The effective human resource management system in transitional China: a hybrid of commitment and control practices

Abstract

The content and effectiveness of a human resource management system needs to be understood in a certain management context. However, research on strategic human resource management in China has largely ignored the local realities. In response, we develop and test a model of China based effective HRM system rooted in the local management context. Results show that the China based effective HRM system is a ‘hybrid system’ consisting of both commitment and control HR practices, and has much more significant positive effects on firm performance compared with American-style high-commitment and high-involvement work practices.

Keywords:

• Chinese context
• firm performance
• high-commitment work systems
• high-involvement work systems
• high-performance work systems
• strategic human resource management

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No: 71002095) and Beijing Municipal Foundation for Talents Development (Project No: 2010D009003000001). The authors wish to thank Professor Michael Poole and the reviewers of this paper for the very helpful comments.