Page 92 - Demo

unions has been decreasing since the late 1970s, francophone countries suchas Belgium, Luxembourg, and Quebec show a unionisation rate well above30%. Traditionally, this rate is the highest in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.The USA is one of the countries where this indicator is the lowest.Since the last financial and economic crisis, there has been a downward trendin trade union organisation in several European countries, while there is also atendency towards greater decentralisation of trade union activity towards thecorporate sphere. Another trend is the generalisation of the minimum wageinstitution, which undoubtedly affects the economic and social context of thecurrent business environment in Europe, as well as the management of humanresources in companies.n 2. 3. 3. Human resource management paradigms todayIn general, two models of HRM are distinguished, based on their startingparadigms. The first can be called the mainstream model, in which people orHR are viewed from an instrumentalist and utilitarian perspective (the AngloAmerican model), while the latter is characterised by a critical perspective basedon humanistic traditions and cultural values (the European model). Table 2.2summarises their main characteristics.Tab. 2.3.2 Characteristics of people management paradigmsSource: Greenwood, 2002, p. 262.Several authors consider the mainstream model to be the dominant one. It isbased on the belief that employees represent the company%u2019s wealth more thanits variable costs. The theoretical assumptions of the given model are normativeand the methodology is positivist, as it focuses on the research of certaincorrelations and their subsequent generalisation using empirical data. It has asignificant professional focus in the sense of formulating conclusions in the form922 European EntrepreneurshipThe mainstream model Critical modelIndividualism CollectivismUtilitarianism PluralismOriented to practical life Oriented to theoretical developmentEmpirical research Conceptual researchQuantitative data, mathematical andstatistical analysesQualitative data, analysis of case studies