-
As globalization intensies, human capitdemand for international
talent forces rmemployees beyond the boundaries of a partito
recruit the right people in foreign count(Collings, Scullion &
Morley, 2007; Sculliondevelop local managers are the twomajor
re
r a naol of pcapitats' jobing o
organizations face the challenge of conicting requirements from
global standardization and local customization, which has
crucial
Human Resource Management Review 19 (2009) 334346
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Human Resource Management Review
j ourna l homepage: www.e lsev ie r.com/ locate
/humresimplications for HR functions. Prior cross-cultural studies
show that people fromdifferent cultural backgrounds tend to have
differentvalues leading to different behaviors (Adler, 1997;
Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005; Triandis, 1989,
2003). For example,marketing research has found that consumers
respondmore positively to advertisingmessages that are
congruentwith their culturalvalues (Zhang & Gelb,1996). In
addition, advertisements are more persuasive to consumers when rms
take cultural differences intoconsideration (Gregory & Munch,
1997; Han & Shavitt, 1994). This impact of cultural values in
organizational settings is also widelyshown by prior research on
topics such as organizational structure (Kirkman & Shapiro,
1997) and organizational strategy and trust(e.g. Doney, Cannon,
&Mullen,1998; Schneider & DeMeyer,1991). Previous
literature on international HR has also supported the ideathat
national cultural values have an impact on HR practices such as
selection, compensation, and turnover (Cable & Judge,
1994;Johnson & Droege, 2004; Posthuma, Joplin, & Maertz,
2005; Ramamoorthy & Carroll, 1998; Schuler & Rogovsky,
1998). However, weVarious factorsmay impact applicanvaluable
insights into our understandknow very little about the
effectiveness of re
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 901 216 6349.E-mail addresses:
[email protected] (R. Ma),
1 Tel.: +1 901 678 4729.
1053-4822/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier
Inc.doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.03.001pursuit decisions.We argue that
theories describing national cultural values canprovidef
recruitment and attraction. As businesses have transcended national
boundaries,international competition for humanal has become a
critical element for rm success (Kiessling & Harvey, 2005).
Increasings and institutions to recruit engineers, scientists,
managers, nurses, and other keycular country (Choi, Woods, &
Murrmann, 2000; Trossman, 2002). Without the abilityries,
multinational enterprises will not be able to keep their
competitive advantages, 1994). Research has shown that
internationalization and MNCs' failure to recruit andasons for the
shortage of international talent (Scullion, 1994). In addition, a
successfultion's economic growth due to the labor shortage in many
countries (Becker, 1995).ersuasive communication, play an important
role in attracting the right talent in thel.recruitment function is
also critical foRecruitment functions, as a critical toRecruiting
across cultures: A value-based model of recruitment
Rong Ma, David G. Allen 1
Department of Management, Fogelman College of Business and
Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, United
States
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
With globalization intensifying, knowledge of cultural
differences becomes increasingly critical.In the area of
recruitment, a cross-cultural knowledge base is vital as the demand
forinternational talent poses escalating challenges to effectively
attracting desirable applicants.However, we know very little about
the effectiveness of recruitment practices across culturesbecause
most studies have been conducted in the U.S. We propose a
theoretical framework ofrecruitment exploring how cultural values
inuence the effectiveness of recruitment practicesin different
cultural contexts. We argue that cultural values may moderate
relationshipsbetween recruitment practices and recruitment outcomes
across all phases of the recruitmentprocess and suggest
implications for future research directions.
2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords:International recruitmentNational cultural values
1. Introductioncruitment practices across cultures (Ployhart,
2006).
[email protected] (D.G. Allen).
All rights reserved.
-
Although recruitment communication is a form of advertising used
by organizations to market themselves and their jobopportunities,
national cultural values have seldom been applied to recruitment
theory and research. Most recruitment literature isconned to the
boundaries of the U.S. and has dealt with American applicants (e.g.
Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Cable & Judge, 1994;Collins &
Stevens, 2002; Stevens, 1997; Turban & Cable, 2003). Research
comparing recruiting activities within different culturalcontexts
remains scarce, and the possible effect of cultural values on
recruitment remains under-addressed. Since national
culturaldifferences constitute the major difculty in recruiting
international talent and transferring recruitment methods to
differentcontexts (Scullion, 1994), this critical contextual factor
of recruitment merits extensive research attention.
Following Ployhart's (2006) call for research on the
effectiveness of stafng practices across cultures, we integrate
Hofstede'sframework of national cultural values with Barber's
process model of recruitment to develop a cultural value-based
model ofrecruitment (See Fig. 1). In this model, we identify the
potential impact of Hofstede's ve dimensions of cultural values on
therelationships between major recruitment elements and outcomes
suggested by Chapman, Uggerslev, Carroll, Piasentin, and
Jones(2005) (i.e. job pursuit intentions, applicant intentions to
pursue a job or remain in the applicant pool; organization
attraction, theapplicants' overall evaluation of the attractiveness
of the organization; acceptance intentions, the likelihood that an
applicant willaccept the job offer if it is forthcoming; and job
choice, the nal choice to accept a job offer if it is extended),
across recruitmentphases (generating applicants, maintaining
applicant status, and inuencing job choice decisions). Our purpose
is to provide atheory-based framework to stimulate future research
on the role of cultural values in international recruitment.
