Human capital theory: implications for human resource development

This article reviews definitions of 'Human Capital Theory' by leading economists and HRD scholars. The origin of the term 'capital' is explained, and the link between Human Capital Theory and HRD is discussed. It is argued in the article that HRD scholars and practitioners should explore further the link between human capital, HRD and development at individual, organizational, community and international levels.     

Gender stereotyping and its impact on human capital development in contemporary Russia

This article starts with a brief overview of the role of women in the workforce in the former USSR and contemporary Russia. Next, gender stereotypes in the human capital development practices of Russian companies are described. The article then presents the results of a study of the gender aspects of human capital practices (including hiring, evaluation, training and development, and promotion policies) in 60 Russian companies from nine sectors of the economy. It then reflects on some of the main features of gender issues related to human capital development in Russia. Most are determined by socio-cultural and psychological barriers in the social (public) and individual consciousness of managers and employees.     

The role of tourism in national human resource development: a Jamaican perspective

Research in the national human resource development (NHRD) field is increasingly considering unique cultural and economic conditions and the influence this may have on a number of employment-related indicators. To date, the NHRD literature has largely ignored issues related to skills training and workforce development in the tourism industry, despite the expanding nature of this dynamic service sector in many nations. This literature review study of NHRD in Jamaica examined ongoing national-level human resource development (HRD) initiatives with specific attention to the current and future impact of NHRD on the tourism industry. The results showed that governmental development plans clearly identified tourism as a key sector for economic growth to support larger economic and social development goals. Furthermore, the development of human resources in the tourism sector was seen as being of vital importance for tourism organizations and for the continued development of Jamaica. The existing NHRD literature has largely overlooked the potential influence and future role of the tourism industry to assist in education, training and development goals at the national level. Recommendations are made for additional research exploring connections between NHRD and tourism employment.     

Human capital practices of Russian enterprises

Abstract

The goal of this study was to explore current human capital (HC) management practices (including training and development, recruitment and selection, compensation, empowerment, diversity, and work/family balance) of Russian enterprises. The data were collected at 270 large, medium and small enterprises in Moscow and four representative regional centers. The study results suggest that Russian firms tended to emphasize current HC needs, not long-term HC development strategies. The firm size had an effect on differences in training, selection and compensation practices, with large firms being more long-term oriented. Correlation between elements of the HC management model provided some preliminary evidence that Russian firms tried to coordinate selection, compensation and training procedures. In addition, firms that empowered their employees were also putting more emphasis on long-term oriented training, selection and compensation practices. Finally, there were signs that diversity was gradually becoming an important issue for Russian enterprises of all sizes. However, compared to diversity, companies' emphasis on helping their employees to deal with the work/family balance issues was much stronger.     

The role of training in the development of human resource management in Australian organisations

This paper analyses the impact that nationally recognised training has had on the practice of human resource management in Australian organisations. Since the late 1980s, the Australian vocational education and training system has undergone major reforms. These reforms have been aimed at making training more relevant to the needs of Australian business. A key development in training reform has been the emergence of Training Packages, sets of occupational competency standards, qualifications and assessment guidelines covering most jobs in the economy. The research reported in this paper shows how nationally recognised training in the form of Training Package qualifications has been taken up by Australian employers and has begun to re-shape not only training practices but also broader approaches to human resource management. Many employers are now using the competency standards contained in Training Packages to underpin other human resource management practices such as recruitment and selection, performance management and management development. The use of consistent national standards to underpin these activities has led to better alignment and integration of human resource management in some organisations, as predicted by theories of bundling in the strategic human resource management literature.     

