Importance of Research in Asia

PERSPECTIVES

Future research on human resource managementsystems in Asia

Pawan Budhwar & Yaw A. Debrah

Published online: 17 September 2008# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008

Abstract Re-emphasizing the need to examine human resource management(HRM) in context, this article builds around four themes. First, it analyses the mainissues discussed in the existing literature regarding HRM in the Asian context.Second, it highlights the critical challenges facing HRM function in the region.Third, along with the analysis, it presents an agenda for future research. Fourth, itpresents a framework useful for highlighting the context specific nature of AsianHRM functions and the main determinants of HRM policies and practices from across-national comparative perspective.

Keywords HRM .Asia . Research in HRM . Cross-national HRM

Considering the rapid globalization, developments in the field of HRM and anumber of region-specific significant developments, there is now a greater need toexamine HRM systems of Asian countries. For compositional simplicity in thisarticle, we use Asia (or Asian countries) to refer mainly to the main emergingeconomies in the region (i.e., China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) oftenreferred to as developing Asia by the UN and also Japan. An analysis of keyachievements of the Asian region highlights a number of important facts, such as itproduces more goods and services than either North America or the European Unionand this trend is expected to accelerate in the years to come. Many of the importantemerging economies are located in Asia (see The Economist, 2007). Further, theyattract an enormous amount of foreign direct investment (FDI). For example, Chinawas the top destination for foreign capital in 2003 with a record inflow of $55 billion,overtakingAmerica for the first time and now continuing to do so (see Rowley&Warner,

Asia Pac J Manag (2009) 26:197218DOI 10.1007/s10490-008-9103-6

P. Budhwar (*)Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UKe-mail: [email protected]

Y. A. DebrahSchool of Business and Economics, University of Wales, Swansea,Singleton Park, Swansea SA 2 8PP, UKe-mail: [email protected]

2005; UNCTAD, 2007). It is also predicted that most new members of the newlyaffluent nations would come from Asia in the twenty-first century (see Tan, 2002).Despite all this, most Asian emerging economies have a long way to go before theyacquire the status of developed nations (for example, in professionalism, formalism, andrationalization of management systems). Nevertheless, it is important to examine the roleof HRM function in the region as it plays a significant role in the economic developmentof nations (see Debrah, McGovern, & Budhwar, 2000; Tayeb, 1995). The existingliterature (see for example, Budhwar, 2004) highlights a scarcity of HRM research inthe Asian context (with an exception of the Chinese and Japanese contexts).Considering the growing economic importance of the region, it has now become animperative to regularly conduct systematic research investigations which can highlightthe relevant HRM system(s) for the region. This will not only help decision makers todevelop appropriate policies but will also help in developing valid HRM theories.

Lately, Jackson and Schuler (1995) and Schuler, Budhwar, and Florkowski (2002)have called for the examining of HRM systems in a given context. It will not onlyhelp to highlight the context specific nature of HRM but also to reveal the influenceof various factors and variables on HRM. This will contribute to the development ofrelevant policies and practices and theories of HRM (Budhwar & Debrah, 2004).Research in contextual isolation is not only misleading, but it strongly hinders theunderstanding of core aspects of the phenomenon in any significant way (Schuleret al., 2002: 41). In a significant contribution to this debate, Meyer (2006) assertsthat in view of the challenges facing Asian businesses, Asian researchers shouldfocus on context-specific issues. In his view, such research should be capable ofmaking major contributions, for instance by explaining context-specific variablesand effects, and by drawing on traditional Asian thought in developing new theories.In this article, we review the existing literature on HRM in Asia, highlight possibleavenues for future research, and also how research investigations on HRM in Asiacan be conducted in a meaningful manner. Table 1 highlights the main themesalong which research in the Asian context related to the field of HRM has beenconducted. It also helps us to identify the key gaps in the existing literature andenables us to draw themes for future research. For example, what are the dominantemerging HRM models of major Asian economies? What are the main factorswhich dictate HRM in Asia? How best we can examine the influence of suchfactors on Asian HRM? Is HRM converging or diverging within Asian countries?

Developments in Asian HRM and the research agenda

Based on the above analysis and a thorough literature review, we propose a list of 16areas for future research directions. Our first proposed focus for future research is:

Future research direction 1: Need to conduct more research in the Asian region soas to highlight the context-specific nature of personnelfunctions and relevant HRM system(s) for each nation.

An analysis of relevant literature highlights that the field of HRM is still evolvingin the region. The literature analysis on HRM in Asia in particular shows thatresearch has been and is being conducted on the following topics. First, the literature

198 P. Budhwar, Y. Debrah

regularly features a number of country-specific studies, such as those on Japan(Sano, Morishima, & Seike, 1997), Singapore (Chew & Horwitz, 2004), Hong Kong(Kamoche, 2003; 2006), Thailand (Kamoche, 2000; Siengthai & Bechter, 2005),Vietnam (Kamoche, 2001), Malaysia (Chew, 2005), Taiwan (Lin, 1997), Indonesia(Habir & Larasati, 1999) and Korea (Rowley, 1998). At present, a lot of research isbeing published on different aspects of Chinese management (Chow, 2004; Cooke,2005; Mathews, 2006; Peng, 2007; Warner, Wong, & Lee, 2002). Similarly, there isinformation available regarding different aspects of managing human resources indifferent countries of the region (see Budhwar, 2004). For example, the Japaneseemployment system and the management models of Singapore, Chinese and Koreanbusinesses are now explored in the literature (see Isobe, Makino, & Goerzen, 2006;Rowley, 1998; Tsui-Auch & Lee, 2003). However, in the present context, the validityof a number of such established ideal-typical management models is questionable. Toprovide up to date information to both academics and practitioners, there is a need toexamine the applicability of such models in the present global context. To make theanalysis more meaningful, researchers should make serious attempts to highlight themajor factors that determine HRM policies and practices in the region.

Future research direction 2: Cross-national HRM research should help to highlightthe emerging management model(s) applicable tospecific countries of the region.

Second, a number of studies focus on the possible issues and problems relating toHRM in Asia from a global perspective (see El Kahal, 2001; Narula, 2006).Emphasizing cultural values, Kao, Sinha, and Wilper (2000) stress the need toindigenize the management practices in Asian organizations. The authors challengethe applicability of Western management and organization theories in the Asiancontext. Pun, Chin, and Lau (2000), on the basis of a comparative analysis betweenAnglo-American and Chinese cultures, highlight the pervasive influence of Chinesecultural heritage and collective orientation on Chinese organizational life. In order toadapt to the growing global environment, these authors suggest the need todetermine changes to aspects of Chinese management culture. This is a big challengeto local organizations, as due to the deep cultural and institutional differences, eventhe foreign firms operating in China find it hard to implement their head-quartersHRM practices in their Chinese subsidiaries (see Kidd, Li, & Richter, 2001).Arguably, this is changing as a study by Bjorkman and Lu (1999) reveal thesuccessful implementation of global standardized HRM practices in foreign firmsoperating in the Chinese context. Similarly, Bjorkman and Budhwars (2007)investigation also highlights the existence of a similar phenomenon in foreign firmsoperating in India. Such results indicate that perhaps certain levels of standardizationof HRM systems is taking place around the globe. However, more research is neededin this regard. This is an important agenda for future research, especially to highlightthe reasons for the occurrence or non-occurrence of such phenomena.

Future research direction 3: Highlight the main factors contributing (or otherwise)to the successful implementation of Western globalstandardized HR policies and practices in the Asiancontext.

Future research on human resource management systems in Asia 199

Tab

le1

Thematic

areasof

contem

porary

HRM

stud

iesin

Asiaandareasof

future

research.

