HRM research in China: looking
back and looking forward
David Lamond
Faculty of Business and Law, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, and
Connie Zheng
Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the field of human resource
management (HRM) in China, with insights drawn from recent times to several millennia earlier, with a
view to informing the further work that needs to be done to better understand managing people in China.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined Chinese ancient texts related to people
management and drew on reviews of HRM research in China since the establishment of the People’s
Republic of China in 1949 till current times, to draw lessons for HRM in China today and for the future.
Findings – The 2,500 year gap that separates the literatures studied as part of this review cannot
hide the striking similarities between the conceptual views about the importance of people and their
management in the two periods. Yet, there remains a lack of empirical studies of the Chinese style of
HRM practices. The majority of recent research in the field of HRM in China is focussed on comparison
between HRM practices in various types of enterprises operating in China and those in the west, with
the apparent aim of better understanding the latter rather than the former.
Originality/value – As China is rapidly becoming a key global player, and its enterprises represent
an increasing share of the global market, it is crucial to understand how Chinese firms have managed
their people at home and globally to achieve performance outcomes. Are there lessons other firms,
especially those in emerging markets could learn? What are the implications for building global
management and organisational knowledge? This paper provides some directions for future research
about HRM in China, which may help gain a better understanding of the Chinese style of management
and further develop management and organisation theories in the China context.
Keywords China, Research and development, Human resource management,
Human resource management research
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Over the last decade, scholars around the world have contributed to a significant increase
in the body of knowledge related to the organisational and management practices of
companies operating in China. This growth, quite properly, has been reflected in a series
of “taking stock” reviews of the literature (Li and Tsui, 2002; Peng et al., 2001; Quer et al.,
2007; Tsui et al., 2004). In the same way, recognising human resource management (HRM)
in China as an emerging discipline, Zhu et al. (2008) presented their review of HRM research
in China. Recently, we conducted a critical review of 107 empirical studies of HRM in China
(1978-2007) (Zheng and Lamond, 2009b). We havealso examined a series of ancient Chinese
texts and compared them to those of contemporary Western management thinkers,
including Warren Bennis, Peter Drucker, Mary Parker Follett, Douglas McGregor,
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Elton Mayo and Jeffrey Pfeffer (Zheng and Lamond, 2009a).
Our findings from these activities were both illuminating and challenging. Most
striking is that, while we found a rich tradition of interest in people management in the
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-8005.htm
JCHRM
1,1
6
Journal of Chinese Human Resource
Management
Vol. 1 No. 1, 2010
pp. 6-16
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2040-8005
DOI 10.1108/20408001011051179