Trends and challenges of developing human capital in India

With the population touching 1.2 billion, half of which is around 25 years of age, India is set to be among one of the top countries for human capital in the next two decades. While the country has been making rapid progress economically, human capital additions may remain marginal and may not keep up with the pace of economic growth unless accompanied by planned development of manpower. The Indian corporate sector was the first to start a dedicated HR function 30 years ago and the nation was the first to have a Ministry of HRD 20 years ago. Despite the early start, the last two to three decades have provided a mixed bag of experiences and expectations. Conservative HRD policies have not helped India's skill base to develop at the same rate as economic progress. An inadequate research base and the low quality of people entering the HR profession have prevented corporate HRD from becoming more productive than it is now. A lot of attention is directed towards recruitment, retention and compensation strategies rather than to talent multiplication. At the same time, innovative leaders and chief executive officers (CEOs) who have taken up the mantle of HR have made a mark. The future of human capital formation will be bright at the national level if the government makes more intense efforts to build human capital and becomes more innovative and expansive. At the corporate level, the credibility of HR is still suspect as it has not been able to match its steps with those of India's more innovative leaders. Preparation of a new breed of HR professionals combined with education of CEOs in what good HR can do may go a long way in helping Indian HR develop a strong footing.     

Brain drain in Venezuela: the scope of the human capital crisis

ABSTRACT

Brain drain, the exodus of highly skilled professionals, has a strong connection with Human Resource Development (HRD), as these experts are human capital for organizations, communities, and nations. In today’s global economy, HRD practitioners and scholars need to keep abreast of what circumstances trigger the migration of talented workers around the world and the implications for HRD. This article describes the brain drain in Venezuela. The magnitude of the talent crisis is the result of a complex combination of poor policy implementation, mismanagement, corruption, and socio-economic and political conflict. This article exposes the current realities and the repercussions the exodus of talent has had on Venezuela and the decline of a country that was once among the world’s richest, but is now an impoverished nation.     

An educational option for those facing lay-off: a human capital perspective

This research assesses factors that affect the choice of an educational support severance package when an employee is offered an array of severance packages that also includes a lump-sum buyout and a retirement package. Hypotheses developed from human capital theory were tested using multinomial logistic regression. The sample comprised 446 current and former employees of a large unionized manufacturing firm. This sample is of interest because the jobs held by these individuals, manufacturing jobs with high wages and benefits, are rapidly disappearing. Results indicated that women were more likely to accept the educational option, as were younger and single respondents. Two groups who were not eligible for retirement were of particular interest in this study. Those who accepted the educational option and those who chose the lump-sum payment did not differ on educational attainment or tenure, but differed on age, partnered status, gender and salary.     

Evaluating training and development practices in Taiwan: challenges and opportunities

The purpose of this article is to explore the status and challenges of employee training and development (T&D) in Taiwan. Literature review suggested that government intervention, vocational and technical education, social network, and organizational structures are the key factors that influence T&D practices in Taiwan. Taiwanese government plays a major role in promoting value-added production and skilled workforce in the organizations via developing various national labour enhancement policies, strategies and regulations and providing a set of training subsidies for employee T&D. The promotion of Taiwan TrainQuali System in Taiwan is one of the major national employee T&D policies that motivates and forces the corporations to cultivate their manpower. The challenges are evident when corporations adapt and apply Western T&D models or programmes. This study investigates T&D applications in Taiwan and provides a guide to practitioners to overcome challenges in terms of implementing T&D practices in Taiwan. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research were also discussed.     

专用性人力资本投资激励研究

研究委托人如何激励代理人对专用性人力资本进行投资 .代理人对人力资本投资的激励来自对未来报酬或职业发展的考虑 .但当投资是代理人的隐藏行动 ,而产出是委托人的私有信息时 ,由于出现双边败德行为 ,基于产出的报酬契约不能诱导代理人对专用性人力资本的投资 .职位提升机制能在一定程度上激励代理人的投资 ,但当委托人不提升从效率角度而言该被提升的代理人时 ,仍未能走出双边败德之困境 .当产出低时解聘代理人的解聘机制能消除委托方的机会主义行为 ,当人力资本的专用性较大 ,或投资的边际成本较小时 ,能诱导 Pareto有效的投资     

