HRM-culture fit. Why the link between human resource practices and commitment varies across countries.

Previous studies demonstrated that the relationship between human resource (HR) practices and organizations commitment varies across countries. This study aims to explain this variation by exploring the role of national culture on this relationship. Two cultural dimensions of Hofstede’s model are investigated, namely (1) individualism and (2) power distance. Based on the theoretical notion of HR-cultural fit, it is argued that the effect that these two cultural dimensions affect how the HR practices autonomy and skills enhancement affect commitment. Hypotheses are tested using data from employees in 25 European countries. Using multi-level modeling, it is shown that the link between autonomy and commitment is moderated by individualism and that both autonomy and skill enhancement are moderated by power distance.