International and Comparative Human Resource Management - Essay Example

?Introduction The practices of human resource management within a given realm of operations are greatly affected by national culture (Gamble, 2003 pp.369). The national culture can positively or negatively affect the operations of human resource management. A study conducted by Sparrow, Schuler, and Jackson (1994), showed the impact of national culture in HR managers and CEOs from selected countries in the world. The analysis was conducted to determine the various practices of cultures in selected countries in the world. Through the cluster analysis, Sparrow together with other fellow researchers was able to cluster the countries of the world into five distinctive cultural zones. The identified clusters were cultural Island 1, 2, and 3, Anglo-Saxon cluster, and Latin cluster. Cultural Island 1 cluster comprised of France, cultural Island 2 comprised of Korea, and cultural Island 3 comprised of Japan. The other two remaining clusters of Anglo-Saxon and Latin comprised of UK, Australia, Canada, USA, Germany and Italy for Anglo-Saxon cluster and Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico for Latin cluster. This academic paper will categorically look at distinguishing cultural characteristics of Korea and UK. The two selected countries fall under cultural Island 2 cluster and Anglo-Saxon cluster respectively. Culture of the United Kingdom The cultural classification of United Kingdom comprises of patterns of symbolism and human activity, some of the cultures which were practiced in the UK are; Language As in the case of other nations and states, the language of the UK is English. This language is spoken by close to 90% of the total residents. Some countries which form the framework of UK like Wales at times use their national Welsh language more so in schools (Calder, 2007 pp.21). Use of languages like Gaelic has also been popularized in countries like Scotland; however, English has remained the official language in the entire UK. Arts UK is known for arts in terms of literature where some of the renowned poets like William Shakespeare hail from this great country. The culture of literature was inherited from countries like England and Scotland. The earlier existing written literatures were drafted in languages like Celtic and Anglo-Saxon. Theatre Dating back to 1707, UK was able to inherit theatre culture from Scotland and England and they were able to create a theatre district called West End (Calder, 2007 pp.31). This district was found in West End of London and it was the home of known theatre halls like Theatre Royal and Convent Garden. Music Use of patriotic songs like Rule, Britannia and the national anthem of God Save the Queen are some of the songs that are dominant in the UK. UK has many music composers and use of several genres like jigs, hornpipes, and dance songs were some of the customary components of the folk songs. Film was also one of the UK cultures where it had some of the most skilful films actors and producers like James Bond. Religion Protestant is the religion found in the UK; moreover, Anglican Christian is dominant in this country followed by other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Sikhism (Calder, 2007 pp.47). Culture of Korea Korea was divided into two countries North and South Korea; however, some of the distinguishing cultures of Korea are Traditional arts Traditional arts comprise of the traditional dance, painting, crafts, and ceramics, all these categories played an important role in the traditional arts. Dance Korea had two distinguish dancing styles which are folk and court dance. Some of the dances are jeongjaemu and ilmu dance which were performed in banquets and rituals respectively. Jeongjaemu dance was auxiliary distributed into instinctive dances such as jeongjae and dangak and the two styles were inherited from Asia and China. The common dance of Ilmu was also divided into munmu also called civil dance and mumu also known as military dance (John, 2002 pp.170). During the dancing festivals, traditional clothing called genja was worn, Genja clothing had several pink colour decorations and it was worn by the women. Painting Painting was used for expressing moments and different themes in the society. Different painting styles were introduced later by the entry of Buddhism from China and India. Crafts Korea had some of the unique set of crafts which were mainly created for purposes of everyday use, the crafts items were made from metal, fabric, and wood though the late crafts items were made from glass. During certain periods like Joseon period lots of crafts were made from porcelain material and later decorated through the use of blue paints. Ceramics Use of ceramics in Korea dates back to Neolithic period and in this period various earth wares were made from ceramics and used for traditional purposes. Advancement of pottery was more prominent in Silla Kingdom during the three Kingdoms era and the use of deoxidizing flame was common on the pottery products. Lifestyle The traditional houses in Korea were called Hanok and their constructions were done through the use traditional geomancy (John, 2002 pp.178). The houses were designed to face the hills to gain much sunlight and the use of geomancy influenced their designs and their directions. Some of the compartments of the inner wing were living room, kitchen, and central hall also lounge which was constructed using woods. Clothing The traditional dress was called hanbok or joseonot and it comprises of a skirt also called baji and a shirt also called jeogori. Clothing was depended on the social status and occasions with the rich people falling under social status category. Use of jewellery was common with the rich people since this would distinguish them from the poor people in the society. Beliefs Shamanism was the religion in Korea with the female believers called mudang and they were supposed to provide various means through making enquiries from the spirits. Later, beliefs like Buddhism and Confucianism