceptions, suggesting that participating in extracurricular activities changed the way that applicants searched for jobs.

Examining Job Attribute Preferences Across Three Generational Cohorts

This study examines whether job attribute preferences differ across three generational cohorts (i.e., cohorts of undergraduate students from 1995, 2004, and 2013). In 2013, we surveyed undergraduate students from several U.S. universities. We also obtained archival results from surveys administered to undergraduate students in 1995 and 2004. We found that salary/benefits, career advancement, and flexible work policies become more important across all three generational cohorts, whereas gender/racial equality increased in importance only from 2004 to 2013. Leadership showed no net gain from the 1995 to 2013 cohorts. Although most job attributes increased in importance, they largely have the same relative importance. Therefore, organizations should pause before making wholesale changes to workplace incentives and practices to cater to the new generation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to include U.S. millennial college students in the comparison of job attribute preferences across generations.

How can hospitals engage their current employees in the recruitment of qualified nurses? A referral bonus and self-determination perspective

AIMS

To investigate the impact of promising a referral bonus and an autonomous referral request on nurses' referral likelihood and the quality of their referrals.

DESIGN

We applied a 2 × 2 between-participants factorial design with referral bonus and autonomous referral request as experimental variables.

METHODS

In May 2019, 110 nurses working in Belgian hospitals were shown a fictitious e-mail with a request from their employer to look for potential new-hires and filled out an online survey measuring referral likelihood and quality.

RESULTS

Promising a referral bonus did not affect nurses' referral likelihood and quality. Instead supporting self-determination theory, nurses exposed to the autonomous request were more likely to refer and assure referral quality than those exposed to the controlling request.

CONCLUSION

Hospitals can increase nurses' referral likelihood and quality by framing their referral request in an autonomy-supportive way.

IMPACT

Recruiting nurses are more important than ever in the current Covid-19 crisis. Our findings offer practical insights on how hospitals can engage their employees in the recruitment of nurses (i.e. through framing referral requests in an autonomy-supportive way).

AI Evaluation in Selection

Abstract. This study investigates how information provided prior to the application stage of the selection process affects application intentions toward the job and organization. Existing research has focused on applicants who have already entered into the selection process; however, information revealed prior to application may cause candidates to self-select themselves out of the process. Utilizing a randomized experimental design, participants read a job ad specifying that their prerecorded interviews would be reviewed by a human or an artificial intelligence-based evaluator. The results show increased intentions to apply and pursue the job in the human evaluation condition.

Choice Between Salary and Employer Brand: The Roles of Materialism and Inclination to Develop an Identity-Motives-Based Relationship With an Employer Brand

Despite recent interest in individual differences in psychological meanings of consumer brands, the concept of psychological employer brand as a factor independent of particular brands has not been examined. Drawing on an instrumental-symbolic framework, person-organization fit literature, and theory and research on salary and materialism, and combining consumer brand approaches with motivated identity construction theory, we examine the role of materialism and identity-motives-based inclination for the self-employer brand relationship in the situation of a dilemma between two job offers: one proposed by a strong employer brand with an unattractive salary and one from a subjectively weak brand with an attractive salary. A homogenous sample of 101 university students in academic fields related to financial careers participated in a quasi-experimental study. We found that participants preferred the offer from the weak employer brand with an attractive salary compared to the strong employer brand with an unattractive salary; however, supporting our hypothesis, those who preferred this offer anticipated lower job satisfaction. Following expectations, materialism negatively and inclination for self-employer brand relationship positively predicted preferences and evaluations of the unattractive salary offer proposed by the strong employer brand. However, materialism negatively predicted anticipated job satisfaction regarding this offer, as well as positively predicting evaluation of the weak brand with attractive salary job offer. Despite all the detailed hypotheses not being supported, the findings confirm the role of materialism in job offer preference and introduce the inclination to develop an identity-motives-based relationship with an employer brand as an important factor in reactions toward different employer branding recruitment strategies. We discuss the results in light of previous theories and research on person-organization fit, materialism, and brand effects, and consider potential short- and long-term outcomes of recruitment strategies.

