Better know an HRD scholar: a conversation with Monica Lee

This article contains a conversation with Monica Lee, and is part of a series that focuses on different HRD scholars – the aim being to better understand the people behind the names we see in print. Monica is a Life Member of Lancaster University, was a founding member of the University Forum of HRD, and was the founding editor of Human Resource Development International. The conversation explores Monica's background, how she got into HRD, how she overcame dyslexia and recovered from her cerebral hemorrhage, how the University Forum was created, and how HRDI came about. The conversation also considers the consequences of placing boundaries around HRD, about how we are guided by our subconscious, and about the impact on HRD of future changes to organizations and structures.     

Approaches to HRD in Russian IT-companies in the period of economic crisis

Economic crisis differently impacts on the decisions of companies how to manage human resource development (HRD) initiatives. For the IT sector, intellectual capital becomes a core source of sustainable competitive advantages where HRD is seen like a tool to develop the internal stock of human capital. This article explores the approaches to HRD used by Russian IT-companies during the crisis. On the basis of the conceptual debates regarding the necessity to invest more in HRD programs even in the crisis conditions and our own empirical research, we tried to find out what happened with HRD costs during the crisis and what was the relationship between HRD costs and company’s performance during the crisis in Russian IT-companies. We conclude that Russian IT-companies perceive the value of HRD programs; hence, the most innovative-active and fast developing IT-companies prefer to constantly invest more in HRD initiatives. In crisis conditions, we recommend them to develop and implement more internal training programs.     

HRD in 2020: a hop-on,hop-off city tour

This article reports on the outcome of a Future Search Conference in the UK to consider human resource development (HRD) in 2020 and beyond. We firstly consider themes from the past into the present. This includes the persistence of solutions in HRD that are systematic, predictable, how apprenticeships in the UK have had to accommodate government policies to ameliorate youth unemployment and the long-standing difficulty for HRD of failing to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) on activities. We then present four scenarios based on key questions for the future relating to value of HRD and whether this will be a future for HRD. Reponses to the questions form scenario logics which we present against the theme of city tour. Each scenario is explained against the presented logic with positive, negative, ambiguous and uncertain implications for HRD. We suggest that each scenario carries a glimpse of what might be.     

From a sapling to the forest: the saga of the development of HRD in India

This is an account of the growth and development of HRD function in India. What started in the mid-1970s as a conceptualization of an integrated HRD system to change the performance appraisal systems in a large engineering company, resulted in the establishment of HRD departments in many firms. Further dissemination and perseverance resulted in the establishment of a centre for HRD, and subsequently the birth of a professional body and, later, an academic institution. The authors describe the growth in eight stages and conclude the path for future is in moving towards national HR policies and other social sectors.     

Defining Intergalactic Human Resource Development (IHRD)

This satirical essay questions both the rigor and relevance of the practice of promoting definitions that simply reflect an area of interest with HRD. The discipline of HRD needs clear and concise overarching definitions that work everywhere.     

Déjà Vu,All Over Again

In response to Swanson's intergalactic HRD, McLean offers counter arguments to support intergalactic HRD. He explores the concept using dialectics: geocentrism vs. ethnocentrism, continuous improvement vs. status quo, situational context vs. absolutism, micro vs. meso vs. macro views, weight of scholarly support, ambiguity vs. specificity, and identify (field, discipline, subject or amorphous body of knowledge). McLean concludes that there is an ongoing need to continue to explore subfacets of HRD and to continue to explore how culture influences our understanding of HRD.     

Can there be a domain-specific knowledge base in HRD? Reflections on the Lille symposium

A conversation recently began amongst senior human resource development scholars from around the world that focused on the prospects for theory development in human resource development (HRD). The opening event in the form of a panel discussion was held at the European HRD conference in Lille, France, in May 2008. This article summarizes and discusses contributions made by the panel participants.     

Exploring a theoretical foundation for HRD in society: toward a model of stakeholder-based HRD

This article explores a theoretical foundation of human resource development (HRD) that can be adopted to explain the increasing use of HRD interventions and practices in the wider context of society and the world. While there has been growing interest in and literature about the societal meaning of HRD, previous research has focused mostly on HRD practices and lacked a theoretical framework that could explain and characterize the interactions between HRD and society. Based on a review of current approaches to the HRD–society nexus, we suggest that the nexus can be better understood when complex interactions between internal and external stakeholders of an organization are recognized, and we introduce the stakeholder-based HRD (SBHRD) model as a tool for identifying the interactions between HRD and society and the characteristics of the interactions with regard to plurality, interdependency, and legitimacy. The SBHRD model carries theoretical implications of possible changes in the epistemology of HRD, pushing forward well-being as the purpose of HRD, and enlarging HRD research topics. From a practical standpoint, the SBHRD model enhances the value of social responsibilities of corporations and ethical management, enlarges the scope and beneficiaries of HRD activities, increases the opportunities of collaboration with adult education, and points to different modes of communication in practice.     

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.     

