Human resource development (HRD) resilience: a new ‘success element’ of organizational resilience?

ABSTRACT

Endlessly changing business and economic landscapes urge organizations to become resilient to ensure business survival and growth. Yet, in many cases, business world is becoming turbulent faster than organizations are becoming resilient. Relevant research indicates the ways through which organizations could respond to unforeseen events, mainly through suggesting that individual and group resilience could lead to an organizational one. However, research is nascent on how particularly human resource development (HRD) resilience could be built, and thus to contribute to organizational resilience as well. Within today’s business uncertainty and complexity, HRD resilience comes in line with the developmental strategies of organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this perspective article is to set the foundations of the term (HRD resilience) in order to initiate a dialogue around its ability to make a substantial contribution to organizational practice, and thus to be seen as a new ‘success element’ of organizational resilience.     

Women,empowerment and development in Arab Gulf States: a critical appraisal of governance,culture and national human resource development (HRD) frameworks

This phenomenological study focuses on Western expatriates working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their experiences and perceptions of their cross-cultural adjustment. To this end, eight Western expatriates working and living in Saudi Arabia were interviewed face-to-face in an effort to explore and document their lived experiences of adjusting to life in Saudi Arabia, thus extending the current knowledge of this phenomenon. These in-depth face-to-face interviews and the subsequently employed rigorous methods of abstracting data led to the discovery of four critical themes that were viewed by all participants as having the greatest impact on their adjustment to working and living in Saudi Arabia. These themes were Adjustment of Spouses, Life on the Company Compounds, Lack of Activities Between Saudis and Westerners, and Relationship Between the Westerners and Saudis.     

Better know a Human Resource Development (HRD) scholar: a conversation with Robert (Bob) G. Hamlin

This article contains a conversation with Robert (Bob) G. Hamlin and is part of aseries that focuses on different human resource development (HRD) scholars. Theaim is to better understand the people behind the names we see in print and at HRD scholarly conferences. Bob is professor emeritus and chair of HRD at the University of Wolverhampton Business School, UK and a management and organization development consultant at Oaken Consultancy. Bob has spoken at many HRD conferences in Europe and the United States and was one of the founding members of the University Forum for HRD. The conversation explores Bob's career in HRD practice, research, teaching and management. Among the topics covered are the significance of practical experience and the influence it can then have on research, the power of evidence-based practice, and the need for HRD research to be seen as relevant and having utility within the world of practice.     

The depth metaphor and international human resource development: from theory to practice

This paper analyses the depth metaphor as a boundary object which has become integral to the transfer of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism which focus on soft skills development and behavioural change. The paper uses a meta-ethnographic methodology to compare and synthesize three existing anthropological international case studies in Poland, India and South Africa with the accounts of UK-based HRD practitioners. The paper applies the theory of Nietzsche to reveal the practical difficulties of implementing neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in different international workplace contexts. It is argued that the choices made by the organizations/senior managers regarding the use of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism and the existing Foucauldian theory has not recognized these problems of implementation. The paper explores and discusses the implications of this for international HRD theory and practice.     

Exploring the relationship between our learning,E-learning and HRD: E-Learn 2005 conference report

Abstract

This report provides a personal reflection on the E-Learn Conference held in Vancouver, Canada, in October 2005. First, I provide a brief review of previous conference reports and then share my experiences of this particular conference, focusing on technical, social, pedagogical and cultural aspects.     

Human resource development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: origins and international growth

This article provides an overview of the history and current status of graduate and undergraduate Human Resource Development (HRD) programs at the University of Minnesota. The HRD program at the UMN is situated within the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development of the College of Education and Human Development. The program offers undergraduate, master’s, and PhD degrees, and is characterized by healthy enrollment numbers and a strong alumni base, both nationally and internationally. The UMN HRD program has a long history of significant contributions to the development of HRD with research and strong education programs which continue to influence the academic field and professional field of practice in the U.S. and internationally.     

A more radical human resource development: the time is now

The world is changing and so must human resource development (HRD). A cursory review of the scholarship in the four journals sponsored by the Academy of HRD revealed less than 10% of our discipline’s research explicitly focuses on the experiences of women, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people, millennials, people of colour, or immigrants and expatriates, and yet we know these groups have an increasing presence and impact on our organizations. The purpose of this essay is to amplify a call to action for radical change and to reiterate the imminent need for HRD to shift agendas in order to keep up.     

Open sourced organizational learning: implications and challenges of crowdsourcing for human resource development (HRD) practitioners

As the value of organizational learning as a source of competitive advantage has become increasingly evident, human resource development (HRD) practitioners may face stronger demands to develop training more quickly and efficiently and increase rates of training transfer. One approach is to externally source organizational learning. In using this approach, it may be important for HRD practitioners to both develop training to engage external participants while utilizing organization development solutions to help internal employees adjust to the change. By examining the impact of open sourced and crowdsourced organizational learning on HRD practitioners, it is hoped that HRD practitioners may engage in informed workplace learning practice, even as the nature of the employment contract changes.     

A review of the 8th international conference of the academy of HRD (Asia chapter) & 1st international conference of the academy of HRD (MENA chapter) held in Bahrain in December 2009: a cultural dimensions perspective

This article will provide a review for the 8th International Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (Asia Chapter) and the 1st International Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (MENA Chapter), 12–15 December 2009. Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions are used for the purpose of providing a perspective to illustrate how different variables can affect an international conference. The article concludes with the authors' recommendations for future international HRD conferences.     

