Comparative Analysis of HR Policies in UK and Japan (7BSP1303)

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Human Resource (HR) policies and practices implemented by companies in the United Kingdom (UK) and Japan. It explores the impact of cultural theories, particularly Hofstede's cultural dimensions, which includes power distance, collectivism versus individualism, and their influence on workplace culture. The essay examines HR policies such as employment contracts, leave policies, and codes of conduct, and how they differ between the UK and Japan, referencing examples from companies like Land Rover and Toyota. It also discusses the concepts of collectivism and individualism, highlighting their implications for employee behavior and organizational goals. The essay further explores the divergence and convergence of HR practices in a globalized business environment, the best-fit and best-practice models, and the importance of organizational culture in achieving company success. Recommendations are made for improving HR policies, including enhancing employee security, adjusting leave policies, and ensuring comprehensive employment contracts. The conclusion emphasizes the need for effective strategies to improve HR policies for achieving organizational goals. The essay references several academic sources throughout its analysis.

7BSP1303 ICHRM
REFDEF ASSIGNMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT
ESSAY.............................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

ESSAY
The present essay is based on the different Human Resource policies and practices that is
implemented by the companies of UK and Japan with their comparative study. Furthermore, it
cultural theories is also covered with the difference between collectivist and individualist
societies(Dattaraju, 2020). Various theories relevant to the globalization and recommendations
and strategies in order to improve the HR policies is also discussed in the essay.
The culture at the workplace is defined as the behaviour and attitude of employees and
there are various factors that influence the culture of the workplace within the organization
which includes its policies , environment, goals and objectives. By applying the Hofstede's
cultural dimension theory helps to understand the difference in the organizational culture across
countries and how the business is conducted in different nations(Widjaja, and et.al., 2021). The
framework is classified into six dimensions i.e. Power distance index, collectivism and
individualism, uncertainty avoidance index, Femininity and masculinity , short-term and long
term orientation, restraint and indulgence. Every country has different workplace culture which
can be in the form of different policies, procedures and environment. HR policies are the general
procedures that should be followed by the company in order to maintain the favourable working
environment of the company(Ptel, 2020). Some HR policies that is necessary to comply by the
organization are various provisions that is mentioned under the employment contract which
includes the leave policy , code of conduct and also providing security to the employees. In the
present world various provisions have been implemented by the company in order to maintain
favourable working culture in the company. It is the responsibility of the HR department to
recruit and hire candidates which have the capability to perform the specific job role and have
required skill in order to perform the job effectively(Javadizadeh, 2020). For examples both
Land Rover and Toyota has different workplace cultures and also have different HR policies
which help the organization to maintain favourable working environment and best practices in
order to retain and hire the employees as per the skill and experience they have.
Collectivism refers to the principle of practice which focus on prioritizing group over
individual. It results into long term relationship which helps in achieving the group goals. It has
been observed that people in the collectivist society sacrifice their personal benefits and focus
towards welfare and progress of the society(Wong, and et.al., 2018). On the other hand
individualism focuses on human independence and freedom and is against the external

interference while making personal choices. It has been observed from the study is that people
with high level of individualism tends to be more rational than those with collectivism.
Collectivism refers to the principle of prioritizing the group connection rather than individual
pursuits on the other hand Individualism refers to the political view that focuses on
independence and freedom rather than group. The major component of the collectivism is
harmony and dutiful towards society whereas individualism includes uniqueness and liberty.
Collectivism is against the individual pursuits and scarifies for the welfare of the society whereas
individualism give more importance to freedom and independence of an individual. By applying
the Hofstede's theory of cultural dimension it is observed every country has different cultures
and follow different practices. For example UK and Japan, it has been identified that the UK is
among the highest score and is beaten by other countries such as Australia and USA and
suggest that the people of UK are high individualistic and private people. In this culture people
are taught to only think about themselves and states that route to happiness is through personal
fulfilment and self-interest(Mastracci, and Adams, 2019). On the other hand , Japan is more
towards collectivist society such as working in a group and focus towards the welfare of the
society.
Divergence means two things that moving apart on the other hand convergence implies
two forces that are moving together. Furthermore, divergence occurs when the price of an asset
and indicator moves away form each other. On the other hand when the price of the asset and its
indicator move towards each other. It can be said that the technical traders are focused towards
divergence over convergence as convergence is more likely to occur in the normal market. With
the rapid changes in the business environment many companies have realized that employees are
considered as valuable assets of the company and also important resources which contributes in
achieving the goals and objectives of the company(Minkov, and Kaasa, 2020). In order to build
its image various organisation is focused on implementing various effective strategies that helps
in enhancing the integration and connection of the human resource in order to achieve the goals
and objectives. The best-fit model states that the HR strategies and organizational strategies
should be aligned together and it is necessary for the HR to focus on both the organizational and
employees needs in order to accomplish the objectives of the company(Aloi, and et.al., 2020).
On the other side the best practice model states that various HR activities which mainly supports
the companies in order to take competitive advantage. It focuses on improving the performance