A conversation with Edgard Cornacchione: understanding the HRD field in Brazil through his lens and perspectives

This article contains a conversation with Edgard B. Cornacchione Jr, Full Professor and Chairman of the Department of Accounting and Actuarial Sciences, College of Economics, Business and Accountancy (FEA) at University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil. He is a pioneer scholar in HRD in Brazil, holding a PhD in the field from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and another PhD in Accounting from USP. This interview explores Edgard's career in HRD practice, research, teaching and outreach and service, in addition to experiences in other related fields, such as Accounting and Business Education. It also considers current insights and perspectives of how HRD has been practised and studied in Brazil. He has been teaching at USP since 1992. To an international audience, who still might not be so familiar with his work and path, this interview has the potential to enhance both the understanding of his experiences and the status of the field in Brazil.     

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.     

Better know an HRD scholar: a conversation with John Bing

This paper contains a conversation with John Bing, and is part of a series that focuses on different human resource development (HRD) scholars – the aim being to better understand the people behind the names we see in print and at HRD scholarly conferences. John is Chairman of the Board at ITAP International, is a well-known scholar-practitioner, was a recipient of the ASTD International Practitioner of the Year Award, and received the AHRD Service Award in 2010. The conversation explores John's background, how he got into HRD, his time in the Peace Corps, his work with Geert Hofstede, and his wide range of experience in cross-cultural HRD. The conversation also considers how world experiences improve research and practice, the benefits and challenges of applying research in practice, and the importance of practitioners having a sound education in research and statistics.     

‘Space,the final frontier’? Social movements as organizing spaces for applying HRD

This article suggests a qualitatively different type of ‘space’ that fits the classic definition of what constitutes an ‘organization’, but that is frequently rejected as being beyond the scope of HRD because it does not fit preconceived notions of an ‘organization’. In this article, I describe how social movements are spaces analogous to organizations that can enrich our understanding of HRD principles and that may benefit from our professional experience in fostering learning and development for and within organizations. Using concepts of sensemaking in the organizing process (Weick, K. E. 1979. The Social Psychology of Organizing. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications) and concepts of space (Foucault, M. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16 (1): 22–27; Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. Translated by D. Nicholson-Smith. Oxford: Blackwell), I show how the social movement, Occupy Wall Street, can be seen as an important site of HRD practice and research.     

The same but different: HRD master’s programmes in the United States

In this study, we examined the curricular and institutional characteristics of HRD master’s programmes in the United States. Our sample included 108 programmes in 100 institutions that were self-identified as HRD programmes. Among our findings: (1) fewer programmes were located in schools of education (44%) and more were located in schools of business (28%) than indicated by previous research; (2) there was greater homogeneity in curriculum among programmes in the same institutional locations (e.g. schools of education or schools of business) and greater variation among programmes in different institutional locations; (3) the curriculum of programmes located in schools of education tended to focus on traditional educational topics such as adult learning and instructional design, while the curriculum of programmes located in school of business tended to focus on management topics such as organization development, staffing and employment law. Our findings suggest that the nature of HRD as an academic subject varies with institutional location, as do the skill sets of students who graduate from HRD programmes. Future research should take these differences into account.     

Analysing metaphor in human resource development

Metaphors can be viewed as central to the task of accounting for how we think about things, make sense of reality, and set the problems we try to solve. How then can we learn about the HRD view of the world from our use of metaphor? How do we in HRD limit our thinking by using certain metaphors? What alternative metaphors might suggest new ways of approaching HRD? This article contains an argument for completing an analysis of HRD metaphor, a fourstep framework for that analysis, and the findings of a partial application of those steps based on recent HRD literature. Issues for HRD are raised and discussed.     

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.     

A feminist poststructuralist analysis of HRD: why bodies,power and reflexivity matter

A burgeoning amount of scholarship has attempted to unravel critical approaches to investigating human resource development (HRD). There are limited critiques, however, of gender, diversity and the intersections of these deliberations within HRD theorizing. Adopting a feminist poststructuralist approach, this paper advances critical understandings of HRD by challenging epistemological and dominant theorizing in HRD. The author examines what it means when HRD writings are said to be gendered; how the political and processual dynamics of doing HRD can be understood; how the differences for doing gender, doing HRD and embodying HRD can be unravelled; and how feminist modes of inquiry can engender the value of embodied reflexivity. Weaving together literature strands from gender and education, gender and organization, and women's studies and feminist writings, the paper provides a foundational framework for how HRD scholars can re-imagine new knowledge and inject notions of the feminine and difference in HRD writings. The analysis focuses on three interrelated areas and their implications for feminist critique: the importance of examining language and discourse in HRD; the performing body in HRD; and, finally, feminist embodied reflexivity. It is argued that the HRD scholarly community should consider critical modes of inquiry to refresh and renew HRD theory building, specifically that we should examine conceptualizations of the feminine and difference in HRD writings in order to aid transformational practice.     

The changing Japanese human resource development system

This paper describes dynamic changes in the Japanese HRD system. The focus of discussion is on two HRD models, current and emerging, which are used to examine linkages to human resource management and the work system in Japan. Implications relative to new HRD roles and possible interventions in the new model are also provided.     

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.