were introduced in Korea more so by cultural exchanges with its neighbours like China (John, 2002 pp.174). Goryeo dynasty was associated with Buddhism and during this period many Buddhist monks were presented with lots of privileges and gifts. Roles national culture play in the human resource management National culture has been one of the determinants of the acceptance practices of Human Resource management for most of the MNC from their local countries to other countries. Most of the organizations have been forced to conform to the management customs of the local countries where they have established their businesses. Some of the roles played by national culture are Determination of institutional factors A lot of divergence and convergence on the relationships of international HRM are caused by specific factors from the host country such as labour factors (Sparrow & Hiltrop, 1997 pp.201). National culture determines the labour system within the given country,; therefore, the institutional factors overlap up to the various labour legislation and organizations for the local countries. The practices of the HRM must therefore, coincides with the labour factors since most of the workers would be drawn from the host countries. The implementation of HR policies in countries like Korea has been greatly affected by these institutional factors which are determined by the national culture. Determination of Human Resource Policy National culture has a lot of influence on the HRM policies. Practices like use of pay schemes for performances have been popular to countries like UK (Newman & Nollen, 1996 pp.759) and the same practice cannot be successfully practice in a country like Korea. This is because the culture of the Korean workforce do not really support pay schemes for performances because most of the citizens will not earn much from such practices. Similarly, practices like quality circle work program is common in countries like Korea and the same practice cannot be carried out in UK. Determination of strategic decision making National culture has been on the forefront for the determination of strategic decision making and the various leadership styles (Schneider & DeMeyer, 1991 pp.308) such as practices like performance appraisal (Luthans, Welsh & Rosenkrantz, 1993 pp. 743). This practice is common in human resource management and is determined by the culture of given country. The culture of countries like UK can accommodate performance appraisal whereas culture in countries like Korea cannot effectively accommodate performance appraisal. Determination of high power distance and loyalty National culture plays an important role in the determination of loyalty, obedience, and high power distance to the superiors of the organizations. Behavioural criteria on a number of occasions have been used rather than results criteria to determine performance appraisal in management. The subordinates together with the employees on a number of occasions do develop less risks whenever they follow already established criteria as compared to making breakthrough which at times results into unseen failures. National culture plays an important role in the determination of differentiated performance appraisal which is always based on given orientations. The orientations can be categorized into two that is results and behaviour orientations (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.125). Determination of specific human resource practices Use of national culture is influential n the determination of specific practices for human resource management based on the specific characteristics of the country in question. Use of long term policy has been very dominant in countries like Korea unlike countries like UK (Laurent, 1986 pp.75). A lot of money is being spent for social activities in Korea compared to UK. Apart from social activities a lot of money is also spent on recreational activities in Korea compared to the money spent in UK by the same companies. Determination of hierarchical structure National culture also plays an important role in the determination of hierarchical structures in the human resource management. Most of the organizations in Korea have shorter hierarchical structure of human resource management compared to organizations in countries like USA and UK. The culture also plays a role in the determination of job description, flexibility, control system, and promotions within the given organizations. The control systems are based upon the self-discipline among the workers which is also promoted by the culture of a given country. The organizational culture has a lot of influences on the HRM within the different organizations. This is because this culture is a vital determinant in the structure, efficacy, and acceptance of the practices in the HRM for different organizations and companies. The organizational structure is vital in the determination of labour force characteristics such as the composition of the demography, levels of education, and the training of the workers at large. Labour force characteristics can also be said to be a key element of national culture and they have a lot of influences on implementation of HRM practices more so at the organizational and national levels (Gamble, 2003 pp. 371). The recruitment of workers are influenced by practices like retention and recruitment practices which at the same time influences the workforce composition and the human resource management practices. Organizational culture also determines the presence of expatriates which also influences the various practices of human resource management. Use of expatriates managers have been employed by the mother companies in foreign countries to assist in delivering human resource management practices. Increase in Human resource practices has been affected with the presence of expatriate managers who tend to practice strict adherence of the mother company objectives and visions. Use of the national culture to some extend affects the deployment of the expatriates in different countries. Human resource