社会资本与女性创业——基于 GEM 数据的跨国( 地区) 比较研究

从女性的社会地位和社会角色分工切入,探讨在不同经济发展水平和制度背景下社会资本对其创业选择的影响,并采用全球创业观察( global entrepreneurship monitor) 和全球政府治理指标( worldwide governance index) 两个大型国际数据库进行跨国( 地区) 比较研究,发现女性创业者社会资本与其创业选择呈倒 U 型关系,在一定阈值下社会资本能增加女性的创业选择,而超过该阈值社会资本的增加反而会降低女性的创业选择． 同时,女性个人的人力资本和国家( 地区) 的经济发展水平会削弱社会资本的上述作用,制度环境则会增强社会资本的上述作用． 这一研究揭示了社会地位、社会角色期望对女性参与创业活动的束缚,是将女性的社会角色纳入创业分析的一次有益探索．     

社会资本与女性创业——基于GEM数据的跨国(地区)比较研究

从女性的社会地位和社会角色分工切入,探讨在不同经济发展水平和制度背景下社会资本对其创业选择的影响,并采用全球创业观察(global entrepreneurship monitor)和全球政府治理指标(worldwide governance index)两个大型国际数据库进行跨国(地区)比较研究,发现女性创业者社会资本与其创业选择呈倒U型关系,在一定阈值下社会资本能增加女性的创业选择,而超过该阈值社会资本的增加反而会降低女性的创业选择.同时,女性个人的人力资本和国家(地区)的经济发展水平会削弱社会资本的上述作用,制度环境则会增强社会资本的上述作用.这一研究揭示了社会地位、社会角色期望对女性参与创业活动的束缚,是将女性的社会角色纳入创业分析的一次有益探索.     

Leadership wholeness: a human resource development model

This paper presents a phenomenological study of leaders' quest for wholeness from the perspective of contemporary human resource development (HRD). The experience of economic, ethical and spiritual crises in contemporary society, especially in organizational leadership, calls for a deeper quest for meaning and wholeness. However, little is known about how prominent leaders across the world and cultures, who have a reputation for wholeness, experience their journey. In order to gain insight into lived experience, 10 top spiritual leaders from different organizational contexts and across the globe engaged in in-depth conversational interviews to describe their experience of the quest. Four essential themes of spiritual leaders' quest for wholeness emerged from an analysis of the interview texts: (1) experiencing existential crisis; (2) embracing light and shadow; (3) unfolding ultimate dimension of being; (4) fostering an ethic of co-responsibility. From the analysis of the themes, a model of wholeness was constructed from a human resource development point of view: the Leadership Wholeness Model portrays the intra-dynamics of leaders' ongoing quest for wholeness penetrating through their existential, learning, spiritual, and moral dimensions of being and five ethical dimensions of wholeness permeating through the personal, organizational, social, global, and environmental spheres of life.     

Trends and challenges of developing human capital in Singapore: an analysis of current practices and future potentials

As one of the most vibrant nations of Asia, Singapore is well known for its dynamic and innovative human capital development initiatives. These are driven mainly by the government policies, with inputs from public sector organizations and large local companies. Human resource development (HRD) related legislations, financial incentives, infra-structural support and deployment of management and info-communication technologies (ICT) help to sustain the national HRD initiatives. This paper presents an analysis of the current practices and future trends and challenges faced by organizations in Singapore. Some of these challenges are: ageing workforce, talent retention and development, rapid technological changes and cross-cultural skills development for working in the emerging markets. Eight trends and challenges identified here are expected to significantly impact the HRD profession in future. Implications of the trends and challenges are also discussed for future research and professional practice.     

Human resource development in a challenging financial environment: the case of a Greek bank

Changes in the external environment have reshaped the banking industry environment. Responding to that, Greek banks are adopting new strategies towards organizational development and realize that success requires adjustments to their HRD effort. The case example presented here refers to a leading Greek bank that was involved in a systematic HRD effort, based on the use of training interventions as a short-term solution to transit smoothly to the new era. The results of this effort are connected to the improvement of the bank's position in the market, despite its problematic past. However, the next challenge for the bank is to realize that the formation of a long-term development strategy and its integration with wider HR management policies are a priority.     

