HRM And Soft Capitalism: A Case Study

According to John Storey, “human resource management is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to obtain competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and workforce, using an army of cultural, structural and personal techniques." (John Storey, 1995) In order to understand the link existing between human resource management (HRM) and soft capitalism, it is important to apprehend all the aspects of this last concept. Soft capitalism consists of “treating employees as valued assets, a source of competitive advantage through their commitment, adaptability and high quality”. (John Storey, 1995) Soft capitalism is, thus, an evolution of human resource management. By discovering and studying the

Thus, we are going to explain this concept reminding its background and its development. Then, we will highlight the link between this concept and the apparition of the soft capitalism.

According to the Cambridge dictionary, work ethics reflects “the way that someone feels about the importance of work, usually the belief that it is important to work hard”. In order to explain the relationship between HRM and soft capitalism, we are going to study a particular form of work ethic which has contributed to the evolution of both concepts. Protestant work ethic is a result of a historical period called the Reformation. This historical stage, dating from the sixteenth century, has been bore by two ideological leaders, Martin Luther and Jean Calvin. The first one was born in 1453 and appeared to be one of the fathers of the Reformation. He will stand up against the Pope and its authority. Indeed, he was holding up that the Pope was not a valid source of religious authority. Thus, be standing up against the representative of the Catholic Church, he opened the door of the Protestant reformation. As for Jean Calvin, he is the one that has given an impetus to this period. Indeed, he firstly tried to expand the ideas of the Reformation in Paris but was quickly stopped by some threats. He then was called to Genève where he organized his own

This ideological evolution of work has participated to the definition of self-work ethics and the rise of soft capitalism. Their perception of work has been the beginning of the modern approach of work. In order to explain this phenomenon, Tilgher explained that “Protestantism is the moving force in the profound spiritual revolution which established work in the modern mind as the base and key of life, and in this matter, the first voice of Protestantism in Luther”. We are going to study Luther’s doctrine of vocation. This idea is resting upon the idea that “one best serves God by doing most perfectly the work of one’s trade or profession”. According to Luther, God is supplying every needs of the world through work. To illustrate this argument, he explains that “god is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid.” Thus, God is using work as a way to sustain everyone needs. Moreover, the second addition of Luther’s work about work relies on the individual attitude toward work. In this way, he was introducing for the first time that individuals’ feeling may represent the most important part of work. However, in accordance with Max Weber, Jean Calvin was the one to really introduce a new vision of work. Indeed, his theory, based on the concept of Elect, enlighten the relation that men should have with work. Thus, as the Elects were unknown, the only way of trying to become one was to