At times of globalization, organizations have to face a business environment which involves quick responses to change, such as new laws or social trends, in order not to expire (Gibson, 1989). It is evident that only people, and not machines, are able to anticipate these changes and set up an adequate strategy. Therefore, Human Resource Management is more than ever a key factor of success for organizations. Since the eighties, the role of Human Resource Management in the organization, has taken a considerable place in our society. However, different models of human resource management exist. Indeed, there are great differences in how countries organize employment and manage the employment relationship. National variations in employment system reflect wider disparities in national culture and institutions. That is why, according to Bratton (2004), "comparative Human Resource Management focuses on providing insights into the nature of, and reasons for, differences in HRM practices across national boundaries".
[...] Description of United States and China HRM models The American HRM model can be defined as a managerial model. The American employment system reflects the ideologies of individualism and egalitarianism, often summarised as ‘getting ahead trough individual effort and enterprise'. According to Hollingsworth (1997), there is a significant feature of the American business system which is the weakness of ‘collective governance' in the private sector. For example, there were 22,974,655 private firms in the United States of America in 2002. [...]
[...] The USA are characterised by a low Uncertainty Avoidance, while China has a high Uncertainty Avoidance. In China, that is due to various factors: fears to losing job, needs for clearly define rules and the fear of conflict. In the USA, others characteristics explain this type of Uncertainty Avoidance. Indeed, the American society is less rule-oriented more readily accepts change, and takes more and greater risks (R.L. Mathis and J. H. Jackson, 2006). The primacy of individual work ethic and the entrepreneurial spirit is a tradition and a myth like the American Dream represents this part of risk. [...]
[...] The case of the China is more complicated because this country is both femininity and masculinity. Concerning the femininity, various notions exist: there is a non- adversarial relationship, a well-intentioned treatment of others and win- win outcomes in a negotiation. For the masculinity aspect, one of characteristic in China is the respect of the hierarchy. Short-Term Orientation emphasizes the immediate gratification of needs, focus on the present and the attainment of Short-Term goals. Long-Term Orientation emphasizes the satisfaction of needs for the sake of Long-Term benefits and growth. [...]
[...] For example, the All China Federation of Trade Unions has been involved in establishing a tripartite negotiation system at national level, as such legitimising the role of trade unions in protecting the economic interests of employees and representing them at state level.(Beardwell and Claydon, 2007) Moreover, political situation and national cultures play an important role and influence the Human Resource Management. Political situation and national cultures' impacts on the Human Resource Management To compare and evaluate culture and define its impact on the organization, Professor Hofstede surveyed over 100,000 IBM employees in 49 Countries. [...]
[...] Benson et al., “Flexibility and labour management: Chinese manufacturing enterprises in the 1990s”, International Journal of Human Resource management 183- J. Bratton and J. Gold, Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan F. Deyo, Industrialization and Labor relations: Contemporary Research in seven Countries, Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, pp. 23- Z. Ding and M. Warmer, “Re-inventing China's industrial relations at enterprise level: an empirical field study in four major cities”, Industrial Relations Journal 243- F. Foulkes, Personnel Management in Large Non-Union companies, New Jersey: Prentice Hall J. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
