Transfer of HRM practices across cultures: An American company in Scotland

This paper reports the findings of a case study into human resource management (HRM) policies and practices of the Scottish subsidiary of an American multinational firm. The study is discussed within the debate on transfer of HRM practices between nations, and on subsidiary - parent company relationships. The paper makes a distinction between HRM policy on the one hand, and HRM practice on the other. It will be argued that whereas companies might find it feasible to have company-wide policies , they might find it unavoidable to be responsive to local conditions when it comes to HRM practices . Further, it will be argued that some practices can be transferred across nations almost without any change from one country to another. Some must be modified to become workable in another setting. And some are more deeply culture-specific and may not always be transferable. The findings of the study support the argument that multinational companies' management practices are more prone to local cultural influences than are their overall policies and strategies. Moreover, some of the practices which the company had imported from abroad had to be modified to make them workable, given its local cultural and non-cultural contexts. These local contexts had at the same time affected the relationship between the Scottish subsidiary and its parent company. The study found four clusters of factors which intervened in this relationship. A dynamic model of subsidiary-parent company is proposed to elaborate such an intervention. On the basis of the study it is argued that HRM in a foreign subsidiary is a complicated matter. The choice between one of three major options, polycentric, ethnocentric, and global, advocated by many scholars, is found to be too simplistic a model for understanding what actually goes on in a subsidiary and between it and its parent organization.     

Convergence divergence thesis through sectoral lens: A study of India and China

Does the evolution of distinct practices influence the sectoral dominance of nations? In this review paper, we take an in-depth look at the convergence and divergence debate about HR practices in Asia. We extend the conversation to address specific competitive advantage of nations, such as China, in manufacturing and India, in information technology (IT) sectors. Drawing on the relevant literature and utilizing the lens of firm specificity, HR value creation, and competitive uncertainty, we try to explore the collective implementation of a bundle of HRM (human resource management) and IR (industrial relations) practices that have converged or diverged from western practices leading to such dominance.     

Propensity for participative decision making in Latin America: Mexico and Peru

Increased subordinate participation in management decisions has been a recognized trend in developed Western organizations in recent decades. This study examines a manager's propensity for engaging in participative decision making (PPDM)in two emerging Latin American nations, Mexico and Peru. Although these two nations possess some degree of cultural similarity, two key differences were identified. First, Mexican managers who believed that PDM reduces a manager's power base were also likely than others to see a positive link between PDM and organizational effectiveness. In contrast, Peruvian managers who believed that PDM reduces a manager's power base were less likely than others to see a positive link between PDM and organizational effectiveness. Second, Mexican managers operating in participative organizational cultures were less committed than other managers to participation as a management philosophy and to their organizations. In contrast, Peruvian managers operating in participative organizational cultures were more committed than other managers to participation and to their organizations. Conclusions and directions for future research are also presented.     

Can Agile Project Management Be Adopted by Industries Other than Software Development?

This research paper presents evidence from an exploratory survey on the use of agile project management (APM) practices and the presence of APM enablers in 19 medium‐ and large‐sized companies from different industry sectors considering innovative projects. The results show that these companies are possibly struggling to use their current management practices in the face of different project challenges. Additionally, the presence of some APM enablers indicates opportunities to adapt the APM theory for different companies other than those in software development. Future research should explore the correlation between APM practices and enablers in order to develop “hybrid” management models for different industries.     

Between the traditional and the contemporary: careers of women managers from a developing Middle Eastern country perspective

Informed by Institutional Theory, this study adopts an exploratory, qualitative, in-depth interviews-based approach as it explores the self-reported career paths of 32 women managers in Lebanon. The results indicate that in contrast with the majority of Western-based literature, the traditional-organizational career path in comparison to contemporary career patterns is still relevant, and continues to exist for Lebanese women managers as they progress in their managerial careers. At the same time, the findings suggest that women selectively adopt some aspects of contemporary, flexible careers to navigate their career paths amidst the macro-national economic and sociocultural factors and institutional challenges. The overall results and the implications for various stakeholders are further discussed in light of the related literature. This study suggests that scholars interested in women's careers in under-researched developing nations need to further integrate the agentic process – and the role played by women's individual agency in constructing their careers as they respond to institutional mandates – into their career models in more details. Similarly, multinational companies currently operating or interested in expanding their operations to the developing Arab Middle East region should incorporate these factors into their management and human resource practices.     

