Brunei's Economy

Introduction

Employees are indispensible to an organization. Personnel management, now known as human resource management (HRM), ensures that an organization produces maximum output with the greatest efficiency. The role of HRM covers selecting and hiring the right employee, training and retaining talent, wage dispensation to maintaining employee relations (Nankervis et al, 2011). In this essay, we will be looking into a case study of HRM in Brunei and will cover three topics. Firstly we explore how culture affects the way a country runs its economy, its legal and political system, and how they adapt to technology. Next, we discuss how HRM allows individual employees to acclimatize themselves to technical differences in an organization. Lastly, we will do a comparison of how HRM differs in Brunei as compared to a western country.

Culture (An Overarching Umbrella)

Laurent (1986, p. 92) stated that, 'every culture has developed through its own history some specific and unique insight into the managing of organization and their human resources.' Hofstede's (1984) cultural dimensions theory defines that the values of a society are influenced by their culture, and their belief in those values shapes the behavior of the society. This cultural dimension is most frequently used across culture studies, especially in differentiating Asian and Western cultures (Cho, et al. 1999).

Figure 1: Hofstede's Software of the Mind (Hofstede, 1984)

Dimension Explanation

Power Distance The degree to which the less influential associates of institutions (such as family) and organizations expect and accept the unequal distribution of power.

Collectivist vs. Individualist The scale of which individuals are incorporated into groups

Masculinity vs. Femininity Refers to the distribution of roles and values between the genders. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring and competitive, like the men. However, in masculine countries, women are more competitive and assertive, but not as much as the men.

Uncertainty Avoidance A society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity

Figure 1 identifies the characteristics of the four dimensions (Hofstede, 1984).

Brunei regained independence from British rule in January 1, 1984 (Brunei Civil Service, 2007). Bruneian's are ruled by the Sultan and adopt the National Philosophy called the 'Malay Islamic Monarchy' (MIB) where the Malay culture, language, customs and Islam is incorporated as a set of model values. The population in Brunei is estimated at 390,000 and it comprises of Malays, Chinese and Ethnic Minorities with 67 per cent, 15 per cent and 18 per cent respectively (Kramar & Syed, 2012). According to the Country Paper of Brunei Darussalam, the Government Sector employs 12.23 per cent of the entire population (Brunei Civil Service, 2007).

Brunei's legal and political system is based on both the Islamic law and English Common law. The Sultan takes on the role of the Prime Minister and is the head of government and chief of state (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Brunei's social structure is one of absolute conformity to the Sultan's authority and challenges made by individuals and organizations are frowned upon (Clarke & Salleh, 2011). Therefore it is evident that power distance is high in Brunei.

Brunei's economy is heavily dependent on the Oil and Gas sector. Actions have been made to branch out into a variety of non-oil related sectors. In a 2008 estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the labor force is composed of agriculture, industry (oil and gas) and services, with it being 4.2 per cent, 62.8 per cent and 33 per cent respectively (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013).

Local males and females hold different employment structures, with the females being hired excessively in office, cleaning jobs and associated occupations. Males are predominantly hired in top managerial roles, as well as 'non-office' middle level jobs, such as agriculture, plant and machine production. Employment patterns between the local genders do not drastically differ from 20 years prior to 1991, and has been ingrained in Brunei's employment structure. Thus, masculinity proves to be strongly evident in Brunei due to the job scopes each gender undertakes.

The socio-culture in Brunei's organizations stresses the importance of upholding the national heritage to pass down to generations to come. Islamic values and teachings have been endorsed since 16th century, which differentiates Brunei from other South-East Asian Islamic or Malay countries (Zanko & Nugi, 2003). Hence, Brunei is skewed towards a collectivist culture as they are influenced by the MIB, which instills a family like culture in the workplace. Loyalty to family and the Sultan is expected of Bruneians (Minnis, 1999).

The Sultan, in a bid to improve data entry efficiency, transparency and eliminate the use of paper, is implementing a new form of technology. The system, also known as Government Employee Management System (GEMS), is being implemented in three main sectors: government employees, human resource administrators and the public. GEMS will permit the sharing of documents, leave applications and benefits entitlement to be accessible any time, anywhere.

There has been mixed reactions toward the implementation of GEMS, with some preferring to stick with the old system, as it is in Malay, which is their national language. It may cause stress to older employees who have difficulty keeping up with technological advances and learning of a new language. From this, we can conclude that Bruneians have concerns towards adapting to new technology. Therefore we can conclude that they have high uncertainty avoidance. From the results above, it can be deduced that Brunei's culture is adapted in their law and politics, technology, and the economy.

The Importance of Human Resource (HR) Policies

The heart of organizational effectiveness is developing long-term goals to nurture and skillfully develop human resources as key assets. The importance of investing in training and development has proven to contribute positively to the success of organizations. Government policies worldwide have since adopted management programs to help improve the quality of their human resources, in order to improve overall organizational effectiveness (Rajah & Wallace, 1993).

According to Krama & Syed (2012), 54 per cent of its population is made up of 20-54 year