of the employees which results intro better outcome for the future and helps in achieving the
goals and objectives of the company(Asfahani, 2021). The best fit model has various limitations
and states that due to various contingencies the organization can face various challenges as the
HR system cannot adjust the changes made and on the other hand the major weakness of the best
practice model is the deterioration in the employees collaboration and performance which will
impact the productivity of the company.
It has been observed that organizational culture is considered as one of the major factor
that contributes in the success of the company. It is necessary to maintain favourable cultural
environment as it can help in enhancing group work and better communication and coordination
among the employees which can effectively contribute in the achievement of the objectives of
the organization. With th help of Hofstede's cultural dimensional theory, it has been analysed that
people living in United Kingdom is amongst the highest in the score that is 89 as compared to
Japan and states that the culture of the British people is highly individualist and private and
focus towards personal benefits and interest rather than group as a whole whereas Japan score is
lower on the individualism dimension and states that the society and community shows the
feature of the collectivist society and focus towards the progress and welfare of the
society(Kaasa, 2021). On the other hand looking in to the Power distance dimension it sates that
all the societies and individual is not equal and inequalities takes place within the community.
According to the dimension score United Kingdom and the organization chosen i.e. Land rover
sits lowest and believes that there should be equality and every person living in the society
should be treated equal and discrimination should be minimized. On the other hand the Power
Distance index score as compared to United Kingdom is high in Japan as people are conscious
about their hierarchical position in the society. The people in Japan are concerned about their
position due to high business experience resulting in increase in inequality among the people in
the society.
It is recommended that some changes can be made in order to make the prevailing polices more
effective to the organization. Over the time it has been experienced that HR practise is having its
great contribution to make an organization thrived. With this regard some improvements are
needed to take place.
The organizations are suggested to hike their employee security norms. Security of
employees is one of the most significant element. With this regard strong security norms can be

practised. The entities are recommended to abide with the standards decided by states. Some
innovative practises can be imparted, such as alarm system, proper training of employees,
keeping moving parts with safety etc. For giving ease to employees some changes can be made
in leave policy too. Have a clear and well articulated leave policy, may also use leave
management software, can bring better communication tools, can set up strong labour laws so
without affecting productivity can satisfy human resources. Employment contract is the most
prominent document so the organization is suggested to fabricate it keeping all relevant aspects
into consideration. Some aspects like- completeness, full information of job role and
responsibility, security norms, leave policy, conditions in some unforeseen circumstances etc.
can be presented clearly so it will not only eradicate vagueness but will also bring clarity to the
employees. So by abiding with the above extended suggestions organizations can improve their
HR management and can make the human resources thrive.
From the above essay it can be concluded that it is necessary for the company to make
various effective strategies for improving the HR policies of the company in order to effectively
achieve the goals and objectives of the company. The essay also summarize about the various
cultures with the application of the Hofstede's cultural dimension in order to understand the
difference in the culture. Apart from this difference between collectivism and individualism is
also discussed in the essay.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aloi, and et.al., 2020. The Young Schema Questionnaire Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3): does the new
four-domains model show the best fit?. Anales de Psicología/Annals of
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Asfahani, A., 2021. The Impact Of Modern Strategic Human Resources Management Models On
Promoting Organizational Agility. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 20(2).
pp.1-11.
Dattaraju, A., 2020. Human Resources: A case study of must-have HR Policies, Hypothetical
cases, Employment Legal Cases and their Worst-Case Analysis. International Journal
of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP). 10(06).
Javadizadeh, B., 2020, October. Workplace Bullying: The Role of Hr Policies and Training in
Promoting a Healthy Workplace Environment. In Academy of Management
Proceedings.
Kaasa, A., 2021. Merging hofstede, schwartz, and inglehart into a single system. Journal of
cross-cultural psychology. 52(4). pp.339-353.
Mastracci, S. and Adams, I., 2019. Is emotional labor easier in collectivist or individualist
cultures? An east–west comparison. Public Personnel Management. 48(3). pp.325-344.
Minkov, M. and Kaasa, A., 2020. A test of Hofstede's model of culture following his own
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Ptel, M., 2020. Social Posting in Covid-19 Recruiting Era-Milestone HR Strategy Augmenting
Social Media Recruitment. Dogo Rangsang Research Journal. 10(6). pp.82-89.
Sato, Y., Kobayashi, N. and Shirasaka, S., 2019. Deriving Challenges through Clarification of
Areas to Strengthen the HR System Using A Matrix with the Three Axes of Target

Employee, Life Cycle Stage, and HRM Policy Choices. International Journal of Japan
Association for Management Systems.11(1). pp.91-101.
Widjaja, and et.al., 2021. National HR Management Policies and Benefits for MSME Managers
in the Indonesian Tourism Sector in the 21st Century: Systematic Review of
International Publications. International Journal of Business, Economics &
Management. 4(2). pp.417-426.
Wong, and et.al., 2018. The emperor with no clothes: A critique of collectivism and
individualism. Archives of Scientific Psychology.6(1). p.251.