Aitziber Lertxundi

The moderating effect of cultural context in the relation between HPWS and performance: an exploratory study in Spanish multinational companies

The efficiency of high performance work systems (HPWS) has been a special object of study for the last two decades. Analysis of their behaviour has involved the consideration of diverse factors that might be supposed to moderate their efficiency, among which internal company factors stand out. However, contextual perspective has not been considered in great detail. From a contingent approach, the cultural context of the country in which a firm is located ought to influence the effectiveness of their HPWS, and these systems should, therefore, adapt to their setting. However, from a universalist perspective, the competitive potential of these systems would be independent of their context of application. For companies that set up business in other countries and have to decide between transferring their human resource management system (HRMS) intact or adapting it to the new context of application, it is a matter of great importance to know which of these two perspectives is to be implemented. This article, using a sample of subsidiaries of Spanish multinational enterprises (MNEs), analyses the influence of cultural context as a moderating variable between HPWS and performance. The results we obtained, on the one hand, once again reveal the positive influence of HPWS on firm performance and, on the other hand, bear out the universalist perspective, as they do not, in general, detect a significant influence of cultural context as a moderating variable. Nevertheless, specific cultural characteristics of the countries where firms are located do appear to increase the positive influence of HPWS, and this opens up an interesting line of study.

The dilemma facing multinational enterprises: transfer or adaptation of their human resource management systems

This study, within the discipline of International Human Resource Management, analyses the readiness of multinational enterprises to export their human resource management (HRM) system to their subsidiaries abroad, depending on the perceived quality of the system and the differences in the cultural contexts of the headquarters and subsidiaries. Using a qualitative exploratory study of 8 Basque firms and another quantitative study of a sample of 58 Spanish industrial multinationals, we conclude that the quality of the headquarters-based HRM system has a significant influence when it comes to deciding whether to export it to the subsidiary, whereas the difference in cultural contexts is not decisive when transferring the basic principles of the human resource system, although it is possibly decisive in the transfer of practices and sub-processes.

La influencia del entorno cultural en la eficiencia de las "mejores prácticas" en dirección de recursos humanos

[ES] La eficiencia de los llamados Sistemas de Trabajo de Alto Rendimiento ha sido un objeto de estudio preferente en las dos ultimas decadas. El analisis de su comportamiento se ha realizado considerando diversos factores que supuestamente moderan su eficiencia, entre los que destacan los factores internos de la empresa. Sin embargo, los factores externos, y mas concretamente la perspectiva contextual, en contadas ocasiones han sido objeto de analisis.

Transfer of HRM Practices to Subsidiaries: Importance of the Efficiency of the HRM System

This work shows the importance of evaluating the efficiency of the human resource management system in the analysis of transfer/adaptation costs of human resources practices in multinational enterprises. In addition to the cost factors that have traditionally been considered, system cost and opportunity cost are examined. Concretely, I propose to estimate the latter in accordance with the quality of the human resources function and conclude that the optimum strategic option would depend on the effectiveness of the system as a source of competitive advantage.