The Influence of Culture on Organizational Design and Planning and Control in Australia and the United States Compared with Singapore and Hong Kong

This study draws on the national cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism, and Confucian dynamism to predict and explain differences in philosophies for, and approaches to organizational design and management planning and control systems in Australia and the US, representing Anglo-American nations, and Singapore and Hong Kong, representing the 'five dragons' of East Asia. Data were gathered by survey questionnaires mailed to senior accounting and finance executives in 800 organizations.
The results were largely as predicted and, in general, provide support for the importance of national culture in influencing organizational design and management planning and control systems. In particular, the cultural values of Anglo-American society relative to East Asian society are associated with a greater emphasis on decentralization and responsibility centres in organizational design, and a greater emphasis on quantitative and analytical techniques in planning and control. By contrast, the cultural values of East Asian society are associated with a greater emphasis on long-term planning and on group centred decision-making. The results are important to managers in global organizations who need to understand the cultural bases of observed differences in organizational and management planning and control practices in Anglo-American and East Asian nations.     

National Industrialisation Strategies and Their Influence On Patterns of Hr Practices

This article uses a framework developed by Kuruvilla (1995a) that hypothesised a very close link between industrialisation strategies of Southeast Asian nations and industrial relations systems. That framework is used here to argue that the industrialisation strategy adopted by nations also influences the development of firm level IR/HR practices. Using case studies of firms in the ‘import substitution industrialisation’(ISI) and ‘export oriented industrialisation’(EOI) sectors in Malaysia and the Philippines, the author finds that in both countries, the ISI sector is characterised by firm level IR/HR practices that are passive, pluralistic and paternalistic in nature, while the EOI sectors in both economies are characterised by IR/HR practices that can be termed aggressive, flexible, and dynamic in nature. In addition, given that Malaysia and the Philippines are currently at different stages of export oriented industrialisation, the cases demonstrate that workplace practices in the EOI sector in Malaysia are more dynamic and advanced than those of the Philippines. Thus, the article shows that the industrialisation strategies of nations create distinct patterns of industrial relations and human resource practices within the economy, controlling for other factors such as business strategies and the technological processes of firms that also cause such variation in IR/HR patterns.     

The institutionalization of information system project management practices

Considering that current structures are the result of choices made in specific contexts in the past, we adopt a historical perspective in order to understand how some information systems (IS) project management practices evolved and became norms. Using historical methods, we analyze sources of data spanning 52 years of IS project management (1945–2007) – interviews with IS project managers and academics, IS project management textbooks, curricula, and the scientific and professional literature – to: (1) determine whether some IS project management practices may now be considered institutionalized, and (2) understand their institutionalization processes over time. Based on this analysis, three groups of IS project management practices may now be considered institutionalized: formal control, external integration, and project risk management.     

HRM practices used to promote pro-environmental behavior: a UK survey

To date, the extent to which UK organizations use human resource management (HRM) practices to promote pro-environmental behavior through workplace HRM policies and initiatives is under-researched within the literature. Therefore, this paper presents results of a survey investigating current HRM practices used to promote pro-environmental behavior in a sample of 214 UK organizations representing different sizes and industry sectors. Overall, findings indicated that HRM practices are not used to a great extent to encourage employees to become more pro-environmental. The most prevalent practices used within organizations incorporated elements of management involvement supporting the idea that managers are the gatekeepers to environmental performance. Although organizations indicated that some HRM practices were more effective than others at encouraging pro-environmental behavior in their staff, only a very small percentage of organizations actually conducted any form of evaluation; organizations consequently lack clear evidence as to whether their HRM practices actually result in employee behavior change. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Leveraging competitiveness upon national cultural traits: the management of people in Brazilian companies

