Raymond Miles introduced the term ?human resources' in 1965 after the evidence that human beings and human relations were changing in a professional environment. Human resources are considered as an ?umbrella' gathering several different approaches rather than a single theory. All these approaches have in common, the idea that human resources management ?recognizes the vital role that human resources play in organization' (Schuler, 1987). Indeed, ?human resources management is a modern term for what has traditionally been referred o as personnel administration or personnel management' (Byars and Rue, 1987). In order to understand the importance of human resources management and to see how it is influenced by cultures and nations, we are going to compare two situations in two really different countries such as France and China. The cultural gap between those two countries is wide, and the way people are managed as a factor of production differs depending on the social culture of each of these countries. The context of post-communism high economic growth and rapid development in China is viewed in parallel with a country where the people are well protected, economy is strong but the growth tends to slow down. Moreover, by choosing two countries which are located in two different continents, we will appreciate different approaches that are not directly liked but influenced to some extent.
Tags: Differences in HRM models, Similarities in HRM models, Review of HRM models, Human resource models, HRM models in different countries
[...] To illustrate this trend, let's take the example of the creation of a minimum wage in China in 2004, such as France did in 1950, the creation of regulation for job protection, the disengagement of the state in business regulation, and its involvement in social policies such as welfare and health protection. The fact that foreign countries invest in China, influence HRM in other ways. Thus, while exporting their patterns, their ‘savoir-faire' (know-how), their means of production and their skills, MNCs also bring their human resource management policies and standards. [...]
[...] The work of Hofstede ‘indicates a lack of need and ambiguity in Chinese cultures, and this may reflect the fact that China itself is relatively free of a highly regulated legal code, and has traditionally been ruled by men (power distance) rather than by laws (uncertainty avoidance). But more a recent work (Chimezie et al., 1993) indicates a strong avoidance of uncertainty among the Chinese, with a strong desire to maintain social order, with a degree of predictability.' In contrast, France has a high ratio of uncertainty avoidance. [...]
[...] Section The description of HRM Models China and France belong respectively to two general HRM approaches. These are the Asian one, and the East European one. In China, the first appearance of HR was called the ‘personal department' in companies. This centralized management method, switched to a modern HRM model around the 1980s after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. The weight of ‘state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) has been, and is still very important in HRM even if China, after a long period of planned economy and communism, is switching to a market based view and an ‘open door' policy. [...]
[...] Chinese culture is ‘collectivistic' (Earley, 1989), where ‘Chinese individuals tend to identify themselves as a part of a specific group, team, or unit, and important distinction is made between ‘insiders' and ‘outsiders'' (Bond, 1996), in comparison with France, where individualism is much more important. The person himself is considered a core value in France, even if this entity has to be considered in a holistic approach where the individual is a part of the whole, which implies that the French HRM model and strategies are individual-oriented. [...]
[...] Section Convergences and divergences of the two models As we have shown, France and China are two different countries that have their own culture and their own HRM systems. The French one can be considered as a best-fit model (soft HRM) and the Chinese one, a hybrid model (towards soft HRM). Between those two models, there exist divergences and convergences. Of course, the French model influences the Chinese one and vice versa. The major divergence resides in the fact that France is a developed country, and China is still considered a developing country with an annual growth rate close to 9%. [...]
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