An exploration of the HRM values of Chinese managers working in Western multinational enterprises in China: implications for HR practice

This paper qualitatively explores the nature of human resource management (HRM) values of local Chinese managers working in Western-based multinational enterprises in China and also considers how these values are associated with preferences for HR practices. The study involves the use of repertory grid interviews with 36 local Chinese managers. The study shows that interviewees reflected a high level of assimilation and internalization of many Western HRM values. Interviewees also retained many traditional Chinese values, thus highlighting the role of institutional and cultural forces on HRM. However, among these local managers, there was clear decline in some traditional Chinese values, such as ‘harmony’ and ‘virtue’. A further interesting finding was the co-existence of paradoxical values of collectivism and individualism among the managers. Analyses of repertory grid data and interview comments also highlight that preferences for HR practices is associated with these underlying HRM values.     

Towards a strategic understanding of global teams and their HR implications: an expert dialogue

Abstract

Drawing on initial insights emerging from a panel at the EIBA 2016 Conference in Vienna, here discussants and expert panelists engage in a follow-on conversation on the HRM implications of global teams for international organizations. First we set out how HRM can enable global teams and their constituent members to overcome the new and considerable challenges of global teams. These challenges span levels of analysis, time and space. Next we debate global teams as a strategic response to the dual pressures of global integration and local adaptation. We consider what HRM is needed for global teams to successfully resolve this dilemma, challenging practitioners to move beyond the ‘best practices’ and ‘alignment’ dichotomy. Lastly we look to the future to consider implications for research. We propose a rich research agenda focused on the complexities of the global team context.     

Hybridization: striking a balance between adoption and adaptation of human resource management practices in French multinational corporations and their Tunisian subsidiaries

International management research has tended to approach the transfer of human resource management (HRM) practices by examining the one-way transfer from parent companies to their subsidiaries, their adaptation to the subsidiaries’ local context and, more recently, the reverse transfer of HRM practices from subsidiaries to their headquarters. This article aims to analyse the transfer of HRM practices from headquarters to their foreign subsidiaries through the process of hybridization. Although numerous studies focus on the transfer of HRM practices between economically developed countries or from these countries to transitional economies, few have considered French multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in ex-colonized countries. This paper addresses the ways in which the HRM hybridization process is implemented in two French subsidiaries operating in Tunisia. It focuses on the dual perspectives of managerial staff at headquarters and subsidiaries as well as shop floor employees in the subsidiaries. A range of HRM practices (recruitment and selection, compensation, performance appraisal and career management) is analysed from their transfer to their reinterpretation. The results show the importance of the concept of hybridization on HRM practice transfer through a multi-level analysis of the strategies used by various stakeholders during the hybridization process. The paper also provides useful insights into the factors of hybridization that may foster or inhibit the transfer and adoption of HRM practices by foreign subsidiaries. These include the relational context, the type of practices transferred, the interests of different professional categories and their social interactions. Based on these factors, several hybridizations are identified. The study points out the specificity of the Tunisian context and shows that institutional factors have less influence on the transfer of HRM practices in ex-colonized countries than cultural factors that have a transversal influence on different HRM practices. Key cultural factors constraining the transfer include emotional relationships and interpersonal trust. Moreover, the international transfer of HRM practices from MNCs to ex-colonized transitional countries requires taking into account the post-colonialism and fascination effects.     

HRM implementation by multiple HRM actors: a social exchange perspective

Abstract

In this study, we understand HRM implementation as a social process that depends on the social exchange relationships between line managers and both HRM professionals and employees. As such, we offer a fresh approach to understanding HRM implementation by concentrating on the social exchange among HRM actors. We do so by investigating to what extent these exchange relationships influence HRM implementation, as reflected in employees’ perceptions of the presence of HRM practices and their affective commitment. We collected multilevel data from two sources (line managers and employees) and in two phases in a Dutch engineering firm, and obtained fully matched manager – employee information from 75 employees and 20 line managers. Our results show that employees perceive a larger number of HRM practices when they have a good relationship with their line managers and when their line managers are motivated to implement HRM practices. Line managers, in turn, reciprocate perceived support from the HRM department with greater motivation to implement these practices. We conclude that because HRM actors engage in social interactions, HRM practices will be implemented at the organizational level because employees perceive the presence of HRM practices and then reciprocate this with affective commitment.     

