Is Best Practice Dead?

Abstract

In the light of globalization, HRM becoming from being a mere support function to one of strategic importance and researchers have argued that HRM policies and practices are more significant because they can act as mechanisms for co-ordination and control of international operations. Meanwhile, “best practice” on HRM has been acknowledged to constitute a major constraint when MNCs try to implement global strategies, mainly because of the different cultural and institutional framework of each country in which the MNC operates. Some even argue that best practice is dead. This essay will examine that although best fit play an important role in the practice of strategic HR management, best practice is still valuable in the context of a multinational corporation (MNC).

Introduction

In the light of globalization, HRM is evolving from being a mere support function to one of strategic importance and researchers have argued that HRM policies and practices are more significant because they can act as mechanisms for co-ordination and control of international operations. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) involves the development of a consistent, aligned collection of practices, strategies and policies to facilitate the achievement of the organization’ strategic objectives (Mello, 2002). The theory of SHRM does, actually, advocate two ways of linking HRM to strategy. The “best fit” approach is associated with the contingency approaches. It argues that firms must what constitutes a good HR strategy will depend on the specific context. On contrast, the “best practice” speculates that there is a exact set of human resource practices that can been applied in almost any organizational context that helps to improve the performance, thus helps to deliver outcomes that are valuable for all the stakeholders, particularly employees. As