Human Resource Management With Chinese Characteristics

Five years into World Trade Organization membership, how is China’s system of people-management adaprting to the changing world? This edited book provides an up-to-date, state-of-the-art overview of current theory and practice of human resource management, ‘with Chinese characteristics’. The latter is a phrase used to refer to the specific cultural, institutional and social setting in which such management structures and processes are to be found in the ‘Middle Kingdom’. As the People’s Republic of China becomes inexorably linked to the international economy and increasingly faces the challenges of globalization, its enterprises and their managers have to adapt to pressures to conform to external human resources and employment norms, whilst at the same time conforming to internal labour laws and socio-political demands. The tension between these two sets of factors provides an arena in which human resource managers, as well as workers, have to cope, perform and survive. The papers included in this collection are all based on empirical on-site research by specialists in the field. They deal with such HRM-related topics are expatriates, family demands, human capital, joint ventures, labour disputes, organizational commitment, psychological contracts, social networks, work behaviour and the like. The authors of the papers covered in the book come from a variety of backgrounds and university affiliations in Australia, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom and United States of America.

This edited volume first considers the economic background of the recent changes in HRM in the People's Republic of China from 1978 to the present day, exploring the change from a command economy to a more market-led one. It then goes on to look at the demise of so-called 'iron rice bowl' policy once dominated by a Soviet-inspired Personnel Management model to one now characterized by possibly Japanese, as well as Western-influenced HRM, albeit with what are widely described as 'Chinese characteristics'. Finally, it concludes with a comparative analysis of the contributions in the book on China vis-a-vis an appraisal of these with the national HRM systems of Japan and South Korea. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of Human Resource Management.

This book documents and explains how strategic human resource management (SHRM) and high performance work systems (HPWS) have been adopted among indigenous enterprises, namely state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and domestic private enterprises (DPEs) in China, from both management and employee perspectives. The book examines the mutual relationships between employees and their supervisors/ managers through social exchange theory. It explains how and why employees develop their perceptions and relationships with their immediate supervisors/managers in the working environment and the consequent effects on their attitudes and behaviour at work. Given the importance of the Chinese economy in the world, and the impact of its ‘open door’ policy and economic and management reforms, this book will provide valuable insight into China’s SHRM and HPWS.

This book provides an understanding of human resource management practices in the People's Republic of China and comparisons with HRM practices in Western countries. The authors explore the development of HRM in the Chinese context and the pertinent issues facing Western organisations investing in the PRC. Research from surveys in Hong Kong and the PRC is used to provide evidence of the unique philosophical and cultural context in which HRM takes place in the PRC. In the final chapter utilising concepts from complex adaptive systems theory, the authors present a new understanding of the ways in which Western and Chinese HRM could contribute to and progress towards greater organisational effectiveness in the Western and Chinese business environments. Contents: Ideology in ContextHuman Resources in the Context of Business StrategyHuman Resource Strategies in the Chinese ContextThe Role of the HR Function in Foreign Invested EnterprisesThe Greatest Directness Is Flexible-Compatible Paradigms Readership: Students of international HRM, academics in business-related areas, managers and decision-makers involved in business with the PRC, as well as researchers. Keywords:Human Resource Strategies;Human Resource Management;China;Personnel Management;Compensation;People Management

This edited work attempts to ‘make sense’ of recent developments in the field of Human Resource Management in the People’s Republic of China. It attempts to see how the paradoxes and contradictions engendered by contemporary Chinese society are being resolved in the enterprises and workplaces of the Middle Kingdom. The book starts with an overview of the literature, then follows with a selection of micro-oriented, concerned with topics like recruitment and retention, then macro-oriented empirical studies, a number of the latter dealing with strategic as well as performance issues, with last, those comparing sets of societal cultural values. It attempts a synthesis of what has emerged from recent research on the ‘harmonious society’. These contributions from authors based in universities in eight countries, in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, United Kingdom and USA, cover a wide range of research on HRM, from the micro- to the macro-. Six of them teach and/or research at campuses on the Mainland. Their empirical, field-based research covers the last half-decade and presents a robust picture of both what practitioners have adopted and how researchers have tried to ‘make sense’ of what they have investigated. This book was based on a special issue of Intl Journal of Human Resource Management.

Suggests important ramifications for both Western and Eastern Human Resources Practices and is the first research of its kind to empirically investigate the effect of Chinese core values, which originated from Chinese traditional thinking, on HRM practices in China.

The approach to managing human resources has changed significantly in China over the last twenty-five years as its transformation from a state planned economy to a market-oriented economy continues. By adopting a broad notion of HRM, while remaining sympathetic to the strong emphasis on relationship management in the Chinese culture, Fang Lee Cooke builds on the foundations of traditional Chinese HRM practice and brings it right up to date, including analysis of currently under-explored issues such as diversity management, talent management, new pay schemes, and performance management. Including extensive first hand empirical data and pedagogical features such as vignettes, case studies, and further reading lists. This book will be of great use on upper level undergraduate, post graduate and MBA courses covering international/Chinese management and HRM as well as appealing to practitioners, students and scholars of Chinese Business, Asian Business and Human Resource Management.