Actions speak louder than words: how employees mind the implementation gap

Abstract

Integral to employees’ working lives are the HR policies and more importantly, the practices that follow those and their implementation, which employees experience directly. To date, research on HR implementation considers how HRM is ‘done to’ employees by management and therefore ignores the agency of individuals to shape how HRM is ‘done to them’. Taking the perspective of employees, in a qualitative study of female lawyers, this paper examines employees’ roles in shaping HR implementation, addressing a lack of understanding about the role of ‘others’ in the process. Drawing on the concept of social power, the article focuses on the implementation of agile working practices within UK-based law firms. It finds that despite lacking legitimate position power to influence processes, employees draw on a variety of other power sources (e.g. referent, information, coercive) and tactics (e.g. leveraging membership of professional networks) in order to influence their working environment with respect to HR policy and practice, particularly in response to perceived implementation gaps. The current study underlines that employees may be integral to bridging the gap between policy and practice and therefore to ensuring the link between HRM and organisational performance. It also proposes that behavioural responses to HR practices should be considered in future theorising of the HRM-performance relationship.     

Control and commitment HR practices,job satisfaction and turnover intentions: a comparison between local and multinational firms in China

There is a growing body of literature and debate around control versus commitment human resource management (HRM) systems and their impacts on employees. However, the impacts of these constructs have not been widely examined in more emerging economies. Taking a specific sample of educated professionals working for multinational and local firms in China, this study investigated employee perceptions of control and commitment HR practices, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. A total of 311 respondents completed a structured survey questionnaire. Results revealed that those working for multinational firms reported more positive perceptions of their employers' control and commitment HR practices. In multinational firms, the use of commitment HR practices predicted lower intentions to leave. However, in domestic firms a lack of control HR practices predicted higher turnover intentions. Theoretically, the study adds to discussions about the nature and roles of these constructs, their impacts on HR outcomes and how institutional mechanisms might shape the degree of HRM homogeneity and hybridity across organizations in China. Practically, the study provides guidance to international and local firms on how to improve their HRM effectiveness to achieve a higher retention of their most talented professionals.     

The influence of internal and external social networks on HRM capabilities in MNC subsidiaries in China

In this study we examine the influence of involvement in internal and external social networks on HRM capabilities. We distinguish between technical and strategic HRM capabilities and focus on the capabilities of the HR department relating to four HRM practices – recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, and performance appraisal. The study is based on data from dual respondents, general managers and HR managers, in 66 European MNC subsidiaries located in China. The results indicate that contact with other MNCs in China regarding HRM issues is positively associated with both technical and strategic HRM capabilities whereas contact with local Chinese companies does not have any significant influence on either strategic or technical HRM capabilities. Contact with MNC headquarters is positively associated with strategic HRM capabilities.     

Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?

Abstract

Based on the social exchange theory and on ageing and life-span theories, this paper aims to examine: (1) the relationships between perceived availability and use of HRM practices, and employee outcomes (i.e. work engagement and employability); and (2) how employee age moderates these relationships. Using a sample of Nmaximum = 1589 employees, correlational analyses and multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. First, confirming our hypotheses, results showed predominantly positive relationships between work engagement and both perceived availability and use of development HRM practices, such as HRM practices related to learning, development, and incorporating new tasks. The study outcomes opposed, however, our hypotheses with predominantly negative relationships between work engagement and perceived availability and use of maintenance HRM practices. Predominantly positive relationships were furthermore found, as was hypothesized, between employability and perceived availability and use of development as well as maintenance HRM practices. Generally speaking, these results were not more pronounced for any of the age groups. That is, age appeared to not play any significant moderating role. Research limitations, implications for practice and directions for future work are also discussed.     

Similarities and differences in international and comparative human resource management: A review of 60 years of research

In this article, we review similarities and differences in articles in the research field of international and comparative human resource management (HRM), published in Human Resource Management over the past 60 years. The extensive review and analysis, based on 189 conceptual articles, reviews, and empirical studies, identified several trends. First, the two distinct research streams in this research field (HRM in MNEs and comparative HRM) have grown over the decades and moved from conceptual articles in the beginning to almost exclusively empirical studies in more recent years. Second, in addition to the two research streams, in more recent years we identified a third research stream that combines elements of HRM in MNEs and comparative HRM research. Third, the research field has become more feminized, with an increasing number of female (first) authors, and has become more international, with more authors affiliated with non‐US universities in the more recent time periods. Finally, while the research streams show some differences in the content of their research, we do not find evidence that the streams developed in isolation. Based on our analysis, we provide suggestions for future research on international and comparative HRM and identify current implications for HR practitioners.     