Themes/studies

Authors

Challenges

identified

Areas

offuture

research

Country

specific

studies

Japan

Isob

e,Mak

ino,

andGoerzen

(200

6),Sano

etal.(199

7)Provide

agood

understandingof

HRM

modelsin

specific

countriesbutmodelscannot

beextended/

appliedto

othercountriesin

theregion

There

istheneed

toexam

inetheapplicability

ofsuch

mod

elsto

theregion

asawho

le(allcoun

tries

intheregion

albeitwith

significantmodifications)

Singapore

Chew

(200

4)HongKong

Kam

oche

(200

3,20

06)

Taiwan

Tsui-A

uchandLee

(200

3),Lin

(199

7)Korea

Row

ley(199

8)China

Matthew

s(200

6),Cooke

(200

5),Warner,Won

gandLee

(200

2)Malaysia

Chew

(200

5)Vietnam

Kam

oche

(200

1)Thailand

Sieng

thai

andBechter

(200

5),Kam

oche

(200

0)Indonesia

HabirandLarasati(199

9)Dom

inance

ofAng

lo-A

merican

theories

Meyer

(200

6),Narula

(200

6),El-Kahal

(200

1)Itisargued

that

Asian

research

agendastend

tobe

dominated

bytheories

developedforAng

lo-

American

contextsthatarenotsufficiently

adapted

tolocalcircum

stances

Whatisrequired

isresearch

that

isable

tomake

major

contributio

ns,forinstance

byexplaining

context-specific

variablesandeffects,andby

draw

ingon

tradition

alAsian

thou

ghtin

developing

new

theories

Emerging

managem

entmod

els

Issues

relatin

gto

contextof

Asian

managem

ent

research.

Kao,Sinha,andWilp

er(199

9),Pun,Chinand

Lau

(200

0),Kiddet

al.(200

1),Hofstede(200

7)Challeng

estheapplicability

ofWestern

managem

entandorganizatio

ntheories

tothe

Asian

context.Itrelatesto

how

toindigenize

managem

entpractices

inAsian

organizatio

ns

There

istheneed

forcross-natio

nalHRM

research

toidentifyem

erging

managem

entmod

els

applicable

tospecific

coun

triesandtheregion

ingeneral

Emph

asison

cultu

ral

values

The

overem

phasisof

collectiveorientationon

Chinese

organizatio

nallifeisalso

seen

asa

challenge

Researchisneeded

tounderstand

whataspectsof

Chinese

cultu

reneed

tochange

inorderfor

Chinese/

Asian

firm

sto

adapttoglobalenvironm

ent


Tab

le1

(con

tinued)

Themes/studies

Authors

Challenges

identified

Areas

offuture

research

Pervasive

influenceof

Chinese

cultu

ral

heritage

Con

vergencedivergence

thesisin

theAsian

context

Row

ley(199

8),Row

leyandBenson(200

2),

Warner(199

8,20

02),Amante

(199

8)Recentinvestigations

intheregion

pointto

softconv

ergence

butevidence

isinconclusive

Moreresearch

needed

toestablishwhether

thereis

anyevidence

ofhardconv

ergence

inview

oftheheterogeneity

(suchas

populatio

n,geography,

econ

omies,econ

omic

developm

entph

ase,

labor

market,legalandpolitical

set-up)

Con

vergencedivergence

orcrossvergenceof

managem

entpractices

Isob

eet

al.(200

6),Row

leyandWarner

(200

5),Begin

(199

7)Row

ley(199

8),

Wan

g,Huan

g,an

dBan

sal(200

5),

Tuet

al.(200

2)

The

econ

omic

crisisof

thelate

1990

schallenged

thevalid

ityof

family

business

mod

elsin

their

presentcontext.Italso

usheredin

professional

managem

ent

There

isadearth

ofresearch

onissues

pertaining

totheem

ergenceof

professional

managem

ent.

Researchisneeded

onho

witisevolving

Factors

contribu

tingto

thechanging

nature,managem

entand

employmentrelatio

nsin

firm

sandotherdominantbusiness

groups

(chaebols,keiretsus)

Vermaet

al.(199

5),Kuruvilla,

Das,Kwon,

andKwon

(200

2),Frenkel

andPeetz

(199

8),

Debrah(200

2),Hadiz

(200

2),

Frenk

elandPeetz

(199

8)

The

effectsof

globalizationon

employment

relatio

nssystem

s.For

exam

ple,

thedeclinein

unionmem

bershipandem

ploymentsecurity

Further

research

needed

onmorecoun

triesto

determ

inethenew

patternsof

employment

relatio

nsandto

provideacomprehensive

picture

ofthemaindeterm

inantsof

HRM

system

sin

the

region

The

impact

ofglobalizationandinternationalcompetitivenesson

employees

Row

leyandBae

(200

4),Wisem

an(199

8),

Budhw

arandFadzil(200

0),Luo(200

2)The

challenges

arisingfrom

thechanging

organizatio

nalenvironm

entandviolationof

psychologicalcontract

The

need

todeterm

inewhatconstitutesviolationof

psychologicalcontractand

thecontextualpatterns

anddiversity

ofresponsestopsychologicalcontract

violations

Economic

liberalizationandprivatizationhave

resultedin

increasedstress,d

eclin

ingjobsecurity,

downsizingandretrenchmentin

China,India,

Vietnam

,andJapan

Inadditio

n,itisnecessaryto

exam

inehowto

achieveabalancebetweentraditionalmanagem

ent

basedon

grou

pism

andnewmanagem

entb

ased

onindividu

alism

For

employeesthemovefrom

traditional

employ

mentpractices

constitutes

violationof

psychologicalcontract

Itisalso

essentialto

exam

inetheem

erging

nature

andconstituentsof

internal

labormarkets(ILMs)

inAsian

firm

s


Tab

le1

(con

tinued)

Themes/studies

Authors

Challenges

identified

Areas

offuture

research

HRM

issues

innew

sectorssuch

asITeS

&BPO

Bud

hwar

etal.(200

6),Cheng

appa

andGoy

al(200

2),Chowdh

ry(200

3),Prabhakar

(200

3),Bud

hwar

etal.(200

6),Ofori(200

3),

Hou

ghtonandSheehan

(200

0),Debrahet

al.

(200

0),Bibby

(200

3),Ali(200

5)

These

stud

ieshave

high

lighted

thestressful

nature

ofcallcenter

workandworkin

business

processou

tsourcingfirm

s.Thisisalso

thecase

with

know

ledge-driven

econom

yworkers(biotech

clusters)butthereisnotevidence

ofmanagem

ent

strategies

todeal

with

theseproblems

Itisessentialforresearchersto

investigatethe

causes

ofem

ployee

dissatisfactionin

thenew

sectorsandhigh

light

thekind

ofHRM

system

and

practices

suitableforthenew

sectors

Diversity

managem

ent

Holland

(200

3),Debrah(200

2)Issues

relatin

gto

gender

(wom

en),ageand

ethnicity

have

been

brough

tto

thefore

dueto

labour

shortagesandtheloom

ingdemographic

timebo

mb

Highlight

themainconcerns

ofboth

foreignand

localfirmstowards

themanagem

ento

fworkersin

thesector

Snape

andRedman

(200

3)The

challenges

facedby

firm

sin

managingthe

increasing

numbers

ofwom

enandim

migrantsin

theworkplace

have

notbe

fully

explored

Researchisrequired

onthedy

namicsof

diversity

managem

entin

theAsian

contextandstrategies

formanagingdiversity

Pilling(200

3)

HRM

andorganizatio

nalperformance

Bae

andLaw

ler(200

0),Huan

g(199

8),

Agarw

ala(200

3),Singh

(200

3)Haveno

tedthemixed

andless

conclusive

results

relatin

gto

thecontribu

tionof

HRM

tofirm

performance

intheAsian

context

Researchalso

needed

tohigh

light

thenature

and

kind

oflegislationsuitableto

safeguardthe

increasing

diverseworkforce

Qualityof

research Tung(200

5),Meyer

(200

6),W

hite(200

2),

Lau

(200

2),Kao

etal.(199

9),Kiddet

al.(200

1)Researchlim

itedto

simplistic

comparisons,

correlationalanalysisprovidingno

insightinto

underlying

processesandskew

ed,idiosyncratic

sampling

Itisnecessaryto

exam

inethisrelatio

nshipin

the

Asian

contextand

toshed

light

onwhich

school

ofthought(universal-bestpractices,contingencyor

bundles)

ismoreapplicable

inAsian

organizatio

nsResearchers

need

tocontinuously

develop,

test

andre-testconstructssuitableforconductin

gresearch

intheAsian

Context.