There are, of course, multiple perspectives and models of both
the recruitment process and cultural values. We start withBarber's
(1998) recruitment phases as a useful organizing framework because
considering the recruitment process in this wayfocuses on the
motivations and goals of both applicants and organizations across
different stages and activities of recruitment.Thus, one of the key
contributions of our framework is the explicit recognition that
different aspects of culture are more or lessrelevant during
different recruitment activities depending on the goals of the
involved parties and the nature of their interactions.Since
signicant differences in cultural values exist, substantial
research has examined how these values are different based
onvarious cultural dimensions (e.g. Gupta & House, 2004; Haire,
Ghiselli, & Porter, 1966; Hofstede, 1980; Ronen & Shenkar,
1985;Schwartz, 1992; 1994). Among them, Hofstede (1980, 1984) has
made the most comprehensive and clear-cut attempt todimensionalize
cultural values (Schuler & Rogovsky, 1998; Shackleton &
Ali, 1990; Triandis, 1982). This research is also the mostrobust in
terms of the number of samples of national cultures (Smith, Dugan,
& Trompenaars, 1996) and has had far greater impactthan other
cultural studies (Sivakumar & Nakata, 2001). In addition, later
studies have produced convergent results and lend
335R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346support for Hofstede's (1980) framework (Lim, Leung,
Sia, & Lee, 2004; Smith & Bond, 1998). In the eld of
international humanresource management, Hofstede's dimensions have
also been found to be relevant in explaining differences in HR
practices inmultinational companies (Ferner, 1997). In addition,
based on survey data from both employees and managers in IBM,
Hofstede'sframework provides a better t with our research model in
terms of the context and the phenomenon we are interested in
thanother cultural models focusing on leadership (e.g. GLOBE,
House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004) or at an
individuallevel of analysis (e.g. Schwartz, 1994).
Fig. 1. A value-based model of recruitment.
-
336 R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346In general, we suggest that certain cultural values
interact with recruitment activities and process characteristics
acrossrecruiting phases. By integrating Hofstede's framework of
national culture with Barber's phases of recruitment, we extend
theliterature on recruitment, particularly the effectiveness of
recruitment practices, across cultures. However, we do not expect
allcultural values to inuence every aspect of the recruitment
process to the same degree or in the same way. Instead, we focus
onapplicants' reactions that are most likely to be inuenced by
culture because knowledge of these differences is critical for
efcientrecruitment within a global context. In the following
sections, we briey review the literature describing recruitment
activities andcultural values and discuss a theoretical framework
of how cultural values may inuence recruitment outcomes by
integratingHofstede's framework with recruitment elements.
Subsequently, theoretical and practical implications are
provided.
2. A value-based model of recruitment
Recruitment activities are a process aimed at attracting
applicants with required qualications and keeping them interested
inthe organization so that they will accept a job offer when it is
extended (Barber, 1998). Substantial research has been conducted
onrecruitment due to its critical importance in bringing human
capital into organizations (Barber, 1998). Specically,
recruitmenttheorists have studied the effects of recruitment
elements on both pre-hire and post-hire outcomes (e.g. Breaugh
& Starke, 2000;Phillips, 1998; Premack & Wanous, 1985;
Rynes & Barber, 1990; Rynes, 1991). In this study, we focus on
the inuence of culturalvalues on the relationship between
recruitment activities and the outcomes of recruiting efforts as
suggested by Chapman et al.(2005), i.e. whether rms can attract
enough applicants to apply for the job, avoid unwanted withdrawal
of applicants, and nallyensure that desired applicants accept the
offer. This is an important topic in the eld of recruitment because
cultural values caninuence how applicants and potential applicants
respond to recruitment practices. For example, Phillips and Gully
(2002) haveshown that certain applicant reactions are
systematically related to cultural values. In particular,
applicants from collectivisticsocietieswill react differently to
selection procedures from individualistic applicants. Therefore,
lack of knowledge on the inuenceof cultural values can be a serious
obstacle to achieving a better understanding of recruitment and to
accomplishing effectiverecruitment in a global setting.
Studies on national culture suggest that national culture is a
multi-level construct incorporating values, beliefs, andassumptions
shared by a group (Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005).
Values, dened as a broad tendency to prefer certainstates of
affairs over others (Hofstede, 2001: p.5), are themost
deeply-rooted core of national culture that are socially
constructedfrom the very early years of an individual's life.
Therefore, it is very difcult to change people's values after they
have been formed(Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). Combining the
results from the Chinese Culture Connection (1987), Hofstede's
model includes vecultural dimensions: power distance, uncertainty
avoidance, individualismcollectivism, masculinityfemininity, and
long-termand short-term orientations (Hofstede, 1994; Hofstede,
2003; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005).
We propose that these ve dimensions will inuence job seeker
reactions and decisions across the three phases of recruitment.In
the generating applicants phase, organizations are most interested
in attracting qualied applicants to the organization and
itsopportunities. Cultural values are most likely to play a role in
how potential applicants respond to initial communication
methodsand messages. In the maintaining applicants phase,
organizations are concerned about maintaining applicants' interest
whilesimultaneously evaluating applicants for job and
organizational suitability. Cultural values are most likely to play
a role in howapplicants respond to assessment methods and other
features of the stafng process. In the inuencing job choice
phase,organizations have chosen the candidates believed to t best
and hope that most of these candidates are equally
positivelydisposed to the organization. Cultural values aremost
likely to play a role in themost salient job and organizational
attributes usedin decision-making, and the relative inuence of
recruitment on job choice. These more specic effects of cultural
values acrossrecruitment phases are illustrated in Fig. 2 and
discussed below.
In particular, a key mechanism linking culture to the impact of
recruitment activities on outcomes is signaling theory
(Spence,1973). According to signaling theory, job seekers facing
incomplete information will use whatever information they do have
assignals regarding job and organization characteristics (Rynes,
1991). Culture may play a role in this process in at least three
ways:by affecting what signals job seekers attend to; by inuencing
how job seekers interpret the signals received from information
andinteractions; and by affecting how these signals inuence
reactions and decisions. Cultural values may also be important
becausethe extent to which individuals perceive that their values t
with those of the organization plays an important role in
recruitment,as shown by research suggesting that personjob and
personorganization t inuence organizational attraction and job
choice(Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). The balance
of the paper focuses on elaborating the effects of the ve
culturaldimensions on the relationship between recruitment
activities and recruitment outcomes.