Human resource function strategic role and trade unions: exploring their impact on human resource management practices in Uruguayan firms

Organizations worldwide are confronted with different contextual constraints. Jackson and Schuler [1995, ‘Understanding Human Resource Management in the Context of Organizations and their Environments,' Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 237–264], in their classical review, highlight the importance of the impact of the internal and external organizational context on human resource management (HRM) practices. This paper uses data collected through a survey of firms located in Uruguay, in a context where HR function and trade unions have gone through significant changes, to determine their impact on the adoption of different HRM practices. The authors find that organizations with an HR function strategically involved and with higher degree of union presence have more person-centred HRM practices, while performance-centred HRM practices were positively influenced by HR function strategic role. However, the findings do not support the moderating role of trade union presence on the relationship between the HR function strategic role and HRM practices.     

HRM practice in emerging economies: a long way to go in the Slovak hotel industry?

Using empirical data from interviews among leading hotels in Slovakia, this paper sets out to explore recent developments in human resource management (HRM) policies and practices and labour relations in an emerging Central European economy. The main areas explored are the HRM function, employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations and emerging HRM issues. The paper establishes that there has been a move away from the traditional rigid socialist type of personnel management, but it has not been fully replaced by HRM practices. The emergent 'model' is a hybrid of the traditional Western personnel management and basic HRM activities, alongside which some legacies of the socialist personnel function still exist.     

Assessing the adoption of HRM by small and medium-sized manufacturing organizations

This paper reports on exploratory research which uses a comparative case-study approach with sixteen organizations to study the extent to which HRM has been adopted in traditional brownfield-site, small and medium-sized UK manufacturing organizations. The paper begins with a comparison of HRM practices across the sixteen organizations. It is argued that the most common HRM practices in these firms appeared to relate more to a traditional small firm approach than to any proactive attempt to adopt HRM. The analysis shows that very few of the organizations adopted a strategic approach towards HRM with an integrated set of policies related to corporate strategy being put forward. Instead, the dominant approach seemed to be one of reactive, opportunistic pragmatism, showing little development from the standard modern approach identified as most common in the early 1980s. On the other hand, three organizations are shown to approximate quite closely to the model of strategic HRM and contextual analysis is undertaken to attempt to differentiate these from the other organizations. A comparison is also made between the findings of this research and a telephone survey that was conducted to assess the use of HRM in Leicestershire. The results of this show that a certain degree of caution should be exercised when accepting reports of organizational practices which do not involve researchers actually entering the organizations. Finally, the paper concludes that in order to get a better understanding of the situation facing these and other organizations we need to broaden our scope and consider the impact of changing economic, social and political conditions on management worker relations.     

Innovative human resource management and corporate performance in the context of economic liberalization in India

The Indian economy was forced to adopt a structural adjustment programme at the beginning of 1991. The structural adjustment programme or liberalization initiated the process of the opening up of an otherwise closed economy of India. Liberalization created a hyper-competitive environment and to respond to this turbulence, Indian organizations adopted innovative changes in their HRM practices. Current research shows that HRM practices are important for enhanced corporate performance but little has been reported on the effect of HRM practices and corporate performance in the context of economic liberalization of India. This study tries to understand the role of innovative HRM practices and specifically questions how HRM practices, such as the role of HR department, recruitment, retraining and redeployment, performance appraisal and compensation, enhance corporate performance during the change process. A multiple-respondent survey of 69 Indian organizations was undertaken to study the impact of innovative HRM practices on firm performance. The survey found that the innovative recruitment and compensation practices have a positive significant relationship with firm performance. It was observed that recruitment, the role of the HR department and compensation practices seem to be significantly changing within the Indian firms in the context of India's economic liberalization. The synergy between innovative HRM practices was not significant in enhancing corporate performance during the liberalization process.     

Conditional altruism: Effects of HRM practices on the willingness of host‐country nationals to help expatriates

The assistance of host‐country nationals (HCNs) both within the workplace and in the external environment plays a significant role in expatriate adjustment and work performance on international assignments. Extant research exploring antecedents of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates focuses on personal and intrapersonal factors but overlooks organizational contextual effects. In this study, we propose and test a model that HCNs' willingness to help expatriates is influenced by HRM practices in international subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Results of analyzing data collected from Chinese subsidiaries of South Korean MNEs showed that high‐commitment HRM practices directly and indirectly influence HCNs' willingness to help expatriates through the mediation of perceived organizational support (POS). Socially responsible HRM indirectly influences the criterion variable through the mediation of organizational identification. Moreover, POS and organizational identification sequentially mediate the effect of high‐commitment HRM on HCNs' willingness to help expatriates. These findings shed some light on organizational antecedents that go beyond personal and intrapersonal factors of HCN attitudes and behavior toward expatriates.     

