人力资源管理系统与组织绩效台湾企业与大陆台资企业的...

InstituteofHumanResourceManagementNationalSunYat-senUniversityKaohsiung,Taiwan,804Phone:[phone]ext.4927Fax:[phone]Email:[e-mail]2AbstractInrecentdecades,asbusinessactivitiesarebecomingmoreinternationalizedandmanyforeignsubsidiariesofmultinationalcompanieshavebeenestablished,thecomparisonofemploymentrelations(humanresourcemanagementandindustrialrelations)amongcountrieshavegraduallybecomeimportantresearchfocus.Researchersareinterestedininvestigatingtheconvergence/divergenceissueofhumanresourcemanagementandindustrialrelations.Thesuccessoftheforeigncompaniesisdirectlyrelatedtounderstandingsofemploymentrelationsinhostcountries.SincetheopeningofChina’sborderforforeigndirectinvestmentandtradein1978,TaiwanesebusinessmeninitiallyhadtoinvestinChinaviathirdcountries,suchasJapanandHongKong.Twomajorevents—theTaiwanesegovernment’slifting,in1987,ofitsbanonvisitstoChinabyTaiwannationals,andthepassage,in1988,ofaseriesofinvestmentpoliciesbyChina’sgovernmentencouragingTaiwanesebusinessestoinvest—createtheheatedwaveofinvestmentbyTaiwaneseinMainlandChina.AsTaiwanissuchalargeinvestorinChina,theemploymentpracticesTaiwanfirmsintroducethroughsubsidiariesareboundtohaveimportantconsequencesforChina.Inthisstudy,weexaminethedifferencesinemploymentpracticesbetweenTaiwanandChinaandempiricallycomparethevariousemploymentsystemsusedbyTaiwanesefirmsinTaiwanandinChina.3IntroductionInrecentdecades,asbusinessactivitiesarebecomingmoreinternationalizedandmanyforeignsubsidiariesofmultinationalcompanieshavebeenestablished,thecomparisonofemploymentrelations(humanresourcemanagementandindustrialrelations)amongcountrieshasgraduallybecomeimportantresearchfocus.Researchersareinterestedininvestigatingtheconvergence/divergenceissueofhumanresourcemanagementandindustrialrelations.Thesuccessoftheforeigncompaniesisdirectlyrelatedtounderstandingsofemploymentrelationsinhostcountries.TaiwanandChinahavebeenseparatedfromeachotherformorethanfiftyyears.SincetheopeningofChina’sbordersforforeigndirectinvestmentandtradein1978,TaiwanesebusinessmenbegantoenterintoChinaforbusinessinvestmentviathirdareas,suchasJapanandHongKong.ThereasonswhyTaiwanesebusinessmenchoseChinaastheirmajortargettoinvestrevolvearoundtheargumentsthatChinaandTaiwansharethesamecultureandusethesamelanguage(Seo,1993).Therefore,TaiwanesemanagersmayexpectChineseworkerstoactinsimilarwaystotheircounterpartsinTaiwan,butculturalandsocialchangesthathaveoccurredinChinainthisperiodoftenmakeemploymentpracticesthatworkwellinTaiwanineffectiveorcounterproductiveinChina.HowTaiwanesefirmsmanagetheirsubsidiariesinChinaeffectivelybecomesanimportantfactorforthesuccessofthefirms.Inthisstudy,weexaminethedifferencesinemploymentpracticesbetweenTaiwanandChinaandempiricallycomparethevariousemploymentsystemsusedbyindigenousTaiwanesefirmsandtheirsubsidiariesinChina.Inaddition,thestudywillexaminetherelationshipbetweenHRMstrategyandfirmperformancebyusingdatafromTaiwanandChina.TheoreticalBackgroundandHypothesesDuringthepasttwodecades,manyresearchershavepointedoutthatemployershavetendedtoimplementmanyworkandemploymentpracticestoincreaseworkplaceefficiencyintheUSandothercountries(AppelbaumandBatt,1994;Kochanetal.,1986).Manyemployersinstalled‘highperformanceworksystems’thatpurportedlydevelopmoreflexibleandproductiveworkforceswhenfacingthechallengeofglobalcompetition.Thesepracticesinclude:empoweringemployeewithhighertaskautonomy;reducingjobtitlesandlayersofmanagement;anincreasingtheuseofoutsourcing;extensivetrainingandemployeeselectivity;information-sharingprograms;theuseofperformance-basedpay;andgain(profit)-sharingprograms.Muchresearchhasshowedthatthesepracticesyieldpositiveresultsforemployers(DelaneyandHuselid,1996;Huselid,1995;Huselid,Jackson,andSchuler,1997).Thesepracticeshaveresultedinreducedturnoverrate,increasedworkerproductivity,andhigherfirmprofit.ManyresearchershavetriedtoconstructthecategoriesofHRMstrategies.Anthony,Perrewe,andKacmar(1996)proposefourtypesofHRMsystems,includingHRacquisition,HRmaintenance,maximizationofHRproductivity,andturnovermanagement.Dessler(1994)distinguishesHRMintofiveactivities,suchasselection,training,compensation,laborrelations,andemployeesecurity.InadditiontoidentifyingdifferenttypesofHRMactivities,theseresearchersalsotrytotieHRMtypestoorganizationaleffectiveness.4FollowingBae,Chen,andLawler(1998),weinvestigatefourbroadHRMactivities.TheyareHRflow(recruitment,selection,traininganddevelopment),worksystems(control,teamwork,jobspecificity),rewardsystems(wagesandperformanceassessment)andemployeeinfluence(employeeparticipationandownership).TheseHRMpracticescanbedefinedasacontinuumofbundles.Bae(1997)hasconceptualizedthem,rangingfroma‘buy-bureaucratic’HRMsystemstoa‘make-organic’HRMsystem.The‘buy-bureaucratic’HRMsystemissimilarto‘cost-reduction’or‘control’HRMsystems,whilethe‘make-organic’HRMsystemisequivalentto‘high-performance-work-system’(Arthur,1992;Pfeffer,1994;Walton,1985).Astable1shows,the‘buy-bureaucratic’HRMsystemreferstotheseHRMpracticesasexternalhiring,limitedtraininginvest