A comparison of the practices used by human resource development professionals to evaluate web-based and classroom-based training programmes within seven Korean companies

The purpose of the study was to compare the practices used by human resource development (HRD) professionals to evaluate web-based and classroom-based training (CBT) programmes within seven Korean companies. This study used four components of evaluation and three factors of evaluation barriers to compare the differences between these two training approaches. This study also explored the key decision factors for determining how HRD professionals evaluated their web-based and CBT programmes. Two data sets were used for the study; one set of data was gathered from a survey questionnaire distributed to HRD professionals and the other was gathered from interviews with HR/HRD directors within the seven companies. The results showed that web-based and CBT programmes were not meaningfully different on the most components of evaluation and evaluation barriers. The results also found six key decision factors determining evaluation for web-based and CBT programmes.     

Human resource development as we know it: speeches that have shaped the field,by M. Lee

This paper is a retrospective of the 12th International Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (Asia Chapter) that took place in Taipei, Taiwan on 5–8 November 2013. This paper provides a brief review of pre-conference workshops, keynote and innovation addresses, parallel sessions and cultural activities. The authors also share their thoughts on the contributions of international conferences to the field of human resource development.     

The role of a religious institution in HRD: the case of Wat (temple) Panyanantaram,Thailand

Buddhism is a pervasive feature of life in Thailand. How does Buddhism contribute to an understanding of human resource development (HRD) in Thailand? Wat Panyanantaram, the 2002 Outstanding Buddhist Temple, is presented here as a case study. Contributions of religious institutions to moral and human development through HRD activities by religious institutions are explored.     

The perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with subject matter experts (SMEs) during the training design process

While the literature supports the importance of establishing a relationship between designers and subject matter experts (SMEs) in the training design process, this approach is not followed in all global practices. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of human resource development professionals in Taiwan regarding their working relationships with SMEs. The respondents of the study were HRD professionals who worked in high-tech companies located in a science park in Taiwan. The study found that a significant relationship exists between the ability to work with SMEs and current ability in the training design process among HRD professionals who had worked with SMEs. This study provides implications for the professional development of HRD practitioners and HRD practice in Taiwan companies. Cross-cultural issues are discussed to explain inconsistencies between the results and US-based perspectives on the training design process.     

Matching With (Branch‐of‐Choice) Contracts at the United States Military Academy

Branch selection is a key decision in a cadet's military career. Cadets at USMA can increase their branch priorities at a fraction of slots by extending their service agreement. This real‐life matching problem fills an important gap in the market design literature, providing strong empirical legitimacy to a series of elegant theoretical works on matching with contracts. Although priorities fail a key substitutes condition, the agent‐optimal stable mechanism is well defined, and in contrast to the current USMA mechanism it is fair, stable, strategy‐proof, and respects improvements in cadet priorities. Adoption of this mechanism benefits cadets and the Army. This new application shows that the matching with contracts model is practically relevant beyond traditional domains that satisfy the substitutes condition.     

Application of FISK,an Invasiveness Screening Tool for Non‐Native Freshwater Fishes,in the Murray‐Darling Basin (Southeastern Australia)

The Fish Invasiveness Scoring Kit (FISK) is currently one of the most popular pre‐screening tools for freshwater fishes. A recent upgrade has ensured its wider climatic relevance to countries with subtropical regions. This enhancement is of particular importance to Australia, which encompasses tropical, arid, and temperate zones, and where the introduction of non‐native fish species poses a significant risk to biodiversity. In this study, 55 fish species previously evaluated in a U.K.‐based calibration of FISK are reassessed for their potential invasiveness in the Murray‐Darling Basin (MDB; southeastern Australia), the continent's largest catchment encompassing arid and temperate climates. Approximately half of the species were classed as “medium risk” and the other half as “high risk,” and the ≥19 threshold previously identified from the calibration study was confirmed. The three highest scoring species (common carp Cyprinus carpio carpio, goldfish Carassius auratus, and eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki) were those already present and invasive in the area, whereas nearly half of the tropical and subtropical species had lower scores compared to U.K. assessments, possibly because of climate change predictions of drier conditions across the MDB. There were some discordances between FISK and two Australian‐based assessment protocols, one of which is qualitative and the other represents a simplified version of FISK. Notably, the Australian origins of FISK should provide for an additional reason for further applications of the tool in other RA areas (i.e., drainage basins) of the continent, ultimately encouraging adoption as the country's reference screening tool for management and conservation purposes.     

Comment on “Why Reduced‐Form Regression Models of Health Effects Versus Exposures Should Not Replace QRA: Livestock Production and Infant Mortality as an Example,” by Louis Anthony (Tony) Cox,Jr., Risk Analysis 2009, Vol. 29, No. 12

While a recent paper by Cox in this journal uses as its motivating factor the benefits of quantitative risk assessment, its content is entirely devoted to critiquing Sneeringer's article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Cox's two main critiques of Sneeringer are fundamentally flawed and misrepresent the original article. Cox posits that Sneeringer did A and B, and then argues why A and B are incorrect. However, Sneeringer in fact did C and D; thus critiques of A and B are not applicable to Sneeringer's analysis.