Perceptions of business cultures in eastern Europe and their implications for international HRM

Abstract

Perceptions of the business culture of different countries are important factors in international human resource management (IHRM); affecting the development of human resource management (HRM) and impacting on existing and potential expatriate managers sent to those countries. This paper analyses such perceptions as a contribution to the discussions about whether the central and eastern European (CEE) states form a separate variety of capitalism and IHRM. We focus on six of the CEE countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Slovakia, using a large sample of expatriate managers working in those countries and a control group of local managers. Data from two small and peripheral western European states is used to contrast the findings in these CEE states. We find that in general local managers are rather more positive than expatriates but otherwise share the same perceptions; that there are both positive and negative perceptions of CEE states in general and in particular; but that the negatives outweigh the positives. We examine both the similarities and the differences between these states. We draw out the theoretical and practical implications for multinational companies (MNCs’) international HRM policies and practices.