我国35个大中城市人力资本投资实证分析

城市是人力资本的重要集散地,是人力资本投资的主要场所。本文构建了城市人力资本投资指标体系,运用主成分分析方法对我国35个大中城市人力资本投资进行了比较分析,并给出各城市得分及排序。     

Investigating investment decisions in equity crowdfunding: The role of projects' intellectual capital

The study aims to investigate the signalling role played by the intellectual capital of entrepreneurial projects towards crowdfunders. The study argues that information on; the intellectual capital of entrepreneurial projects posted on equity crowdfunding platforms can be perceived by external small investors or crowdfunders as signals of the venture's quality and can induce them to invest. By leveraging on the role of signalling theory in the mitigation of information asymmetries, the study argues that the intellectual capital of projects looking for equity crowdfunding is a powerful signal that positively affects the investment decisions of crowdfunders. Three components of entrepreneurial projects' intellectual capital – human, structural, and relational capital – are considered as factors affecting the success of equity crowdfunding campaigns, measured in terms of funding collected and the number of investors. The findings reveal that relational capital positively affects the investment decisions of equity crowdfunders and thus explains the success of equity crowdfunding campaigns. Factors related to human capital and structural capital have a positive impact on investment decisions, but only to a limited extent. This study provides valid implications for entrepreneurs, platform managers, and policy-makers/authorities.     

The future of HRD research: Strengths,weaknesses, opportunities,threats and actions

This article clarifies the boundaries of human resource development (HRD) with respect to other concepts frequently used and misused in HRD literature. Through a proposition, a set of criteria for human resources is presented. A cross-culture literature comparison of the criteria demonstrates the consistency of the connotation in two contrasting cultures. This study has important implications for HRD research, practice and continued theory development effort. It relates to the identity and distinctiveness of HRD discipline, as well as the domain of HRD research and practice.     

Landscape of human resource development research in Korea: results from author co-citation network analysis

The present study examined major trends and issues of Human Resource Development (HRD) research in Korean context applying the author co-citation analysis (ACA) to three primary HRD-related journals in South Korea. Following the analyses of author co-citation frequency, correlation matrix, dendrogram, and the multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) map, the results were found as follows: (1) co-citation network identified seven topical clusters (i.e., human competency improvement for young men and e-learning designers, system approach for training effectiveness, competency for executives and HRD-ers, HRD evaluations, HRD solutions, mentoring in career development, leadership, and the role of professionals), (2) competency appeared as a keyword in multiple clusters, (3) unlike HRD in North America or Europe, learning (informal, organizational, self-directed, and lifelong learning) with a variety of HRD solutions comprised the dominant research stream, and (4) research activities for critical issues, such as diversity, development of workforce minority, and international HRD were largely missing.     

Fishing a Superfund Site: Dissonance and Risk Perception of Environmental Hazards by Fishermen in Puerto Rico

Risk perception studies show that individuals tend to underestimate significant risks, overestimate negligible ones, and distrust authorities. They also rely on a variety of strategies or heuristics to reach decisions regarding their risk-taking behavior. We report on a survey of fishermen and crabbers engaged in recreational and substance fishing in a Puerto Rican estuary (near Humacao), which has been declared a "Superfund site" because of suspected contamination by mercury, and at ecologically similar control sites. Nearly everyone interviewed at the Humacao site was aware of the mercury contamination, but either denied its importance, believed the contamination was restricted to a distant part of the estuary, or assumed that the estuary would be closed by the authorities if the threat was real. All site-users consumed the fish and crabs they caught. At Humacao, the average catch was 7 fish per fishermen (mostly tilapia, Tilapia mossambica, and tarpon, Megalops atlantica) and 13 crabs per crabber (all blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus). On average, the site-users returned to the lagoons about 3-4 times per month. At control sites, fewer fish were eaten. The worst case consumption of tarpon, a species which concentrated mercury at Eastern Puerto Rico, provided an exposure exceeding the EPA reference dose, whereas consumption of one tarpon per week did not entail excess exposure. Fortunately, few individuals caught tarpon exclusively. Unlike counterparts in the northeastern United States, they trusted authorities and indicated that they would have heeded warnings of mercury contamination posted where they fished.