HRM in the Hungarian SME sector
Purpose - This paper aims to provide an original picture of a selection of human resource management (HRM) activities in the micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hungary and to explore the extent to which these activities can be related to variations in firm size and variations in fir...
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Published in | Employee relations Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 262 - 280 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Bradford
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
27.04.2010
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Purpose - This paper aims to provide an original picture of a selection of human resource management (HRM) activities in the micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hungary and to explore the extent to which these activities can be related to variations in firm size and variations in firm performance.Design methodology approach - The study measures the presence or absence of a selection of HRM activities through a questionnaire survey of a large sample of 678 Hungarian SMEs.Findings - Hungarian SMEs, in their working relationships, are closer to the "happy family" model of the SME than the "bleak house" model. Employee morale was perceived as high and only one in ten SMEs felt their employees were opposed to change. Owners were reluctant to seek advice from those outside the firm. They also showed reluctance to discuss future plans with their employees although they did tend to consult employees who would be affected directly by any change. Communication within SMEs was predominantly informal. Surprisingly, given the skills shortages highlighted by SMEs in other economies, very few of the Hungarian SMEs identified skills shortages as a problem and formal training programmes were reported only rarely. Variations between micro, small and medium sized firms are highlighted to emphasize the heterogeneous nature of the Hungarian SME sector.Research limitations implications - The HRM activities considered provide a picture of only a small number of HRM activities in Hungarian SMEs but the findings imply the relationships examined here are deserving of further exploration both in Hungary and other transition economies.Originality value - The paper provides a detailed picture of selected aspects of HRM in smaller businesses within a transition economy. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/4W2-2TSVV3CL-8 href:01425451011038799.pdf original-pdf:0190320305.pdf istex:11A36B6C53924D02F582BA6CC7CEBAAF5679D3D1 filenameID:0190320305 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0142-5455 1758-7069 |
DOI: | 10.1108/01425451011038799 |