The Implications of Chinese Culture for the Human Resource Management

【Abstract】This paper briefly presents the traditional Chinese culture in Chinese organizations and examines its impacts on the human resource management （HRM）. The dominant traditional Chinese culture includes Confucianism， Guanxi principle， and face concept. The author concludes the implications for HRM from a perspective of a Chinese people. In addition， the official rank standard and the power distance， and Chinese organizational structure are also discussed.

【Key words】Confucian culture， Guanxi principle， face， power distance

1.Literature Review

1.1Human Resource Management

Human resource management mainly experienced two periods. Firstly， it emerged in the early 20th century as a specific theoretical framework， represented by the “scientific management” of Fredrick Winslow Taylor （Merkle， 2009）. Secondly， during its formation period， Peter Drucker （the founder of modern management） proposed the concept of HRM in 1950s. Drucker created the “knowledge worker” in 1959， and emphasized its productivity in the management （Wikipedia， 2015）.

1.2Confucian culture

Confucian view has impacted Chinese people for more than 2，000 years， and its values have strong influence on organizational and management practices （Wang， et al.， 2005）. Zhao （1994） identified four Confucian principles：（1） family or Jiaren is the most basic unit in Chinese society and the loyalty to family is superior to everything； （2） social hierarchy results in five cardinal relationships， namely， the relationship between ruler and subject， father and son， husband and wife， elder and younger brothers， and the relationship between friends； （3） a ruler has obligations to provide living conditions for his subordinates and the subordinates should be loyal and obedient in response； （4） power distance in China is mainly resulted from the educational gap.

2.Implications for Human Resource Management

The core concept of Confucian culture is composed of benevolence， justice， etiquette， intellect， and trustworthiness. Benevolence is managers’ tolerance to and sympathy for the employees， which is beneficial for the optimization of the organizational atmosphere and the ease of coordination. Justice is a pivotal role to avoid selfish desire in the profit-making companies and optimize the corporate culture. Etiquette is the major means for Chinese people to maintain and strengthen the Guanxi in almost all social situations. This special relationship produces the “gift giving” to people who possess higher power. The excessive reliance on the interpersonal relationships impedes the implement of the rules and regulations. For example， some leaders often promote the employees who once gave gifts or benefits to them or show respect to them， regardless of these employees’ capabilities or skills. Therefore， the leadership style has a heavy impact on the human resource management.

Most important of all， intellect is consistent with the knowledge worker who are considered “thinking for living”. Human resource management is centered on the “people” or we can say “people oriented”. Managers should cultivate or train employees and improve their retention. The optimal allocation of human resource is more crucial than the natural resource in the management. In order to exploit the intellect of the human beings， the most key point is to strengthen education. The basic education and the continuing education are the most widespread in China. In other words， human resource managers are supposed to combine the in-school education with the social education. This is what staff training usually does in the management. Trustworthiness is the core for a corporation to keep sustainable development because it can increase the employees’ commitment and loyalty to the organization.

Secondly， Guanxi is a shield against the unemployment for those managers who are under the cover of the powerful people. These people take their present jobs as the “iron rice bowl”， which is disruptive of innovations and organizational management. It makes both managers and employees in the passive position toward their work. Furthermore， Guanxi can give rise to the bribery and corruption. Fan （2002， p.377） puts it： “Inside China， Guanxi is the synonym for corruption and other wrongdoings such as nepotism， bribery and fraud”. Human resource managers ought to exert all their energies to supervise and monitor the corruption and take active and corrective measures to bring the unfavorable consequences under control.

Thirdly， considering the face concept in China， disputes negotiation and conciliation between the managers and subordinates are noteworthy. Public criticism will threaten the face， causing both the managers and subordinates to lose face. To avoid the occurrence of the aforementioned problem， managers should deal with the inferior performance in an indirect way. For example， managers had better find out the reasons and make suggestions for employees to improve in their later work stage.

Finally， the top-down management in Chinese organizations enlarges the power distance between the superiors and subordinates. Chinese workers are often trained to follow the orders or rules in the organization， and try to minimize the disagreement with their superiors and maximize the respect to their superiors. This management mode imposes the limit on the production of the decision-makings and innovations of the workers， thus hinders the development of the organization. Chinese managers are supposed to draw lessons from the flat organizational structure in some Western countries. For instance， participatory decision-making should be encouraged within the organization. When the employees share the decisions with their employers， they will have a sense of belonging to the organization and try to improve their work efficiency. The approach not only develops the industrial relations， but also increases the job satisfaction and job performance， so， the organization improves its performance outcomes and gain more profits.

It is as well notable that the consciousness of official rank standard is strongly affected by the Confucian view and rooted deeply in the Chinese society. This concept in management is a barrier for the staff promotion， thus results in high job turnover of the talented employees.

In summary， human resource managers should be aware of the powerful influence of the Chinese traditional culture and view exerted on the HR practices. They should take full advantages of the Confucian culture， especially of its concept of “people oriented”. As for Guanxi， together with the bribery and corruption， it had better be monitored without delay. Meanwhile， in view of the face-saving concept， managers should take a balanced position view of the conflicts between employers and employees. Last but not least， managers need to encourage the employees to actively participate in the decision-making with superiors.

【References】

[1]Fan， Y. （2002）. Guanxi’s consequences： Personal gains at social cost. Journal of Business Ethics， 38（4）， 371-380.

[2]Merkle， Judith A. （2009）. Management and Ideology： The Legacy of the International Scientific Management Movement. Journal of Economic History， 41（3）， 717-718.

[3]Wikipedia， （2015）. Peter Drucker. Retrieved Decenmber 16， 2015， from https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Druckeron

[4]Wang， J.， Wang， G. G.， Ruona， W. E. A.， Rojewski， J. W. （2005）. Confucian valuesand the implications for international HRD. Human Resource DevelopmentInternational， 8， 311-326.

[5]Zhao， S.M. （1994）. Human Resource Management in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources， 32（2）， 3-12.