How Important Is Word of Mouth to College Students When Considering Jobs? A Policy-Capturing Study of Organizational Attraction

This research examines the effect of reputational word of mouth (WoM) from trusted sources on naive job applicants’ organizational attraction toward a possible employer. We used a policy-capturing experiment to identify the weight placed on WoM relative to other types of hypothetical information that college students with limited work experience might have about a job. Our within-person results show that WoM affects attraction over and above other types of company-dependent information about pay, benefits, and learning opportunities, which underscores the importance of WoM to inexperienced job seekers. Further, our between-person results demonstrate that the weight placed on WoM depends on individual differences in career decision self-efficacy (CDSE). Specifically, people with higher CDSE placed a greater weight on WoM than people with lower CDSE. These findings are important to career counselors who work with college students to understand how they appraise and make decisions about jobs to pursue. Further, these findings have value to organizations by underscoring the importance of reputational information to entry-level job seekers.

Recruiter political skill and organization reputation effects on job applicant attraction in the recruitment process

Purpose

Researchers have identified various recruiter and organization characteristics that individually influence staffing effectiveness. In extending contemporary research, the purpose of this paper is to address a straightforward question unexamined in previous research, namely, does recruiter political skill interact with organization reputation to influence applicant attraction in the recruitment process? Specifically, the authors hypothesized that for recruiters high in political skill, as organization reputation increases, applicant attraction to the organization increases. Alternatively, for recruiters low in political skill, as organization reputation increases, there is no change in applicant attraction to the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Three studies were conducted to create the experimental manipulation materials, pilot test them and then conduct tests of the hypotheses. Study 1 created and tested the content validity of the recruiter political skill script. Study 2 reported on the effectiveness of the recruiter political skill experimental manipulation, whereby a male actor was hired to play the part of a recruiter high in political skill and one low in political skill. Finally, Study 3 was the primary hypothesis testing investigation.

Findings

Results from a 2×2 between-subjects experimental study (N=576) supported the hypotheses. Specifically, high recruiter political skill and favorable organization reputation each demonstrated significant main effects on applicant attraction to the organization. Additionally, the authors hypothesized, and confirmed, a significant organization reputation × recruiter political skill interaction. Specifically, findings demonstrated that increases in organization reputation resulted in increased applicant attraction to the organization for those exposed to a recruiter high in political skill. However, the effect was not for a recruiter low in political skill.

Research limitations/implications

Despite the single source nature of data collections, the authors took steps to minimize potential biasing factors (e.g. time separation, including affectivity). Future research will benefit from gathering multiple sources of data. In addition, no experimental research to date exists, examining political skill in a laboratory context. This finding has important implications for the growing research base on political skill in organizations.

Practical implications

First impressions are lasting impressions, and it is very costly to organizations when recruiters lose good candidates due to the failure to make a memorable and favorable impression. This paper supports the use of political skill in the recruitment process and highlights its capability to influence and attract job applicants to organizations successfully.

Originality/value

Despite its scientific and practical appeal, the causal effects of political skill on important work outcomes in an experimental setting have not been formally investigated. As the first experimental investigation of political skill, the authors can see more clearly and precisely what political skill behaviors of recruiters tend to influence applicant attraction to organizations in the recruitment process.

Social Media Recruitment: Communication Characteristics and Sought Gratifications

This study examines how social media pages can be used to influence potential applicants’ attraction. Based on the uses and gratifications theory, this study examines whether organizations can manipulate the communication characteristics informativeness and social presence on their social media page to positively affect organizational attractiveness. Moreover, we examine whether job applicants’ sought gratifications on social media influence these effects. A 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design is used. The findings show that organizations can manipulate informativeness and social presence on their social media. The effect of manipulated informativeness on organizational attractiveness depends on the level of manipulated social presence. When social presence was high, informativeness positively affected organizational attractiveness. This positive effect was found regardless of participants’ sought utilitarian gratification. Social presence had no significant main effect on organizational attractiveness. There was some evidence that the effect of social presence differed for different levels of social gratification.

