Managing human resources across cultures: a comparative analysis of practices in industrial enterprises in China and The Netherlands

Abstract Although researchers and practitioners have come up with many good ideas for improving the employment relationship, there is no evidence for universally applicable practices. Prior theoretical work and research in the area of (international) human resource management indicate that cultural and contextual constraints are responsible for the problematic nature of transference of practices. This study illustrates and explains the contextual as well as cultural boundaries through a direct comparison of practices as used in a matched sample of industrial companies in China (n=97) and The Netherlands (n=47). It is argued that differences in organizational structure, cultural values and labour regulations account for the variation between countries. The results show considerable differences between China and The Netherlands in the HRM practices of industrial enterprises. Also, the organizational culture of the companies studied varies between the two countries and the differences found are clearly in line with differences on the national cultural level.     

Organizational citizenship behaviour and turnover intention: a cross-cultural study

This study investigated the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and turnover intention in 162 production workers in the same organization within Malaysia, Germany and England. Further, differences in ratings of OCB across cultures were examined. Self-report questionnaires measuring turnover intention and five dimensions of OCB (altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, sportsmanship and civic virtue) were administered to the samples. Results illustrated that OCB related significantly to turnover intention, with sportsmanship emerging as the strongest predictor of turnover intention across cultures. Cultural differences in OCB ratings were seen, with the Malaysian sample generally scoring higher than the other two samples. However, the relationship between OCB and turnover intention was similar within each culture group. Explanations of the findings and limitations are discussed.     

The contribution of corporate social responsibility to organizational commitment

This study investigates the relationship between organizational commitment and employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a model that draws on social identity theory. Specifically, we examine the impact of three aspects of socially responsible behaviour on organizational commitment: employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility in the community, procedural justice in the organization and the provision of employee training. The relationship between organizational commitment and each aspect of CSR is investigated within a model that distinguishes between genders and includes a set of control variables that is drawn from the commitment literature (Meyer et al., 2002 Meyer, J.P., Stanley, D.J., Herscovitch, L. and Topolnytsky, L. 2002. Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61: 20–52. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The analysis is based on a sample of 4,712 employees drawn from a financial services company. The results emphasize the importance of gender variation and suggest both that external CSR is positively related to organizational commitment and that the contribution of CSR to organizational commitment is at least as great as job satisfaction.     

安徽新型工业化的金融支持分析

新型工业化已成为当前中国经济和社会发展研究的一个热点。安徽省作为中部欠发达省份,正处于工业化中期阶段,资金短缺是制约工业化进程的一个重要因素。因此,研究安徽新型工业化进程中的金融支持问题,对安徽实现跨越式发展、缩小区域发展差距等具有重要的现实意义。本文对安徽新型工业化进程中金融支持存在的问题进行分析,并提出一些政策建议。     

组织公平与信任对知识共享的影响研究

文章基于初创小微型企业的组织公平和信任对知识共享的重要性,对组织公平和信任对知识共享影响机制的研究现状进行了梳理和分析,构建了初创小微型企业组织公平和信任对知识共享影响机制的概念模型,采用初创小微型企业的调查数据,对模型和变量间关系进行了实证检验。实证研究结果表明:初创小微型企业程序公平与同事信任对知识共享意愿无显著正向影响关系,而制度公平对知识共享意愿有显著正向影响关系;员工对主管信任对知识共享意愿有显著正向影响关系;员工对组织信任对知识共享意愿有显著正向影响关系。基于实证结果,初创小微型企业通过组织公平和信任来促进知识共享,初创小微型企业要从培养员工与主管、员工与组织彼此间信任关系;鼓励员工提案或建议制度,建立公开的提案制度并维护制度公平,同时配合奖励政策;公开化及透明化的管理决策过程,提高初创小微型企业员工对公平的认知,最终提升初创小微型企业员工的知识共享意愿。     

80后员工职业价值观与忠诚度关系研究

本文以企业"80后"员工为研究对象,以组织支持感为调节变量,研究其职业价值观对忠诚度的影响。通过文献分析法和访谈法,初步构建企业"80后"员工职业价值观、组织支持感和忠诚度的理论模型,并编制相关变量的调查量表。通过实地调查和网络调查进行实证研究,收集了301份有效问卷,采用SPSS18.0和AMOS17.0软件对调查收集的数据进行描述性统计分析、因子分析、相关分析、回归分析。通过实证研究得出:"80后"员工职业价值观和组织支持感对其忠诚度有显著影响,其影响程度与方向在各个维度上具有差异;组织支持感在职业价值观和忠诚度之间起到了显著的调节作用。     

Socialization Tactics of New Retail Employees: A Pathway to Organizational Commitment

To address the prevailing issue of high turnover and low employee commitment in the retail industry, this study explores the role of newcomers’ individual differences and proactive socialization tactics in developing employee organizational commitment and reducing employee turnover. Based on data collected from 239 employees in a major U.S. retail store chain, this study found that individual differences, such as goal orientation and proactivity, are significantly related to employees’ choices of different socialization tactics, including inquiry, observation, and networking. The three tactics are associated with organizational commitment and furthermore employees’ actual turnover mainly through role clarity and attitudes toward a retail career. Among the three proactive socialization tactics, observation plays the most important role in the socialization process.     

The moderating roles of perceived complementarity and substitutability on the perceived manufacturing difficulty–extension attitude relationship

The extant brand extension literature shows a curvilinear relationship between consumers' perceived difficulty of manufacturing the brand extension and their attitude towards the extension. This paper advances this research area by investigating the moderating roles of consumption-fit dimensions. Specifically, this research examines how the perceptions of the product extension's complementarity and substitutability affect the relationship between perceived difficulty of manufacturing the extension and extension attitude. To test these relationships, the study uses a four-country sample comprising of both graduate and undergraduate students. Study results demonstrate that perceived complementarity helps easy-to-make extensions while hurting difficult-to-make extensions, but perceived substitutability hurts extension attitude. These findings advance theory and offer managerial implications. Product and brand managers need to consider the joint effects of consumption fit and extension difficulty while using brand extension strategies.     

Knowledge creation capability in MNC subsidiaries: Examining the roles of global and local knowledge inflows and subsidiary knowledge stocks

Grounded in knowledge-based theories of the multinational corporation (MNC) and building on organizational learning literature, this paper develops and tests a model of MNC subsidiaries’ knowledge creation capability as a joint function of knowledge inflows to subsidiaries and their knowledge stocks (i.e., subsidiaries’ internal human, social, and organizational capital). Survey-based data from 106 subsidiaries located in the U.S. suggests that local (i.e., host country) knowledge inflows to a subsidiary are more effective in enhancing a subsidiary's knowledge creation capability compared to global knowledge inflows from other units of the same MNC. Furthermore, results point to a not-invented-here syndrome in the exploitation of knowledge sourced from the parent company; such that when a subsidiary's internal social capital is high, the relationship between global knowledge inflows and knowledge creation capability is negative and when it is low, the relationship becomes positive.