Labour migration and National Human Resource Development in the context of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

Training participants' cognitions (training self-efficacy and training instrumentality) can be powerful motivational forces (and impact their motivation to learn and motivation to transfer) and influence important distal outcomes (such as training transfer). Our paper provides a set of ideas linking training cognitions with training outcomes. In addition, we support our propositions with a preliminary empirical test, based on a sample of 254 employees, who provide information on their training perceptions of training and development efforts at their organization. The results indicate that although the ‘can do’ (training self-efficacy) is a primary predictor or motivation to learn, the ‘will do’ aspect (training instrumentality) is the primary predictor for motivation to transfer. In addition, training transfer is predicted primarily by motivation to transfer, and has a strong relationship with training instrumentality. Given the paucity of research on the instrumentality aspect, we discuss theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research.     

Business friendships

Business friendships are increasingly common. Research in organizational behavior has identified a number of benefits to career and organizational performance of these relationships. These instrumental benefits derive from the affective qualities of these relationships, through the mechanisms of trust, empathy and sympathy. Yet the combination of instrumentality and affect produces a number of difficulties for business friends. Business friendships represent potential threats to the self-concept of friends if they obtain differential business outcomes; they involve the exchange of resources which are incompatible; and they represent contrasting norms of reciprocity. We also present new evidence that people prefer affective and instrumental relationships to be embedded in very different network structures. This evidence presents a non-trivial challenge to embedding business friendships, which represent both affect and instrumentality. We recommend that the field respond to these challenges by considering the impact of business friendships on broad outcome variables such as wellbeing that may reflect both the benefits and tensions of those relationships, and by evaluating the approaches available to effectively manage business friendships.     

Women and technology: A review of training initiatives

This paper considers the entry of women into technological areas of work, their subsequent career progression and return to work after a career break. It considers the development of those training programmes and related initiatives which have attempted to encourage girls and young women to enter non-traditional areas of work, and others which help women return to work after a career break. It emphasizes that such training needs to address the psychological and social issues which arise, as well as provide for new technical knowledge and skills. In doing so it reviews some of the courses which are currently available and comments on their apparent success. In its concluding problems it refers to the on-going problem of funding such training and of providing a supportive database.     

Organizational Behaviour and National Cultures

A survey is presented of the degree to which organizational behaviour is found to vary between national cultures. The conceptual framework provided by Hofstede (1980) is used to interpret many of the differences reported. Aspects of organizational behaviour which are examined include classifications of managerial values by national culture, organizational structure, leadership behaviour, negotiation processes and human resource management policies. Some of the implications of the differences found for multicultural management, for career development and for training programmes are then explored. It is concluded that there is an increasing need to prepare managers for multicultural experience and to ensure that evaluations of selection, training and career planning are more firmly grounded than is apparent from the present literature.     

Women and technology: A review of training initiatives

Abstract

This paper considers the entry of women into technological areas of work, their subsequent career progression and return to work after a career break. It considers the development of those training programmes and related initiatives which have attempted to encourage girls and young women to enter non-traditional areas of work, and others which help women return to work after a career break. It emphasizes that such training needs to address the psychological and social issues which arise, as well as provide for new technical knowledge and skills. In doing so it reviews some of the courses which are currently available and comments on their apparent success. In its concluding problems it refers to the on-going problem of funding such training and of providing a supportive database.     

专业化知识搜寻、管理创新与企业绩效：认知评价的调节作用

本研究基于探索/利用双元分析框架,将管理创新划分为利用式管理创新和探索式管理创新两个维度,并将知识搜寻和认知评价的理论观点整合到现有管理创新采纳与实施过程理论模型中,构建了一个研究模型,以考察双元管理创新的采纳过程及其实施对企业绩效的影响。本文以我国华南地区468家制造型企业为问卷调查对象,对上述研究模型进行实证检验,结果表明:(1)科学型知识搜寻主要促进探索式管理创新;市场型知识搜寻对利用式和探索式管理创新均有正向影响;供应链型知识搜寻主要促进利用式管理创新;(2)科学型知识搜寻与探索式管理创新间的关系同时受到风险性认知(负向)、匹配性认知(正向)和复杂性认知(负向)的调节效应影响;市场型知识搜寻与利用式管理创新间的关系仅受到复杂性认知的负向调节效应影响;供应链型知识搜寻与利用式管理创新间的关系同时受到风险性认知(负向)、匹配性认知(正向)和复杂性认知(正向)的调节效应影响,但其与探索式管理创新间的关系仅受到匹配性认知的负向调节效应影响;(3)利用式管理创新与企业绩效呈倒U型关系;探索式管理创新与企业绩效呈正U型关系。研究结论对于厘清管理创新的复杂采纳过程及其实施机理有一定的理论贡献,同时对企业顺利开展管理创新具有一定的实践启示意义。     

How do executive search firms increase interest in career opportunities? The role of past interactions

This article explores how executive search consultants stimulate executives’ consideration of career opportunities available at other employers. The study is based on a panel dataset of 3582 executives invited to a job interview by a global executive search firm from January 2005 to May 2009. The results demonstrate that past interactions between executives and the search consultants had a delayed effect on consideration of career opportunities. The results contribute to research on executive careers by identifying past relationships with search consultants as a factor affecting rejection of new career opportunities. They also shed light on the relatively understudied phenomenon of executive search firms.     

