Ethics and human resource management and development in a global context: case study of an Indian multinational

A firm's orientation to ethics is influenced largely by its national and organizational culture. Research shows that a growing number of Indian firms place a distinct emphasis on long-term orientation to business strategy with a social mission, underpinned by firm commitment to core organizational values, employee development and welfare. Through a case study of a large Indian multinational conglomerate, this article provides preliminary evidence of how some emerging economy firms are successfully mixing and matching indigenous business and people management strategies with the Western emphasis on meritocracy and professionalism to compete in the contemporary global economy. It further shows how the human resource development (HRD) discipline can play a pro-active role in embedding ethics and values throughout the organizational and HR architecture. The HRD professionals in the case study firm also face several structural and cultural challenges in discharging their ethics-driven HR mandate, such as management's ethnocentric attitude to global staffing and clash of work cultures.     

HRD standards and standardization: where now for human resource development?

This paper examines standard-setting and standardization processes currently being undertaken in the human resources field and makes a ‘call to action’ for human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners to influence these developments. The paper provides a reflexive ‘insider account’ of HR standards development combining personal experience with theoretical perspectives; ‘grey’ and practitioner literatures; and secondary data sources. Drawing on scholarly literature sources, opportunities and dilemmas of standardization processes in the HR field are discussed. Grounded in the standardization literature, alternative approaches to system-wide (meta) standards are identified. Drawing on publically available information, different standardization approaches in USA and UK are discussed. The paper critiques the dominant performance-orientated paradigm and ‘rules-based’ approach to standards and argues for an alternative, principles-based approach for HR standardization to support sustainable individual and organizational performance. These issues have important consequences for HRD identity, pedagogy, education, and practice. In addition to the development of an original typology of emerging HR standardization, the paper contributes a new perspective to debates about the identity, values, purpose, and contribution of HRD and the relationship between HRD and human resource management (HRM).     

Preparing the transnational teacher: a textual analysis of pre-departure orientation manuals for teaching overseas

The purpose of this article is to critically analyse pre-departure manuals for transnational teachers and to suggest changes to human resource development (HRD) professionals when producing future manuals. Drawing on the principles of critical human resource development theory, the study employs textual analysis to analyse manuals from nine different international agencies or schools that employ transnational teachers. The textual analysis identified three dominant themes in the data: information not education, ‘good’ work habits as self-regulation, and the (dis)connection of professional and personal backgrounds. Study findings suggest that agencies narrowly rely on instrumentalist material to the detriment of personal and cultural knowledge and human agency of transnational teachers. HRD personnel in international educational agencies may wish to create future manuals that problematize taken-for-granted knowledge and promote teacher agency.     

高绩效工作系统与组织绩效:中国连锁行业的实证研究

本文分析了一项对中国83家连锁企业的人力资源实践状况的最新调查。本文对管理人员和生产人员及其不同的人力资源实践类型进行了区分,同时基于人力资源实践的组合,使用聚类分析划分了它们的高低水平组别。本文在高水平组别中,分析了人力资源实践的不同组合对公司绩效的影响。论文的研究结果增加了我们在高绩效工作系统方面的知识,为经理人员规划有效的人力资源管理战略提供了重要的启发。     

Analysis of strengths and weaknesses in the National Human Resource Development systems of BRICS

National Human Resource Development (NHRD) takes a humane and long-term perspective to the human resources of each country in terms of national growth. This research evaluated the human resource development competitiveness of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) countries from the perspective of NHRD. This study selected Global Human Resource Competitiveness Index to assess the NHRD of BRICS. Although it is generally considered that the BRICS countries have high growth potential with large population, this analysis showed that they have a common weakness in the balanced development and use of human resources from the perspective of NHRD. In this respect, this study compares and analyses the characteristics and strength/weakness of each BRICS country. This research can inform evaluation of policies on national human resource development. Additionally, it can provide basic data for identifying the status of the human resource development system.     

投资型人力资源管理系统与企业绩效的关系研究

本文根据对中国116家企业的人力资源实践状况的调查结果,分析了人力资源管理实践与企业绩效之间的关系.本文通过因素分析.揭示了投资型人力资源管理系统的内容结构,同时基于人力资源实践的组合,划分了高低水平人力资源实践组别并对其进行了比较.接着本文进行了相关分析和回归分析,分析投资型人力资源管理系统、人力资源战略整合与企业绩效之间的关系.研究发现,企业绩效不仅与部分人力资本投资活动存在积极的联系.而且与人力资源管理系统和企业战略的整合程度有关.论文的研究结果增加了我们在高绩效工作系统方面的知识.为当前我国企业的人力资源管理实践提供了重要的启发.     