2.1. Generating applicants
This phase of recruitment is the earliest one inwhich employers
are trying to attract a sufcient number of applicants to
choosefrom. Firms need to decide on the target applicant groups
they want to attract and what devices or communication tools to use
inorder to attract those desired applicants. The major recruiting
outcomes in this phase are organization attraction and job
pursuitintentions. Rynes (1991) has suggested that applicant
intentions to pursue a job can be inuenced early in the recruitment
process.In addition, how the organization approaches the applicants
can inuence applicants' perception of the attractiveness of
theorganization. Specically, Barber (1998) argues that choice of
recruitment sources and recruitment materials can have a
signicanteffect on applicant attraction. That is, the key question
of this phase is what kind of recruitment sources andmaterials will
result inmore favorable reactions from applicants, i.e. what kinds
of signals do job seekers attend to and how do they respond to
these
-
Fig.
2.Recruitm
entprocessmod
erated
bynation
alculturalvalues.
337R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346
-
338 R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346signals?While substantial research has examined the
effect of recruitment sources andmaterials on recruitment
effectiveness, thisresearch has largely not gone beyond the
boundaries of the U.S.
2.1.1. Recruitment source formality and
individualism/collectivismRecruitment sources have attracted
substantial research interest regarding the relative effectiveness
of various sources (Cober,
Brown, Keeping, & Levy, 2004; Gannon, 1971; Ryan &
Ployhart, 2000; Taylor & Schmidt, 1983; Vecchio, 1995; Zottoli
& Wanous,2000). In particular, prior studies provide various
typologies of recruitment sources based on factors such as
formality (e.g. Saks &Ashforth, 1997; Ullman, 1966), location
of the sources (e.g. Quaglieri, 1982; Zottoli & Wanous, 2000),
geographical focus (Rafaeli,Hadomi, & Simons, 2005),
andmotivation (e.g. Breaugh &Mann,1984). Themost common
dimension used to describe recruitmentsources is formality.
Although few researchers provide denitions of formality, most agree
that formal sources are those using aformal intermediary, such as
job fairs and job postings in newspapers, while informal sources
are those that use friends andrelatives, such as referrals (Saks
& Ashforth, 1997).
It has been found that informal sources are related to more
favorable post-hire outcomes than formal sources based onindividual
differences or met expectations (Barber, 1998). On the other hand,
recent research shows that recruitment sources alsoinuence pre-hire
attraction (Allen, Van Scotter, & Otondo, 2004). Based on the
difference between cultures along theindividualismcollectivism
dimension, we focus on the effect of formality of recruitment
sources on attraction in different cultures.Specically, we propose
that the individualismcollectivism dimension can shed light on
understanding the effect of sourceformality on pre-hire outcomes
because job seekers from collectivistic cultures are likely to
interpret signals from informal sourcesdifferently depending on the
nature of the source.
The individualismcollectivism dimension is the key dimension of
national cultural values and is most widely studied bytheorists
(e.g. Chen, Chen, & Meindl, 1998; Earley & Gibson, 1998;
Tiessen, 1997; Triandis, 2001; Wagner, 1995). In
particular,individualistic societies value individuals for
themselves as an independent entity. In contrast, collectivistic
societies do notseparate individuals from groups and other
individuals. Perceptions of an individual's self are interdependent
with the groups towhich he or she belongs. Moreover, people value
the interests of the group more than their own. They are
evenwilling to sacricetheir ownwelfare for the group (Chen, Peng,
& Saparito, 2002). This difference in perception of self has
critical implications on theindividual use of social networks, an
important channel through which individuals look for jobs (Marsden
& Gorman, 2001).
Network research shows that there are two types of interpersonal
ties, strong ties andweak ties (Granovetter,1973). Strong tiesare
those among intimate friends and relatives with high levels of
trust. Weak ties, on the contrary, refer to infrequent and
low-intimacy relationships. Although both strong and weak ties can
be friends or relatives, the major difference of the two lies
inwhether the relationship is an intimate one with frequent
interaction and trust. In collectivistic societies, individuals
focus ongroup membership and differentiate more strongly between
in-group and out-groupmembers, favoring in-groupmembers (Chenet
al., 2002). More important, while individuals feel socially
responsible for in-group members and are evenwilling to sacrice
forgroup interests, moral exclusion may occur when dealing with
out-group members (Chen et al., 2002). In contrast, people do
notdifferentiate in-group and out-group members as much in
individualistic cultures since they have a focus on the individual
ratherthan the group. Based on different perceptions of in-group
and out-group members, reconsideration of informal
recruitmentsources may be desired. Although some of the most
consistent ndings in recruitment research are the favorable
outcomesassociated with recruiting through employee referrals, in
collectivistic cultures these effects may be more dependent on
context.
In a recruitment context, contacts with strong ties may be
viewedmore similarly to in-groupmembers and contacts with weakties
share more features of out-group members such as relatively lower
levels of trust and intimacy. In collectivistic cultures,different
informal sources may tend to have very different meanings for
applicants depending on their group membership, without-group
members less likely to be viewed as credible attractive sources of
job information (Chen et al., 2002). Therefore, jobapplicants might
regard strong ties, such as close friends and relatives, as more
reliable and attractive recruitment sources thanweak ties, such as
acquaintances or professional contacts who are regarded as
out-groupmembers. That is, strong tie contacts maybe preferred in
collectivistic cultures when individuals are looking for jobs. For
example, Bian and Ang (1997) nd that most of thejob mobility in two
highly collectivistic countries, China and Singapore, is
facilitated through strong ties. Alternatively, because theU.S. is
a highly individualistic culture, different types of informal
referral sources, such as close friends, relatives, or someone
theapplicant is just acquainted with are likely seen as equally
credible and attractive sources of job information. That is to say,
whilejob applicants may not differentiate strong versus weak
informal contacts in individualistic cultures, informal sources
that are alsostrong ties are perceived as more attractive than weak
ties in collectivistic cultures.
P1. The positive relationship between informal sources and job
pursuit intentions will be strengthened by tie strength in
collectivisticcultures.