Boldtypeface

indicatesthat

thearticle

was

publishedin

AsiaPacificJourna

lof

Man

agem

ent.


Third, a significant number of scholars (see for example, Amante, 1998; Andrews& Chompusri, 2005; Rowley, 1998; Rowley & Benson, 2002; Warner, 1998, 2002)have examined the convergence-divergence thesis in the Asian context. Though,over the last decade or so, research evidence has helped to supplant the convergenceview, recent investigations in the Asian region (see Warner, 2000, 2002) emphasizethe notion of soft convergence as an outcome of globalization. From themultinational corporations (MNCs) perspective, the implementation of globalstandardized HRM practices and policies (with local adjustments) is also anindication of soft convergence. However, considering the heterogeneity (such aspopulation, geography, economies, economic development phase, labor markets,socio-cultural, legal and political set-up, and HRM systems) of the region andcontext specific nature of HRM, it will not be sensible to talk about significant orhard convergence. More research is needed to confirm such a thesis.

Future research direction 4: Examine the convergence-divergence or cross-vergence thesis for HRM systems in the Asiancontext.

Fourth, the unique characteristics of different business groups (such as chaebols,keiretsus) operating in different countries in the region which have contributed agreat deal in their economic success have attracted a lot of research interest (seeIsobe et al., 2006; Rowley & Warner, 2005). These business groups have deep rootsin the core institutions (such as family structure, Confucianism), and socio-culturalbackground of their respective societies and accordingly have their own HRMsystems (see Begin, 1997; Rowley, 1998; Yang, 2006). The economic crisis of late1990s and the present competitive environment have raised questions regarding thevalidity of such ideal-typical family business management models in the presentcontext (see Tsui-Auch & Lee, 2003; Tu, Kim, & Sullivan, 2002; Wang, Huang, &Bansal, 2005). Before the economic crisis, such groups, although professionalizedtheir management systems, retained family control and corporate rule. However, thepressure created by the economic crisis is forcing the groups to relinquish somefamily control and corporate rule by absorbing more professional managers into theirtop management (Peng & Delios, 2006). A similar pattern is emerging in the Indianprivate business houses where top positions are being offered to best availableprofessionals and a more formal and rationalized approach to HRM is being adopted(see Budhwar, 2003). However, this phenomenon is still evolving across many Asiancountries and there is a scarcity of reliable literature in this regard (White, 2002). Toconfirm it more research is needed and should be the focus of future research.

Future research direction 5: Highlight the main factors contributing to thechanging nature and management systems ofdominant business groups (for example, chaebols,keiretsus) in the Asian region.

Fifth, some scholars highlight the effects of globalization on the employmentrelations system of Asian countries (Frenkel & Peetz, 1998; Verma, Kochan, &Lansbury, 1995). Most countries of the region (like many others around the globe)experienced decline in the union membership (Kuruvilla, Das, Kwon, & Kwon,2002). Changes in industrial relations in the Asian context due to globalization is


also contributing to adjustment from previously salient constraint (labor peace andindustrial stability) to the new imperative of enhancing firm-level competitivenessthrough both numerical and functional flexibility (Kuruvilla & Erickson, 2002). It isclear that globalization and the Asian economic crisis of late 1990s have certainlyaffected the employment relations of Asian countries in one way or the other, such asemployment security (see Debrah, 2002; Hadiz, 2002). What are the new pattern(s)or perhaps more valid scenario of employment relations is then worth examining?

Future research direction 6a: Highlight the emerging patterns of employmentrelations in Asian countries.

From the above discussion it becomes evident that the existing HRM research inthe Asian context is both limited and possibly not conducted in a systematic mannerwith a clear framework which can highlight the main determinants of HRM, and alsohighlight the context specific nature of the personnel function, and enable scholars todraw a comprehensive picture of the scene. This is consistent with Meyers (2006)view that in Asia research agendas tend to be dominated by theories developed forAnglo-American contexts that are insufficiently adapted to local circumstances.Research investigations along the lines of Asian context-specific issues cansignificantly help to cover such gaps. An analysis of the existing literature, alsohighlight a number of challenges faced by the HR function in the region. The nextsection presents some of the main challenges and further research areas as a possibleway forward to overcome the challenges.

Challenges facing HRM function in Asia

As indicated above, at present globalization is changing the (stable) workplacesystems in the region. This is evident in many countries. Thus, the effects of changescreated by the globalization pose major challenges for HRM in the Asian region(also see Hofstede, 2007). For instance, in China and India there is some evidencethat economic liberalization arising from globalization and competitive pressures ischanging the pattern of HRM, employee relations and industrial relations and laborlegislation (see Cooke, 2005 for information on China and Saini & Budhwar, 2004for developments in the Indian legal framework). Some of these changes areoccurring both in the private and public sectors in both countries. In China, it isargued that the emergence of market economy is undermining the nanny employerimage of organizations as there is a concerted effort to shift the huge welfare burdenfrom employers to individuals. In line with this approach, the downsizing oforganizations and changing recruitment and retention practices have resulted ininsecurity for workers in China. It is expected that a similar pattern will emerge incountries like India where many of the state owned firms have surplus labor.However, unlike China, downsizing in India will be strongly resisted by both tradeunions and opposition political parties.

Similarly, the changing business environment in Japan has put tremendouspressures on employers to change their traditional employment practices in order tosurvive. Accordingly, Japanese employers are restructuring their employmentsystems in response to low growth, globalization and international competitiveness.


The major elements of the Japanese style HRMlifetime employment, senioritypromotion system, enterprise unions, keiretsu and sub-contracting relations devel-oped essentially in response to rapid and high economic growth during the post-warindustrialization boomare being fundamentally transformed.

This transformation is by no means smooth, especially against a background of lowgrowth, recession and rising unemployment, Japanese employers are experiencingsignificant HRM problems. Consequently there are calls for a critical re-evaluation ofthe basic framework of the established Japanese HRM model. In this regard, for acountry famous for providing lifetime employment, this is a major transformation withfundamental and long-term challenges for HRM. The deep-seated challenges are notlimited to Japan, China and India as they are occurring through out the region. Thechallenge facing HR managers who are dealing with the global forces is how they canminimize the threats posed by global competitive pressures on HRMwhile at the sametime taking advantage of the opportunities created by globalization to restructure theirHRM and employee relations practices. This also provides a great opportunity forresearchers and should be considered as an important research agenda.

Future research direction 6b: Highlight the dynamics of employment relations inAsian countries.

Globalization and international competitiveness can pose significant threat to theproductivity and morale of employees. In an attempt to explore these challenges,Rowley and Bae (2004) have proposed the use of Rousseaus (1995) three-foldtypology of psychological contracts as an analytical tool. This is quite pertinent inview of the impacts of globalization and competitive pressures on HRM discussedearlier. Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the changes in traditional employmentpractices have crucial consequences for HRM. These include increased stress,declining job securityas a result of downsizing and rising unemploymentascompanies adopt labor flexibility strategies to reduce labor costs (Wiseman, 1998).In such a changing environment, employees still expect to be treated fairly, rewardedequitably, provided growth opportunities, to know what is expected of them and begiven fair and constructive feedback on their performance (Armstrong, 2001). Thisis particularly the case in Japan, China, India, and Vietnam. In the last threecountries there are internal changes pertaining to privatization of state-ownedenterprises (SOEs), which have resulted in insecurity for workers. In the case ofJapan the insecurity arises from changes in the external economic environment.

