HR Practices in China vs. United States: A Cultural Perspective

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Human Resources (HR) practices in China and the United States, highlighting the influence of cultural differences on employment practices. It contrasts China's collectivist culture, which emphasizes group goals and centralized decision-making, with the United States' individualistic approach, where employee participation and individual achievement are prioritized. The essay also addresses the issue of gender pay disparity in both countries, noting that while the problem persists in both nations, the United States is making more progress towards gender equality in compensation. The analysis covers differences in salary structures, working styles, and overall cultural values, providing a comprehensive overview of how these factors shape HR practices in each country. Find more solved assignments on Desklib.

HR Practices in China and United States
The HR practices of any country speaks volumes about its culture. Every country
differs in the way they pay their employees to the committee which hears their grievances
against their employers. United States and China are two contrasting country in terms of their
culture and values. While United States is an individualist society, China has a collectivist
culture, which mean they give more importance to group and their community compared to
that of United States.
China has a salary structure here they award their employee payment on monthly
basis (Shira, 2018), while United States has a pay structure where the pay of the employees
are measured on weekly basis. For example, when one is quoting their average salary in
United States, they refer to it on weekly basis, compared to that of China where they quote
their monthly or yearly salary. While the average wage for American workers are $857 per
week as per the 2017 statistics (The Balance Careers, 2019), the average salary in China is
recoded at 74,318 Yuan per year in the same year (Statista, 2018).
The pay disparity differs between the two nations as well. Though there exists
difference in gender equality when it comes to paying salaries, United States has tried to
bridge the gap and have somewhat comes closer when it comes to paying their female and
male employees. On the other hand, the disparity between the male and female salaries is
great in China with reports claiming that women gets paid 22 percent less compared to what
their male counterpart are getting. Further, the female workers in china feels that the pay
disparity reduces their scope of promotion opportunities by 11.5 percent (Chenglong, 2018).
On the other hand, in America, female workers earned 82% of what their male counterpart
earned (Graf, Brown and Patten, 2018). Thus, though both countries are struggling with
gender equality, America is on a better footing than China.

Culture can have a strong bearing on the way the employees of different nations work
towards their goal or objectives. The Chinese culture is highly collectivist, which emphasises
that the employees gives more importance to the group goals and works towards a common
objective, rather than their own individualistic goal. In China, most organisation have a
centralised way of working. There is a key personnel, preferable the CEO, sitting at the top
who has the vision for the company. Under him there are bunch of less important employees
working who follows the CEO’s command (Hill, 2018). On the other hand, United States has
an individualistic way of working. Employee participation is seen as a key feature in the
workplace, where the leader gives a freehand to its subordinates to participate in the decision
making related to their own sphere of work. Further, in the American way of working, more
emphasis is paid to individual achievement than group achievement (Hao, 2015). Thus,
employees tend to become more self-reliant and do more hard work to fulfil their individual
dreams.
To conclude, the culture between the two nations is contrasting, which reflects on
their employment practices. China is struggling with pay disparity, but the issue is still
pertinent in United States. Further, the collectivist culture in China places importance to the
common goal rather than their individual ones which is true for the American culture. Thus,
there is a centralised way of working in China while in America there is a more decentralised
way of working.

References
Chenglong, J. (2018). Report: Gender pay gap narrows in China - Chinadaily.com.cn.
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28 Feb. 2019].
Statista. (2018). China: average annual salary of an employee 2017 | Statistic. [online]
Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278349/average-annual-salary-of-an-
employee-in-china/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
Graf, N., Brown, A. and Patten, E. (2018). Gender pay gap has narrowed, but changed little
in past decade. [online] Pew Research Center. Available at:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/09/gender-pay-gap-facts/ [Accessed 28 Feb.
2019].
Hao, S. (2015). An Analysis of American Individualism Culture. [online] haosuyawen.
Available at: https://haosuyawen.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/an-analysis-of-american-
individualism-culture/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
Hill, D. (2018). How Collectivism Manifests Itself in the Chinese Workplace |外外外外|
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https://www.echinacities.com/career-advice/How-Collectivism-Manifests-Itself-in-the-
Chinese-Workplace [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
The Balance Careers. (2019). How Much Is the Average Salary for US Workers?. [online]
Available at: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/average-salary-information-for-us-workers-
2060808 [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].

Shira, D. (2018). Structuring a Salary Package in China. [online] China Briefing. Available
at: https://www.china-briefing.com/news/structuring-salary-package-china/ [Accessed 28
Feb. 2019].