The Philosophical Underpinnings of Western HRM Theory

Abstract

As a typical American Product, the Human resource management (HRM) system provides a strong sense of equity, of a trustworthy exchange relationship, and alleges that assessment and promotion mainly depend on an individual’s merits. The critical perspectives of HRM reveal that the “soft” HRM offers a smokescreen for “hard” HRM to cover its unchanged reality, which emphasizes rationality, individualism, control and short-term orientation. This article analyzes the underlying philosophy of HRM, which offers the fundamental theoretical support for it, from four aspects: individualism, meritocracy, rationality and short-termism.

Keywords

HRM / individualism / meritocracy / rationality / short-termism / instrumental rationality

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Brill