This paper aims to discuss the leveraging of competitiveness upon cultural traits. Since the globalization process has raised a series of challenges for companies around the world, companies have sought to respond mainly through the adoption of management practices proved to be successful elsewhere. However, due to the anchoring of many management practices, especially those of human resources, in the socio-cultural context of a country, the import and/or transfer of management practices between different contexts risk resulting in changes which may be only superficial. There are, however, some exceptions. Some managers have chosen to build their companies' competitiveness through management practices firmly anchored on the cultural traits of their countries, instead of looking for practices from successful companies. This process is obviously not simple because it requires from company leaders first the capacity to re-signify the cultural trait in a different manner, i.e. to perceive it as a source of competitiveness for the company and, second, the competence to build a management practice upon this cultural trait so that it will leverage the competitiveness of the company. In order to illustrate how typical cultural traits from a country may leverage the competitiveness of a company, we present the case of Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics manufacturer, which has constructed much of its competitiveness through the adoption of management practices anchored in some typical Brazilian cultural traits. The analysis of the case demonstrates that this process of developing competitive management practices is feasible, but it must be based upon a solid system of values that the team leader practises or wants practised. Otherwise, it is unlikely that the management practices will stand or that people will be committed to them.     

Drivers,adoption, and evaluation of sustainability practices in Italian wine SMEs

Based on a survey with 64 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in two Italian wine regions, this study aims to (a) identify key drivers and barriers of the adoption of sustainability and (b) compare the adoption and evaluation (use, financial/labor investments, and satisfaction) of sustainability practices in four management domains (marketing, chain, operational, and innovation). Results show that internal drivers were considered to be more important than external drivers. Economic sustainability‐oriented drivers scored significantly lower than drivers related to other dimensions, such as environmental sustainability and heritage. Key barriers refer to labor and investments costs, as well as concerns about greenwashing. Although there are substantial differences in adoption and evaluation of sustainability practices within and between management domains, this study confirms their widespread adoption in wineries. Among users, satisfaction levels outweigh the perceived investments. Except for innovation management practices, financial investments are considered to be lower than labor investments. Positive correlations between use‐satisfaction (within each management domain) and between investments or satisfaction levels (between management domains) further lend support for producers' adoption of multiple practices. At sustainability dimension level, heritage is negatively correlated with the evaluation indicators, indicating that it may act as a potential barrier to some sustainability practices. Segmentation analysis identified a low (30%) and high sustainability clusters (70%), which differ significantly in terms of sustainability perceptions and drivers, adoption, and evaluation of practices, as well as company characteristics. Future research needs to validate the findings on SMEs, compare our measures with more objective evaluation indicators, future adoption rates, and multidimensional sustainability practices.     

The overlooked variable in managing human resources of Iranian organizations: workforce diversity – some evidence

The primary aim of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of equality of opportunities and diversity policies in employment in the novel context of the Middle East – with a particular focus on Iran. HRM and diversity management specialists argue that equal opportunity practices help organizations capitalize on the benefits of a diverse workforce in terms of reducing turnover and absenteeism, attracting the best workers, increasing sales and marketing efforts, enhancing creativity and innovation, and improving decision making. While such benefits might be true in the context of developed countries, we are critical of their existence in the context of less developed nations. The findings, based on a qualitative study of six cases across two industries, indicate that, in contrast to existing theories, economic evaluations such as cost-minimization of the diverse work groups are the major driving forces behind adopting equal opportunity and diversity practices in employment. Specifically, mutuality of matching the needs of the worker with the needs of the manager is seen to be a major factor influencing the workers' impression towards equality of opportunities and diversity policies.     

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.     

Environmental and Business Communities of Practice: Graduate Students Comparing Community‐Relevant Language

The theory of communities of practice has found much acceptance in the organizational and social sciences literature. Although applied frequently to assess or explain phenomena, it has seen little research to identify the presence of barriers between communities of practice, or even just differences between such entities. Using members of the environmental and business communities, the following study identifies different communities of practice based on their linguistic repertoire. It also shows that members of one community can identify the linguistic content of another community's linguistic repertoire, with attention to business and environmental management. The research not only offers credence to the theory of communities of practice based on their linguistic repertoire, but it also offers avenues for further research in the use of language as a means of identity and segregation in various forms of institutional contexts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Individualism/collectivism and attitudes towards human resource systems: a comparative study of American,Irish and Indian MBA students

