WAWAP18 International Human Resource Management Essay

WAWAP18 International Human Resource Management - Essay Example In the context of this research, national culture shall be considered to be the collective set of customs, beliefs, behaviours and norms that distinguish the populations of different sovereign nations. On the other hand, HRM will be considered to be the organisational function that is designed to maximise the performance of human resources (employees) in accordance with the organisational strategic objectives. Culture generally has a significant and considerable impact on the approaches organisations use to manage their employee. For example, British management theories will generally mirror the British background in which they were designed. Ideally, this means that it may not be possible to separate British management from British culture. However, HRM, among all other management practices, appears to be the most influenced and affected by cultural differences (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2004). Essentially, cultural differences will have significant implications on the design of HRM strategies and how appropriate they will be. The typical work environment is characterised by business (organisational) goals. However, in international HRM, cultural differences give rise to divergent preferences and perceptions that consequently shape general organisational behaviour such as management style and decision making, work motivation, performance appraisal, rewarding, communications, work ori entation and definition of objectives (Milikic, 2009). Further, apart from organisational culture, national culture will impact on HRM practices such as staffing, career development, management and compensation. Nations may differ in many significant aspects such as the educational characteristics of the labour force and regulatory and institutional environments, but cultural differences and especially cultural values shape HRM