For many employees in Japan, China, India and Vietnam, the move away fromtraditional employment practices constitute a violation of the psychological contract.Thus, the challenge for HR managers is how to be able to deal with the outcome ofemployees response to the perceived violation of the psychological contract, such asreduce effort on the job or output and reduced contributions in the form of loyaltyand commitment. In the Asian context, there is the need for research to ascertainwhat constitutes violations of psychological contract. It is also necessary to explorethe contextual patterns and diversity of responses to psychological contractviolations.

Future research direction 7: Highlight the emerging nature and constituents ofpsychological contract in the Asian context.


Perhaps this is going to become a much bigger challenge in informationtechnology enabled services (ITeS) providers such as call centers and businessprocess outsourcing (BPO) firms, or teleworking as an alternative mode of workarrangement where problems relating to psychological contract and job stressbecome prominent after a while (Baruch, 2001). For example, in the case of India,majority of call center employees are full of enthusiasm when they start their firstjob. However, after a while the dark side of the rosy picture starts to emerge andthe level of staff morale declines considerably (see Budhwar, Luthar, & Bhatnagar,2006; The Economic Times, 2003). To a great extent, the lack of talent developmentinitiatives is held responsible for this (Chowdhry, 2003), as the lack of careerstructure provides a good opportunity to competitors to poach talented people(Prabhakar, 2003). Such emerging trends pose challenges to HR managers regardingboth their recruitment and retention policies and practices (see Budhwar, Varma,Singh, & Dhar, 2006). Here, there is the need for researchers to provide insights intothe causes of dissatisfaction in call center work in emerging economies and what canbe done to promote growth and development of workers in the sector.

Future research direction 8a: Highlight the kind of HRM systems suitable for newsectors (such as ITeS) in the region.

Further, the emergence of the knowledge-based economy/knowledge-drivenglobal economy is also creating a significant challenge for managers is the Asianregion regarding how to manage employees involved in it. The importance of humanknowledge in economic growth is now widely acknowledged. Knowledge is nowconsidered as the basic form of capital and as such the accumulation of knowledge,it is argued, drives economic growth (DTI, 1998). A knowledge-driven economy isone in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge play the predominantpart in the creation of wealth (DTI, 1998). The two key drivers of the knowledgeeconomy are globalization and communication technology (Houghton & Sheehan,2000), both of which are prevalent in the South-East Asian region. Research isurgently required on the appropriate forms of compensation and motivation to retainknowledge workers.

Singapore was one of the first countries to move towards a knowledge-driveneconomy (Ofori, 2003) and has instituted plans/programs to develop a world-classworkforce. Singapore considers its current economy to be progressing from capitalintensive to knowledge based. To a great extent, Hong Kong is also following thesame model. To achieve this objective, Singapore has acknowledged the importanceof talent and education, and life-long learning among other factors as the keydeterminant of a competitive economy (Debrah et al., 2000). HRM has a major roleto play in the knowledge economy not least because of its ability to equip employeeswith skills, knowledge and attitudes to operate in a competitive environment.Moreover, as the knowledge-driven economy creates rapid and dramatic change,uncertainty and turbulence as well as adjustment problems for employees, HRMmanagers will have to develop new strategies for managing people. These issueswould be of interest to managers in the region as they move towards knowledge-driven economies in their attempts to compete in the global economy. Themanagement of knowledge workers thus provides considerable challenges for HRmanagers.


Across the Southeast Asia region, governments are trying to develop biotechnologyindustry. Many of the ambitious projects are in India, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwanand China. Many cities in these countries already have thriving high-tech industriesand want to ride the next big wave by creating life-sciences centers/hubs. Singapore,for instance, is pouring money into Biopolis, a science park for biomedical and otherknowledge-based industries. In India, Hyderabad is witnessing a gathering of theelements needed to create a life science hotspot to match its IT industry (Merchant,2003). Southeast Asian countries, particularly China, Korea and Taiwan are buildingbiotech clusters to attract back to their native (East Asian) countries expatriatescientist trained overseas (mainly the United States).

As these biotech clusters take hold in Asia, the need for knowledge workers willincrease. The companies that are able to attract expatriate scientists must be capableof harnessing the knowledge of the scientists. In this respect, HR managers need tocontribute effectively to knowledge management by exhibiting expertise in the area.In a changing psychological contract environment, HR managers need to be able topromote values and norms, which emphasize the importance of sharing knowledge,commitment and trust. In relation to that, HR managers must be capable ofdeveloping compensation and career development structures that can not onlymotivate but also retain knowledge workers. In addition, HR managers must be ableto develop performance management processes and organizational and individuallearning programs for knowledge workers in organizations (Armstrong, 2001).

Future research direction 8b: Highlight the factors which can contribute to theefficient management of knowledge workers.

Another essential challenge in HRM in the Asia-Pacific region is the effects of thetransition from collectivism to individualism in HRM practices in countries such asJapan, India, China and Vietnam. Here, along with the managerial responses toemployees perceived violation of the psychological contract is the need formanagers to develop a new culture where promotion, pay and other organizationalbenefits will be based on individual contributions rather than group characteristics.In this regard, it appears that globalization and competitive pressures are pushingorganizations in East Asia to move towards the western system of determination ofemployee benefits. How to achieve an effective and successful change to individualbased HRM practices within the broad East Asian culture of groupism is then acritical challenge for all managers in Asia.

Future research direction 9: How to achieve a balance between the traditionalmanagement customs which are strongly dictated bysocio-cultural aspects of a given society and changingindividualistic emphasis of HRM functions?

Yet, another challenge for HRM managers in the region is the issue of diversitymanagement. In recent years, diversity management has been a burning issue in themanagement of HRs in the Asian region. The issues relating to gender, age, ethnicityamong others, have assumed increasing importance. However, against a backgroundof labor shortage problems in many Asian countries, the governments areencouraging more women to enter the labor market (see Special Issue of AsiaPacific Business Review, 2005). In view of the declining birth rate in many East


Asian countries, it is anticipated that the female labor force participation rate willcontinue to grow. If this trend continues as predicted then HR managers face thechallenge of developing a safe and secure working environment for women. It mustbe realized that in order for organizations to be able to recruit, motivate and retainfemale employees, HR managers need to confront the issues relating to thediscrimination of women in the labor market.

Future research direction 10: Conduct research regarding the dynamics of diversitymanagement in the Asian context, especially tohighlight the different mechanisms adopted by firmsto manage diversity and also to indicate thechallenges and barriers faced by firms and decisionmakers in this regard.

Perhaps the most daunting scenario regarding diversity management in Asiancountries is the looming demographic time bomb. As Holland (2003) asserts, onaverage Asians are getting older. This is a slow, silent and unstoppable revolutionwhich is reshaping Asian societies. It is claimed that in the mid-1950s, old people(65 years and above) were a rarity in most East Asian societies. However, with betterhealth care, higher standard of living, better education, and increase in lifeexpectancy in recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the numberof old people. At the same time, most East Asian countries are experiencingdecreasing birth rates, ageing workforce and hence labor shortages. It is estimatedthat by 2050 nearly a quarter of East Asias population will be aged 65 or over(Holland, 2003).

Japan is particularly affected by the problems of ageing population. Currently, onein six Japanese is older than the mandatory retirement age of 65. But with a fertilityrate of just 1.3 children per womanway below the birth rate of 2.1 needed tomaintain a stable populationand a life expectancy of more than 80 years andrising, it is estimated that by 2050 more than 36 percent of the Japanese populationwill be above retirement age (Holland, 2003).

