Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to separately consider studies from the three major economies, the USA, Europe and China, to illustrate differences and similarities. A comparison of these three clusters allows the author to conclude that the US human resource management (HRM) model was adopted by European and, subsequently, Chinese organizations through the mechanism of mimetic isomorphism. In addition, the majority of studies have confirmed that certain HR procedures have a positive impact on organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The essay reviews and reappraises existing empirical studies in the field of HRM and organizational performance.
Findings – As European organizations adopted HRM configurations and the notion that HR should play a more strategic role from US organizations, the review suggests that Chinese organizations are now imitating US and European HRM. In all summarized studies, there is robust empirical evidence that the HR function is able to directly add value and improve organizational performance.
Originality/value – The study compares Chinese to Western HR functions and examines the effectiveness of strategic HRM by evaluating the existing research. At a minimum, in response to the title of the manuscript and the question, “do Chinese organizations adopt appropriate HRM policies?”, the general answer is yes. Given the mechanism of mimetic isomorphism, it can be assumed that Chinese organizations adopt the most efficient HR configurations from Western organizations. The summarized studies also support the prediction that subsidiaries of Western multinational organizations accelerate the development of the Chinese HR functions
Research outlook and limitations
The studies which are summarized in this manuscript, mainly focusing on HR practices and their influence on organizational performance, but these are only segments of the reality. The idea to compare the HR function its setup and influence over regions, requires a broader multiple stakeholder framework to examine and understand all the interdependences. To bridge this gap between theory and practice, Jackson et al. (2014) propose a so called “Aspirational Framework for SHRM”. The Aspirational Framework, which is developed in its origin by Jackson and Schuler (1995), integrate multiple stakeholders (e.g. external environment and internal environment, HRM systems, outcomes for internal and external stakeholders) into one holistic model. From my perspective, it would be a very fruitful avenue of future research to put all the empirical fragments of different SHRM disciplines together in one model. Jackson et al. (2014, p. 16) pointed out that only the minority of empirical SHRM studies consider environmental characteristics as antecedents of HRM. Empirical region or country comparison research would benefit from a picture which includes multiple stakeholders. Particularly, the consideration to operate with the institutional factors: industrial relations and unions, market conditions and the national culture as predictor or moderator variable. The use of CRANET data could be used as data backbone expanded with data of external stakeholders; for the analysis multilevel modeling or structural equation modeling appear as promising. In general, the outcome could help to expand the view of SHRM research, instead of finding an ever-smaller research gap
