Best HRM Practices or Context-Specific HRM Practices? Evidence from the IT Sector of Lahore (Pakistan): The Role of Individual Cultural Values
Keywords:
HRM Practices, IT Sector, Lahore (Pakistan), Cultural ValuesAbstract
This paper revisits the old convergence-divergence debate in international human resource management (IHRM) by looking at whether the best HRM practices are in a standardized manner or need to be changed according to the context in a developing-country context. With Lahore, Pakistan, being among the biggest technological centers in the country, the study explores how personal cultural values influence individual employees as regards to their preferences as well as their acceptance of the two fundamental subsystems of HRM, which include the training and development (T&D) and performance management systems (PMS). Based on the Hofstede cultural dimensions that are operationalized at the individual level, the study will be used in testing the influence of power distance, collectivism, and masculinity on T&D and PMS. The results based on a quantitative survey design and structural modeling, confirm the perception that HRM practice transfer cannot be explained in terms of generalized best practice; instead, perceived suitability and effectiveness of HRM practices vary in a systematic manner depending on cultural value orientations of the employees. The research has value to the existing literature on IHRM and comparative HRM by not only offering micro-level evidence on the situation in Pakistan in the IT setting but also by refocusing the convergence-divergence lens on particular subsystems of HR (T&D and PMS). In practice the research recommends that HR leaders in IT companies should regulate training architectures and performance management systems to cultural anticipations so as to increase acceptance, perceived fairness and efficacy- especially on high power-distance and collectivist workplace conditions.
References
Aguinis, H., Joo, H., & Gottfredson, R. K. (2012). Performance management universals: Think globally and act locally. Business Horizons, 55(4), 385–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2012.03.004
Ali, M. A., & Salih, S. M. (2025). Impact of application programming interfaces (APIs) economy on digital economics in Saudi Arabia. Sustainability, 17(9), 4104. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094104
Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., Berg, P., & Kalleberg, A. L. (2000). Manufacturing advantage: Why high-performance work systems pay off. Cornell University Press.
Björkman, I., Fey, C. F., & Park, H. J. (2007). Institutional theory and MNC subsidiary HRM practices: Evidence from a three-country study. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(3), 430–446. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400267
Brewster, C., Mayrhofer, W., & Cooke, F. L. (2015). Convergence, divergence and diffusion of HRM in emerging markets. In F. Horwitz & P. Budhwar (Eds.), Handbook of human resource management in emerging markets (pp. 451–469). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781955017.00031
Budhwar, P. S., Varma, A., & Patel, C. (2016). Convergence–divergence of HRM in the Asia-Pacific: Context-specific analysis and future research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 26(4), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2016.04.004
Budhwar, P., & Sparrow, P. (2002). An integrative framework for understanding cross-national human resource management practices. Human Resource Management Review, 12(3), 377–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(02)00066-9
Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides (Ed.), Modern methods for business research (pp. 295–336). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cooke, F. L., Schuler, R., & Varma, A. (2020). Human resource management research and practice in Asia: Past, present and future. Human Resource Management Review, 30(4), e100778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100778
Cooke, F. L., Wood, G., Wang, M., & Veen, A. (2019). How far has international HRM travelled? A systematic review of literature on multinational corporations (2000–2014). Human Resource Management Review, 29(1), 59–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.05.001
Culpepper, R., & Watts, L. (1999). Measuring cultural dimensions at the individual level: An examination of the Dorfman and Howell (1988) scales and Robertson and Hoffman (1999) scale. Academy of Strategic and Organizational Leadership Journal, 3(1), 22–34.