In this study, we collected data from 180 MBA students from the USA, Ireland and India on their individualism/collectivism (IC) orientations and their preferences for human resource management (HRM) practices. Contrary to expectations, the Indian sample tended to be more individualistic than the American or Irish sample. While there were no differences on the preferences for progressive HRM practices across sample, the Americans exhibited a greater preference for paternalistic practices than the Indians and the Irish. Further, the Americans also showed a greater preference for equality in rewards than the Irish and fairness in appraisals/rewards than the Indians. At the individual level, controlling for nationality, age and gender, higher individualism scores on the supremacy of individual goals and self-reliance dimensions were positively related to progressive HRM practices. Higher individualism on supremacy of individual goals was also positively related to procedural fairness in appraisals/rewards and negatively related to paternalistic HRM practices. A higher preference for working alone was negatively related to progressive HRM practices. Further, higher individualism on the supremacy of individual interest dimension was negatively related to progressive HRM practices and positively related to paternalistic HRM practices. Implications are discussed.     

Cross-national differences in cognitive style: implications for management

An important obstacle to productive working relationships between managers from different countries may be cross-cultural variations in cognitive style. This study examined the traditional dichotomy between the 'intuitive' East and the rational or 'analytic' West. A total of 394 managers from six nations and 360 management students from five nations completed the Cognitive Style Index, a self-report measure of the intuitive-analytic dimension. Reliability coefficients suggested that the properties of the instrument are broadly consistent across cultures. Comparison of mean scores showed that the most intuitive groups were located in the Anglo, North European and European Latin slices of Hickson and Pugh's 'culture cake', and the most analytic were in the Developing Countries and Arab categories. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that it may be more fruitful to classify nations in terms of their stage of industrial development rather than the hemisphere in which they are located. Ways of overcoming difficulties in encounters between managers from different cultures may include training in how to identify, respond to and change cognitive styles, and the selection of individuals or management teams whose styles are compatible with those of their foreign counterparts.     

浅议公寓管理中的大学生文明素质教育

大学生在公寓宿舍中的生活行为不仅关系到他们的健康和学习，而且关系到他们的思想道德品质和世界观的培养。对大学生在公寓宿舍中一些不文明的行为，要坚持不懈地进行教育和严格的管理。本文针对大学生在公寓中的一些不良行为表现，分析原因，探讨了公寓文明素质教育坚持的原则和措施。     

Coping with an emerging market competition through strategy-human resource alignment: case study evidence from five leading Japanese manufacturers in the People's Republic of China

This paper documents how PRC-based Japanese affiliates can align their human resource management (HRM) policies and practices with their business strategies based on in-depth interview surveys of the five leading Japanese manufacturers in China. In particular, using a multiple-informant research design to interview both top and human resource managers in each site, the study has attempted to clarify the strategic fit between the business strategies pursued and HRM practices adopted in China. Our interviews with top management for each affiliate revealed three types of business strategies that the PRC-based affiliates adopt to gain competitiveness in the Chinese market. Separate interviews with HR managers further clarified that affiliates' HRM efforts are aligned with the strategy each affiliate is pursuing. The findings are used to suggest several hypothesized relationships between the particular strategies pursued and the HRM practices adopted in China. Furthermore, this study has provided some important insights as to how the choice of affiliate-level business strategies in China affects the ‘hybridization’ processes of the HRM policies and practices used in the cross-national business environment.     

Providing solution to last mile challenges in postal operations

For centuries, state posts distinguished themselves as dependable institutions to citizens and governments within the life cycle of societies prior to the emergence of alternative mail delivery channels. The demand for traditional postal services has been on the decline due to changing customer demands, competition, unfavourable business divergence and the substitution of paper mail with digital alternatives. This study identifies critical challenges associated with the last mile segment of postal operations. A qualitative and quantitative survey methodology was employed to evaluate specific public postal service providers within developing nations. These were selected through a stratified sampling method and data were aggregated using a structured questionnaire. Last mile operational models adopted in developed nations were evaluated and identified best practices informed some of the recommendations. The study further considered various environmental impacts of postal operations, and feasible models were explored for integrating into the existing systems.