While some countries such as Singapore and Japan have made efforts in thelegislative arena to tackle the problem others have paid little attention to it. However,an ageing population poses serious challenges to HRM in the Asian region (Debrah,1996, 2002; Snape & Redman, 2003). How each country responds to the issuesrelating to an ageing workforce depends on the severity of the problem but it islikely that some countries would have to import labor or rely on immigration inorder to sustain economic growth. For instance, it is anticipated that Japan will need6 million immigrants in the next 25 years but immigration is bitterly opposed bythose who equate it with crime (Pilling, 2003). Even if East Asian countries manageto delay or resist limited or large scale immigration from both within and outside theregion, the countries would most likely need migrant workers.

Currently, there are legal migrant workers from labor-surplus countries such asIndonesia and Philippines to labor-recipient areas, such as Hong Kong andSingapore. There are also low-paid legal migrant workers from countries such asIndia and Bangladesh in Singapore and Malaysia. In the construction industry inSingapore, for instance, it is possible to find migrant workers from differentcountries working together in a team. The management of such multicultural work


teams is one of the challenges facing HR managers. Going by current demographictrends, it is possible that the use of migrant workers is likely to increase in futurewith multiple implications for the management of HRM in the Southeast Asianregion. Hence, researchers need to conduct more research on equal opportunities anddiversity management issues. Here, research can focus on single countries andvarious aspects of discrimination and diversity management. It can also focus onthese issues as they pertain to a particular sub-region.

Future research direction 11: Highlight the nature and kind of legislation suitableto safe guard the increasing diverse workforce in theAsians context.

A number of other interesting HRM challenges are also emerging in the region.One such challenge is the HRM issues relating to the outsourcing of jobs fromindustrialized countries to the developing world. In the last decade, advancements ininformation communication technology and availability of high skilled workforce insome developing countries have made it possible for them to attract white collar jobsfrom developed countries. It is estimated that 3.3 million jobs in the US (and2 million in Western financial services) will be lost as a result. In the UK, 200,000job losses have been predicted by 2008 (FT, 2003). Asia has been the major recipientof these jobs. Firms outsourcing tasks to countries in Asia are expectedly skepticalabout a number of issues (such as quality, confidentiality, delivery requirements,etc.). Examining such concerns can help to prepare Asian firms to respond properlyto overseas outsourcing firms.

Future research direction 12: Highlight the main concerns of both foreign and hostfirms towards outsourcing of businesses to Asiancountries, especially related to human resources.

Lower cost locations such as India, the Philippines and China, are now attractingoutsourcing of much higher value-added services, such as medical diagnostics,treasury management, and software development (FT, 2003). Bibby (2003) alsopoints to the offshore outsourcing of architectural services. For instance, a Britishcompany, Atlas Industries, has set up an office in Vietnam to work entirely for the UKmarket. The Vietnamese employees produce drawings and 3D computer-generateddesigns for buildings at a relatively low cost. The work is assigned or finished producttransferred through email or a password-protected website (Bibby, 2003).

In India, the main activities or areas covered by the call centers include customercare (such as remote maintenance, help desk and sales support), finance andadministration (for example, data analysis, medical transcription, insurance claimsand inventory management), HR and payment services (such as payrolls, credit-cardservices, cheque processing and employee leasing) and content development, i.e.,digital content, R&D, LAN networks and application maintenance (for more detailssee Budhwar et al., 2006; Chenggapa & Goyal, 2002). As the competition, bothnationally and internationally, to get business contracts has increased considerably inrecent years; HR managers working in the sector are facing enormous challenges inattracting and retaining the best employees.

At another level, HR managers face significant challenges in their attempts toutilize internal labor markets (ILMs) in organizations. Appropriate ILMs are known


to be conducive to the development of long-term employment relationships, bindemployees to the organization and also help to reduce employee turnover (seeOsterman, 1994). It is also known that ILMs make it possible for HRM practices tobe consistent with a systematic and rationalized employment system. However, inthe case of countries like India and China (and many other Asian economies); ILMsare generally based on social connections, political contacts, caste, religion andeconomic power. Thus, in the context of present business conditions in India andChina, the efficiency of the established traditional ILMs is questionable. Also, in thepresent context, the impact of Islam as an institution and its principles isincreasing (especially in those countries where it is the dominant religion) in bothILMs and HRM systems (Ali, 2005; Budhwar & Fadzil, 2000; Syed, 2008). Thechallenge, however, is how HR managers can engineer such a macro level changewithout alienating powerful members of their organizations.

Future research direction 13: Highlight the emerging nature and constituents ofILMs in Asian firms.

The existing ILMs system has also been linked to corruption in Asian countries. Itis argued that ILMs system, where informality, social networks and a high powerdistance are essential elements tends to engender corruption in organizations (Luo,2002). This has serious implications for efficient HRM system and HR practitionersneed to pay due attention to it.

Future research direction 14: How to develop efficient HRM systems in Asiancountries?

One of the key debates in the existing HRM literature is regarding the extent to whichHRM helps to improve firms performance (Guest, 1997; Katou & Budhwar, 2006;Wood, 1999). The literature also reveals that most research investigations in thisregard have been conducted in western developed nations. Few scholars have initiatedsuch examinations in the Asian context. For example, Bae and Lawler (2000) inKorea, Huang (1998) in Taiwan, and Agarwala (2003) and Singh (2003) in India havepointed to the importance of efficient HRM for successful operations. Expectedly, themessages emerging from these investigations are mixed and less conclusive. There isthen a great opportunity for researchers to highlight such a relationship in the Asiancontext and also highlight which school of thought (i.e., universalbest practices,contingency or bundles) is more applicable in Asian organizations.

Future research direction 15: Examine the relationship between HRM andorganizational performance in firms operatingin the region.

Yet, another challenge revolves around the quality of research in the Asiancontext (see, for example, Meyer, 2006; Peng, 2007; Tung, 2005). In his analysis ofthe main limitations of research conducted in the region, White (2002) suggests thattoo much of research effort has been limited to simplistic comparisons, correlationalanalyses providing no insight into underlying processes, and skewed, idiosyncraticsampling. Such research, it is argued, does not contribute significantly to theorydevelopment. Accordingly, White (2002) highlights the need to increase both rigorand relevance of research efforts in the Asian context.


Along the same lines, Meyer (2006) argues that there is the need for Asianscholars to undertake comparative research but such research should not simplydocument differences or correlations among variables. Rather, it has to explore causalrelationships and processes to explain how and why contextual variablesinfluence management practice. Meyer adds that the predominance of Anglo-American trained researchers in Asia has the effect to producing a homogenousperspective which affects the selection and methodology of issues investigated. In hisview, Asian management research is strongly influenced by traditions developed inNorth America that may not always be useful in advancing management knowledge inan Asian context. Perhaps, increased support from local organizations for researchwould help focus researchers attention to the investigation of local issues.

In response to this suggestion, Lau (2002) recommends the adoption of Asiandeveloped constructs to study local and global issues and calls for development andvalidation of new constructs so as to get into the depth of Asian-based issues.Similar suggestions have been made by many others. For example, focusing oncultural values, scholars (see for example, Kao et al., 1999) highlight the need toindigenize management practices in Asian organizations. Due to the strong influenceof the socio-cultural context, the applicability of Western management andorganization theories in the Asian context is now questionable. To a great extentthis is a core issue for Western firms operating in the Asian context (see Kidd et al.,2001) and sends a clear message to researchers in the field. Meyer (2006) suggeststhat Asian researchers need to focus their research on local phenomena and issues ofimportance to local managers. In a sense, theories should be adapted to explainlocally interesting phenomena; or new theories should be developed to overcome thelow explanatory power of adapted theories.

Future research direction 16: To continuously develop, test and re-test constructssuitable for conducting research in the Asiancontext.

