Does national culture really matter? Predicting HRM preferences of Taiwanese employees

Abstract

Examines the relationships between cultural values and preferences for human resource management (HRM) policies and practices in a sample of Taiwanese employees. Specifically, seeks to examine patterns of Chinese national culture in Taiwan, to identify the preferences of employees for specific HRM policies and practices, and to explore the extent to which individual cultural value orientations shape individual preferences for HRM policies and practices. Presents findings from data based on 452 employees from the shopfloor to senior management positions in seven Taiwanese organisations. By controlling the measure of national culture in terms of value orientations, it is found that they account for from only 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the total individual variance in HRM preference. A factor analysis supports the view that national culture value orientations represent a separate construct to both work values and more traditional measures of work outcomes, such as job satisfaction and commitment.