Human Resource Management in Practice - Essay Example

eed to know how human resources (HR) are managed in different regions of the world and how their counterparts in different parts of the globe perceive or react to similar concepts and pressures. It is also important to have an understanding about the main determinants of HRM policies and practices in different regional and national settings. Academics have responded positively to meet the challenges raised by the globalization of business by investigating a number of issues and problems related to international business .

They have attempted to examine management from a cross-national viewpoint. This comparison of HRM policies and practices at a national level helps to test the convergence–divergence thesis. The typical questions pursued by comparative researchers are: (1) how is HRM structured in individual countries. (2) What strategies are discussed? (3) What is put into practice? (4) What are the similarities and differences? (5) What is the influence of national factors such as culture, government policy, and education systems?

Scholars have also developed and proposed different models of HRM both between and within nations ((Mullins P.97–99, 2002)). Interestingly, most models of HRM have an Anglo–Saxon base. As such, from a global perspective, principles of HRM have been developed from a restricted sample of human experience. During the infancy stage of HRM literature, such an ethnocentric approach was understandable and unavoidable. However, with the growth of a “global business village,” firms operating in different countries need appropriate information and guidance to develop their HRM policies and practices.

Under such dynamic business conditions, the relevance of lessons learned from the Anglo–Saxon experience is questionable. It is therefore important to examine the extent to which Anglo–Saxon models of HRM are applicable in other parts of the world. It has now become clear that the study of HRM needs a cross-national comparative