Page 268 - DMGT548_GLOBAL_HRM

Unit 14: Indian HRM

not accepted at all. Indians are very tolerant of outsiders and acknowledge that there are Notes
unfamiliarity of local customs and procedures among them.
HRD practices in Indian companies attempt to blend Western and Eastern ideas and systems of
people management. This concept of HRD attempts to be more comprehensive and meaningful.
For foreign firms, part of the attraction has been the low cost of Indian labour. However, the
competitiveness of India in terms of the availability, qualifications, and skills of its human
resources is considered to be one of the lowest in the world.

Example: The Indian software industry is highly competitive – Indian firms do not just
compete on price, but on the basis of quality, innovation, and technical expertise, and draw on
a huge pool of relatively low-cost, technically-qualified, English-speaking software professionals.
In 1996, 104 firms out of the Fortune 500 outsource their software development to India. About
10% of Microsoft’s 20,000 worldwide workforces are Indian.
HRD places a premium on the dignity and respect of people and is based on a belief in the
limitless potential of human beings. It stresses that people should not be treated as mere cogs in
the wheel of production, but with respect.

Did u know? In a recent survey of Indian CEO’s, it was suggested that Indian managerial
leaders were less dependent on their personal charisma, but they emphasised logical and
step by step implementation processes. Indian leaders focused on empowerment and
accountability in cases of critical turnaround challenges, innovative challenges, innovative
technology, product planning and marketing or when other similar challenges were
encountered (Spencer, Rajah, Narayan, Mohan & Latiri 2007).

14.3.2 Human Resource Practices in U.S.A.

Most people in the United States work in the service sector, which accounts for 73% of all civilian
employees, with only 24% in the manufacturing and transportation sectors and less than 3% in
agriculture. The American workplace is undergoing radical changes in response to greater
domestic and global competition, including work systems innovations that are designed to
increase productivity, reduce costs and improve quality. New human resource practices are
being implemented in work process design, employee stock ownership, outsourcing and
contingent employment.
The identification of competencies required to do a particular job (such as finance manager in
the motor industry), has become central to the way American companies recruit, appraise, train,
reward and promote managers. This is apparent at industry level in the UK Management Charter
Initiative that charts managers’ competencies in terms of key purpose (organisational objective),
key role (managing people, managing finance, etc.), and units of competence, elements of
competence, and performance criteria and range indicators.
Hence a key purpose such as “to achieve the organisation’s objectives and continuously improve
its performance” will be traced down to the individual’s behavioral level, and performance will
be judged on prescribed criteria. Individuals can also be trained in these competencies where
they have a deficiency. Thus selection, appraisal, reward, promotion and training systems can
be lined into human resource management systems aimed at the achievement of organisational
goals.

American managers are very individualistic and they value individual rewards and decision
over group performance. They have relatively low power distance. They are not upset when

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