The problem and the solution. Does national context play a significant role in determining management training and development practices? With the growing influence of multinational corporations and the opening of world markets, this article summarizes the arguments in favor of and against convergence in the European continent and analyzes the latest evidence from six European countries. It concludes by suggesting that individual firm-level training strategy needs to be coherent with diverse national institutions to maximize investment in training.
Andersen, T., Kamp, M., Holt Larsen, H., La Cour, C., Svendsen, L., & Kiel, O. (1992). Denmark. In C. Brewster, A. Hegewisch, L. Holden,& T. Lockhart (Eds.), The European human resource management guide(pp. 185-214). London: Academic Press.
2.
Baruel, J. (1996). Spain in the context of European human resource management. In T. Clarke (Ed.), European human resource management(pp. 93-117). Oxford, UK: Routledge.
3.
Bennett, R. (1997). European business. London: Pitman.
4.
Blau, P., & Schoenherr, R. (1971). The structure of organizations. New York: Basic Books.
5.
Bournois, F., Chauchat, J. H.,& Roussillon, S. (1994). Training and management development in Europe. In C. Brewster & A. Hegewisch (Eds.), Policy and practice in European human resource management(pp. 122-138). London: Routledge.
6.
Brewster, C. (1995). Toward a European model of human resource management. Journal of International Business Studies, 26(1), 1-21.
7.
Brewster, C.,& Hegewisch, A. (1994). Policy and practice in European human resource management. London: Routledge.
8.
Brown, W. (1972). A consideration of “custom and practice.”British Journal of Industrial Relations, 10(1), 42-61.
9.
Buechtemann, C. F., & Verdier, E. (1998). Education and training regimes: Macroinstitutional evidence. Revue d’economie Politique, 108(3), 291-320.
10.
Cappelli, P. (1997). Change at work. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
11.
Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
12.
Child, J. (1973). Strategies of control and organizational behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 18, 1-17.
13.
Dore, R. (1986). Flexible rigidities: Industrial policy and structural adjustment in the Japanese economy 1970-80. London: Athlone.
14.
Estevez-Abe, M., Iversen, T., & Soskice, D. (2001). Social protection and the formation of skills: A reinterpretation of the welfare state. In P. A. Hall & D. Soskice (Eds.), Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage(pp. 145-183). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
15.
Evans, P., Doz, Y., & Laurent, A. (1989). Human resource management in international firms: Change, globalization, innovation. London: Macmillan.
16.
Eyraud, F., Marsden, D. W., & Silvestre, J. J. (1990). Internal and occupational labour markets in Britain and France. International Labour Review, 129(4), 501-517.
17.
Geppert, M., Matten, D., & Williams, K. (2003, December). Global, national, and local practices in multinational corporation: Toward a socio-political framework. Paper presented at the Seminar on the Diffusion of HRM to Europe and the Role of U.S. Multinationals, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, UK.
18.
Gooderham, P. N.,& Brewster, C. (2003). Convergence, stasis, or divergence? Personnel management in Europe. International Management of Human Resources, Beta Scandinavian Journal of Business Research, 17(1), 6-18.
19.
Grugulis, I. (2003). The contribution of NVQs to the growth of skills in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(3), 457-475.
20.
Hall, P. A.,& Soskice, D. (2001). Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
21.
Hancke, B. (2002). Large firms and institutional change: Industrial renewal and economic restructuring in France. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
22.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
23.
Hollingsworth, J. R., & Boyer, R. (1997). Coordination of economic actors and social systems of production. In J. R. Hollingsworth& R. Boyer (Eds.), Contemporary capitalism(pp. 1-47). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
24.
Hutton, W. (1994, May 9). “Tories” neo-Marxism fragments society. Guardian.
25.
Institute of Management. (1994). Management development to the millennium. London: Author.
26.
Lam, A. (1994). The utilization of human resources: A comparative study of British and Japanese engineers in electronics industries. Human Resource Management Journal, 4(3), 22-40.
27.
Lane, C. (1989). Management and labor in Europe. Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar.
28.
Lane, C. (2000). Globalization and the German model of capitalism: Erosion or survival?British Journal of Sociology, 51(2), 207-234.
29.
Lane, C. (2003). Changes in corporate governance of German corporations: Convergence to the Anglo-American model?Competition and Change, 7(2/3), 79-100.
30.
Laurent, A. (1986). The cross-cultural puzzle of international human resource management. Human Resource Management, 25, 91-102.
31.
Lazonick, W. (1993). Business organization and the myth of the market economy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
32.
Marsden, D. (1999). A theory of employment systems. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
33.
Maurice, M., Sellier, F., & Silvestre, J. J. (1986). The social foundations of industrial power. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
34.
Maurice, M., & Sorge, A. (2000). Embedding organizations, societal analysis of actors, organizations, and socio-economic contexts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
35.
Maurice, M., Sorge, A., & Warner, M. (1980). Societal differences in organizing manufacturing units. Acomparison of France, West Germany, and Great Britain. Organization Studies, 1, 59-86.
36.
Mueller, F. (1994). Societal effect, organizational effect, and globalization. Organization Studies, 15(3), 407-428.
37.
Paralleda, M., Saez, F., Sanroma, E., & Torres, C. (2002). La formacion continua en las empresas espanolas y el papel de las universidades[Continual training in Spanish enterprises and the role of the universities]. Madrid, Spain: Civitas.
38.
Piore, M. J.,& Sabel, C. F. (1984). The second industrial divide: Possibilities for prosperity. New York: Basic Books.
39.
Polanyi, K. (1944). The great transformation. Political and economic origins of our time. Boston: Beacon.
40.
Ramirez, M.,& Mabey, C. (in press). Alabor market perspective on management training and development in Europe. International Journal of Human Resource Management.
41.
Rubery, J. (1996). The labor market outlook and the outlook for labor market analysis. In R. Crompton, D. Gallie,& K. Purcell (Eds.). Changing forms of employment: Organizations, skills and gender(pp. 23-39). London: Routledge.
42.
Shenton, G. (1996). Management education model in Europe: Diversity and integration. In M. Lee, H. Letiche, & R. Crawshaw (Eds.), Management education in the new Europe(pp. 32-47). London: International Thomson.
43.
Sorge, A. (1996). Societal effect in cross-national organizational studies: Conceptualizing diversity in actors and systems. In R. Whitley & P. H. Kristensen (Eds.), The changing European firm: Limits to convergence(pp. 67-86). London: Routledge.
44.
Sorge, A., & Warner, M. (1986). Comparative factory organization. An Anglo-German comparison of management and manpower in manufacturing. Aldershot, UK: Gower.
45.
Streeck, W. (1993). National diversity, regime competition, and institutional deadlock: Problems in forming a European industrial relations system. Journal of Public Policy, 12, 301-330.
46.
Thomson, A., Mabey, C., Storey, J., Gray, C., & Iles, P. (2001). Changing patterns of management development. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
47.
Thurley, K., & Wirdenius, H. (1991). Will management become “European”? Strategic choices for organizations. European Management Journal, 9(2), 127-134.
48.
Tregaskis, O. (1997). The role of national context and HRstrategy in shaping training and development practices in French and UK organizations. Organizational Studies, 18(5), 839-856.
49.
Whitley, R. (1992). European business systems: Firms and markets in their national contexts. London: Sage.
50.
Whittington, R., & Mayer, M. (2000). The European corporation: Strategy, structure, and social science. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
51.
Winkelmann, R. (1994). Training, earnings, and mobility in Germany(CEPR Discussion Paper No. 982). London: Centre for Economic Policy Research.