Professionalization of Human Resource Management in China: Assessing Its Progress and the Roles of the State, Market, and Associations

Abstract

This research aims to explore the process of HR professionalization in a Chinese context and analyzes how the state, market, and association influence the nine characteristics of the HR profession. Within competitive environments, the effectiveness of HRM is crucial to business achievement due to HRM possesses strategic value for an organization. HRM is considered as a new corporate profession and the roles of HR professionals have increased rapidly to gain competitive advantages. However, as an entire concept, the HR profession has been less examined in China. It is essential to professionalize HR practitioners as a result of the underdevelopment of HRM in China, even though there is an increasing awareness of the significance of HR professionals. Against this backdrop, the author measures nine characteristics of the HR profession and explains how the three actors promote the process of the HR professionalization in a Chinese context.

The entire thesis is a case study of the HR profession in China. The primary data collection methods are the in-depth semi-structured interviews with HR professionals in the public and private sectors. The findings show that the HR profession in China is a semi-profession instead of a full profession because most of the characteristics locate in the semi-professional status and some characteristics stand in the low-professional status. However, the evidence from China reveals that the HR profession develops healthily since its establishment and the profession is on the road to the full professionalization. Based on the analysis, the degree of the HR professionalization has been improved and the professional status of the profession has been enhanced in the Chinese context.

In the empirical analysis, the author emphasizes the roles of state, market, and association in enhancing the status of the HR profession. Particularly, the findings highlight the prominent role of the state in promoting the process of the HR professionalization in China, while the market and association have played increasingly significant roles as well. As a whole, the state, market, and association actively promote the development of professions and employs HR practitioners for various organizations in China. However, the three actors exert different influences in the nine characteristics of the profession. As a result, a matrix table illustrates the relationships between the three actors and the nine characteristics of the profession.

Date of Award	6 Sept 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Chih Wei HSIEH (Supervisor) & Paul HIGGINS (Supervisor)