Cross Cultural

(2,643 words)

Since the 1980s and 1990s, the term “personnel management” or “personnel administration” has been changed and replaced by the term “human resource management” (HRM), according to Clark and Mallory (1996). In Foot and Hook (1999), Legge (1995) states that “The concept of human resource management first appeared in the 80s and the use of the term grew in the 1990s. Its meaning and the range of activities it encompasses have been examined and described by a large number of business writers and researchers.” Since the 1990s, the role of HRM has become more crucial.

Cullen and Parboteeah (2005) clearly state that “human resource management (HRM) deals with the entire relationship of the employee with the organization.” Consequently, in accordance with Cullen and Parboteeah (2005), the major HRM functions are formed of recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor relations. Moreover, Clark and Mallory (1996) emphasize that “we will suggest that differences in national cultures leads to different ways of thinking about management and organizations and thus notions of HRM may be culturally relative.

In this coursework, however, the focus will be on the cross-cultural aspect that related to HRM. As a result, the attention will be paid on the international human resource management (IHRM). There is not much difference between HRM and IHRM. To illustrate, the basic functions of HRM still remain but 2 issues has been added. According to Cullen and Parboteeah (2005), the first mentioned issue is the employees in multinational company are varied in nationalities. The second is manager in charge must adapt and apply HRM policies to the national cultures, business cultures and social institutions where the business is established. In addition, the definition of multinational company, given by and Parboteeah (2005), “is broadly defined as any company that engages in business function beyond its domestic borders.” This can be assumed that the roles of HRM in multinational company, or so called IHRM, is unavoidably dealing with people from different thoughts, believes, and, more importantly, cultures. Therefore, the study of culture, which is related to HRM, should be taken into account.

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