antagonisms. Europe now has a common currency, an overriding legislative
framework and associated Courts and political structures such as the European
Parliament and Commission. Europeans are becoming multilingual, with access
to the media in many languages and the branding of goods and services also in
different languages. Substantial investments in the transport infrastructure are
greatly facilitating the exchange of people, goods and services across former bor-
ders. Overall, Europeans benefit from high standards of living and are develop-
ing a common understanding of social responsibility. Consequently, a significant
effort is being made, accompanying the trend of globalisation, for organisations
to seek, find and apply common principles of management. This applies to the
management of human resources as much as any other area. How much diver-
sity still influences HRM in Europe, what HRM looks like in Europe and how it
compares to HRM in the United States, are the subjects of this chapter.
Section 2 below introduces some of the features which make Europe a dis-
tinct geographical, political and cultural entity. Section 3 describes European
HRM by contrasting it with the American and/or universalistic model. Section 4
takes a closer look at Europe from within. It examines in a little more detail the
cultural diversity that exists in terms of HRM within Europe at national and
regional levels. Finally, Section 5 draws conclusions about HRM in this com-
plex multicultural continent.
2 DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF EUROPE
Geo-political EuropeGeographically, Europe consists of the western part of the landmass of which
Asia forms the eastern (and much greater) part, and includes Scandinavia, the
British Isles and a number of smaller islands. It is broadly framed to the north
by the Arctic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to the west by the
Atlantic Ocean and to the east by the Ural mountains.
Politically, the borders of Europe have been less clear. In some formula-
tions only western Europe is included; in others Russia is too. In addition, the
south-eastern edge of Europe has been a subject of particular debate for the last
generation. Jean Monnet (1888–1979), one of the founders of the European
Community, once asserted: ‘Europe has never existed. It is not the addition of
national sovereignties in a conclave which creates an entity. One must gen-
uinely create Europe’ (Knowles, 1999: 526; from Anthony Sampson, The New
Europeans, 1968, quoting Jean Monnet). The creation of a ‘united Europe’ was
spurred by a desire for international reconciliation after World War II. Its first
expression was the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community,
founded by the Treaty of Paris in 1951 between Belgium, France, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. Thanks to the Treaty, coal
168 International Human Resource Management