Another challenge facing researchers in the Asian context is how to conceptualizeand enhance our understanding of the heterogeneous nature of HRM systems ofAsian nations; it is not sensible to propose a single set of solutions for whole of theregion. Due to its unique socio, economic, political and legal set-up, each nationpresents its own unique sets of challenges for the HRM function (see Debrah &Budhwar, 2004). Therefore, it is important to emphasize the significance of eachcontext regarding the development of appropriate HRM processes. The crucialquestion is how do we conduct research which can satisfy such challenges? Apossible way forward is to conduct a systematic analysis starting from a basic leveland leading to an advanced level. The next section presents a framework forconducting cross-national comparative HRM research, which helps to highlight themain factors determining HRM policies and practices in a given national context.

Framework for analyzing cross-national HRM

Before discussing the framework for analyzing the context specific nature of AsianHRM systems, we will highlight the complex context of Asia which makes it


difficult to conduct a meaningful cross-national HRM analysis. Perhaps, one of themore common mistake committed by both academics and policy makers is the use ofterms such as Far-East, Asian or Asia-Pacific in a very general sense. However,it is important to acknowledge that each nation within the region has an independentset of socio-economic components. These differ from one another in content, arisinginevitably from the interplay of social relations unique to themselves. Hence, there isa clear need to see the management phenomena as part and parcel of the distinctivepolitical, socio-economic, cultural and institutional system of a country in the region(Hasegawa, 2002; Morishima, 1995).

In order to develop a conceptual framework for examining HRM in a cross-national context involving both developed and developing Asian nations which arenot homogenous in nature, it is important to define HRM in the broadest sense. Forus, HRM is concerned with the management of all employment relationships in thefirm, incorporating the management of managers as well as non-management labor.A similar approach to define HRM for emerging markets within Asia such as Chinaand India has been recently proposed and successfully adopted by other scholars (seeBudhwar & Khatri, 2001 for defining HRM in the Indian context and Cooke, 2005for the Chinese context).

Over the years, different scholars in the field of HRM have put forth a number offrameworks for conducting international/cross-national HRM research (for detailssee Budhwar & Sparrow, 2002). Based on a critical analysis of the existingframeworks and extensive research in the field, Budhwar and associates (seeBudhwar & Debrah, 2001; Budhwar & Sparrow, 2002) have proposed a frameworkfor examining cross-national HRM. These authors have identified three levels offactors and variables, which are known to influence HRM policies and practices, andworth considering for cross-national examinations. These are:

& national factors (involving national culture, national institutions, business sectorsand dynamic business environment);

& contingent variables (such as age, size, nature, ownership, life cycle stage oforganization); and

& organizational strategies (such as the ones proposed by Miles and Snow andPorter) and policies related to primary HR functions and internal labor markets.

Perhaps, very large projects, spanning over a long period of time can effectivelyexamine the influence of all the three sets of factors and variables on HRM systemsof a particular nation at a given period of time. However, considering the infancystage of HRM in many Asian countries and the argument that HRM in a cross-national context can be best analyzed by examining the influence of national factors(Brewster et al., 1996; Budhwar & Sparrow, 1998), we propose to initially examinethe impact of the main national factors on HRM in different Asian countries. Thiswill help to draw useful cross-national comparisons regarding the scenario of HRMin different Asian countries. The national factors such as culture and institutionsform the macro environment of organizations in a national context. This approachhas been recently successfully adopted by Budhwar and Debrah (2004), Budhwar(2004), Budhwar and Mellahi (2006) and Kamoche, Debrah, Horwitz, and Muuka(2003) to examine the HRM systems and to highlight the context-specific nature ofHRM in a large number of countries in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.


Nevertheless, to fully examine the above raised propositions, it is important to also testthe influence of both contingent variables and organizational strategies in differentnational context. For a detailed explanation regarding the rationale for the selection ofvarious factors and variables included in the framework and practical applicability ofthe framework see Budhwar and Sparrow (2002) and Budhwar and Khatri (2001).The core aspects of each of the four national factors which are known to influenceHRM systems in different cross-national context are summarized in Table 2.

Investigation based on such a framework then helps to highlight the context-specific nature of HRM. For example, the economic environment significantlyinfluences HRM in most Asian countries, but its impact varies from country tocountry. For instance, in Japan the recessionary conditions of the past decade isundermining traditional employment practices and precipitating changes in thesystem. India has witnessed a boom in foreign direct investment since it liberalizedits economy. However, the arrival of foreign firms in the Indian labor market isforcing local firms, in pursuit of efficiency, to rationalize their human resourcemanagement practices.

In the same way, the political and legal set-up of the respective countriesinfluences HRM policies and practices in their own unique way. For example, Chinaallows the existence of only one national union which functions strictly according to

Table 2 Details of aspects of national factors determining cross-national HRM.

National culture Institutions Industrial sector Dynamic businessenvironment

Socialization process National laborlaws

Common strategies,business logicand goals

Competition

Common values, norms ofbehavior and customs

Trade unions Regulations andstandards

Business alliances

Influence of pressure groups Politics Sector specificknowledge

Changing compositionof workforce

Assumptions that shape managersperceptions, insights and mindsets

Educational &vocationaltraining set up

Informal and formalbenchmarking cross-sector co-operation

Restructuring

Management style Labor market;professional bodies

Common developmentsin business operations

Focus on totalcustomer satisfaction

Personal connections Internationalinstitutions

Labor or skillrequirements

Facility of information

Meaning of work and values Industry by itself Merger activity Technological change;globalization ofbusiness

Personal dispositions, attitudesand manners

Employers federation Workforce mobility

Approaches to cultural diversity Consultingorganizations

Capital mobility

Match to the organizationculture

Placementorganizations

Trade bodiesGovernmentinstitutions

Local authoritiesVoluntary bodies


the wishes of the communist party. But, in India there are many local, regional andnational unions which generally function in an adversarial way. Similarly, researchhas revealed the unique influence of socio-culture context (for example, Islamicwork principles in many Malaysian firms; Confucian principles in China andTaiwan) on HRM systems (Budhwar & Fadzil, 2000).

Apart from the national factors, as indicated above, an investigation based on boththe contingent variables (mentioned above) and organizational strategies (such as theones based on Miles and Snows (1984) typologyprospectors, analyzers,defenders and reactors, can further help to get a more detailed picture of thescene and effectively examine the raised propositions (for more details see Budhwar& Khatri, 2001; Budhwar & Sparrow, 2002).

Conclusion

Emerging markets based in Asia have made a significant contribution to the worldeconomy. With the growing business interest in the region, both academics andpractitioners are interested in finding out about the kind of HRM systems appropriatefor the region. The challenges facing HRM in the Southeast Asia are clearly complexand daunting. Majority of these challenges have emerged due to the changes in theeconomic environment. In particular, globalization and international competitivenesshave brought to the fore the need for organizations to adopt appropriate HRMpractices in their quest for competitive advantage. In this globalized era, competitivepressures have laid bare the limitations of the traditional models of management insome Asian countries. Clearly, there is some indication that HRM is undergoingtransformation in the region but it is unclear what the outcome of this transformationwould be. Early indications are that there is a move towards individual basis inemployment systems. However, it is too early to see a clear model or approachemerging. Possibly, a hybrid system (based on a mixture of both traditional Asiancharacteristics and Western rationalized system) would emerge. However, it isimportant that any HRM system that emerges in the region should be as proposed byMeyer (2006), context based. It is hoped that the suggested future research areasidentified would guide researchers to investigate issues that can significantlycontribute in this regard.

References

Agarwala, T. 2003. Innovative human resource practices and organizational commitment: An empiricalinvestigation. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14: 175198.

Ali, A. 2005. Islamic perspectives on management and organization. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Amante,M. S. V. 1998. Converging and diverging trends in HRM: The Philippine Halo-Halo approach. In C.

