Human Resource Management in China - Case Study Example

The paper "Human Resource Management in China" is an excellent example of a term paper on human resources. In previous years, China had its own traditional methods of people management. These were anchored on their beliefs and traditionally accepted code of ethics. However, with the increased foreign investment in the country, there has been a change from the old people management methods to human resource management. Human resources management in China is a concept brought by Westerners and it involves viewing workers as a resource and utilizing them to achieve an organization’s objectives.

The human resources concept in China also involves other human resource management functions such as hiring, training, and firing. These functions involve building capacity in employees and using them as a tool to increase competitiveness in the industry and achieve the set organizational goals. HRM concept in China also involves matching employee skill and job tasks in different departments so as to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in business operations (Budwar & Debrah 2013). Administrative Personnel Approach versus Human Resources Approach According to surveys conducted by independent researchers, Chinese people prefer the modern human resource management approach to the traditional administrative personnel approach.

The reasons for these results lie in the differences between the two different approaches. Majorly, the administrative personnel approach involves use of administrative functions whose major aim is to maintain a balance between the employees’ job responsibilities, the working conditions and their remuneration (Mello, 2014). Human resource management approach, on the other hand, involves a combination of the traditional personnel administrative approach functions modern developmental activities and aligns them towards achieving the set business objectives.

Most Chinese people favor the human resources approach as it incorporates organizational goals. Human Resources Management approach creates an integration of business goals and the traditional administrative personnel approach functions. This makes it so popular in among human resources personnel as it is more cost-effective and broader in scope. The administrative personnel approach is much more focused on already established ways of doing business while human resource approach focuses on the organization’s targets.

Administrative personnel approach is much more concerned with formulating policies, workplace rules, work agreements and procedures that are to be strictly followed by employees. While doing this, the approach focusses on employees’ motivation by providing better salaries and benefits. Contrary to this, the human resource management approach is more relaxed on rules but focuses on improving employees’ relationship and creating teamwork that is aimed at achieving the set organizational goals.

The human resource management approach is preferred because, with the improved relationship among employees, the management is able to give individualized attention to every employee and can thus initiate developmental programs according to the needs of both the customers and the employees (Armstrong, 2006). Implementing Human Resource Approach The human resource approach should be implemented carefully so that it controls and manages the desired areas and in the desired manner. The key to human resource management approach implementation is proper planning.

Once an organization decides to adopt this approach, it should set the objectives of this approach. The objectives could be either or both long-term and short-term. However, for human resource approach to succeed it has to be embedded in the organizations strategic plan. This means that all its functions will have a futuristic element in them and this will ensure that organizational goals are constantly and consistently pursued by the employees. HRM in Government and Private Sectors The difference in the uptake of human resource management approach in both public and private sectors is the management’s perceptions.

In the two sectors, the HRM approach is employed to serve in roles that are distinctive to either sector. However, there is an observed low uptake of human resource management approach in the government sector. This is because the objectives of the government are more about service delivery to citizens. These objectives are not as aggressive as those in the private sector where there is competition. The private sector use HRM approach to gain a competitive advantage and maintain good business performance (Price, 2011).

Companies with HRM in China Most companies in China have adopted the human resource management approach and have succeeded in its operations. Some of these companies are Cherry Automobiles, Harbin Brewery. Haier Electronics, Panda Electronics, Bolisi, Lenovo Computers, Midea Appliances, Shanghai Media Group, Air China, Gome, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Communications and Construction, China Road and Bridge Construction Company and Sheng Li Construction Company. There are other successful businesses in China that have been using the HRM approach and these include Air China, China Western Airline and China Merchants Bank.