2.1.2. Recruitment sources and power distanceOther classications
of recruitment sources than formality have been offered. Breaugh
and Mann (1984) pointed out that
whether the organization or the applicant initiates recruitment
efforts can predict later performance. That is, rms can
activelycontact applicants through the use of more active sources
such as job fairs and search rms, or leave it to applicants to
initiateefforts to look for information about the rm's job
opportunities through the use of passive sources such as job
postings innewspapers or on the internet. Applicants who actively
look for employment tend to be more highly motivated to perform
thanthosewhomerely react to rm recruitment efforts. This implies
motivational difference in how applicants respond to active
versuspassive recruiting sources. We propose that
masculinity/femininity may inuence applicants' reaction to active
and passive
-
339R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346recruitment sources because culture may affect the
likelihood of attending to signals from passive recruitment
sources, and mayalso affect how active recruitment is
perceived.
The masculinity/femininity dimension refers to the extent to
which a society values masculine behaviors. In masculinecultures,
assertiveness, ambition, successful achievement, performance,
excellence, dominance, and competition are valued andgender roles
are unequal (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). In feminine cultures,
individuals give more attention to relationalconsiderations and
emphasize harmony among individuals and groups. Gender roles are
equal and emphasis is on quality of life,welfare of others, and
sympathy for the weak.
Within the context of recruitment, individuals in masculine
cultures may be more active in initiating the search to fulll
theirambition and achieve success. Active job search on the part of
the applicants may be the norm. Therefore, whether organizations
takeanactiveor passive approachmayhave less impactonwhether job
seekers are exposed to recruitment information since applicants
arelikely to uncover relevant informationon their
own.Alternatively, individuals in feminine culturesmaybemuch less
active in initiatingsearch efforts due to their emphasis on quality
of life; constant job scanning to maximize career opportunities is
less likely to be thenorm. To reach applicants in this context,
employers need to havemore active and systematic recruiting
sources, such as search rmsand job fairs; otherwise many potential
employees will never be exposed to recruitment messages. That is,
potential applicants infeminine cultures are less likely to attend
to the signals provided by passive recruitment sources than those
in masculine cultures.
Because the United States is a masculine culture (Davis,
Schoorman, & Donaldson, 1997), job seekers are likely to
discoverrelevant job information on their own and may even prefer
to actively discover recruitment information themselves.
Passiverecruiting sources, such as job postings, work for such
individuals, and indeed newspaper ads and internet job boards
arewidespread methods of nding jobs in the U.S. However, to recruit
applicants from feminine cultures, these passive recruitmentsources
might not be as effective. In more feminine cultures, rms may need
to more actively target and pursue applicants, pushrm information
to those applicants, and encourage them to apply for jobs.
P2a. Active recruiting sources will be more positively related
to applicants' job pursuit intentions than passive recruiting
sources infeminine cultures than in masculine cultures.
At the same time, the masculinity/femininity dimension of
culture may inuence how job seekers perceive the organization
inresponse to active versus passive recruitment methods. In
general, active recruitment methods may be seen as more
attractivebecause they entail more aggressively pursuing job
seekers leading to a sense that applicants are highly valued.
However, activerecruitment methods may be relatively more
attractive in masculine cultures. Since active recruiting practices
are congruent withthe expectations and emphasis of masculine
culture, they may act as an important signal to the applicant about
the organization.That is, active recruitment efforts may be
perceived as a sign by the applicant of an aggressive organization
concerned aboutsuccess. Thus, individuals from a more masculine
culture may perceive a better t with the values of organizations
thataggressively recruit them; this active approach may not
increase applicant perceptions of organization attractiveness in
morefeminine cultures since aggressiveness is not valued in such
cultures.
P2b. Active recruiting sources will be more positively related
to organization attraction than passive recruiting sources in
masculinecultures than in feminine cultures.
2.1.3. Recruitment materials and
individualism/collectivismAnother major issue to be considered in
this phase is the design of recruitment materials. Recruitment
materials provide
applicants with information about the job and the organization
and offer important signals about what it would be like to
workthere. Previous research has shown that the style and content
of recruitment materials can have a major impact on
applicants'decisions on whether to apply for a job or not (Barber,
1998).
In particular, cultural values have been found to inuence the
effect of recruitment materials on applicants' decision to apply
interms of pay structure. In studying compensation information in
recruitment materials, Cable and Judge (1994) found that
culturalvalues inuence applicants' attraction to recruitment
materials such that job seekers in individualistic cultures tend to
favorindividual-based pay more. This is because in individualistic
cultures, such as the U.S., individual perceptions of self
areindependent of other individuals, and his or her relationship
with others is not as close. By contrast, in collectivistic
culturesindividuals value others' perception and do not separate
themselves from the group to which they belong. They feel
comfortableworking with others and are more likely to be inuenced
by feelings of belongingness (Robert & Wasti, 2002). For
example,Kirkman and Shapiro (1997) found that there is more
resistance towards working teams in individualistic cultures than
incollectivistic cultures. Therefore, to attract applicants in
collectivistic cultures, rms may need to address
group-orientedinformation, such as reward systems based on group
performance instead of individual performance, and structures based
onteamwork. Alternatively, in individualistic societies,
individual-oriented content, such as clear emphasis on rewarding
individualefforts, may be perceived as more attractive. In
addition, recruitment material focus may inuence applicants'
perceptions oforganization attractiveness because the content
signals the congruence or incongruence of values in terms of job
and organizationcharacteristics such as reward systems. These
perceptions of congruence or incongruence likely depend a great
deal on the jobseeker's cultural lens and lead to perceptions of t
that are strongly related to organizational attraction
(Kristof-Brown et al., 2005).
P3a. Recruitment materials that focus on group-oriented content
will be more positively related to applicants' job pursuit
intentions andorganization attraction in collectivistic
cultures.
-
340 R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346P3b. Recruitment materials that focus on
individual-oriented content will be more positively related to
applicants' job pursuit intentionsand organization attraction in
individualistic cultures.
2.2. Maintaining applicant status
At this stage of recruitment, organizations have successfully
attracted applications from potential employees. Applicants
andemployersmay have their rst face-to-face contacts, and
applicants can have the opportunity to developmore in-depth
knowledgeabout the organization through site visits and interviews
with recruiters and even future colleagues. Thus, the signals sent
by theorganization and its agents may be seen as evenmore
representative of the work environment. For employers, this is a
crucial steptoward persuading the most promising candidates to
choose their organization since those candidates tend to be also
sought afterby other organizations. According to Barber et al.
