Study on Employee Motivation in Indonesia: Does culture really matter?

The objective of the study is to investigate and analyze the influence of culture on motivation. The research is expected to answer the importance question: Are motivations influenced by national culture? It is generally accepted that motivation is considered to be universal until Hofstede (1980:42) published the seminal work: Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Value in 1980. Hofstede’s work is the most popular in cross culture management studies so that his framework in national culture will be used in this research. The study is completed by using survey method. The respondents are 108 managers of HRM from the listed companies of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) 2008/2009. Modified Value Survey Module (VSM) 1994 developed by Hofstede is used to analyze the new scores of culture’ dimension comparing the scores done by Hofstede almost 30 years ago. The results indicate that the national culture dimensions tend higher for masculinity (74), lower for power distance (66), lower for collectivism (27) and low on uncertainty avoidance. When the results are compared to Hofstede’s findings in 1983, they indicate those two dimensions i.e. collectivism and power distance is relatively unchanged (stable). However, masculinity-feminity and uncertainty avoidance dimension tend to change toward higher score. By using the new scores of dimension of national culture, some proposition on motivation is developed

REVIEWING OUTSOURCING CONTROVERSY IN INDONESIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF HUMAN RESOURCES OUTSOURCING CONTROVERSY IN SEMARANG CITY

Outsourcing in Indonesia is still a controversy. The different concept of outsourcing between employers (vendors and users), employees/outsourced workers, and government makes another problem in outsourcing implementation, especially in industrial relationship either in enterprise and macro level. This study aims to determine the concept of outsourcing of each element of the tripartite, the problems that arise in the implementation, and solutions from each party, in dealing with the practice of the working system. The problems under study, based on specific issues related to industrial relations, including: wages, welfare programs, health and safety, discrimination, job security, and dispute resolution, and termination of employment.This qualitative research is an exploratory, with the data collection methods: focus group discussions, observations, interviews, and study documentation. The data collected from employers (vendors and users), the national unions, worker outsourcing, and government within the scope of Semarang city. The results showed that the problems that arise due to differences in each party's conception of the tripartite elements. Uncertainty rules of outsourcing is a major problem, giving rise to labor flexibility in the implementation, which implies profitable for each party, especially the workers of outsourcing. In the end, the regulation enforcement related to the implementation of the outsourcing firm is badly needed, to compromise the disputes of workers and employer interests

KONSEPTUALISASI MODEL MANAJEMEN INDONESIA: DIVERGENCE APPROACH

Manajemen bukanlah hadir di ruang hampa. Peter Drucker (1977), salah seorang pakar manajemen modern, menyatakan bahwa “manajemen merupakan fungsi sosial yang tertanam dalam tradisi, nilai-nilai, kebiasaan, kepercayaan dan dalam sistem pemerintahan serta politik. Manajemen dibentuk oleh kebudayaan, dan sebaliknya manajemen dan para manajer membentuk kebudayaan dan masyarakat. Dengan demikian, walaupun manajemen merupakan suatu kumpulan pengetahuan yang terorganisasi, manajemen tetap merupakan kebudayaan. Manajemen bukan ilmu yang bebas nilai”. Mengingat sampai saat ini di Indonesia, “manajemen” yang diajarkan di sekolah-sekolah, perguruan tinggi, para konsultan maupun dalam buku-buku populer berasal dari Barat khususnya Amerika Serikat, maka sebenarnya lebih tepat untuk menyebut manajemen dengan tambahan kata Amerika atau kapitalis, sehingga menjadi Manajemen Amerika, atau Manajemen Kapitalis, atau Manajemen Model Amerika. Memang selama ini kata “Barat“ atau Kapitalis”, atau “Amerika” tidak pernah digunakan setelah kata “manajemen”, maka hal ini menyebabkan seakan-akan bahwa manajemen adalah netral dan universal. Padahal nilai-nilai kapitalis, Amerika atau Barat menjadi landasan semua konsep dan teori manajemen yang berkembang dewasa ini. Hal ini perlu dilakukan mengingat ada banyak riset dan buku yang membahas mengenai manajemen selain Manajemen Model Amerika seperti: Manajemen Model Jepang, Manajemen Model Cina, Manejemen Afrika dan Manajemen Eropa. Tulisan ini merupakan studi kepustakaan tentang kemungkinan pengembangan manajemen di Indonesia dengan menggunakan convergence approach yang meyakini adanya cultural-bound dalam praktik manajemen. Berbeda dengan mainstream pemikiran manajemen yang mengajarkan adanya universal practices, tulisan ini diharapkan menjadi embrio bagi munculnya studi manajemen yang mengaitkannya dengan budaya lok

University Innovation Through Quality Matters (QM)

Universities face increasing demands from both internal and external constituents to engage in meaningful quality assurance to demonstrate the value and impact of their efforts. The expectations for quality assurance of online education are, perhaps, even higher, in view of its relatively recent development and the rapid growth of student interest. The Quality Matters Program, focusing on quality standards for online course design and a peer-based, course review process, is one manifestation of the response to this need. Given the resources and time required to make the Quality Matters process work, it is important to validate its positive impact on those who participate, on the design of courses and on student success. Quality Matters is a continuous improvement program for educational institutions to adopt and adapt in their efforts to assure the design quality of both online courses and online components of blended courses

REVIEWING OUTSOURCING CONTROVERSY IN INDONESIA (An Exploratory Study of Human Resources Outsourcing Practice in Semarang City)

Outsourcing in Indonesia is still a controversy. The different concept of outsourcing between employers (vendors and users), employees/outsourced workers, and government makes another problem in outsourcing implementation, especially in industrial relationship either in enterprise and macro level. This study aims to determine the concept of outsourcing of each element of the tripartite, the problems that arise in the implementation, and solutions from each party, in dealing with the practice of the working system. The problems under study, based on specific issues related to industrial relations, including: wages, welfare programs, health and safety, discrimination, job security, and dispute resolution, and termination of employment. This qualitative research is an exploratory, with the data collection methods: focus group discussions, observations, interviews, and study documentation. The data collected from employers (vendors and users), the national unions, worker outsourcing, and government within the scope of Semarang city. The results showed that the problems that arise due to differences in each party's conception of the tripartite elements. Uncertainty rules of outsourcing is a major problem, giving rise to labor flexibility in the implementation, which implies profitable for each party, especially the workers of outsourcing. In the end, the regulation enforcement related to the implementation of the outsourcing firm is badly needed, to compromise the disputes of workers and employer interests

Cross-Cultural Study of Korean Leadership in Indonesia By Using Kluckhohn-Strodbeck's Framework

The purpose of this paper is lo investigate how South Korean expatriate manager interact with Indonesian subordinates and what the difference about their culture perspective in Semarang garment enterprises and identify how the difference of culture could affect their ability lo manage staff and doing their job normally. A qualitative study was conducted. Triangulation methods are used to examine the validity of research data. The result indicated South Korean manager characteristics with Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck's dimension. There are contrast differencesbetween South Korean manager with Indonesia employee in perception of lime and space, which required adjustments in management practicefor be/fer performance results