The meaning of work and job

This article proposes that the concepts of work and job derive meaning from different dimensions. Work is viewed as having meaning that relates to a social framework and goes beyond organizational boundaries. Here two dimensions of work meaning are termed acceptability and instrumentality. Job meaning on the other hand, is viewed to be the result of an interplay between situational characteristics and organizational dimensions, and the value and relevance of those to an individual. These dimensions are here referred to as situational and personal relevance job meaning. It is suggested that making a distinction between work and job meaning will facilitate comparisons between groups that are of different employment status.     

The Career Advancement Prospects of Managers and Professionals: Are MIS Employees Unique?

The present study examined the career advancement prospects of MIS and non-MIS employees, as well as the relationships of career advancement prospects with job performance evaluations, job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment for MIS and non-MIS professionals and managers. Participants included 134 MIS professionals and managers and 397 non-MIS professionals and managers of a large communications company. The results provided no evidence that MIS employees experience more restricted career advancement prospects than non-MIS employees. In addition, job performance evaluations generally had positive effects on career advancement prospects; career advancement prospects had a number of positive effects on job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment; and job satisfaction and career satisfaction had positive effects on organizational commitment. These findings are related to prior research, suggestions for future research are offered, and implications for the management of MIS employees are identified.     

Network Embeddedness in Exploration and Exploitation of Joint R&D Projects: A Structural Approach

This paper analyses how network embeddedness affects the exploration and exploitation of R&D project performance. By developing joint projects, partners and projects are linked to one another and form a network that generates social capital. We examine how the location, which determines the access to information and knowledge within a network of relationships, affects the performance of projects. We consider this question in the setup of exploration and exploitation projects, using a database built from an EU framework. We find that each of the structural embeddedness dimensions (degree, betweenness and eigenvector centrality) have a different impact on the exploration and exploitation project performance. Our empirical analysis extends to project management literature and social capital theory, by including the effect that the acquisition of external knowledge has on the performance of the project.     

Proactivity and work experience as predictors of career-enhancing strategies

The present study aims to enhance researchers' understanding of career self-management behaviour by introducing proactivity along with human capital variables into the analysis. By modelling employees' career strategies, this empirical investigation assesses the relative importance of human capital predictors as well as that of proactive personality. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire. There were 328 participants in the survey, consisting of individuals working for firms across all sectors of the Greek economy. Factor analysis was used to form implemented career strategies reported in the survey. Regression analysis was applied for assessing the impact of each predictor on career self-management behaviour. The main findings indicate that the primary sources behind shaping employees' career strategies are their own proactive personality and their work experience in full-time jobs. The importance of combining human capital variables with employees' proactivity in modelling career development is stressed by the present study.     

Leaders' relational self-concept and followers' task performance: Implications for mentoring provided to followers

Using a sample of 137 leader–follower dyads, this study investigated how leaders' relational self-concept relates to the mentoring (career support and psychosocial support) they provide to their followers, and whether followers' task performance moderates this relationship. As expected, leaders with a stronger relational self-concept provided more career support to followers who displayed higher (vs. lower) task performance. However, leaders' relational self-concept was unrelated to their provision of psychosocial support, irrespective of followers' task performance.     

Dimensions and design criteria for developing training reaction evaluations

Although there is research on training program evaluation, there is little systematic research on the design, development and use of training reaction evaluations. In order to obtain meaningful information from a program evaluation, evaluation professionals must be rigorous in the design and development of all aspects of an evaluation study, including instrumentation. The purposes of the study were to classify the dimensions of information sought using reaction evaluations and to establish design criteria for developing training reaction instruments. There were three major phases of the study: (1) classification of the dimensions and questionnaire design criteria used in reaction evaluations; (2) validation of the classified dimensions and the questionnaire design criteria by subject matter experts; and (3) assessment of a sample of training reaction instruments currently used in training programs in US corporations. The research findings were: eleven dimensions for reaction evaluation were identified and classified by purpose. Five overall design criteria, each consisting of several sub-criteria, were judged important in the design of reactionnaires. These include: introduction and directions; question format; question construction; questionnaire layout; and data analysis. It was concluded that a well-designed training reaction instrument integrates the proper application of design criteria with appropriate reaction dimensions. Most training reaction instruments used by US corporations consisted of questions representing only a few dimensions. The instruments varied in form and length. Few of them properly utilized the established questionnaire design criteria.     