Darwish, T. K., Singh, S., Batsakis, G., & Potocnik, K. (2024). Cross-country analysis of HRM parameters in emerging markets: An assessment of measurement invariance. British Journal of Management, 35(2), 692–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12730
Deffner, D., Rohrer, J. M., & McElreath, R. (2022). A causal framework for cross-cultural generalizability. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 5(3), e21106366. https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459221106366
Delery, J. E., & Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 802–835. https://doi.org/10.5465/256713
Demo, G., Neiva, E. R., Nunes, I., & Rozzett, K. (2012). Human resources management policies and practices scale (HRMPPS): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Brazilian Administration Review, 9(4), 395–420. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1807-76922012005000006
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
Dorfman, P. W., & Howell, J. P. (1988). Dimensions of national culture and effective leadership patterns: Hofstede revisited. In R. N. Farmer & E. G. Goun (Eds.), Advances in international comparative management: A research annual (Vol. 3, pp. 127–150). JAI Press.
Farndale, E., Hope-Hailey, V., & Kelliher, C. (2011). High commitment performance management: The roles of justice and trust. Personnel Review, 40(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481111095492
Farndale, E., Raghuram, S., Gully, S., Liu, X., Phillips, J., & Vidovic, M. (2017). A vision of international HRM research. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(12), 1620–1634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1308416
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146
Garavan, T. N., McCarthy, A. M., Lai, Y., Murphy, K., Sheehan, M., & Carbery, R. (2021). Training and organisational performance: A meta-analysis of temporal, institutional and organisational context moderators. Human Resource Management Journal, 31(1), 93–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12284
Gooderham, P. N., Mayrhofer, W., Sinha, P. N., Zheng, C. S., & Brewster, C. (2025). Continuity and change in national HRM: An overview and future research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 36(12), 1989–2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2025.2548041
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson.
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2012). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage.
Hashmi, H. A., Ariffin, W. N. J. W., & Hashmi, U. M. (2025). From localization to globalization: Modern cultural hybridization of centralized Sunni Islamic indigenous values. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 19(4), 78–87. https://doi.org/10.51709/19951272/Winter2025/7
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Higgins, P. (2024). Conceptual and methodological issues in international and comparative HRM: Transferring lessons from comparative public policy. Human Resource Management Review, 34(2), 101015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2024.101015
Hofstede, G. (1983). The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 14(2), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490867
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Sage.
House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Paul W. Dorfman, & Gupta, V. (Eds.). (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Sage.
Kaufman, B. E. (2020). The real problem: The deadly combination of psychologisation, scientism, and normative promotionalism takes strategic human resource management down a 30-year dead end. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12278
Khilji, S. E. (2003). To adapt or not to adapt: Exploring the role of national culture in HRM—A study of Pakistan. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 3(1), 109–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595803003001856
Kotiloglu, S., Blettner, D., & Lechler, T. G. (2024). Integrating national culture into the organizational performance feedback theory. European Management Journal, 42(3), 327–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2023.01.003
Markus, H. R., & Shinobu Kitayama. (1991). Cultural variation in the self-concept. In R. Curtis (Ed.), The self: Interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 18–48). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8264-5_2
Ozer, S., & Kamran, M. A. (2025). Integrating Pakistani and Western cultural identities through globalization-based acculturation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 105, 102152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102152
Pudelko, M., & Harzing, A. W. (2010). Japanese human resource management: Inspirations from abroad and current trends of change. In M. Pudelko, A.-W. Harzing, & M. Reiche (Eds.), Challenges of human resource management in Japan (pp. 42–74). Routledge.
Pudelko, M., & Harzing, A.-W. (2007). Country-of-origin, localization, or dominance effect? An empirical investigation of HRM practices in foreign subsidiaries. Human Resource Management, 46(4), 535–559. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20181
Roth, K., & Kostova, T. (2003). Organizational coping with institutional upheaval in transition economies. Journal of World Business, 38(4), 314–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2003.08.018
Taras, V., Kirkman, B. L., & Steel, P. (2010). Examining the impact of Culture’s consequences: A three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Geert Hofstede’s cultural value dimensions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 405–439. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018938
Wesche, J. S., & Handke, L. (2023). Digitisation and automation in training and development: A meta-review of new opportunities and challenges. Personnel Review, 53(3), 771–790. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2022-0660
Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lenartowicz, T. (2011). Measuring Hofstede's five dimensions of cultural values at the individual level: Development and validation of CVSCALE. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(3–4), 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2011.578059