Rowley (Ed.). Human resource management in the Asia Pacific region: 111132. London: Frank Cass.Andrews, T. G., & Chompusri, N. 2005. Temporal dynamics of crossvergence: Institutionalizing MNC

integration strategies in post-crisis ASEAN. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 22(1): 522.Armstrong, M. 2001. A handbook of human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page.Asia Pacific Business Review 2005. Women in Asian management. 11(2).Bae, J., & Lawler, J. J. 2000. Organizational and HRM strategies in Korea: Impact on firm performance in

an emerging economy. Academy of Management Journal, 43: 502518.


Baruch, Y. 2001. The status of research on teleworking and an agenda for future research. InternationalJournal of Management Reviews, 3(2): 113130.

Begin, J. P. 1997.Dynamic human resource systems: Cross-national comparisons. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Bibby, A. 2003. Designs for Western living from the East. Financial Times, Tuesday, 2nd September, 15.Bjorkman, I., & Budhwar, P. 2007. When in Rome...? Human resource management and the performance

of foreign firms operating in India. Employee Relations, 29(6): 595610.Bjorkman, I., & Lu, Y. 1999. The management of human resource in Chinese-Western joint ventures.

Journal of World Business, 34: 306324.Brewster, C., Tregaskis, O., Hegewisch, A., & Mayne, L. 1996. Comparative research in human resource

management: A review and an example. The International Journal of Human Resource Management,7: 586604.

Budhwar, P. 2003. Culture and management in India. In M. Warner (Ed.). Culture and management inAsia: 6681. London: Curzon Press.

Budhwar, P. (Ed.). 2004. Managing human resources in Asia-Pacific. Routledge: London.Budhwar, P., & Debrah, Y. 2001. Rethinking comparative and cross national human resource management

research. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12: 497515.Budhwar, P., & Debrah, Y. 2004. Introduction: HRM in developing countries. In P. Budhwar & Y. Debrah

(Eds.). HRM in developing countries: 115. London: Routledge.Budhwar, P., & Fadzil, K. 2000. Globalisation, economic crisis and employment practices: Lessons from a

large Malaysian Islamic institution. Asia Pacific Business Review, 7(1): 171198.Budhwar, P., & Khatri, P. 2001. HRM in context: The applicability of HRM models in India. International

Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 1: 333356.Budhwar, P., & Mellahi, K. (Eds.). 2006. Managing human resources in the Middle East. Routledge:

London.Budhwar, P., & Sparrow, P. 1998. Factors determining cross-national human resource management practices:

A study of India and Britain. Management International Review, 38, Special Issue 2: 105121.Budhwar, P., & Sparrow, P. 2002. An integrative framework for determining cross national human

resource management practices. Human Resource Management Review, 12: 377403.Budhwar, P., Luthar, H., & Bhatnagar, J. 2006. Dynamics of HRM systems in BPOs operating in India.

Journal of Labor Research, 27(3): 339360.Budhwar, P., Varma, A., Singh, V., & Dhar, R. 2006. HRM systems of Indian call centres: An exploratory

study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(5): 881897.Chengappa, R., & Goyal, M. 2002. House keepers to the world. India Today, November: 1848.Chew, I. K. H. 2004. Human resource management strategies in practice: Case-study findings in multinational

firms. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 42(1): 3256.Chew, I. K. H., & Horwitz, F. M. 2004. Human resource management strategies in practice: Case-study

findings in multinational firms. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 42(1): 3256.Chew, Y. T. 2005. Achieving organisational prosperity through employee motivation and retention: A

comparative study of strategic HRM practices in Malaysian institutions. Research and Practice inHuman Resource Management, 13(2): 87104.

Chow, I. H. 2004. Human resource management in Chinas township and village enterprises: Change anddevelopment during the economic reform era. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 42: 318335.

Chowdhry, S. 2003. Bad employment practices cause high attrition rates. The Economic Times, June 18(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl) (accessed on 18 June 2003).

Cooke, F. L. 2005. HRM, work and employment in China. Routledge: London.Debrah, Y. 1996. Tackling age discrimination in employment in Singapore. International Journal of

Human Resource Management, 7: 813831.Debrah, Y. 2002. Introduction: Migrant workers in Pacific Asia. Asia Pacific Business Review, 8(4): 118.Debrah, Y., & Budhwar, P. 2004. HRM challenges in the Asia-Pacific: Agenda for future research and policy.

In P. Budhwar (Ed.). Managing human resources in Asia-Pacific: 269279. London: Routledge.Debrah, Y., McGovern, I., & Budhwar, P. 2000. Complementarity or competition: The development of

human resources in a growth triangle. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 11:314335.

Department of Trade and Industry 1998. Our competitive future: Building the knowledge-driveneconomy, London (http://www.dti/gov/uk/comp/competitive/wh_es1.html).

El Kahal, S. (Ed.). 2001. Business in Asia Pacific: Text and cases. Oxford: Oxford University press.Financial Times (FT) 2003. Western services jobs go East. Financial Times, Thursday: 7 August, 10.Frenkel, S., & Peetz, D. 1998. Globalization and industrial relations in East Asia: A three country

comparison. Industrial Relations, 37(3): 282310.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articlhttp://www.dti/gov/uk/comp/competitive/wh_es1.html

Guest, D. E. 1997. Human resource management and performance: A review and research agenda.International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8: 263276.

Habir, A. D., & Larasati, A. B. 1999. Human resource management as competitive advantage in the newmillennium: An Indonesian perspective. International Journal of Manpower, 20: 548562.

Hadiz, V. R. 2002. Globalization, labour, and economic crisis: Insights from Southeast Asia. Asia Business& Management, 1: 249266.

Hasegawa, H. 2002. Editorial. Asia Business & Management, 1: 14.Hofstede, G. 2007. Asianmanagement in the 21st century. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 24(4): 411420.Holland, T. 2003. Asias huge unfunded gap. Far Eastern Economic Review, 23 January: 4243.Houghton, J., & Sheehan, P. 2000. A primer on the knowledge economy, centre for strategic studies.

Victoria: University of Melbourne.Huang, T. C. 1998. The strategic level of human resource management and organizational performance:

An empirical investigation. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resource Management, 36(2): 5972.Isobe, T., Makino, S., & Goerzen, A. 2006. Japanese horizontal keiretsu and the performance implications of

membership. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(4): 453466.Jackson, S. E., & Schuler, R. S. 1995. Understanding human resource management in the context of

organizations and their environment. Annual Review of Psychology, 46: 237264.Kamoche, K. N. 2000. From boom to bust: The challenges of managing people in Thailand. International

Journal of Human Resource Management, 11: 452468.Kamoche, K. N. 2001. Human resources in Vietnam: The global challenge. Thunderbird International

Business Review, 43: 625650.Kamoche, K. N. 2003. Riding the typhoon: The HR response to the economic crisis in Hong Kong.

International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14: 199221.Kamoche, K. N. 2006. Managing people in turbulent economic times: A knowledge-creation and

appropriation perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 44(1): 2545.Kamoche, K. N., Debrah, Y., Horwitz, F., & Muuka, G. (Eds.). 2003. Managing human resources in

Africa. London: Routledge.Kao, H. S. R., Sinha, D., & Wilper, B. (Eds.). 1999. Management and cultural values: The indigenization

of organizations in Asia. New Delhi: Sage.Kao, H. S. R., Sinha, D., & Wilper, B. (Eds.). 2000. Management and cultural values: The indigenization

of organizations in Asia. New Delhi: Sage.Katou, A., & Budhwar, P. 2006. Human resource management systems and organizational performance: A

test of mediating model in the Greek manufacturing context. International Journal of HumanResource Management, 17(7): 12231253.

Kidd, J. B., Li, X., & Richter, F.-J. (Eds.). 2001. Advances in human resource management in Asia.Hampshire: Palgrave.