(1994), one third of the applicants withdraw from the selection
process after theinterview. Therefore, this phase is of great
importance for effective recruitment. According to Chapman et al.
(2005), organizationattraction and acceptance intentions are two
important outcome variables in this phase.
Prior literature focuses on two issues in this phase, interviews
and administrative procedures (specically, time lags and
delays)after interviews. Concerning interviews, researchers have
studied the focus of the interview (Rynes, 1989; Taylor &
Bergmann,1987), interview structure (Taylor & Bergmann, 1987;
Turban & Dougherty, 1992), and interview content (Taylor &
Sniezek, 1984),and their effects on recruitment outcomes such as
applicants' acceptance of an offer. We focus on the interactive
effects of culturewith interview structure and with communication
lags.
2.2.1. Interview structure and power distanceAccording to Barber
(1998), structured interviews are controlled by recruiters and
consist of systematic interview questions.
Therefore, applicants aremore inuenced by the recruiter. In less
structured interviews, on the other hand, recruiters do not
dictatethe interview process and allow the interviewees to
participate in deciding the topics, the order of the topics, and
time devoted tothe topics discussed. Power distance may be an
important factor in understanding the effect of interview structure
on jobapplicants since individuals in low or high power distance
cultures desire different levels of autonomy in making decisions,
whichmay lead to different reactions to the interview structure.
Reactions to interview structure based on cultural values can
inuenceapplicants' perception of organizational attractiveness
through meeting applicant expectations, signaling, and
inuencingperceived personorganization t.
Hofstede denes power distance as the extent to which a society
accepts the fact that power in institutions and organizationsis
distributed unequally (Hofstede, 1980, p.45). Therefore, power
distance deals with the issue of social equality and inequality,and
the perceived power possessed by people at different social levels.
For cultures with low power distance, people tend to desireautonomy
and discretion and have little concern for social status and
formality (Adler, 1997). Individuals value systems that aremore
egalitarian and perceive others more as counterparts with whom they
can communicate equally. In work life, Adler (1997)found that it is
typical for individuals within this type of culture to make
decisions for the organization without consulting theirsuperiors.
Therefore, in the context of recruitment, individuals may expect
recruitment activities to allow them to accessinformationwith more
discretion so that they can determine what information is of more
value to them as opposed to dependingon the employers to decide
what they should know. This is the case of the U.S. where most of
the research on interview structurehas been conducted (e.g. Chapman
& Rowe, 2002; Taylor & Bergmann, 1987; Turban &
Dougherty, 1992). In general, the empiricalevidence collected
supports this argument and indicates that applicants tend to have
negative reactions towards highly structuredinterviews (Chapman
& Rowe, 2002; Chapman & Zweig, 2005; Hysong & Dipboye,
1999; Kohn, & Dipboye, 1998; Latham &Finnegan, 1993).
On the contrary, individuals whose values are formed in cultures
with high power distance assume that people have differentlevels of
power and respect this difference. They feel uncomfortable in
discretionary decisions and expect individuals at highersocial
levels to take the lead (Adler, 1997). Hierarchical structures are
the norm in this type of society (Hofstede, 1980). Whenreacting to
recruitment efforts, applicants may perceive recruiters as
representatives of organizations who possess higher socialstatus
based on authority and professional knowledge. These perceptions
can lead individuals in high power distance cultures torespect the
power and opinions of the recruiters to a greater extent.
Recruiters are thus more likely to be treated as the authorityand
as experts who are expected to control the interview process.
Therefore, in high power distance cultures, an informal
two-waycommunication with no clear structure may negatively inuence
applicants' perception of the organization.
In addition to the inuence on organizational attraction,
cultural valuesmay also affect applicants' acceptance intentions.
Basedon the attractionselectionattrition model, Schneider (1987)
suggested that the perceived similarity between the person and
thework environment determines attraction to, selection into, and
remaining in an organization. Previous literature conrms
thisargument and nds that when applicants perceive higher level of
t with the organization, they are more likely to intend to
acceptthe organization's job offer (Bretz & Judge, 1994) and
view the organization as more attractive (Bretz, Ash, & Dreher,
1989; Carless,2005).
P4a. More structured interviews will be positively related to
organizational attraction and applicants' acceptance intentions in
cultureswith high power distance.
P4b. Less structured interviews will be positively related to
organizational attraction and applicants' acceptance intentions in
cultureswith low power distance.
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341R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 3343462.2.2. Communication delay and uncertainty
avoidanceAnother important issue during this phase is the
possibility of time lags between steps in the recruitment process.
Based on the
qualications of applicants, employers make decisions about
whether applicants should continue in the process and whether
tooffer an applicant a position. This process of decision-making
takes some time, during which the applicant also has the chance
toreconsider the employer based on further information from the
stafng experience. The time lag and communication delays duringthis
process can have an impact on applicant attraction reected in
outcomes such as dropouts (Arvey, Gordon, Massengill, &Mussio,
1975). Rynes, Bretz, and Gerhart (1991) reported that communication
delays have a negative effect on applicants'willingness to accept
eventual offers. This may be because delays are seen as signals of
both the likelihood of receiving an offer andof organizational
competence. Theorists also suggest that more desirable applicants
tend to have lower tolerance forcommunication delays (Thurow, 1975)
since they have more opportunities and are less willing to wait.
Taking cultural valuesinto consideration, the effects of time lag
may also have different effects on applicants in diverse
cultures.
Breaugh (1992)has suggested that uncertaintyavoidance canbe
agood reason fororganizations tomake timelyoffers to
applicants.Members of lowuncertainty avoidance societies aremore
tolerant of uncertain situations (Hofstede&Hofstede, 2005).
