Functions and Evolution of Human Resource Management
HR Planning, Recruitment, Selection and Training · Contemporary HR Trends — Remote Work and the Gig Economy
IB Business Management HL topic guide
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management is a core part of IB Business Management HL. This guide connects the syllabus ideas behind Functions and Evolution of Human Resource Management, Organizational Structure, Leadership and Management, Motivation, Organizational (Corporate) Culture and 1 more units, shows how they appear in worked problems, and points you to the formulas and full lessons needed for exam revision.
What you will learn
Human Resource Management syllabus outline
The units below follow the structure used in the full Study to Learn course. Use the outline to identify exactly which idea needs attention, then work through the public example before continuing to the complete lesson path.
Organizational Structure
Hierarchy, Span of Control and Structure Types · Centralization, Decentralization and Decision-Making Speed
Leadership and Management
Leadership Styles · Leadership vs Management — The Overlap and Exam Scenarios
Motivation
Motivation Theories: Taylor, Maslow and Herzberg · Motivation in Practice — Applying Theories to Real Workplaces
Organizational (Corporate) Culture
Handy's Culture Types and Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions · Changing Organizational Culture — Why It's So Difficult
Industrial/Employee Relations
Trade Unions, Collective Bargaining and Industrial Action · Case Study — Industrial Dispute Resolution in Practice
Free worked preview
Handy's Culture Types and Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
This complete preview comes from the Organizational (Corporate) Culture unit. It introduces the core language, shows the method in context, and gives you a real example of the lesson quality before you create an account.
Organizational Culture
Every organisation has a culture — the unwritten rules, shared assumptions, and behavioural norms that shape how people actually work, regardless of what the organisational chart says. This HL subtopic introduces Handy's four culture types and Hofstede's cultural dimensions, operating at two different levels: the organisation and the nation. After this lesson, you will be able to classify organisations into power, role, task, or person culture; apply Hofstede's dimensions to multinational scenarios; and explain why a culture type that works brilliantly in one context may fail in another.
Corporate culture is the shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape how people behave within an organization.
Handy's Four Culture Types
- Power culture — control concentrated in a small group or single individual
- Role culture — highly structured, rule-based, with clearly defined job roles (bureaucratic)
- Task culture — organised around project teams, valuing expertise and flexibility
- Person culture — individuals' skills and autonomy matter more than the organization itself (e.g. a partnership of specialists)
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (National Culture)
Explains how national culture affects workplace attitudes across countries, including: individualism vs collectivism (personal achievement vs group loyalty), power distance (acceptance of unequal authority), and uncertainty avoidance (tolerance for ambiguity and risk) — important for multinational businesses managing across cultures.
Common ErrorDon't assume one organizational culture is universally "correct" — the right culture depends on the type of work and environment (a task culture suits fast-changing, project-based industries; a role culture may suit highly regulated, process-driven ones).
Scenario
A multinational company with a strong task culture at its home headquarters finds that a newly-acquired subsidiary in a high power-distance country struggles to adapt to flat, consultative decision-making — illustrating how Hofstede's dimensions affect how culture transfers (or doesn't) across borders.
Practice QuestionIdentify which of Handy's four culture types best describes a fast-growing tech start-up organised around flexible project teams.
Reviewed by the Study to Learn editorial team · Updated 2026-07-24