Recruitment practices under scrutiny: A latent-profile analysis of family firms’ approaches to recruit non-family employees

Recruitment of qualified non-family employees is a challenge for many family firms. Job seekers from outside may be wary of the family firm employment practice and the family themselves may have an informal approach to finding employees which often relies on word of mouth and produces a limited pool of talent. In this study we investigate adopted recruitment practices and the factors behind recruiting non-family workforce as we seek common elements, explanations and outcomes. Applying latent-profile analysis to the recruiting practices of 259 family firms we explore sets of adopted recruitment practices, their respective predictors, including socioemotional wealth, and potential outcomes. These analyses reveal five latent classes: (1) reduced recruitment; (2) online high cost recruitment; (3) full scope recruitment; (4) offline informal recruitment; and (5) formal high cost recruitment. In sum, our findings suggest that substantial differences in family firms’ approaches to recruitment exist, providing further evidence for the heterogeneity of family firms. Finally, findings are discussed with regard to limitations and implications for future research.

Role of organizational career websites for employer brand development

Purpose

The paper aims to demonstrate the utilization of banks’ career website for publicizing the employer branding strategy to enable effective strategic talent relationship management through talent attraction, engagement and retention.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach using purposive sample comprising HR professionals involving HR directors, reward managers and talent relationship managers, participated in semi-structured interviews.

Findings

This paper provides empirical insights on the use of career websites to disseminate the employer brand. The findings reveal the presence of recruitment orientation career websites across the banking sector. It also conveys HR practitioners’ suggestions for revamping the banks’ career websites to a more screening orientation approach for greater interactivity by both the internal and external talent pools.

Research limitations/implications

The paper depicts the importance attributed around the utilization of career websites in promoting the employer brand by the HR community across the banking sector. It provides clear insights about the specific contents of career websites to enable sustainable talent attraction, engagement and retention.

Originality/value

This paper provides a qualitative insight to the study of employer branding and career websites. Whereas most previous research on career websites have been of a quantitative nature relying predominantly on fictitious websites, having mostly undergraduate students as research participants. This study contributes enormously to the existing literature and practice by unveiling the perceptions of HR professionals on the dissemination of the employer brand through the career website.

Do instrumental and symbolic factors interact in influencing employer attractiveness and job pursuit intention?

Purpose

The changing demographics of talent market calls for a better understanding of the expectations of diverse job seekers. However, there is limited research on employer attractiveness (EA) factors which cover the expectations of new generation job seekers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of career growth opportunities (CGO), work–life benefits (WLB) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputation on the perceived attractiveness of an organization as an employer and the job pursuit intention (JPI) of job seekers.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 (CGO: many vs limited)×2 (WLB: many vs limited)×2 (CSR reputation: high vs low) between-subjects experimental design was used for this study. A total of 240 respondents participated in the study.

Findings

The results showed that provision of CGO had the highest effect on both EA and JPI. This effect was strong enough to compensate for limited WLB and a low CSR reputation. A significant interaction effect between CGO and CSR reputation revealed that the effect of CSR reputation on EA depends on the availability of many or limited CGO.

Originality/value

The study contributes and expands literature on attributes relevant in job choice decisions by providing useful insights regarding how job seekers weigh these attributes while making an employment choice. Also, the study offers suggestions for designing organizations’ recruitment strategy for attracting talent.

To Be Yourself or to Be Your Ideal Self?

