International comparative study of the effects of 'best practice' human resource management on worker outcomes in local government organisations : a case between England and Malaysia

This study empirically tests the universal thesis which proposes that 'best practice' HRM leads to enhanced individual and organisational performance. Research on the relationship between 'best practice' HRM and organisational performance has been of increasing interest over the last few decades. Findings from these studies have reported positive relationships between 'best practice' HRM and organisational performance however the majority of studies have used company-dominated performance measures. Few have considered the effects of HRM practices on worker outcomes - a significant omission in the extant literature. Moreover, most of the studies conducted in this area are based on research emerging from the US and UK private sector organisations. Whether the universal thesis has similar performance effects across national contexts and sectors (public/private) has largely been untested. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test the universal thesis in a non-Westernised country and to compare the effects of 'best practice' HRM on workers' performance outcomes in public sector organisations in England and Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire survey of 569 (England) and 453 (Malaysia) frontline workers, supervisors and middle managers working in England and Malaysia local government organisations was undertaken. The findings show that 'best practice' HRM explained workers' motivation, organisational citizenship behaviour and perceived organisational performance to a greater extent in Malaysia than in England local government organisations. Workers in Malaysia were found to be more motivated and more willing to help others with no additional pay in comparison to their England counterparts. However, even though 'best practice' HRM affected job satisfaction and intention to quit in both countries, the effect was greater for England workers. Furthermore, of the six HRM practices examined in this study, team working consistently had the most powerful effects on worker outcomes in both England and Malaysia local government organisations. Therefore, it appears that team working is an important predictor for achieving desirable worker outcomes in both countries. The findings also show that organisational climate explained job satisfaction more so in Malaysia than in England local government organisations. Also, organisational climate predicted workers' motivation and organisational citizenship behaviour in Malaysia but not in England. Concerning the relationship between worker outcomes and perceived organisational performance, the findings show that different outcomes predicted organisational performance. For instance in England job satisfaction predicted perceived organisational performance whereas, in Malaysia motivation and intention to quit predicted perceived organisational performance. In conclusion, this study has addressed the significant gaps in the extant literature and has presented empirical evidence in support of the universal thesis, in that the evidence presented reports statistically significant relationships between 'best practice' HRM and worker outcomes in public sector organisations in both Westernised and non-Westernised countries.