L. Bennington, A.D. Habir / Human Resource Management Review 13 (2003) 373–392 387
As only one university in Indonesia offers a degree in HRM and relatively few subjects
are taught in this area, the backgrounds of those working in HRM vary a great deal. Where
professional HR practitioners exist, they tend to have either psychology or law backgrounds.
The banking sector has a preference for those with a background in psychology,
whereas the manufacturing sector has a preference for those with labor law backgrounds.
However, some HR practitioners do not favor those with legal backgrounds because it is
believed that when a problem arises, lawyers are ‘‘trapped in the system,’’ meaning that
they have to follow the rules set down and cannot argue creatively as to why something
different should apply. Some see advantages in having HR managers who have a management
background because this is thought to provide leverage to management acceptance as
an internal consultant.