The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Confucian values based on the four virtues and five relationships influence the style of the HRM practices adopted by Locally owned firms (LOFs) and Foreign owned firms (FOFs) based in Singapore. Confucian values emphasize a way of life. They are based on first cultivating oneself with the basic four virtues highlighted by Confucius (551 - 479 BC). Secondly, through the influence of the individual on others (via the five relationships, namely ruler-subject, father-son, brother-brother, husband-wife and friend-friend illustrated by Confucius), a 'perfect' world with peace and harmony can be created. This study investigates the degree to which the four distinct virtues - 1) human-kindness (ren), 2) integrity (yi), 3) propriety (li) and 4) knowledge (chi) and the five relationships, 1) ruler-subject, 2) father-son, 3) husband-wife, 4) brother-brother and 5) friend-friend, were adopted to underpin the practices of Human Resource Management (HRM) in Singapore. The target group of respondents chosen was executives, who were directly influenced by the style of human resource management in the firm. Electronics/technology related firms based in Singapore were the chosen group. The executives were chosen from electronics/technology related firms because these firms formed the most important industry, responsible for the well being of Singapore's growth (24% of GDP as stated by the Department of Statistics; 1999) and expected to continue so for the next 10 years. Managers from the same firms were given another set of questionnaires to verify the responses obtained from the executives. From the result obtained, it showed that there were influences of Confucian values on the five human resources functions tested. The executives' responses provided evidence on whether or not a certain trait or style has been used in the firm. The managers' responses, on the other hand, helped to verify that the trait or style was due to the influence of Confucian values as a whole and not other cultures or religions. The entire survey and interviews were carried out over twenty months from 1998, during which responses obtainable from both the managers and executives from each firm were analyzed. The data were analyzed using cross-tabulations and chi-square tests because cross-tabulation is one statistical tool which required only at least 5 responses in each cell for a reliable analysis to be conducted (Yong, 1994). Letters were then sent out to the Heads/Managers of the target firms, conducting interviews to obtain more insights to argue the survey data. Two interviews were conducted, taped and results obtained from the quantitative approach, helped further clarify earlier interpretations. This research showed that Singapore-based electronics/technology-related firms, regardless whether they were locally owned or foreign owned, showed that they were influenced by Confucian values in most aspects of the human resource practices. In addition, from the study, it showed that there were no significant differences between locally owned firms and foreign owned firms in terms of the degree of influence Confucian values have on the style of the management. This demonstrated that Chinese culture (in this case - Confucian values) - local/host country's culture played a stronger influence on the style of management in businesses conducted in Singapore than the organization's culture. This finding is important as most past research findings such as Rodrigues (1996) used to state that the organizational culture of the foreign-owned firms often have stronger influence on the practices adopted in firms regardless of the country that they were in. Lastly, after analyzing the responses obtained from the survey, the study justified that four virtues and only three (i.e. ruler-subject, friend-friend, father-son) of the five relationships outlined by Confucius has an impact on the style of HRM amongst Singapore-based firms in the technology/electronics-related industry. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2002.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/173385 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Tan, Teck Khim Stenson |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Stenson Tan Teck Khim 2002 |
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