Human Resource Management in Spain: Are Cultural Barriers Preventing the Adoption of Global Practices?

Abstract

Competitive pressures are forcing many organizations to adopt global "best" practices in order to survive. However, there are also pressures against globalization. One of the greatest factors hindering the adoption of global human resource management (HRM) practices is culture. Managing is strongly influenced by national culture. Culture influences such diverse things as what the attributes of effective managers are considered to be, the features of a well-functioning organization, and the determinants of career success (Laurent, 1986). For example, according to the Anglo-Saxons, management ability depends on interpersonal skills; according to the French, the most intellectual individuals make the best managers; whereas the Germans feel that good management is a function of formal authority (Sparrow & Hiltrop, 1997). Thus, RESEARCH NOTE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SPAINAre Cultural Barriers Preventing the Adoption of Global Practices? ELIZABETH F. CABRERA AND JOSÉ M. CARRETEROABSTRACT: This paper addresses the extent to which culture is affecting the adoption of global human resource management (HRM) practices by Spanish organizations. One of our main objectives was to offer a thorough review of the recent empirical evidence regarding HRM practices in Spanish organizations. Another goal was to discuss these findings in light of the Spanish culture in order to identify possible cultural barriers to the adoption of global HRM practices. Our results suggest that Spanish organizations are slowly adopting global practices; however, many traditional practices remain. We suggest that the cultural variables of low future orientation, high power distance, and low institutional collectivism may exert continuing pressures that will hinder the adoption of certain global HRM practices.RESUMEN: En este artículo estudiamos hasta qué punto la cultura está afectando a la implementación de prácticas globales de GRH por parte de organizaciones españolas. Uno de nustros objetivos principales es ofrecer una revisión profunda de la evidencia empírica reciente sobre las prácticas de GRH en organizaciones españolas. Nuestro segundo objetivo consiste en discutir dicha evidencia desde el punto de vista de la cultura española con el objeto de identificar posibles barreras culturales a la adopción de las prácticas globales de GRH. Nuestras conclusiones sugieren que las organizaciones españolas están adoptando lentamente prácticas globales, sin embargo, aún persisten muchas prácticas tradicionales. Sugerimos que variables culturales como baja orientación al futuro, alta distancia de poder y bajo colectivismo institucional pueden seguir ejerciendo presiones continuas que dificultarán la adopción de ciertas prácticas globales de GRH. José M.

International briefing 34: training and development in Spain

“…The high level of unemployment and the availability of labour encouraged a low cost/low skills strategy among employers. Finally, the short‐termism associated with corporate culture in Spain and the preference for improvisation and spontaneity over planning and formality can also be related to lower training investment (Cabrera & Carretero, ).…”

“…The comparative weakness of training and development provision has tended to be related to the structure of the Spanish economy with a large number of SMEs in which training is minimal, is viewed indifferently and is deficient in both quantity and quality (Cabrera & Carretero, ; Pineda Herrero, ). These researchers point to the need to direct more resources to SMEs for training and provide them with more professional HR support.…”

“…Huerta et al () in a study of large Catalan companies found that only 26% evaluated their training provision in any systematic way and less training would be carried out were it not for the financial subsidies received. Training too often is reactive and short term, disconnected from any career planning or management development process (Cabrera & Carretero, ). Other problems are the lack of adequately trained training professionals and the limited involvement of workers in the development of their training (Pineda Herrero, ).…”

Building engineers' training in construction companies in the Castilla-La Mancha autonomous community. Its influence on job satisfaction

“…De hecho, la principal ventaja competitiva del país se centró en los costes laborales, y hubo muy poco interés en invertir en el desarrollo del capital humano de las empresas (Rodríguez Ruiz & Martínez Lucio, 2010). Así, a un nivel institucional, aunque los agentes sociales han realizado un esfuerzo por diseñar políticas de promoción de la formación, España presenta menores niveles de inversión en formación que la mayoría de los países de la Unión Europea (Cabrera & Carretero, 2005).…”

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“…Despite the growing use of high involvement or high performance work systems in Spanish industrial firms, this progress has not been rapid or sufficiently widespread enough to be considered the prevailing pattern in Spanish industry (Bayo‐Moriones & De Cerio, 2001). Traditional Spanish HRM methods with a ‘Latin style of managing’ (i.e., ‘ inter alia , by efforts to modernize HRM, a greater reliance on an oral culture and the presence of subtle “political” structures which unconsciously nurture docile, dependent attitudes to authority,’ according to Mayrhofer and Brewster, 2005: 39; see also Filella, 1991) continue to be widely practiced in Spanish firms (Cabrera & Carretero, 2005: 150).…”