Kuruvilla, S., & Erickson, C. L. 2002. Change and transformation in Asian industrial relations. IndustrialRelations, 41(2): 171227.

Kuruvilla, S., Das, S., Kwon, H., & Kwon, S. 2002. Trade union growth and decline in Asia. BritishJournal of Industrial Relations, 40: 431461.

Lau, C.-M. 2002. Asian management research: Frontiers and challenges. Asia Pacific Journal ofManagement, 19: 171178.

Lin, C. Y. Y. 1997. Human resource management in Taiwan: A future perspective. International Journal ofHuman Resource Management, 8: 2943.

Luo, Y. 2002. Corruption and organization in Asian management systems. Asia Pacific Journal ofManagement, 19: 405422.

Mathews, J. A. 2006. Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization. Asia PacificJournal of Management, 23(1): 527.

Merchant, K. 2003. The birth of a biotech cluster, Financial Times, 14: August, 8.Meyer, K. E. 2006. Asian management research needs more self-confidence. Asia Pacific Journal of

Management, 23(2): 119137.Miles, R. E., & Snow, S. S. 1984. Designing strategic human resources systems. Organization Dynamics,

16: 3652.Morishima, M. 1995. Embedding HRM in a social context. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 33:

617640.Narula, R. 2006. Globalization, new ecologies, new zoologies, and the purported death of the eclectic

paradigm. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(2): 143151.Ofori, G. 2003. Preparing Singapores construction industry for the knowledge-based economy: Practices,

procedures and performance. Construction Management and Economics, 21: 113125.


Osterman, P. 1994. Internal labor markets: Theory and change. In C. Kerr & P. D. Staudohar (Eds.).Markets and institutions: 303339. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Peng, M. W. 2007. Celebrating 25 years of Asia Pacific management research. Asia Pacific Journal ofManagement, 24(4): 385393.

Peng, M. W., & Dalios, A. 2006. What determines the scope of the firm over time and around the world?An Asia Pacific perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23(4): 385404.

Pilling, D. 2003. Western services jobs go East. Financial Times, 7 August, 10.Prabhakar, B. 2003. NASSCOM to curb poaching in call centres. The Economic Times, 25 June (http://

economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...) (accessed on 25 June 2003).Pun, K.-F., Chin, K.-S., & Lau, H. 2000. A review of the Chinese cultural influences on Chinese enterprise

management. International Journal of Management Reviews, 2(2): 325338.Rousseau, D. M. 1995. Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten

agreements. London: Sage.Rowley, C. 1998. Introduction: Comparison and perspectives on HRM in the Asia Pacific. In C. Rowley

(Ed.). Human resource management in the Asia Pacific region: 118. London: Frank Cass.Rowley, C., & Bae, J. 2004. HRM in South Korea. In P. Budhwar (Ed.). Managing human resources in

Asia-Pacific: 5590. London: Routledge.Rowley, C., & Benson, J. 2002. Convergence and divergence in Asian human resource management.

California Management Review, 44(2): 90109.Rowley, C., & Warner, M. 2005. Big business in Asia. Asia Pacific Business Review, 10(3/4): 236253.Saini, D., & Budhwar, P. 2004. Human resource management in India. In P. Budhwar (Ed.). Managing

human resources in Asia-Pacific: 113139. London: Routledge.Sano, Y., Morishima, M., & Seike, A. 1997. (Eds.) Frontiers of Japanese human resource management

practices. Tokyo: The Japan Institute of Labour.Schuler, R. S., Budhwar, P., & Florkowski, G. W. 2002. International human resource management:

Review and critique. International Journal of Management Reviews, 4(1): 4170.Siengthai, S., & Bechter, C. 2005. Human resource management in Thailand: A strategic transition for

firm competitiveness. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 13(1): 1829.Singh, S. 2003. Strategic orientation and firm performance in India. The International Journal of Human

Resource Management, 14: 530543.Snape, E., & Redman, T. 2003. Too old or too young? The impact of perceived age discrimination. Human

Resource Management Journal, 13(1): 7889.Syed, J. 2008. A context-specific perspective of equal employment opportunity in Islamic societies. Asia

Pacific Journal of Management, 25(1): 135151.Tan, T. T. 2002. Introduction to special issue of JBR on Asian business research. Journal of Business

Research, 55: 797798.Tayeb, M. 1995. The competitive advantage of nations: The role of HRM and its socio-cultural context.

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 6: 588605.The Economic Times 2003. Indian firms see darker side of call centre boom. July 15, (http://

economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...) (accessed on 15 July 2003).The Economist 2007. Emerging-market indicators. 17 February.Tsui-Auch, L. S., & Lee, Y.-J. 2003. The state matters: Management models of Singaporean Chinese and

Korean business groups. Organization Studies, 24: 507534.Tu, H. S., Kim, S. Y., & Sullivan, S. E. 2002. Global strategy lessons from Japanese and Korean business

groups. Business Horizons, MarchApril: 3946.Tung, R. 2005. PerspectivesNew era, new realities: Musings on a new research agendafrom an old

timer. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 22(2): 143157.UNCTAD, 2007. World Investment Report 2006. (http//www.unctad.org).Verma, A., Kochan, T. A., & Lansbury, R. (Eds.). 1995. Employment relations in growing Asian

economies. London: Routledge.Wang, H.-M., Huang, H., & Bansal, P. 2005. What determined success during the Asian economic crisis?

The importance of experiential knowledge and group affiliation. Asia Pacific Journal of Management,22(1): 89106.

Warner, M. 1998. Chinas HRM in transition: Towards relative convergence? In C. Rowley (Ed.). Humanresource management in the Asia Pacific region: 1933. London: Frank Cass.

Warner, M. 2000. Introduction: The Asia-Pacific HRM model revisited. International Journal of HumanResource Management, 11: 171182.

Warner, M. 2002. Globalization, labour markets and human resources in Asia-Pacific economies: Anoverview. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13: 384398.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articl...

Warner, M., Wong, L., & Lee, G. O. M. 2002. Editorial. International Journal of Human ResourceManagement, 13: 379383.

White, S. 2002. Rigor and relevance in Asian management research: Where are we and where can we go?Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 19: 287352.

Wiseman, J. 1998. Global nation? Australia and the politics of globalization. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

Wood, S. 1999. Human resource management and performance. International Journal of ManagementReviews, 1(4): 367413.

Yang, I. 2006. Jeong exchange and collective leadership in Korean organizations. Asia Pacific Journal ofManagement, 23: 283298.

Pawan Budhwar (PhD, Manchester Business School, UK) is a Professor of International HRM and Headof Work and Organisational Psychology Group at Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK. He is also theSenior Associate Editor of British Journal of Management, Associate Editor of International Journal ofCross Cultural Management and Director of Aston Centre for Human Resources and Aston IndiaFoundation for Applied Business Research at Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

Yaw A. Debrah (BA, MA Simon Fraser, Canada; PhD Warwick Business School, UK) is Professor ofHuman Resource and International Management and Director of the MBA Programme at SwanseaUniversity (University of Wales, Swansea, UK). He has worked at Nanyang Business School, NanyangTechnological University, Singapore.


Future research on human resource management systems in AsiaAbstractDevelopments in Asian HRM and the research agendaChallenges facing HRM function in AsiaFramework for analyzing cross-national HRMConclusionReferences

/ColorImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorImageDict > /AntiAliasGrayImages false /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 150 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict > /GrayImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayImageDict > /AntiAliasMonoImages false /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 600 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict > /AllowPSXObjects false /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile (None) /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName (http://www.color.org?) /PDFXTrapped /False

/SyntheticBoldness 1.000000 /Description >>> setdistillerparams> setpagedevice

Importance of Research in Asia

Documents

Transcript of Importance of Research in Asia