Abstract:
In order to understand the importance of human resources management and to see how it is influenced by cultures and nations, this study is to compare in two really different countries such as Sri Lanka and China. The transition towards a socialist marketoriented economy has presented many challenges to both China and Sri Lanka. One of the key human resource challenges has been to develop business leadership skills in a flexible, timely and cost-effective manner. This paper focuses on the self-initiated approach to professional development that has been introduced by managers at a grassroot level to improve business leadership (referred to as self-development). Given the limited research on self-development in China and Sri Lanka, the intention of this paper is to enrich understanding of why managers in a complex and dynamic transitional environment undertake self-development activities. The findings of this study suggest that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ paradigm to understand self-development across contexts. First, the western model of leadership competencies at the different management levels do not necessarily fit the needs that managers are targeting in their self-development activities in China and Sri Lanka. Second, despite some similarities between China and Sri Lanka, the Chinese managers were more interested in technical leadership skills than the Sri Lankan managers whose self-development foci were centered on improving their moral standards. Such differences highlight each country’s stage of economic and social development while reinforcing the influence of contextual factors. It also suggests that self-development is best understood as a process within a specific context.