They tend to bewilling to take risks and feel more at ease dealing
with unpredictable futures. This value system may foster a better
environment forchange and innovation (Geletkanycz, 1997). Research
ndings in the U.S., which is characterized with a moderate to low
level ofuncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 1991), suggest that
communication delays are negatively perceived. We argue that the
negativeimpact of communication delays on recruiting outcomes may
be more pronounced in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance.
Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) suggest that members of cultures
with high uncertainty avoidance are likely to feeluncomfortable
with uncertain situations. They prefer structure, organization, and
standardization to avoid uncertain events andhave low levels of
tolerance for uncertainty (Hofstede,1980). This cultural value
system tends to be associated with higher levels ofdifculty
embracing and encouraging innovations (Mueller & Thomas, 2001).
In the recruitment process, longer delays create anambiguous
context that may be intolerable in high uncertainty avoidance
cultures. Therefore, a structured recruitment systemwould be
preferred and employers are more likely to be expected to comply
with norms in communication time lags. In addition,Rynes et al.
(1991) found that applicants, especially those with better
qualications, will perceive recruitment delay as a sign
oforganizational inefciency, which may be exacerbated in high
uncertainty avoidance cultures where structure and efciency helpto
reduce ambiguity. Therefore, the delay may result in lower
acceptance intentions and decreased organizational attraction
insuch cultures.
P5. Communication delays in a recruitment process will be more
negatively related to organizational attraction and
applicantacceptance intentions in high uncertainty avoidance
cultures than in low uncertainty avoidance cultures.
2.3. Inuencing job choice
This is the nal stage of the recruitment process at which the
offer has been extended and the applicant must make a
decisionwhether to accept the offer (Barber,1998). Therefore,
themajor recruiting outcome at this stage is the actual job choice.
Job choice is afunction of objective factors, such as job
attributes, subjective factors, such as personorganization t, and
critical contacts, such asinteractionwith recruiters. A major issue
the applicant considers in making a job choice decision is the
content of the job offer, whichcan include objective factors, such
as pay, vacation, and job title, and subjective factors, such as
personorganizationt and personjobt (Behling, Labovitz & Gainer,
1968). In studying job offers, researchers have investigated how
individuals give priority to differentattributes (Bretz et al.,
1989; Bretz & Judge, 1994; Cable & Judge, 1996; Jurgensen,
1978; Lacy, Bokemeier, & Shepard, 1983; Lacy et al.,1983;
Turban, Eyring & Campion, 1993). Specically, prior studies
indicate that job attributes inuence job acceptance more
thanrecruitment practices (Boswell, Roehling, LePine, &
Moynihan, 2003; Powell, 1984; Taylor & Bergmann, 1987). Because
most of thisresearch has been conducted within the U.S., which is
characterized with certain underlying cultural values, we assert
that theexploration of potential effects of cultural values will
enhance our understanding of the relationship between job
attributes andapplicants' job choice decisions. In particular, the
dimensions of masculinityfemininity and long-term or short-term
focus mayinuence the manner in which signals from job offers
interact with applicants' preferences for different job
attributes.
2.3.1. Job attributes and masculinity/femininityAs
suggestedearlier, researchsuggests that personorganizationt can
inuence applicants' jobpursuit intentions (Chapmanet al.,
2005). That is, individual attitudes and behaviors can be
affected by the congruence between individual attributes and
theenvironment (Pervin, 1989; Schneider, 1987). Therefore, cultural
differences, as an important contextual variable (Cable &
Edwards,2004), may play an important role in how individuals
perceive their t with the job and the organization, and which job
andorganization attributes are most salient in inuencing their job
pursuit intentions. Most previous research in this area has
beenconducted in theU.S., a culture highonmasculinity. In this type
of culture, people tend to emphasize outcomes, value competition,
andappreciate aggressiveness. In a job choice decision-making
process, the strong emphasis on results may lead people into
consideringobjective factors such as salary and job title as more
important. Chapman et al. (2005) echo this argument and nd that
objectivefactors are important determinants of applicant attraction
and play a more signicant role when job choice is considered.
Feminine cultures, on the other hand, give priority to
relationships and to quality of life. Individuals are trying to
maintaininterpersonal ties and social relations and regard the
harmony of relations as more important. In reacting to job offers,
individualswith an emphasis on relational aspects will likely pay
more attention to subjective factors such as personjob t and
personorganization t since achieving harmony in life is more
important for them.
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342 R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346P6a. Objective factors, such as job attributes, will
be more positively related to applicants' job choice in masculine
cultures than infeminine cultures.
P6b. Subjective factors, such as personorganization t, will be
more positively related to applicants' job choice in feminine
culturesthan in masculine cultures.
2.3.2. Recruitment/recruiter inuence and
masculinity/femininityConsidering that applicants have limited
information about the organization (Rynes, 1991), recruiters and
recruitment
activities are an important source from which applicants obtain
signals about the organization. Prior research has shown
thatrecruiter behavior can inuence applicant attraction because
recruiters are regarded as the representative of the
organization(Harn & Thornton, 1985; Ralston & Brady, 1994).
Applicants may interpret recruiter behaviors or recruitment
characteristics assignals of unknown organizational attributes
(Rynes, 1991). For example, prepared recruiters will be related
with overallorganizational efciency; recruiter affect may be a
symbol of organizational culture. However, most prior studies found
that theimpact of recruiter and recruitment activities on job
choice is small or in some cases not signicant. This pattern of
ndingsmay bedue to the specic cultural context where the prior
studies have been conducted.
As noted earlier, in masculine cultures people value
aggressiveness and ambition. Emphasis is thus on outcomes more
thanrelationships. Beyond the function of signaling unknown
information, recruiters and the recruitment practices in this
context mayhave little impact on applicants' job choice because job
seekers may tend to focus on objective job characteristics. In
contrast,feminine societies give priority to relationships and
harmony. In the recruitment process, this implies an emphasis on
relationalaspects, which can be inuenced largely by the recruiter
and recruitment interactions. Beyond providing hard to
obtaininformation about the organization, recruiters can also begin
the process of relationship-building with others in the
organizationduring the recruitment process, which would be highly
valued in feminine cultures. This differing emphasis on
outcomescompared to relationships may explain why job attributes
are more important in attracting applicants and inuencing job
choicethan recruitment activities in the U.S. (Chapman et al.,
2005; Rynes, 1991), a society which is high in masculinity. We
suggest thatthe role of recruiters and recruitment interactions may
be relatively more important in feminine cultures.
