Human resource management with ‘Asian’ characteristics: a hybrid people-management system in East Asia

Abstract

The central theme of this article is to illustrate the similarity and difference of people-management system among the key economies in East Asia. The article not only identifies what elements do exist in East Asian people-management system, but also examines other new elements being adopted into the existing system with the influences from the US and Europe. The authors analyse the information on the changes of peoplemanagement system, factors causing the changes and time. The common phenomenon is that when there is a crisis, then that may provide some opportunities for drastic changes. The authors conclude the article by pointing out that HRM is in a reforming process towards hybrid people-management system in East Asia. However, this reforming process is not one-way only. A triangle-influence between East Asia, Europe and the US is the reality. In addition, multi-factors are shaping the outcome of reforming peoplemanagement system in East Asia, identified as foreign influence, the State's influence, the stage of social and economic development, and national and organizational historical path. Other economies, no matter in East Asia or other parts of the world, may draw some lessons from this study.

Convergence-divergence of HRM in the Asia-Pacific: Context-specific analysis and future research agenda

“…Furthermore, there is also some evidence of the existence of a hybrid approach to people management in the Asia-Pacific context (e.g., Zhu et al, 2007;Bjorkman et al, 2008). This creates an interesting dilemma for the HR manager when it comes to choosing which approach to adopt to develop their HRM systems.…”

“…While these scholars need to be applauded for their efforts, it should be noted that such work in the Asia-Pacific context is still in its infancy (e.g., Zhu et al, 2007;Yeung et al, 2008; Special Issue of MOR - Leung, 2012;Khatri et al, 2012). Furthermore, there is a continued scarcity of research focusing on the nature of dominant HRM system(s), the forces determining these systems, the challenges faced by the HRM function, and the future of HRM in the AsiaPacific region (see .…”

Distinctiveness of human resource management in the Asia Pacific region: typologies and levels

“…Whereas the literature suggests that standardization of HRM systems worldwide is important for achieving competitive advantage (Nohria and Ghoshal, 1997), introducing new HRM systems proven to be successful in one country to another country is often unsuccessful in practice (Björkman and Lervik, 2007;Tayeb, 1998), is questioned (Rowley, 1998;Benson, 2002, 2004), and can lead to the hybridization of practices. Although the hybridization of HRM systems in East Asia has been studied in the past (Chung, Sparrow and Bozkurt, 2014;Zhu, Rowley and Warner, 2007), few studies have explicitly analyzed the distinctive variables of the cultural context that trigger the need for adaption. Conventionally, the hybridization perspective regards country culture-specific approaches to HRM as an integral part of an international best practice approach.…”

IHRM in developing countries: does the functionalist vs. critical debate make sense South of the Equator?

“…For example, the studies on MNCs people management in Latin America and East Asia have revealed hybrid management systems, that suffer strong influence from the so-called best practices brought by the head offices but also had to adapt to the local conditions (Elvira & Davilla, 2005;Zhu, Warner, & Rowley, 2007). Zhu, Warner and Rowley (2007) point out influence from the opposite direction, in which Japanese practices, for instance, which emphasize both the collective and harmony may also be found in US management systems; conversely, Europe's pluralism and legalist setting have also influenced practices in other countries. However, the authors state that the more dependent on foreign capital, the greater the likelihood of adopting high performance work systems (HPWS).…”