Human Capital Management: The German Way**

Zusammenfassung

---

The German discourse on Human Capital Management (HCM) has a long history which resulted in the manifoldness of notions connected with HCM. The exact specification of the meaning of HCM basically depends on the frame of reference used: the frame of the past, of the present or of the future. The present article which concentrates on the German aspects of the HCM debate is aimed at systematizing this discourse by outlining the past and present HCM development in Germany as well as its future perspectives.

Siehe den Gesamtinhalt dieses Dokumentes

Auszug

---

Human Capital Management: The German Way**

1. Introduction

1.1 Topicality

In Germany, corporate Human Capital Management (HCM) is gaining growing relevance in strategic HRM as a systematic instrument to analyze and improve HRM quality and performance. Especially the monetary value of the corporate human capital serves as an important lead indicator in several economic contexts. In etymological terms, human capital is derived from macroeconomics but was later transferred to the field of business administration and management (e.g., Ortner 1982). The economic theory of human capital which assumes competencies, skills, and knowledge to be a precondition for economically usable behavior and obtainable income (e.g., Schultz 1961; 1971; Becker 1962; 1964; Correa 1962) is the foundation of the corporate human capital discussion.

Some of the basic HCM rationales have an internationally universalistic (e.g., Hampden-Turner/Trompenaars 1993) character. In this sense, it is broadly accepted in strategic HRM that people decisively contribute to corporate success (e.g., Pfeffer 1994; Hitt et al. 2001) - and so does HRM (e.g., Pfeffer 1995; Ulrich 1997). Internationally, these contributions are experiencing an ever growing number of empirical evidence (e.g., Huselid 1995; Wimalasiri 1995; Delaney/Huselid 1996; Becker/Huselid 1998; Barrette/Ouellette 2000). Accordingly, in HCM human resources are perceived as a specific sort of intellectual capital (e.g., Edvinsson/Malone 1997) and HRM as an investment into this capital. In analogy to financial capital, two general research lines have been developed. The first specifies the driving HR forces of corporate success. It results in a number of key performance indicators and performance drivers like annual training hours or the degree of variable payment (e.g., Becker/Huselid/Ulrich 2001) which are able to leverage HRM efforts. HCM in this view is seen as the description, combination and regulation of key performance indicators. The second research line connects HRM performance with company value. If excellent HRM increases corporate performance, it should be possible to identify the directly induced influences on the corporate value (e.g., Fitz-enz 2000; Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2006; Human Capital Institute 2006). In this respect, HCM is seen as monetary assessment of investment decisions in human capital, based on a clear measurement of the human capital.

However, this article follows a more particularistic explanatory approach and therefore concentrates on the German aspects of the HCM debate. The reason is that HCM is a strongly culture-bound issue in the context of a nation-specific conception of HRM. Contingent on country-specific conditions, during the evolution of HCM systems different theoretical roots are predominant, various economic trends and legal systems have influenced the respective HCM developments, and academia as well as practice has set different culturally influenced priorities in their culture-bound discourse. The first culture-bound issue is the basic approach of HRM:

* The prevalent US-American focus on strategic HRM (e.g., Fombrun/ Tichy/DeVanna 1984; Schuler /Jackson 1999) aims at the extensive consideration of the needs of internal and external stakeholders also by the human resources function. Employees are addressed as a driving force for corporate success. Therefore, HCM in the U...

Siehe den Gesamtinhalt dieses Dokumentes

---