P7. Recruitment activities and recruiters will be more strongly
related to applicants' job choice in feminine cultures than
masculinecultures.
2.3.3. Job attributes and long-term/short-term orientationIn
addition to masculinityfemininity, the dimension of long-term
versus short-term orientation can also help in identifying
applicants' preference for different job attributes. In
particular, there are two types of objective factors. Extrinsic job
attributes aretangible factors such as pay, company policies,
working conditions, and status. Intrinsic job attributes, on the
other hand, are lesstangible, suchas achievement, possibilityof
growth, and advancementopportunities
(Tietjen&Myers,1998).Weassert that long-termand short-term
orientations can make a difference in inuencing applicants'
preference for different types of objective job attributes.
The long-term/short-term orientation focuses on individuals'
perception of time, and is concerned with whether peopleemphasize
the future, the present, or the past. In long-term oriented
cultures, individuals emphasize the future and are willing
tosacrice present benets for future welfare. For example, in China,
a culture characterized with long-term values (Hofstede,
1991),workers tend to be motivated more by long-term objectives,
such as training opportunities (Terence & Bak, 1998) and put
lowpriority on pay, benets, working conditions, and convenient
working hours (Elizur, Borg, Hunt, & Beck,1991). Alternatively,
short-term oriented cultures, such as the U.S., place more emphasis
on the present and the past (Hofstede, 1993). Society members
tendto focus more on what they possess and experience at the
present time than in the future. Current achievement is
valued(Hofstede,1991). Therefore, individuals tend to
bemotivatedmore by extrinsic factors. As such, we argue that time
orientation caninuence applicants' job choice through their
preference for different job attributes. In long-term oriented
cultures, applicantsprefer job attributes that stress intrinsic
factors, such as possible growth opportunities. In short-term
oriented cultures, in contrast,applicants are more attracted by
attributes featuring extrinsic factors, such as status and pay.
P8a. Job attributes featuring intrinsic factors will be more
positively related to applicants' job choice in long-term oriented
cultures.
P8b. Job attributes featuring extrinsic factors will be more
positively related to applicants' job choice in short-term oriented
cultures.
3. Discussion and conclusion
In this article, we examine the role of cultural values and
reveal potential key boundary conditions for the application of
widelyused recruitment frameworks in a cross-cultural context. In
developing this framework, we draw on established research from
theelds of recruitment and national culture and argue that cultural
context makes a difference in the effectiveness of
recruitmentactivities. This model has a variety of important
implications.
3.1. Theoretical contributions
Our model contributes to recruitment theory by introducing
cultural differences into recruitment research.
IntegratingHofstede's framework of national cultural values extends
the current understanding of recruitment to new contexts with
different
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343R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346underlying values. Identifying important boundary
conditions of current recruitment theory and research will
hopefully guidefuture theory and empirical work to hone our
understanding of organizational attractiveness and job choice
decisions in anincreasingly globalized world of work.
We also extend the application of signaling theory to
recruitment, providing greater depth to the mechanisms through
whichrecruitment processes inuence prospective applicants, and
explicitly describing how the same process may be interpreted
orresponded to differently depending on contextual factors such as
national culture. We suggest that the consideration of
culturalvaluesmay inuence the predictions of signaling theory
because job applicants within different cultural contexts may
interpret theinformation and signals in a different way based on
their values and beliefs. This possibility suggests that we may
need to includeboundary conditions, such as national culture, when
applying signaling theory to recruitment. Further, cultural
considerationsmaylead to meaningful discussions of other
recruitment frameworks and major theoretical perspectives. For
example, cultural valuesmay inuence the application of expectancy
theory (Vroom, 1964) in the context of recruitment research, a
widely usedexplanatory model of job choice (Barber, 1998). Job
applicants from different cultural contexts may allocate the same
recruitmentfeatures with different levels of instrumentality or
valence, resulting in different levels of job pursuit.
Incorporating national cultural values into recruitment research
also raises possibilities for considering other aspects of
cultureor context. For example, communication media could represent
a contextual factor that inuences the effectiveness of
recruitmentpractices (e.g., web-based recruitment: Allen, Mahto,
& Otondo, 2007; Dineen, Ash, & Noe, 2002). In addition, rm
size has beensuggested as an important contextual factor explaining
the differences in recruitment activities (Barber,Wesson, Roberson,
& Taylor,1999). In a similar vein, sub-cultures based on
factors such as generation and ethnicity (Egri & Ralston, 2004;
Goldberg & Allen,2008; Webster, 1992) may also function as
critical contextual factors. Similar to marketing research that
focuses on understandingthe characteristics of target markets,
recruitment research may also need to examine the characteristics
of target applicant poolsand formulate recruitment strategies based
on those characteristics. That is, there may be multiple levels of
culture that inuencethe recruitment process, e.g. national,
regional, occupational, ethnic, etc. This is an important issue
since a better understanding ofthe context of
recruitmentmayofferrms a competitive advantage in attracting talent
in amore effective fashion.We suggest that itis also important to
examine the potential interactive effects of different contextual
variables since rms' recruitment practices areinuenced by various
contextual constraints and opportunities. For example, cultural
values may interact with organizationalcontextual variables, such
as rm size, and inuence the choice and effectiveness of recruitment
sources.
It is also our hope that this paper will encourage empirical
studies to test our ideas and examine related topics. We
haveprovided a number of testable research propositions to help
stimulate work in this area. An important issue to consider
inempirical tests is data equivalence, which refers to the extent
to which the elements of a research design have the same meaningand
can be applied in the same fashion in different cultural contexts
(Hult et al., 2008). For example, organization attraction mayhave
different meanings for applicants from different cultural contexts.
