ارتباط میان اقدامات منابع انسانی و کارایی شرکت : ارزیابی تجربی از شرکتی در مالزی The relationship between human resource practices and firm performance: an empirical assessment of firms in Malaysia

۱٫ Introduction Human resource management (HRM) refers to the policies, practices and systems that influence employees’ behavior, attitudes and performance (De Cieri et al., 2008). Human resource practices include determining human resource needs, recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, appraising and also attending to labor relations, health and safety and fairness concerns (De Cieri et al., 2008; Dessler, 2007). The effective implementation of HRM practices in organizations is a key source of competitive advantage and has been shown to have a positive relationship with company performance (see, for example, Ordonez de Pablos and Lytras, 2008; Collins, 2007; Chew and Basu, 2005; Khandekar and Sharma, 2005). The emergence of China as an economic superpower in the twenty-first century and the potential in this region of Asia have caught the attention of many researchers and scholars. The potential of this region can be illustrated through the research done by Burton et al. (2003), in which they categorize Japan and China as lions in the region, whereas countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are categorized as tigers and Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia are categorized as emerging tigers. This means that there is huge interest among management researchers to conduct in-depth research in this region. Increased globalization and liberalization has bought about an influx of foreign investors in Southeast Asia and East Asia in the form of multinational companies and joint ventures. The entry of foreign firms helped to introduce new HRM concepts and, as a result, changes in HRM practices are happening (Butler and Lee, 2003). Locally owned firms are now exposed to global competition and must find ways to manage their employees effectively in order to survive the huge challenges posed by foreign investors. The current economic crisis, globalization, and fierce competition are now forcing firms to look again and re-examine the importance of HRM to help them to navigate through these challenging times. The importance of HRM as a competitive advantage had been long embraced by companies in the West, however in many countries in Southeast Asia, awareness of the importance and value of HR as competitive advantage has yet to be appreciated as observed by Othman and Teh (2003) on their analysis of HRM in Malaysia. The same has been reported by Bennington and Habir (2003) whereby in Indonesia, there is recognition that HRM practices are needed depending on the nature of competition of firms in Indonesia. Based on the discussion above, it would be interesting to examine HR practices among firms in Malaysia, and does the implementation of HR practices do have an impact on firm performance. Hence the objectives of this research are as stated below: B to provide an understanding of HRM history and current HR practices in Malaysia; B to examine the extent of HRM practices among Malaysian firms; effectively; and B to investigate the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance in Malaysia. DOI 10.1108/17515631111100412 VOL. 12 NO. 1 2011, pp. 41-48, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1751-5637 j BUSINESS STRATEGY SERIES j PAGE 41 Intan Osman is a Lecturer at the Women’s Development Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. Theresa C.F. Ho is a PhD Candidate in the School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. Maria Carmen Galang is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Business, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada. 2. History of Malaysian human resource practices Malaysian HR practices, systems and regulations are largely influenced by the British colonization experience in the nineteenth century. It is viewed that HR practices are legacies derived from an integration of Western and indigenous HR practices (Chew, 2005). Hirano (1991) as cited by Chew (2005), categorized Malaysian HR practices into two mainstreams, namely: 1. British-oriented values and 2. ethics-oriented values. When Malaysia gained its independence from Britain (in 1957), the wider aspects of human resource practices were not given priority, as the main focus was mainly on work simplification and methods for increasing output. This scenario continued into 1970s, when employers still gave a low priority to personnel issues, with the function often operating only as a sub-unit of ’’General Affairs’’ departments (Rowley and Abdul Rahman, 2007). In another study done by Haslina (2009), focusing on human resource development, an emphasis on only a few HR practices was found: training and development, performance appraisal management, career planning and development. In her research, she stated that the history of HRD in Malaysia is not clear due to a lack of empirical evidence. However, clear evidence was seen when Government of Malaysia began to include HRD strategies in the country’s development plans and policies in 1991 in the Second Outline Perspective Plan and the 6th Malaysian Plan. This was also mentioned by Rowley and Abdul Rahman (2007), who reported that in the 1990s, some management and organizations began to reassess their corporate philosophy in favor of regarding people not as ‘‘costs’’ but as ‘‘assets’’. This change is indeed a big step forward towards HRM.