A Comparison of Human Resource Management Practices in Austria, Germany and Sweden

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse the explanatory power of the universalist vs. cultural perspective of human resource management (HRM) through the examples of Austria, Germany and Sweden. This comparison is based on results from the Cranet-E surveys of European HRM. A statistical analysis of these results indicates that country differences matter. As expected they were larger between the two Germanic countries and Sweden than between Austria and Germany. We were able to provide some explanations for these differences. Some were cultural, others more institutional. However, at least one result also supports a universalist perspective. In all three countries there has been a devolvement of responsibility from human resource specialists to line management. One implication of the research presented here is that European economic integration has not led to a European HRM yet. Companies operating in different European countries still have to adapt their human resource policies to the particular national context.