HRM, Work and Employment in China

Over the last 20 years, alongside China's openness towards the west, there has been a steady emergence of writings, scholarly, personal and fictional, providing various accounts of change in China and aiding understanding between disparate cultures. China's size, its unique cultural characteristics and recent political history, currently position it as a nation of leading economic importance in the world. Fang Lee Cooke's book, based on a range of data sources, such as government statistics and reports, existing literature and her own ongoing, empirical research findings, helps to explain China's position of global dominance. While the book focuses on current trends in HRM, work and employment in China, it also tracks the transition path taken by an immense population governed by an overwhelmingly strong and autocratic culture, which has taken it from feudalism and underdevelopment to a place of modernity, although the resulting wealth is far from widespread. The work and employment trends described by Cooke suggest a China still characterised by the traditions and values of the cultural revolution, in spite of the more recent embrace with a market economy. In this sense, this book resonates with recent works such as Lijia Zhang's Socialism is Great! (2008)

Presented over ten chapters, HRM, Work and Employment in China starts from an examination of the current institutional context, reformed by recent government initiatives to “open the door” to foreign investment, accompanied by the process of relaxing state control, intervention and support. The early chapters (2‐5) focus on reforms in the state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). Chapter 2 – one of the chapters I found most fascinating – contextualises China's growth from that of a government and economy fully based on SOEs to a more westernised economy comprising a variety of ownership and enterprise forms. Cooke categorises current non‐state sectors into four different groups: collectively owned enterprises; foreign‐owned businesses; domestic privately owned firms and township and village enterprises (TVEs). Discussion highlights differences with the west in the unique historical and cultural factors underlying China's new enterprise structures, such as the innovative, collectively owned TVEs. These rural enterprises considered to have become “the most vibrant part of the economy” (p. 28), have played a major role in job creation and product diversification. At the same time, nepotism is rife in TVEs, and they are based on informal HR procedures. Similarities with the west are highlighted in the small business sector, which appears to share many of the characteristics of small firms anywhere in the world: often owned by its managers, and profiting from flexible use of human resources, long working hours and limited welfare provisions. The emergence and proliferation of the non‐state sector in China explains the insertion and relevance of western‐type HRM policies and practices. In the vein of other, critical HRM scholarship, the author poses many questions against the motives of HRM in China, especially in terms of the benefits, if any, of HRM to the poor and disenfranchised, such as unskilled, rural and immigrant workers, and to traditionally discriminated groups such as women.

The later chapters (6‐10) look at the work and employment patterns emerging from the newer enterprise forms. Major trends highlighted here relate to labour market segments where inequality persists, i.e. women and other low paid workers; employment practices in the private, small business sector, and the various HR initiatives adopted by different types of firm. Although Cooke proposes that larger, foreign‐owned firms have adopted systematic HRM practices, overall these chapters shore up greater evidence for the “jobs at any price” view, characterised by a predominance of informal practices, a lack of training and serious power imbalances in the employment relationship, leading to skills shortages, and a depressing “race to the bottom” with dire effects for workers. While these concerns are generalised in relation to China's labour market as a whole, they are also raised in Cooke's examination of the unequal position of women in labour market.

Gender segregation, discriminatory employment practices and wage inequality, examined in depth in chapter six, are currently major issues for China. They are attributed to ineffective legislation, persistent discriminatory cultural values and poor HR practices. Cooke argues that despite women having played a role that is “indispensable in modern China's economy” (p. 114), women are the biggest losers in “the shift from a workplace‐based welfare to a social welfare system” (p. 112), putting forward evidence that women are systematically discriminated against throughout the employment process, from recruitment and career‐progression, including lay‐off and retirement. Cooke proposes that women have to consistently outperform men so as to be considered along with men, suggesting that erroneous beliefs about women, which underpin traditional values, continue to persist. Her arguments are reminiscent of events illustrated in Socialism is Great!, in turns both tragic and comical, which shows how traditional values and entrenched cultural practices, such as the dominance of political cadres can unfairly hold women back from climbing social and career ladders, and can prevent them from accessing work based entitlements. Cooke clearly suggests that reversing these patterns for women and other vulnerable and unprotected workers requires the adoption of a cluster of strategies: alongside better enforcement of legislation and improved HR practices, urgent attention needs to go into breaking down some of the discriminatory traditional values and practices, which China can no longer sustain.

The issues, research and findings covered in this book are based on many disparate data sets, presenting a huge amount of data; possibly too much. However, it is worthwhile persevering through the abundance of data and information as there is a great deal of interesting original material and discussion covering areas previously ignored or underplayed in the literature.