Based on 35 in-depth interviews with both managerial and non-managerial staff in the French and German subsidiaries of an American multinational corporation (MNC), this paper examines whether, how, and why performance appraisal (PA) processes are perceived differently across these two foreign subsidiaries. Utilizing Bowen and Ostroff’s concept of Human Resource Management (HRM) system strength, our findings reveal that German employees viewed the PA processes as distinctive, consistent, and consensus-driven, reflecting a robust PA system. In contrast, French employees perceived their PA system as weak across all dimensions. We attribute these divergent perceptions of the same PA system to the cultural contexts unique to each subsidiary.
