Relationship between business strategy and human resource management practices in private and public limited companies in Malaysia
How to Cite
How to Cite
Article
This study examines the relationship between two business strategies (differentiation and low-cost) and six human resource management (HRM) practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, performance management, employment security, and work-life balance). Furthermore, an examination was conducted on the differences in such relationship between the Public and Private Limited companies in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to investigate the effect of business strategy on HRM practices and to determine the invariance effect of the two businesses ownership in the model. It is found that differentiation strategy stressed on all six HRM practices while low-cost strategy emphasized four HRM practices only. The results also show that the effects of business strategy and HRM practices performed in Public Limited companies are only slightly different from the ones performed in Private Limited companies.
Metrics & impact
Citations by source
Harvested 08-09-2026Counts differ by index because each source crawls a different corpus. Crossref counts only registered reference lists; Google Scholar includes theses, preprints and grey literature.
Reads & downloads
Attention beyond citation
From OpenAlex. A field-weighted impact of 1.00 is the world average for work of the same field, type and year. No Altmetric key is configured, so news, policy and social attention are not shown.
References
-
Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., Berg, P., & Kallebergerg, A. L. (2000). Manufacturing advantage: Why high-performance work systems pay off: Cornell University.
-
Arthur, J. B. (1994). Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover. The Academy of Management Journal, 37(3), 670-687.
-
Batt, R. (2002). Managing customer services: Human resource practices, quit rates, and sales growth. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 587-597.
-
Begin, J. P. (1991). Strategic employment policy: An organizational systems perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
-
Boselie, P., Dietz, G., & Boon, C. (2005). Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance research. Human Resource Management Journal, 15(3), 67-94.
-
Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modelling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
-
Cappelli, P., & Singh, H. (1992). Integrating strategic human resources and strategic management. In D. Lewin, O.S. Mitchell & P. D. Sherer (Eds.), Research Frontiers in Industrial Relations and Human Resources (pp. 165-192): Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Association.
-
Cardon, M. S., & Stevens, C. E. (2004). Managing human resources in small organizations: What do we know. Human Resource Management Review, 14(3), 295-323.
-
Chandler, G. N., & McEvoy, G. M. (2000). Human resource management, TQM, and firm performance in small and medium-size enterprises. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25(1), 43-57.
-
Chang, P.L., Chen, W.L. (2002), The effect of human resource management practices on firm performance: Empirical evidence from Taiwan’s high-tech firms, International Journal of Management, Vol. 19 No.4, pp.622-31.
-
Chiah-Law, G., Stanley, P., & Chris, S. (2003). The role of human resource management in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures. Journal of European Industrial Training, 27(5), 244-262.
-
Cohen, Y., & Pfeffer, J. (1986). Organizational hiring standards. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 1-24.
-
Davis, D., & Consenza, R. M. (1988). Business research for decision making (2nd ed.): PWS-Kent Publishing Company, Boston, MA.
-
De Kok, J. M. P., & Uhlaner, L. M. (2001). Organizational context and human resource management in the small firm. Small Business Economics, 17, 273-291.
-
Delery, J. E., & Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic HRM: Test of universalistic, contingency and configurational performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 802-835.
-
Dennis, D., Michael, L. V., & Meredith Blackwell, W. (2002). Strategic human resource management: Perceptions among North Carolina county social service professionals. Public Personnel Management, 31(3), 359.
-
Dess, G. G., & Davis, P. S. (1984). Porter’s generic strategies as determinants of strategic group membership and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 26(3), 467-488.
-
Doty, D. H., Glick, W. H., & Huber, G. P. (1993). Fit, equifinality, and organizational effectiveness: A test of two configurational theories. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 1196-1250.
-
Dowling, P., & Schuler, R. (1990). Human resource management. In R. Blanpian (Ed.), Comparative Labor Law and Industrial Relations in Industrialized Market Economics (pp. 125-149). Deventer: Boston Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers.
-
Dyer, L., & Holder, G. W. (1988). A strategic perspective of human resource management. In L. Dyer (Ed.), Human Resource Management: Evolving Roles and Responsibilities. Washington, DC: BNA.
-
Dyer, L., & Reeves, T. (1995). Human resource strategies and firm performance: what do we know and where do we need to go? International Journal of HRM, 6(3), 656-671.
-
Echeverria, P., & Andres, C. (2001). A systemic approach towards the study of the impact of human resource management on firm performance: Theoretical analysis and empirical research. Spain: Universidad de Navarra.
-
Geringer, J. M., Frayne, C. A., & Milliman, J. F. (2002). In search of ‘‘best practices’’ in international human resource management: Research design and methodology. Human Resource Management, 41(1), 5-30.
-
Guest, D. (1997). Human resource management and performance: A review and research agency. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8(3), 263-276.
-
Guest, D. E., Conway, N., & Dewe, P. (2004). Using sequential tree analysis to search for “bundles” of HR practices. Human Resource Management Journal, 14, 79-96.
