hrm系统动力学在亚洲上下文和研究议程(PDF21)

DynamicsofHRMSystemsintheAsianContextandtheResearchAgendaDr.PawanS.BudhwarReaderinOB&HRMAstonBusinessSchoolAstonUniversityBirminghamB47ETUKTel:0044-121-5393611ext.5092Fax:[phone]E-Mail:[e-mail]entSchoolofBusinessandManagementBrunelUniversityMiddlesexUB83PHUKTel:01895-274000ext.5861Fax:[phone]E-Mail:[e-mail]:4thAsiaAcademyofManagementConference(16-18December2004,Shanghai)DynamicsofHRMSystemsintheAsianContextandtheResearchAgenda1IntroductionThemainaimsofthisarticlearethreefold.First,toanalysethemainissuesdiscussedintheexistingliteratureregardinghumanresourcemanagement(HRM)intheAsiancontext.Second,topresentaframeworkusefulforhighlightingthemaindeterminantsofHRMpoliciesandpracticesfromacross-nationalcomparativeperspective.Third,tohighlightthekeychallengesfacingHRMfunctionintheAsiancontextwhichsetstheagendaforfutureresearch.ThereistheneedtoexamineHRMsystemsofAsiancountries(i.e.,primarilytheimportantemergingmarketswhicharebasedinthesouthandeastofthecontinent).Forexample,atpresenttheSouth-EastAsianregionproducesmoregoodsandservicesthaneitherNorthAmericaortheEuropeanUnionandthistrendisexpectedtoaccelerateintheyearstocome.Moreover,manyoftheimportantemergingeconomiesarelocatedinAsia(seeEconomist,2003).Further,theyattractenormousamountofforeigndirectinvestment(FDI).ItisalsopredictedthatmostnewmembersofthenewlyaffluentnationswouldcomefromAsiainthe21stcentury(seeTan,2002).Despiteallthis,mostAsianemergingmarketshavealongwaytogobeforetheyacquirethestatusofdevelopednations.Nevertheless,itisimportanttoexaminetheroleofHRMfunctionintheregionasitplaysasignificantroleintheeconomicdevelopmentofnations(seeDebrahetal.,2000;Tayeb,1995).Also,thereisaneedtohighlightthecontextspecificnatureofHRM,sothatrelevantpoliciesandpracticescanbedeveloped.DevelopmentsinAsianHRMThefieldofHRMisstillevolvingintheAsianregion.AnanalysisoftheexistingliteratureonHRMinsouth-eastAsiashowsthatresearchhasbeenandisbeingconductedon2thefollowingtopics.First,anumberofcountryspecificstudiesareregularlypublished,suchasJapanesemanagementsystems(seeSanoetal.,1997),HRMinSingapore,HongKong,TaiwanandKorea(seeRowley,1998).Atpresent,alotofresearchisbeingpublishedondifferentaspectsofChinesemanagement(seeWarneretal.,2002).Similarly,thereisinformationavailableregardingdifferentaspectsofmanaginghumanresourcesindifferentcountriesoftheregion.Forexample,theJapaneseemploymentsystemandthemanagementmodelsofSingapore,ChineseandKoreanbusinessgroups(seeRowley,1998;Tsui-AuchandLee,2003).However,inthepresentcontext,thevalidityofanumberofsuchestablishedideal-typicalmanagementmodelsisquestionable.Toavoidsuchpitfall,thereisnowaneedtohighlightthemajorfactorsthatdetermineHRMpoliciesandpracticesintheAsianregioninthepresentglobalcontext.SuchanevaluationwillfurthercontributetothedevelopmentofHRMtheoriesandrelevantpoliciesandpractices.Second,anumberofstudiesfocusonthepossibleissuesandproblemsrelatingtoHRMinAsiafromaglobalperspective(seeElKahal,2001).Emphasisingonculturalvalues,Kaoetal.(1999)stresstheneedtoindigenisethemanagementpracticesinAsianorganisations.TheauthorschallengetheapplicabilityofWesternmanagementandorganisationtheoriesintheAsiancontext.Similarly,Kiddetal.(2001)assertthatduetotheculturalandinstitutionaldifferences,foreignfirmsoperatinginChinafindithardtoimplementtheirhead-quarters’HRMpracticesintheirChinesesubsidiaries.Ontheotherhand,studybyBjorkmanandLu(1999)revealcontradictoryresults.BjorkmanandLushowthesuccessfulimplementationofglobalstandardisedHRMpracticesinforeignfirmsoperatingintheChinesecontext.SuchresultsindicatethatperhapscertainlevelofstandardisationofHRMsystemsistakingplacearoundtheglobe.However,moreresearchisneedinthisregard.Thisisanimportantagendaforfutureresearch.3Third,asignificantnumberofscholars(seeforexample,Rowley,1998;RowleyandBenson,2002;Warner,1998;2002;Amante,1998)haveexaminedtheconvergence-divergencethesisintheAsiancontext.Though,overthelastdecadeorso,researchevidencehashelpedtosupplanttheconvergenceview,recentinvestigationsintheAsianregion(seeWarner,2000;2002)emphasisethenotionof‘softconvergence’asanoutcomeofglobalisation.FromtheMNCs’perspective,theimplementationofglobalstandardisedHRMpracticesandpolicies(withlocaladjustments)isalsoanindicationofsoftconvergence.However,consideringtheheterogeneity(suchaspopulation,geography,economies,economicdevelopmentphase,labourmarkets,socio-cultural,legalandpoliticalset-up,andHRMsystems)intheregionandcontextspecificnatureofHRM,itwillnotbesensibletotalkaboutsignificantor‘hardconvergence’.Fourth,theuniquecharacteristicsofdifferentbusinessgroups(suchaschaebols,keiretsus)operatingindifferentcountriesintheregionwhichhavecontributedagreatdealintheireconomicsuccesshaveattractedalotofresearchinterest.Thesebusinessgroupshavedeeprootsinthecoreinstitutions(suchasfamilystructure,Confucianism),andsocio-culturalbackgroundoftheirrespectivesocietiesandaccordinglyhavetheirownHRMsystems(seeBegin,1997;Rowley,1998).Theeconomiccrisisoflate1990sandthepresentc