Deus ex machina? Career progress and the contingent benefits of knowledge management systems

Knowledge management (KM) systems are increasingly common in firms which promote self-managed careers and autonomy, such as professional service firms. Yet, whether or not KM systems provide real benefits is underexplored. Our focus is on the impact of KM use on the career progress of service professionals. We use recorded logs of employee KM system use and career progress data over a two-year period within a strategy consultancy to study the effect of KM use on career advancement speed. We present a contingency-based model to KM use effectiveness, showing that, although KM use generally boosts career progress speed, (a) benefits vary by seniority (more junior employees benefit more), (b) benefits vary by knowledge type (encyclopedic vs. social), with social knowledge use mattering more to career progress, and (c) those service professionals who tap a wider range of knowledge sources progress faster in their careers. We also find mediating effects, specifically that KM system use operates partly by accelerating the development of task-related skills. We draw the conclusion that KM systems contain neither a magical Deus ex machine for boosting employee performance and progress but nor do they warrant excessive skepticism, rather their impact on careers is contingent on employee needs.     

An Examination of the Impact of Career-Oriented Mentoring on Work Commitment Attitudes and Career Satisfaction Among Professional and Managerial Employees1

Data obtained from 164 proteges in managerial and professional positions in public and private sector organizations in Singapore were used to examine the impact of career-oriented mentoring on three work commitment attitudes (career, organization and job) and career satisfaction. Factor analysis of the 15-item career-oriented mentoring scale (Ragins and McFarlin, 1990) revealed a five-factor solution – coach, sponsor, protection, challenging assignments and exposure. These career-oriented mentoring roles were differentially related to job involvement, organizational commitment and career satisfaction, and explained modest amounts of the variance in these outcome variables. T-test results indicated that mentored respondents (N = 164) reported significantly higher levels of the outcome variables than non-mentored respondents (N = 225). Limitations of the study, directions for further research and implications of the findings are discussed.     

‘One MBA?’ How context impacts the development of post-MBA career outcomes

Using survey data from alumni of one of the UK's earliest and largest MBA programmes we explore how career capital, career outcomes and career satisfaction are impacted by learner context. We adopt comparative capitalisms theory to investigate whether graduates from a standardised programme marketed as ‘One MBA’ report broadly similar career outcomes irrespective of their work and study location. We find that despite the rhetoric around globalisation in management education there are differences that fit the theories of comparative capitalisms literature; thus supporting the view that, despite the global nature of MBA branding, context still plays a role in shaping learning and career outcomes as evidenced by differences reported here. Significant findings are reported in terms of the reported development of career capital ‘knowing how’; career satisfaction and perceived organisational support, however differences in terms of the achievement of objective career success (promotion and career mobility) were less pronounced.     

Coaching at the heart of managerial effectiveness: A cross-cultural study of managerial behaviours

This article considers the assessed performances of non-commissioned officers in aprogramme perceived as an important career enhancing activity for British military personnel. We introduce the idea of cognitive style as an important individual difference affecting performance on programmes of training and development and the implications for career progression. The research methodology adopted involved mixed methods as an alternative way of ‘seeing’, ‘researching’ and ‘theorising’ human resources development in this context. The research drew upon a mix of data from course participants and organizers, and it comprised cognitive style testing, within course assessment data and notes recorded during field observation. The results revealed relationships between the factors associated with ‘styles’, ‘assessed learning performance’ and ‘course experience’. Key perspectives on the experiences of training in terms of success and strategic direction were also identified. The study provides a deeper understanding of career-development processes in the military organization, considers the implications in which knowledge of an individual's style may have for the individual and course organizers and imports new theoretical frameworks into the study of human resource development.     

Wer interessiert sich für eine Coachingweiterbildung?

The article describes the findings of a study of the motivations for pursuing extended vocational training, phases of career development and the structure of addressees based on professional training as a coach. The study showed that the central motive for a coaching training is supporting other people. Overall, instrumental motives are the most prevalent in this group of addressees. Looking at their individual career development, a clear picture emerges which places most of them in the professional establishment and maintenance phase. The addressees are predominantly highly qualified, as well as professionally and financially well positioned. A result of the training type classification indicates that the main incentive is to achieve work-related improvements from a stable personal career context.     

Pro-innovation culture,ambidexterity and new product development performance: Polynomial regression and response surface analysis

This study examines the intervening role of organizational ambidexterity in the relationship between pro-innovation culture and new product development (NPD) performance. The results indicate that organizational ambidexterity positively mediates the relationship between pro-innovation culture and NPD performance. The results show that when both exploration and exploitation are increased simultaneously, after an initial decline, NPD performance shows a rising trend. NPD performance tends to decline generally when there is an imbalance between the two though the plateau is at a point where exploitation is slightly higher than exploration. Additionally, pro-innovation culture can increase the gap between exploration and exploitation for exploration-oriented firms, which can lower their NPD performance. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms that explain why firms with pro-innovation culture have higher NPD performance. Further, it enhances our understanding of the role of pro-innovation culture as an organizational context for building organizational ambidexterity, and provides new insights that can help reconcile the combined and balanced views of ambidexterity in enhancing NPD performance.