Preface

As this second edition of Managing Human Resources in New Zealand goes to print, its focus remains the same as its predecessor's: the theories and practicalities of human resource management (HRM) in a New Zealand context. At a surface level, the practice of HRM in New Zealand might appear to be no different from anywhere else in the Western world. Its core functions are increasingly generic as a function of globalisation and the growth of multinational corporations. There is access to the same internationally available technology, techniques, and instruments (e.g. job analysis tools, psychometric tests), purchased easily through e-commerce and delivered in a moment via the Internet. In addition, there are certain 'best practice' principles that are (seemingly) universally applicable.

Further, with the growth of HRM degree programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, New Zealand human resource (HR) professionals have access to HRM research and are likely to be as aware of cutting edge theories and practices as their overseas counterparts. The progress made in the strategic orientation of HR departments and practices in New Zealand (which is not much changed from the first edition) mirrors the steady state found overseas too. Finally, parallel to what is going on at least in the Western world, the tension between HR professionalisation and HR devolution continues, with few HR practitioners seeing their roles dramatically altered, some being let go and their work outsourced, and many wondering how and when it will affect them.

Despite the commonalities between New Zealand and overseas practices, there are many potential contextual variables that determine how well HRM ideas and practices traverse national boundaries and whether they will be taken up. Obvious examples include differences between countries in their employment legislation, the degree of trade union membership and the political strength of trade unions, the degree of involvement of central government in business, economic factors, the labour market's cultural diversity and demographic composition, the infrastructure for technology uptake, and the role and impact of the country's professional associations (such as HRINZ). At the level of the organisation, there is also potential for considerable variance in how HR functions and their associated practices, processes, and procedures are conceived and implemented. These may vary as a function of organisational size, industry, public- or private-sector status, and location, among other factors. In general, the specific context or environment that a firm operates within will influence its uptake of HR practices.

A prime example of this is the impact of devolution due to the predominance of small employers in New Zealand. In that most employers here are small, HR roles are more likely to go to line managers in the first place or HR roles tend to be generalist, so they are more easily devolved. In contrast, the specialist HR roles seen in larger organisations are less easily devolved. Based upon examples such as this, the need for an introductory HRM textbook that specifically takes the New Zealand business context and relevant New Zealand HR research into account is obvious.

Keith Macky
Gene Johnson

2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
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