managers and cultural diversity in MNCs One of the ways through which HRM can manage cultural diversity in MNCs is through blending of the regional or local culture with the culture of MNCs. The management of different multinational organizations requires understanding of the various cultures within which the organizations operate (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.209). The management styles should therefore tend to understand the various cultures under which the multinational organizations operate. Some of the ways through which the managers can manage the cultural diversity are Practicing global leadership The practice of global leadership involves understanding the various global environments and practicing safe measures for the diversity in cultures. Human resource managers need to understand the various cultures in the markets and then apply proper leadership skill to manage the different cultural diversity. Use of cross cultural communication The human resource managers should organize self-image together with their personal values in a manner that the expectations of the multinational organizations are accustomed with the various cultural diversity. The cross cultural communication will further assist the managers to understand the local cultural diversity. Use of cultural sensitivity Use of cultural sensitivity involves the process of general culture assimilation and this process is based on personal and organizational experiences. The human resource managers should tend to assimilate the general culture of the MNCs organizations and the local culture where the MNCs are located (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.257). Use of cultural sensitivity is also very important since it will also help the managers to understand ways of applying the best assimilation method. When the correct assimilation method is nor incorporated then cultural sensitivity cannot be achieved. Use of acculturation The process of acculturation involves the various adjustments that the human resource managers need to incorporate to adapt to the various specific cultures. Different foreign lands where the multinationals organizations are situated always have minor cultures. The human resource managers should also carry adjustments on the various cultures of the multinationals corporations to accommodate the very unique cultures within the business environment. Use of cultural influences The use of cultural influences requires the human resource managers to understand the various philosophies of management that can be rooted to the various cultures in order to make the various cultures to lack the ability to be transferable (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.302). This can be done by first understanding the diversity of the available cultures before looking for ways of stopping their movement from one culture to the other. Use of global culture knowledge The human resource managers need to understand the human culture and the various unique global cultures that are always characterized with certain features and are able to affect the operations of the MNCs. Application of the global knowledge is essential for the managers to understand the uniqueness in the global cultures. Application of work culture This is another way through which the human resource managers can manage cultural diversity in MNCs. Application of work culture is a process through the human resource managers make use of the general traits for the people in a given cultural diversity to be able to learn and master the various cultural styles of these people (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.342). The learning of the cultural styles involves studying of the various functional styles of the given cultures for the people over a period of time in a certain place. Use of effective intercultural performance In this process the human resource managers are required to employ their knowledge of cultural theory and the various cultural insights and applying these theories and insights to given cultural diversity. This will help them to achieve positive outcomes and performance of the local people where the MNCs are established (Schuler & Jackson, 1996 pp.352). The application of cultural theory will also assist these human resource managers in identifying the various safe practices that would benefit their MNCs. References Calder, S. 2007. The cultural superpower: British cultural projection abroad. Journal Of the British Politics Society, 6 (1); 21-98 Gamble, J. 2003. Transforming human resource practices from the United to Korea: the Limits and potential for convergence. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14 (3): 369-387 John, S.B. 2002. Culture of North and South Korea: Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia: Columbia University Press, Pp.170-203 Luthans, F., Welsh, D.H. & Rosenkrant, S.A. 1993. What do Russian Managers Really Do? An Observational Study with Compariso to US Managers. Journal of International Business Studies, 24 (4):741-762 Laurent, A. 1986. The Cross Cultural Puzzle of International Human Resources Management. Human Resource Management Journal, 15 (1): 75-102 Newman, L.K. & Nollen, D.S. 1996. Culture and Congruence: The Fit Between Management Practice and National Culture. Journal of International Business Studies, 27 (4):753-779 Schneider, S.C. & DeMeyer, A. 1991. Interpreting and Responding to Strategic Issues: The Impact of National Culture. Strategic Management Journal, 12 (1); 307-320 Schuler, S.R. & Jackson, S.E. 1996. Human Resource Management. New York: NY. Prentice Hall Publishers, Pp. 125-376 Sparrow, P. & Hiltrop, J. 1997. Redefining the field of European human resource Management: a battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition? Human Resource Management, 36 (2): 201-219 Sparrow, P., Schuler, R., & Jackson, S. 2004. Convergence or divergence: human Resource practices and policies for competitive advantage worldwide. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5 (2):267-299 Read More