Cultural Differences in the Field of Human Resource Management

by

 Antje Artmann

TABLES OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. A GENERAL DEFINITION 4

3. THE CZECH REPUBLIC 4
3.1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 4
3.2 EMPLOYEE ASSESSMENT 5
3.3 RECRUITMENT 5
3.4 TRAINING 6

4. ASIA 7

5. THE PUBLIC SERVICE 8
5.1 HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 8
5.1.1. ASSESSMENT OF NEW EMPLOYEES 8
5.1.2. ASSESSING EXISTING HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY 8
5.2 RECRUITMENT 9
5.3 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING 9

6. COMPARISON 10

7. CONCLUSION 11

8. LIST OF REFERENCES 12

1 INTRODUCTION

"Human resource professionals are often treated as if they were the lowest form of managerial life" (E.P. Lazear, 1998). Usually, personnel skills are perceived as too soft and are thus not valued as an essential tool for managing a company efficiently. Moreover, personnel people had to get used to receive little respect from their colleagues in the last century. Human resource managers were viewed as the "company police", who created unnecessary stepping-stones for others. This impression has reasoning. Until recently, there existed no systematic guide, on which human resource decisions could be based. In fact, personnel matters were regarded as too soft and too human to be treated rigorously. One of the main reasons is the fact that in the past as well as today most managers are technical experts. Sequentially, this led to the conclusion that human resource management indeed does not matter. However, today′s managers perceive human resource management as an important tool in order to run a company smoothly, effectively and cost-efficient. Indeed, human resource management determines how the company′s resources are managed. Human resource planning is essential in order to ensure that an organization′s human resources are capable of meeting the firm′s operational objectives. Thus, the following problem statement arises: Does the way of managing human resources diverge in different cultures and institutions?

In the following paper, the relative importance of human resource management between different cultures will be evaluated. Special attention will be given to the Czech Republic, Asia und the public service sector in the USA. First, a general definition of human resource management will be provided heavily influenced by U.S.-originating thoughts. Afterwards, the different cultures with respect to personnel matters will be explained and compared. Of special importance are the areas assessing, hiring and training of new employees. Finally, a conclusion will be provided, including an answer to the above stated question.

2 A GENERAL DEFINITION

Human resource management has to focus on several aspects concerning personnel-based decisions. The first and most obvious task is the recruitment and hiring of new personnel. Firms must decide on the type of workers to hire and, specially, on the amount of skills necessary for each job. Secondly, the turnover rate must be taken into account. This task mainly focuses on the decision whether it is profitable for workers to leave or stay within the company and when is turnover detrimental to profits. The turnover factor also influences the decision of whether to give employees the possibility of firm specific training. Additionally, the downsizing aspect has to be considered and in particular the economic conditions which make it necessary to lay off workers. As a forth aspect, workers have to be motivated. This must be done in order to achieve a constant and a principally high level of productivity. Thus, employee′s outcomes must be regularly assessed and rewarded by incentives. Furthermore, considerations of work-life, especially the fact that junior workers are more productive than senior ones, have to be taken into account. The following sections are focused on the aspects of recruiting, training and assessing employees. Those tasks will be explained in more detail in the next paragraphs, with emphasis on cultural differences concerning the Czech Republic, Asia and the public sector in the United States.

3 THE CZECH REPUBLIC

3.1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
In the Czech Republic, human resource management has lost its importance. Nowadays, it is not perceived as having a strong influence on organizational behavior, but mainly seen as an administrative act, required by the Labor Code. Apparently, it is understood as an unnecessary organizational tool. Nevertheless, human resource management is applied, but its main focus in the Czech Republic is on keeping records of the employees and their personal and socio-demographic background.

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