Environmental Factors Affecting Human Resources Management Activities of Turkish Large Firms

Kurtulus Yilmaz Genc

doi:10.5539/ijbm.v9n11p102

Abstract

The basic aim of this study is to present and examine environmental factors affecting human resource activities,which based upon a research conducted on Turkish large firms. Factors that affect human resource management(HRM) activities were divided into two, as internal and external elements. The data for the research weregathered with a survey, and analyzed with various statistical methods. Accordingly, it was achieved that,companies take these internal and external elements into consideration in a high or at least moderate level ingeneral. Moreover, it was found that, “priorities of top management”, “legislations/regulations”, “changes innational economy”, and “qualities of employees” are the top factors affecting HRM activities. It was also seenthat, there is no statistically significant relation between industries, the year of foundation, city of headquarters,ownership type, size and the means of internal or external environmental factors affecting HRM activities. Theresults demonstrate the fit for internal factors and fit for external factors. Also, it was found that, internal andexternal environmental factors are significantly associated. Thus, HRM activities are closely integrated withenvironmental elements, which, should always be considered.

Highlights

As the business environment became an important base for any type of organization, human resource function has its own internal and external environment, which make related issues very complex
This paper has investigated the environmental factors affecting human resource management (HRM) policies and practices of Turkish large firms; and, has shown that companies take these internal and external elements into consideration in a high or at least moderate level in general
It was seen that, the sizes of organizations are associated with environmental elements, which are taken into account during HRM processes

Summary

Introduction

As the business environment became an important base for any type of organization, human resource function has its own internal and external environment, which make related issues very complex. There are many researches and articles on human resource management (HRM) and environmental factors link In these studies (e.g., Kane & Palmer, 1995; Buller, 1988; Cascio, 1993; Jackson, Schuler, & Rivero, 1989; Jain & Murray, 1984; Tiwari & Saxena, 2012), the following environmental elements were generally linked with HRM activities, in terms of the source of pressure or any type of influence from inside and outside. The external environment of HRM function might include changes in international economy, changes in technology, changes in national economy, national culture and traditions, industry/sector characteristics, legislation/regulation, actions of unions, actions of competitors, impact of professional organizations, HRM staff’s experiences in other organizations, and general education policies and implementations

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Discussion

Conclusion