The dynamic nature of HRM implementation: a structuration perspective

Abstract

Over the past decades, scholars have dedicated substantial attention to the process of HRM implementation. Most progress has been made with debates on HRM system strength, roles of organisational actors in HRM implementation, and intended, actual and perceived HRM. In this paper, we challenge the current view on HRM implementation as being too static and one-directional. By building on structuration theory, we show that the process of HRM implementation is less straightforward than has been previously assumed. After their initial introduction, HRM practices evolve through turbulent developments. Furthermore, instead of neatly distributed roles following meticulously scheduled planning, HRM practices are influenced by various organisational actors. For successful implementation, HRM practices need to become inscribed into the interpretive schemes of organisational actors, resources have to be distributed, the HRM practice has to gain legitimacy. We develop a comprehensive framework that assists in understanding the process of HRM implementation.     

Ownership,governance, and the diffusion of HRM practices in multinational worker cooperatives: Case‐study evidence from the Mondragon group

Drawing on a qualitative study of one Mondragon multinational worker cooperative (WC) based on longitudinal data and in‐depth interviews, our research evidences the contradictions that internationalisation poses in WCs, both through privileging managerial control at the expense of worker–member participation and through the setting‐up of capitalist subsidiaries in which employees are excluded from ownership and decision‐making. It further shows how institutions, power relations, and interests shape transfer in WCs, supporting the diffusion of certain human resource management (HRM) practices on grounds of efficiency but hampering the implementation of core cooperative practices. We make a threefold contribution: first, to a strand of inquiry focused on the influence of corporate governance on HRM; second, to the field of international HRM by analysing the cross‐national diffusion of HRM practices in WCs; and third, to ongoing debates on the challenges that WCs face when striving to balance the economic and social dimensions in globalisation.     

Managerial perceptions of the role of the human resource function in Sri Lanka: a comparative study of local,foreign-owned and joint-venture companies

As debates on HRM continue, we contend that a number of important issues have not been given the adequate attention they deserve. One of the neglected issues, which we seek to explore in this paper, is the question of whether HRM models are being practised in developing countries. The specific context for the research is Sri Lanka. Therefore, the central objective of this paper is to explore one main research question, which is: To what extent does HRM play a significant role in organizational strategy processes in Sri Lankan organizations? The research is guided by four hypotheses. The hypotheses are based on the assumption that local Sri Lankan organizations will differ from MNCs in the way they deal with and practice HRM. The findings from the investigation reveal no significant differences between MNCs and local companies in relation to the research questions. The implications of the findings are discussed within the context of diffusion and convergence of management practices and the role of drivers of globalization.     

Reporting on sustainability and HRM: a comparative study of sustainability reporting practices by the world's largest companies

As a response to the growing public awareness on the importance of organisational contributions to sustainable development, there is an increased incentive for corporations to report on their sustainability activities. In parallel with this has been the development of ‘Sustainable HRM’ which embraces a growing body of practitioner and academic literature connecting the notions of corporate sustainability to HRM. The aim of this article is to analyse corporate sustainability reporting amongst the world's largest companies and to assess the HRM aspects of sustainability within these reports in comparison to environmental aspects of sustainable management and whether organisational attributes – principally country-of-origin – influences the reporting of such practices. A focus in this article is the extent to which the reporting of various aspects of sustainability may reflect dominant models of corporate governance in the country in which a company is headquartered. The findings suggest, first and against expectations, that the overall disclosure on HRM-related performance is not lower than that on environmental performance. Second, companies report more on their internal workforce compared to their external workforce. Finally, international differences, in particular those between companies headquartered in liberal market economies and coordinated market economies, are not as apparent as expected.     

An employee-focused human resource management perspective for the management of global virtual teams

Abstract

The number of global virtual teams (GVTs) has increased in recent years due to globalization of business, improved information and communication technology, and higher innovation needs. Practitioners expect GVTs to be creative, innovative, and high-performing. However, GVT members suffer from interpersonal problems, stress, and misunderstandings based on cultural differences. It is therefore important that the HRM function intervenes in the functioning of GVTs. HRM and GVT research has mostly focused on instrumental practices to improve performance, but globalization and the dynamic business environment require international organizations to adopt new HRM perspectives. To advance research on GVTs and HRM, we draw on the job demands-resources model and research on quality of work life to introduce an employee-focused HRM perspective for the management of GVTs. This new perspective focuses explicitly on improving employee wellbeing in GVTs. We develop a novel theoretical framework that provides HR practitioners and leaders with several employee-focused management tools such as flexible work practices, international training and development opportunities, and fair pay and procedures. These tools are likely to help GVT members to cope with job demands and to improve their wellbeing, and are particularly useful for GVTs due to their interpersonal problems, stressful environment, and cultural differences.