Paternalistic Human Resource Practices: Their Emergence and Characteristics
Paternalistic human resource practices (hereafter referred to as "paternalistic HR practices") originated from patriarchism. By definition, patriarch ism is a form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority and is the highest-ranking member in the family, clan, or tribe. Descent follows the male line with all the children belonging to the father's family, clan, or tribe. Patriarchism can manifest itself as either an authoritarian or a paternalistic style, that is, patriarchism covers a broad spectrum of concepts ranging from authoritarianism to paternalism. Paternalism has different styles from authoritarianism, although it does have some characteristics in common with authoritarianism because both authoritarianism and paternalism belong to patriarchism. Authoritarian human resources management (HRM) is a unilateral or arbitrary management of human resources by employers. In the authoritarian HRM picture, the employer has complete discretion in making decisions about employment relations, and the individual worker's freedom is completely subordinate to the employer's power and authority. Although the employer asks employees to obey his or her orders without reservation, he/she does not provide much respect, consideration, or management information to the employees. In comparison, paternalistic HRM is a reciprocal, cooperative style of management in which the employer acknowledges and considers the employees' rights and feelings. This type of relationship is analogous to a father who does not forcibly control or direct the activities of his child or children but guides them in an understanding and loving way. Basically, the paternalistic HRM leadership concept is based on the