Human Resource Development in Austria: A Cultural Perspective of Management Development

Cultural sensitivity is of central importance when dealing with human resource practices such as recruitment, selection, or development. There is voluminous literature devoted to cultural values at a general level. These studies are based on surveying attitudes or values of respondents in large samples from different countries, and they provide general frameworks for understanding cultures as a whole. Not surprisingly, these models lack specificity when it comes to predicting and understanding specific HRD practices (Klarsfeld et al., 2004). Only a few writers (Budhwar et al., 1998; Segalla et al., 2001a, b; Sparrow, 1996) apply a more cultural lens to work-related issues. Thus, the application of this cultural perspective to the development of human resource practices is limited. Especially scarce is empirical research that addresses different cultural approaches to the training and development of managers in organizations. In these very few studies (Derr, 1987; Klarsfcld et al., 2004; Ramirez et al., 2005a) that actually deal with management development (MD) from a cultural perspective, Austria is never considered. This chapter describes MD in Austria and offers explanations derived from its cultural values and institutional environment.