Cultural value orientations and HRM policies and practices: an empirical study of Oman

Zeynep Aychan, Pawan Budhwar, Ann Davis, Abdul B. Al-Hamadi

Research output: Unpublished contribution to conferenceAbstractpeer-review

Abstract

This study empirically examined the influence of cultural orientations on employee preferences of human resource management (HRM) policies and practices in Oman. Data were collected from 712 employees working in six large Omani organisations. The findings indicated that there were a number of cultural orientation differences among Omani employees based on age, educational and work experience. The findings showed a strong orientation towards mastery, harmony, thinking and doing, and a weak orientation towards hierarchy, collectivism, subjugation, and human nature-as-evil. The results have demonstrated a clear link between value orientations and preferences for particular HRM policies and practices. Group-oriented HRM practices were preferred by those who scored high on collectivism and being orientations, and those who scored low on thinking and doing orientations. Hierarchy-oriented HRM practices were preferred by those scoring high on hierarchy, subjugation and human nature-as-bad orientations, and those scoring low on thinking and mastery orientations. Finally, preference for loose and informal HRM practices was positively associated with being, and negatively associated with thinking, doing, and harmony orientations. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in detail.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2006
Event48th annual meeting of the Academy of International Business - Beijing, China
Duration: 23 Jun 200626 Jun 2006

Other

Other48th annual meeting of the Academy of International Business
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period23/06/0626/06/06
Other"From the Silk Road to Global Networks: Harnessing the Power of People in International Business"

Bibliographical note

Published in Proceedings of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Academy of International Business

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