Can We Still Talk About ‘Asian’ HRM Practices? An Exploratory Analysis of HRM Practices in Different Asian Countries

This is a study about HRM practices of Asian countries. Asian HRM has been of interest to researchers. Several studies focused on different dimensions of HRM practices in different countries located in Asia. An important point to highlight while reviewing these studies is that the region of Asia should not be considered to be the sum of countries sharing same or similar characteristics. Every country has its own historical story and contextual settings. This suggests the necessity to consider different backgrounds of Asian countries in analysing HRM practices of these countries rather than assuming that they follow similar HRM trends. Aiming to understand in what aspects Asian countries’ HRM systems differ from each other and what the underpinning reasons are for these differences, the paper explores the traditional and changing pattern in HRM practices of China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Korea. It is seen that changing conditions (disruptive development in technology, economic reforms, Asian financial crisis, social and cultural elements of a national state) have a substantial influence on HRM practices of Asian countries and result in the transformation of these practices in time. Nevertheless, each country’s response to the macro changes has been different. Given this, the paper suggests that although countries may go through the same macro changes, rather than a convergence pattern in their HRM practices, countries preserve their nation-specific characteristics in shaping the HRM practices.