Therefore, equivalence may be an important issue to beestablished
before inferences can be made. This has implications for the
understanding of the construct, measurement of relevantvariables
and the data collection process since failure to establish data
equivalence can bias the empirical results and
subsequenttheoretical inferences (Hult et al., 2008).
We have focused on the impact of cultural values on the
effectiveness of recruitment, that is, how cultural values
mightinuence the attractiveness of employers and the successful
recruitment of qualied employees through the incorporation of
apre-hire outcome model proposed by Chapman et al. (2005). For
future research, it will also be helpful to explore the inuence
ofcultural values beyond pre-hire outcome variables and investigate
the impact on other recruitment related outcome variables, suchas
job performance and retention. For example, Zottoli and Wanous
(2000) suggested the socialization process as a
potentialexplanation for performance difference for employees
recruited from different sources. In particular, employees
recruited fromreferrals may receive more help and become more
committed to the organization based on a more personalized
socializationprocess than those recruited from advertisements
(McManus & Baratta, 1992; Skolnik, 1987). It is reasonable to
expect that thiseffect of the socialization process may be stronger
for collectivistic cultures since it may inuence the employee's
perception ofgroup membership. Based on in-group membership,
individuals in collectivistic cultures are more concerned with
collectiveinterests, which may in turn impact subsequent
performance, embeddedness, and turnover decisions.
Finally, we chose to focus on the cultural dimensions associated
with Hofstede's work and to position their effects
acrossrecruitment phases as described by Barber (1998). However,
there are other perspectives on important cultural differences
andother ways of describing the recruitment process, and wemake no
claim these other frameworks are somehow less relevant to theissue
of cross-cultural recruitment. Quite the contrary, we hope that our
model of applying specic well-researched culturaldimensions to
understanding specic recruitment processes and activities can be
used by others to broaden our understanding ofthese issues even
further. However, we believe that given the widespread research on
Hofstede's cultural dimensions and thestraightforward utility of
considering the changing motivations and concerns of participants
across Barber's recruitment phases,these perspectives provide a
solid jumping off point for considering cross-cultural
recruitment.
3.2. Managerial implications
Finally, to the extent empirical research supports our
propositions, several recommendations for HR management can
bederived from our value-based framework of recruitment.
Understanding the dynamics and inuence of cultural values
onrecruitment is critical to successfully garnering the best human
resources globally. Although prior research has offered
usefulinsights on how to recruit more effectively, our study
suggests that adapting recruitment activities to the requirements
of thespecic cultural context may be a key to successful
international recruitment practice. For example, our analysis shows
that while
-
344 R. Ma, D.G. Allen / Human Resource Management Review 19
(2009) 334346the distinction between informal and formal
recruitment sources is sufcient for individualistic cultures, a
closer look at informalsources may be desired for recruiting
employees in collectivistic cultures. That is, HR managers may need
to be more active increating opportunities to establish strong tie
connections and make more efforts in cultivating relationships with
potentialqualied candidates. Also, western organizations operating
in this context may need to relax norms against the hiring of
family andclose friends.
Furthermore, we also suggest that the inuence of certain
recruitment elements may be amplied in certain cultures;
forexample, the negative effects of communication delays on
organization attraction and applicant acceptance intention in
highuncertainty avoidance cultures. Managers in these culturesmay
nd it evenmore important to streamline the recruitment process.
Our framework also suggests that there are situations when
certain recruitment activities that are effective in one culture
couldbe counter-productive in a different culture. For example,
highly structured interviews have been found to be negatively
related toorganization attraction (Chapman & Rowe, 2002; Hysong
& Dipboye, 1999; Kohn, & Dipboye, 1998; Latham &
Finnegan, 1993).Taking power distance into consideration, our
analysis indicates that structured interviews may be more effective
(in terms ofmaintaining applicant interest) in high power distance
cultures. Similarly, recruitment materials with a strong individual
focuscould have a negative impact on applicant job pursuit
intention and organization attraction for collectivistic cultures;
recruitmentcontent in this settingmay get better results by
emphasizing group-oriented themes such as teamwork or group prot
sharing. Ouranalysis also suggests that masculinity/femininity and
long-term/short-term orientations may result in different sets and
types ofjob features that positively inuence applicants' nal job
choices. For example, job offers in more feminine cultures may
havebetter results by emphasizing subjective factors such as t,
organizational culture, and relationships, while those in more
long-term oriented culturesmay have better results by emphasizing
intrinsic growth-related attributes. Therefore, HRmanagers need
tobe cautious about standardization of recruitment practice when
recruiting across cultures.
Adding to the complexity involved in international recruitment,
particular recruitment activitiesmay have conicting effects
ondifferent pre-hire outcomes in different cultures. For instance,
while active recruitment sources may increase applicants'
jobpursuit intention by reaching more applicants in feminine
cultures, this type of recruitment activity may not positively
inuenceorganization attraction in this context. This potential
trade-off may make recruitment a more demanding task and requires
HRmanagement to better understand the recruitment process and the
relative signicance of each element.
3.3. Conclusion
In short, our analysis suggests that recruitment within a global
context is a complex issue and HRmanagers need to be careful
incarrying out recruitment activities in different cultural
contexts. National culture may be an important moderator of
relationshipsbetween recruitment activities and outcomes across all
phases of the recruitment process. By taking different cultural
values intoconsideration, rms may be able to have an advantage over
competitors when building up the most important resources
oforganizations, their people.
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Recruiting across cultures: A value-based model of
recruitmentIntroductionA value-based model of recruitmentGenerating
applicantsRecruitment source formality and
individualism/collectivismRecruitment sources and power
distanceRecruitment materials and individualism/collectivism
Maintaining applicant statusInterview structure and power
distanceCommunication delay and uncertainty avoidance
Influencing job choiceJob attributes and
masculinity/femininityRecruitment/recruiter influence and
masculinity/femininityJob attributes and long-term/short-term
orientation
Discussion and conclusionTheoretical contributionsManagerial
implicationsConclusion
References