Influence of Culture on Strategic Human Resource

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Influence of Culture on Strategic Human Resource
Management (SHRM) Practices in Multinational Companies
(MNC) in Kenya: A Critical Literature Review
Presented By
PROFESSOR PETER K’OBONYO
BEATRICE DIMBA
(PhD Candidate: Strathmore University, Kenya)
Contacts:
Professor Peter K’Obonyo
Deputy Principal
University of Nairobi, Kenya
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
P O Box 30197, Nairobi, Kenya
Beatrice Dimba
Ole Sangale Road,
P O Box 59857 00200 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone] e-mail: [e-mail]
June, 2007
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Abstract: Extant theories of strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices and cultures have generally adopted on the one hand the assumption that organizations develop a culture of their own that is distinct from the national and industry contexts in which the organization is embedded, thus ignoring the potential impact of external environmental factors on organizational culture. On the other hand, some researchers and scholars have questioned the validity and reliability of national culture-SHRM practices research.
The current paper explores the employee cultural values in the Kenyan multinational companies
(MNCs) and the influence of culture on SHRM practices. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and femininity are applied. These value dimensions reflect human thinking, and feelings of people, which pose basic problems that any society has to cope with but for which solutions differ.
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Definition of Terms
Strategic human resource management (SHRM)
Strategic human resource management involves the development of a consistent, aligned collection of practices, programs (strategies), and policies to facilitate the achievement of the organization’s strategic objectives (Mello, 2002).
Strategic human resource management practices
SHRM practices are those decisions and actions which concern the management of

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