-
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., J., B. B., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6 ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
-
Hannah, D. R., & Iverson, R. D. (2004). Employment relationships in context: Implications for policy and practice. In J. A-M. Coyle-Shapiro, L.M. Shore, M. S. Taylor & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), The Employment Relationship: Examining the Psychological and Contextual Perspectives (pp. 332-350). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Harel, G. H., & Tzafrir, S. S. (1999). The effect of human resource management practices on the perceptions of organizational and market performance of the firm. Human Resource Management Journal, 38, 185-200.
-
Hassan, A. (2010). Linking quality assurance to human resource management: A study of SMEs in Malaysia. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 27(6), 641-657.
-
Heneman, H. G., & Berkley, R. A. (1999). Applicant attraction practices and outcomes among small businesses. Journal of Small Business Management, 37, 53-74.
-
Heneman, R. L., Tansky, J. W., & Camp, S. M. (2000). Human resources management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises: Unanswered questions and future research perspectives. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25(1), 11-26.
-
Hoque, K. (2000). Human resource management in the hotel industry: Strategy, innovation, and performance. London: Routledge.
-
Hornsby, J., & Kuratko, D. (2003). Human resource management in US small business: A replication and extension. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 8(1), 73-92.
-
Huang, T. C. (2001). The effects of linkage between business and human resource management strategies. Personnel Review, 30(2), 132-140.
-
Inhofe, M. M. (1992). Consequences of organizational communication: The role of the marketing function in the health care industry. University of Memphis.
-
Jackson, S. E., & Schuler, R. S. (1995). Understanding human resource management in the context of organizational and their environment (Vol. 46). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.
-
Kerr, A., & McDougall, M. (1999). The small business of developing people. International Small Business Journal, 17(2), 65-74.
-
Khatri, N. (2000). Managing human resource for competitive advantage: A study of companies in Singapore. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 11, 336-365.
-
Kotey, B., & Slade, P. (2005). Formal human resource management practices in small growing firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 43(1), 16-40.
-
Lynch, D. F., Scott, B. K., & John, O. (2000). The effects of logistics capabilities and strategy on firm performance. Journal of Business Logistics, 21(2), 47-68.
-
Martell, K., Gupta, A., & Carroll, S. J. (1996). Human resource management practices, business strategies, and firm performance: A test of strategy implementation theory. Irish Business and Administrative Research, 17(1), 18-35.
-
Meyer, A. D., Tsui, A. S., & Hinings, C. R. (1993). Guest co-editors introduction. Configurational approaches to organizational analysis. Academy of Management Journal 36, 1175-1195.
-
Miles, R., & Snow, C. (1984). Designing strategic human resource systems. Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 36-52.
-
Ng, I., & Maki, D. (1993). Human resource management in the Canadian manufacturing sector. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(4), 897-916.
-
Nunnally, J.C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill
-
Osman, I., Ho, T. C., & Galang, M. (2011). Are human resource departments really important? An empirical study on malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the service sector. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(2), 147-153.
-
Pan, T. J. (2007). An investigation of the relationship between business strategy and HRM in the budget, mid and upper hotel sectors. Unpublished Dissertations & Theses, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom.
-
Rowley, C., & Abdul-Rahman, S. (2007). The management of human resources in Malaysia: Locally-owned organisations and multinational organisations. Management Review, 18(4), 427-453.
-
Schuler, E. S., & Jackson, S. E. (1987). Linking competitive strategy with human resource management practices. Academy of Management Executive, 3, 207-219.
-
Shaw, J. B., Tang, S. F. Y., Fisher, C. D., & Kirkbride, P. S. (1993). Organizational and environmental factors related to HRM practices in Hong Kong: A cross-cultural expanded replication. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(4), 785-815.
-
SMIDEC. (2009). Annual Report. Kuala Lumpur: Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad.
-
Stewart, G. L., & Brown, K. G. (2009). Human Resource Management Linking Strategy to Practice. USA: Wiley.
-
Takeuchi, N., Wakabayashi, M., & Chen, Z. (2003). The strategic HRM configuration for competitive advantage: Evidence from Japanese firms in China and Taiwan. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 20(4), 447-480.
-
Tansky, J. W., & Heneman, R. (2003). Guest editor’s note: Introduction to the special issue on human resource management in SMEs: A call for research. Human Resource Management, 42(4), 299-302.
-
Truss, C. (2001). Complexities and controversies in linking HRM with organizational outcomes. Journal of Management Studies, 38(8), 1121-1149.
-
Tsui, A. S., & Wu, J. B. (2005). The new employment relationship versus the mutual investment approach: Implications for human resource management. Human Resource Management, 44(2), 115-121.
-
Wagar, T. (1998). Determinants of human resource management practices in small firms: Some evidence from Atlantic Canada. Journal of Small Business Management Science, 36(2), 13-23.
-
Wright, P. M., & Snell, S. A. (1998). Toward a unifying framework for exploring fit and flexibility in strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 23, 756-772.
-
Zajac, E. J., & Shortell, S. M. (1989). Changing generic strategies: Likelihood, direction, and performance implications. Strategic Management Journal, 10, 513-530.