| A Comparison of Pay Values by Organizational Type in China, Russia, and the United States: Support for the Divergence, Crossvergence or Convergence Theories of Cultural Values Adaptation? |
| | Giacobbe-Miller, Jane K. | U. of Massachusetts | giacobbe@som.umass.edu | 413-545-5692 |
| | Miller, Daniel J. | Central Connecticut State U. | Millerdj.ccsu.ctstate.edu | 860-832-3275 |
| | Victorov, Vladimir I. | St. Petersburg State Technical U. | vlad@victorov.spb.su | 812-552-6242 |
| | This study examines pay values and allocative behaviors by organizational type in China, Russia and the United States. Hypotheses relating to convergence, divergence and crossvergence theories of values adaptation are tested using a sample of managers from state-owned/collectives (SOEs), international joint ventures and foreign-owned enterprises(JV/FOEs) in China and Russia, as well as managers from the U.S. Results indicate that while managers from all three countries express similar capitalistic values, the allocative behaviors of Chinese and Russian managers suggest significant differences. Russian and Chinese managers from SOEs and Chinese managers from JV/FOEs displayed similar, collectivist values in their allocative behaviors in awarding a bonus to workers in a hypothetical organization. In contras, U.S. managers and Russian JV managers displayed similar, individualistic values in their allocative behaviors. In a simulation of salary-setting for various levels in a hypothetical organization, Russian and Chinese managers in SOEs established the least differentiation whereas Russian managers in JV/FOEs established the most. Results suggest that Chinese managers remain egalitarian and collectivist in their allocative behaviors, despite their expressions fro preferences fro equity-based pay. This result supports the divergence theory of cultural adaptation. The allocative behaviors of Russian managers, however, varied by enterprise with Russian JV/FOE managers displaying the most individualistic allocative behaviors. This result supports the convergence theory of cultural adaptation. Taken together, the results suggest that whether divergence, crossvergence or convergence occurs may depend on how deeply-held the values are and the extent to which cultural values differ from workplace values. |
| | Keywords: Values; Russia; China |
| Human Resource Management Practices and Firm Performance in Chinese Enterprises: An Exploratory Test of Best Practice Theory Versus Contingency Theory |
| | Wang, Lihua Olivia | Northwestern U. | l-wang@nwu.edu | (847)-332-5303 |
| | Farh, Larry J. L. | Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology | mnlfarh@ust.hk | 011-852-2358-7735 |
| | Luo, Linlian | Tong Ji U. | NA | NA |
| | This study tests two competing theories concerning human resource practices and firm performance - best practice theory and contingency
theory. Using data collected from 201 firms in eastern China, the findings show that best practice theory applies for human resource practices
such as emphasis on training and development, pay competitiveness, incentive pay, long-term orientation on human resources management.
However, team work, job security and promotion from within, which are assumed to be effective human resource practices in the West, do not
significantly contribute to firm performance in this context. Moreover, contingency theory is not supported for all three basic contingencies:
business strategy, ownership and industry, except that long-term orientation of human resources management is more effective in state-owned
enterprises than it is in joint ventures. Human resource practices in the current Chinese state-owned enterprises and joint ventures are
compared with each other and also with the effective human resource practices found in this study. Implications for managers and future
research directions are addressed. |
| | Keywords: Best practice theory; Human resource management; Contingency theory |
| Training and Human Resource Development Among Indigenious Firms and MNC Affiliates in East and Southeast Asia |
| | Bartlett, Kenneth R. | U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | krbartle@uiuc.edu | 217-333-4410 |
| | Bae, Johngseok | Hanyang U. | jsbae@email.hanyang.ac.kr | 8202-290-1069 |
| | Chen, Shyh-Jer | National Sun Yat-Sen U. | schen@cm.nsysu.edu.tw | 886-7525-2000x4927 |
| | Lawler, John J. | U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | j-lawler@uiuc.edu | (217)-333-1482 |
| | As the value of human resources is increasingly valued as a source of competitive advantage for international organizations the search for optimal human resource management practices assumes greater importance. Short-term focused training and broader human resource development (HRD) practices are examined in a study of 204 multinational corporation (MNCs) operating in East and Southeast Asia. Prior international HRD research has focused on preparing employees for current and future expatriate assignments and to a larger extent the training and development of host country nationals (HCN) in management positions. This study extends existing literature to examine ht training and development of non-managerial HCNs employed in both MNCs and locally owned corporations.
Significant differences were founding the attitude towards the provision of training and HRD for non-managerial HNCs between locally owned laws and MNCs from Europe Japan and the United States. Dually owned firms were found to engage in longer-term HRD activities whereas MNCs tended to favor short-term job specific training. A greater level of support for bot training and HRD was found in larger, ore productive firms that had a freestanding HR department. The results indicate that the national culture of both the parent and host country are likely influences in the provision of HRD in non-managerial HCNs. The increased recognition of the strategic importance of training and development highlights the need for further research to explain the differences training and HRD actives within international firms. |
| | Keywords: Training; Human resource development; ; Multinational Corporations |
| A Cultural Analysis of Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intentions in a Collectivist Society |
| | Wasti, Syeda Arzu | U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | wasti@uiuc.edu | (217)-337-1761 |
| | Previous studies investigating cultural differences in organizational commitment have produced mixed results, primarily owing to methodological problems. Such studies have assumed that organizational commitment has the same meaning across cultures and have compared the mean level of commitment across cultures using instruments developed in one, typically an individualistic culture. The main argument of this study was that culture influences the meaning of the commitment employees feel towards their organizations rather than the intensity. To understand how individual differences in cultural values of individualism and collectivism (idiocentrism and allocentrism, respectively) are reflected in the meaning of organizational commitment, the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intentions was examined in the Turkish context. In Study 1, several emic organizational commitment items were generated by in-depth interviews with Turkish employees and were added to the scales by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993). The etic-emic scales demonstrated enhanced psychometric properties when administered in Turkey. In Study 2, using Triandis' (1980) theory of interpersonal behavior, turnover intentions were predicted as a function of an individual's affective, continuance, normative commitment, and the perceived appropriateness of quitting for his or her specific reference group(s). The results show that whereas affective commitment is the strongest predictor of intention to stay with the organization for idiocentrics, affective and normative commitment are equally strong predictors for allocentrics. Further, social factors, operationalized as the approval of the individual's family, do not predict turnover intentions for idiocentrics, but do so significantly for allocentrics. |
| | Keywords: Organizational commitment; Individualism-collectivism; Turnover intentions |