Attitudes to pay systems:an exploratory study within and across cultures

The present study investigates employees’preferences for criteria that are used in pay systems, namely, performance, cost of living, tenure, educational qualification, collective bargaining, skill, market rate, responsibility and special demands. The study also explored variation and similarities of employees’preferences for the criteria across four countries, namely Australia (N = 162), Indonesia (N = 100), Malaysia (N = 129) and Hong Kong (N = 39). The results indicate that the respondents prefer multiple criteria to determine their pay. Preferences for length of service and educational attainment were found to be significantly different across countries, particularly between Australian and Asian samples (Indonesian and Malaysia). This variation is, in part, attributed to cultural differences. Other variables, such as age, educational qualification, position, and industry sector, have been found to be significant correlates of preference for pay systems. Implications for reward management have been discussed.     

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.     

Diversity,organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior: An organizing framework

Experts generally agree that workforce diversity can produce positive outcomes such as novel and diverse ideas. However, research evidence indicates that workforce diversity can lead to undesirable outcomes as well. The main aim of this paper is to put forward an analytical framework that can help to explain why certain categories of employees, namely perceived low status minorities (PLSMs), might not always produce desirable outcomes. A number of theories such as social exchange, organizational justice, status, and reciprocity theories are used to illustrate why PLSMs would react to perceived injustice in a unique way leading to lower commitment and withdrawal from Organizational Citizenship Behavior.     

Port-hinterland trucking constraints in Nigeria

A reliable and efficient transportation system contributes immensely to growth and prosperity of a nation. Nigeria, with its vast import traffic cannot afford to transport hinterland bound cargo in a manner not consistent with reliable practices. This study seeks to evaluate the rank-order and magnitude of the operational constraints associated with cargo haulage from Nigerian seaports to the hinterland. Data were obtained from primary sources through systematic administration of a questionnaire to truck drivers at the point of waiting in the seaport terminal. In all, 302 respondents were sampled. The results of the study reveals that ‘harassment’ from law enforcement agencies ranked first (Mean = 2.08). The results also shows that the association between nine pairs of the constraints were significant with the strongest negative correlation being that of delays and armed robbery, r = −0.599, p < 0.001. These results are fundamental for the prioritization of palliative measures to improve the operational problems of trucking in Nigeria.     

Employee intercultural effectiveness in a multicultural workplace: theoretical propositions,strategies and direction for future research

This paper attempts to identify some of the key factors that can impinge on employee intercultural effectiveness in a multicultural workplace. Behavioural, attitudinal, cognitive and personality factors have been recognized as the main psychological factors that can impinge on intercultural effectiveness. Because intercultural effectiveness can be influenced by employee's sociobiological background, employee's ethnicity, age, country of origin, educational/professional attainment and religion are noted as among the factors that can impinge on intercultural effectiveness as well. In addition to these factors, employees' intercultural effectiveness is argued to be influenced by prior experience and organizational factors such as structure, systems, policies. Given the significance of sociobiological background, strategies for managing this background have been presented. Finally, the paper offers direction for future research.     

What role do HR practitioners play in developing countries: an exploratory study in an Indonesian organization undergoing major transformation

In spite of the abundance of research on HRM in developing countries, there is a dearth of knowledge of what human resource (HR) practitioners actually do in developing countries. With the aid of Conner and Ulrich's widely reported framework for HR roles, we investigated the roles played by HR practitioners in a state-owned oil and gas company with a workforce of 15,000 employees. The study was based on a survey of 140 HR and line managers in the company. The main finding of the study is that even in a developing country such as Indonesia, Conner and Ulrich's (1996) model of HR roles has some validity. Our findings indicate that all the four roles are practised by HR practitioners in the company. The finding lends support to similar studies in the USA (Wright, McMahan, Snell and Gerhart 2001; Simpkins 2005), the UK (Caldwell 2003), Denmark (Lemmergaard 2009), Finland (Antila 2006) and Lithuania (Zuzeviciute and Margarita 2010). Another significant feature of the study is the revelation that HR practitioners play more strategic roles than operational roles. This is entirely unexpected. The theoretical/research and practical implications of the findings have also been discussed.     

Is Ulrich's model useful in understanding HR practitioners' roles in non-western developing countries? An exploratory investigation across private and public sector organizations in the Sultanate Kingdom of Oman

This study set out to explore whether Ulrich's model is useful in understanding HR roles in non-western developing countries such as Oman. The study surveyed a random sample of 780 HR practitioners, line managers and employees from public and private sector organizations. In addition 12 HR practitioners and managers were interviewed to supplement the data collected from the survey. The findings indicate that HR practitioners in Oman perform all the roles. However, ‘strategic partner’ is the least performed role. The findings also indicate that HR practitioners in the private sector are more likely to perform all the five roles to a greater extent than their counterparts in the public sector. We also found partial support for our proposition that HR practitioners in the public sector would play more ‘operational’ roles (e.g. employee advocate or functional expert) than ‘strategic’ roles (i.e. strategic partner or HR leader). The study revealed that Ulrich's model is robust enough to help in the understanding of HR roles in a non-western, developing country context. The findings are discussed within the context of institutional and cultural frameworks. The paper argues for more research to improve the understanding of how socio-economic and cultural factors influence HR roles and how they are performed.     

Globalization and its consequences: Malaysian managerial perspectives and implications

With the aid of a multi-disciplinary literature review and a sample of 165 managers and professionals, this study investigated the perception of the impact of globalization in Malaysia. The study revealed that a significant percentage of the respondents subscribe to the hegemonic view of globalization as a system that is closed to other political, economic and value systems. However, they also see the benefits of globalization in terms of the transfer of good business practices as well as the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI). The views of respondents vary between ethnic groups, with the Chinese tending to be more enthusiastic about the positive impact of globalization while the Malays tend to be more concerned about its negative impact. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.