Abstract. Recruitment research on person–organization fit has typically focused on organizations’ fit with potential applicants’ actual self, not considering other possible self-images. Based on image congruity theory, we investigate how actual and ideal self-congruity relate to application intentions and intentions to spread word-of-mouth. In a first study, conducted in Belgium, actual and ideal self-congruity related positively to both outcomes. The relation with application intentions was equally positive for actual and ideal self-congruity. Ideal self-congruity showed a stronger positive relation with word-of-mouth intentions. A second study replicated these findings in the United States and tested for social adjustment concern (need to impress others) as a moderator. As social adjustment concern increased, relations of both outcomes with ideal (actual) self-congruity were stronger (weaker).

Dimensions of job advertisement as signals for achieving job seeker’s application intention

Purpose

Grounded in the concept of signaling theory and instrumental-symbolic framework, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model to examine the impact of print job advertisement (ad) dimensions (message contents) and organizational familiarity on job seeker’s perception of attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a theoretical exploration based on existing literature.

Findings

The presence of instrumental and symbolic attributes in print job advertisement such as job and work characteristics, aesthetics, employee testimonial/picture, corporate image enhancing statements, organizational culture-enhancing statements, and human resource offerings are more likely to play influential roles in creating favorable attitude, organizational attractiveness, and application intention in a job seeker. Apart from this, organizational familiarity plays a moderating role on job seeker’s attitude formation and in gaining organizational attractiveness.

Practical implications

The study offers a clear guideline to recruiting organizations, HR managers, recruitment agencies, or consultants on how to design a recruitment advertisement to pool a large number of potential applicants. The study also throws light on testing the effectiveness of a recruitment advertisement, similar to commercial ads. Moreover, the outcome of testing would help the recruiters understand the pulse of the job seeker toward the ad, job, and organization.

Originality/value

This study theoretically clarifies the role of instrumental and symbolic attributes or dimensions of job ads and the role of organizational familiarity in inducing positive attitude formation and organizational attractiveness, in the process that cultivates application intention in a potential job seeker.

A Lexical Approach to Identifying Dimensions of Organizational Culture

A comprehensive measure of organizational culture was developed using a lexical approach, a method typically employed within the study of personality. 1761 adjectives were narrowed down and factor analyzed, which resulted in the identification of a nine factor solution to organizational culture, including the dimensions of: Innovative, Dominant, Pace, Friendly, Prestigious, Trendy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Traditional, and Diverse. Comprised of 135 adjectives most frequently used in describing organizational culture by current employees of several hundred organizations, the Lexical Organizational Culture Scale (LOCS) was found to predict employee commitment, job satisfaction, job search behaviors, and subjective fit better than earlier scales of organizational culture.

Employer Branding in B2B and B2C Companies in India: A Qualitative Perspective

The employer branding (EB) phenomenon has garnered the attention of practitioners and academicians over the past decade. However, the subjective experiences of managers on EB are hardly tapped. This study explores company executives’ views on EB through the case study method with semi-structured interviews in the context of the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies located in India. Four key categories relevant to EB emerged from the data. These are (a) essence of a successful EB, (b) precursors of EB, (c) visibility of the employer and (d) outcomes of EB. Attributes of these categories were explored along the sub-themes, which reveal the respondents’ perceptions regarding their implementation of EB strategy. These attributes were similar in B2B and B2C companies.

Cultural values matter

As the economic footprint of developing countries increases, talent management grows in importance for foreign multinational companies in emerging markets. Multinational companies, however, face fierce competition for local talent, and competitive recruiting calls for practical knowledge about the personal traits of job applicants. The present study applies a cross-cultural perspective to this issue, exploring how individually held cultural values influence the attractiveness of Japanese companies in Malaysia. Drawing on similarity-attraction theory and person–organization fit theory, the study quantitatively analyses data from a paper-based survey of 245 prospective jobseekers. The findings indicate that an individual cultural value fit with the foreign company’s country of origin is significant predictors of employer attractiveness. Specifically, the study finds that potential Malaysian jobseekers who are lower in power distance and higher in risk aversion and long-term orientation view Japanese companies as attractive future employers and have higher job-pursuit behavior. Based on this finding, the study discusses theoretical and practical contributions to corporate employment strategies.