Local Subsidiary CEOs working in Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) who have close and beneficial relations with the head of MNEs can increase organization identification in HCNs, according to Associate Professor Duckjung Shin. Dr. Duckjung Shin, Associate Professor at Korea University Business School, whose expertise is in international business strategies for multinational companies and SMEs, collaborated with Assistant Professor Hee-Chan Song at Sasin School of Management to research organizational identification. At Sasin Research Seminar, Dr. Duckjung spoke about, “Local Subsidiary CEOs and Organizational Identification of Host Country Nationals: A Social Process Perspective,” on February 17. Host Country Nationals (HCNs) are the employees of a foreign MNE, the citizens of the country in which the foreign subsidiary is located. For instance, a Chinese manager works for a China-based subsidiary of an American company. Organizational identification refers to an individual’s sense of belongingness to or oneness with the subsidiary. According to Dr. Duckjung’s research, HCNs feel emotionally detached when working for a foreign company due to the difference in their nationality. There is less sense of organizational identification or a sense of belongingness with the subsidiary, having an Us versus Them mentality (Lee et al., 2022). For example, a Chinese person working for the American government may feel resentment as staff due to the current US-China conflict. Moreover, there are other issues such as the local subsidiary having fewer manufacturing facilities or no HR department, limited career opportunities, or having problems getting full support from the headquarter. Dr. Duckjung explained that cultural differences and goal disparities increase the opportunistic behaviors of HCNs (Shin, Hasse, & Schotter, 2017). Strong indicators of HCNs’ attitudes and behaviors towards subsidiaries include commitment, performance, turnover intention, and opportunistic behaviors such as searching for a better job with better compensation. Due to this factor, Parent Country Nationals (PCNs), or expatriates, are seen as a more reliable or trustworthy staff, since they are good at controlling and transferring firm-specific resources to subsidiaries. Multinational enterprises rely on PCN CEOs as agents of MNEs to mitigate the opportunistic behaviors of HCNs in the host country. They are also perceived as being sincere agents for MNEs. However, HCNs have more knowledge of the host country than PCNs and expatriates are often more expensive than HCNs. Local Subsidiary CEOs and Organizational Identification of Host Country Nationals: A Social Process Perspective Local Subsidiary CEOs shape the future, the strategy, and the culture of subsidiaries. According to the Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX), Local Subsidiary CEOs and HCN employees have a higher level of trust when the HCN subsidiary CEOs are better connected with the headquarters, providing opportunities to develop a sense of oneness with their headquarters, and exchange information to better operate the local subsidiaries. LMX is a relationship-based approach to leadership that focuses on the two-way (dyadic) relationship between leaders and followers. Dr. Duckjung added that Local Subsidiary CEOs can help HCN employees to develop organizational identification by becoming their role models and connecting headquarters with subsidiaries. When interviewing HCNs, an indicator of high organizational identification is when they say something along the lines of, “When someone criticizes my company, it feels like a personal insult,” “I can talk freely to the CEO of my company about difficulties,” “When my supervisor compliments me it is the same as my organization complimenting me.” HCNs that are dissatisfied with the organization often find that they do not have opportunities for growth or low compensation, becoming disillusioned with the organization and eventually quitting for better opportunities. In conclusion, the Sasin Research Seminar presented by Dr. Duckjung conveyed that HCNs working in MNEs face challenges in developing a sense of belonging with the foreign subsidiary, but Local Subsidiary CEOs can increase organizational identification by building trust, becoming role models, and connecting the subsidiary with the headquarters.