Introducing the impact of technology: a ‘neo-contingency’ HRM Anglo-French comparison

Abstract

The paper analyses the impact of technological and national-culture factors on certain HRM policies and practices in Britain and France. This perspective supports the neo-contingency approach, which does not claim primacy for either the technological or the national-cultural factors shaping HRM policies and practices. HR managers in each country in high-, mid- and low-tech firms were surveyed. The relevance in the diffusion of certain patterns of HRM policies and practices advocates that employees working in intensive technology firms need a creative and adaptive HR management approach. The differences found in the application of the HRM practices studied between the two countries are illustrated through the educational system, which is different in France and Britain.

Keywords:

• Britain
• France
• high-tech and low-tech firms
• human resources management
• neo-contingency

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Stephen Procter and Professor Michel Leber for their encouragement and helpful comments.