国外高绩效人力资源实践:理论回顾、分析与展望

顺应组织发展要求构建有效人力资源管理模式,增强企业的持续竞争力,已经成为战略人力资源管理的热点之一。通过梳理近年来相关研究成果,剖析国外高绩效人力资源实践的概念及其构成。从员工态度和行为、组织资本、组织能力等方面指出高绩效人力资源实践的结果变量。根据实证研究相关文献,梳理高绩效人力资源实践与企业绩效的内在关联性。在此基础上,提出高绩效人力资源实践的未来研究方向,为相关理论和实证研究提供指导。     

The relationship between training outsourcing and employee commitment to organization

In many countries, the human resource practice of training outsourcing has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of the broader business process outsourcing industry. In spite of the growing popularity in professional practice, training outsourcing continues to be subjected to critical review and ongoing debate with most attention focused on the decision to ‘outsource’ or ‘not to outsource’. However, there exists a shortage of research on training outsourcing as a human resource development (HRD) practice and the potential relationships with desired organizational outcomes including employee commitment. This exploratory international study extends previous research that has examined the relationship between training and organizational commitment by focusing exclusively on outsourced training. Data were collected from information technology firms in two countries: India and the United States. Results showed positive relationships between specific measures of employee perceptions of quality, usefulness and supervisor support for outsourced training with organizational commitment. Recommendations are made for future research as well as for professional practice to guide HRD practitioners involved in the rapidly growing global practice of training outsourcing.     

Short-term international assignments. Military perspectives and implications for international human resource management

Short-term international assignments have been under-explored in international human resource management (IHRM) literature and research. Equally, there is a dearth of studies on international mobility beyond multinational corporations. Drawing on an exploratory study of short-term international assignments in the Irish Defence Forces, this paper considers the implications for IHRM.     

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.     

An empirical evaluation of the management resourcing strategy of a Western multinational within a post-socialist Polish subsidiary

The continued globalization process and internationalization of business is increasingly raising issues concerning human resource strategy and practice in those organizations operating across international boundaries. This paper presents an empirical evaluation of the management resourcing strategy of a Western multinational corporation (MNC) within a post-socialist Polish subsidiary. Findings suggest a high level of pragmatism in relation to management staffing decisions. Whilst normative resourcing models emphasize the importance of environment, organization and job analysis in selecting and preparing managers for expatriate appointments, these processes are contingency constrained. Difficulties of adaptation and integration of the Polish subsidiary serve to increase reliance on expatriate managers.     

Improving human resources for health planning in developing economies

There is a universal consensus that human resources represent the heart and soul of effective health systems everywhere. However, despite this consensus, human resource planning in low income countries remains a neglected, often poorly implemented and ineffective component of health-system development. The planning exercises that do take place are often inefficient, use inappropriate planning models or fail to adequately prioritize human resource investment decisions. This article briefly discusses possible reasons why this failure occurs and describes four key steps that can help health system planners more effectively prioritize and link human resource for health investment decisions to health system strategy and programmatic initiatives. Implications for human resource development practice and national human resource development are discussed.     

Human Resource Management as a Field of Research*

Drawing on Snow and Thomas's (Journal of Management Studies, 31 (1994), pp. 457–480) matrix, we empirically explore the state of the art in human resource management (HRM) research. The data were obtained through a questionnaire directed to HRM scholars all over the world, in which they were asked about their particular theoretical and methodological approaches. The evidence obtained shows clearly that HRM scholars are progressively abandoning the universalistic perspective and completing their models with contingent and contextual variables. Trying to classify the different contributions proposed and discuss their integration, HRM is described as a field of research with three dimensions: subfunctional, strategic and international. The paper concludes that to provide reliable explanations and valid responses to professional problems, HRM research must advance simultaneously in these three dimensions. As follows from our analysis, there are certain HR issues that still need to be addressed: (1) the strategic use of HR practices, (2) their international applicability, (3) global HR strategies and (4) the synergic integration of HR activities. Nevertheless, to advance our knowledge in these issues, it seems necessary to integrate previous research in subfunctional, strategic and international aspects of HRM.     

HRM系统、竞争战略与企业绩效关系的实证研究

战略人力资源管理理论认为人力资源管理(HRM)系统和企业竞争战略之间的匹配关系会对企业绩效产生影响.通过类型学和分类学两条主线归纳并总结了关于 HRM 系统及其与企业绩效关系的研究,提出了 HRM 系统、竞争战略与企业绩效关系的假说,并以133家样本企业为研究对象,对理论假说进行了检验.研究发现,采取内部型 HRM 形态的企业的绩效高于采取市场型 HRM 形态的企业;环境特征(产业技术变革、劳动力市场竞争)对 HRM 系统形态与企业绩效关系的调节效应仅得到部分支持,而企业规模的调节效用没有得到支持;企业的竞争战略对人力资源战略选择的影响很小;HRM 系统与竞争战略匹配企业的绩效高于没有匹配企业的假说没有得到支持.最后,对研究结论进行了讨论,分析了其局限性和未来研究建议.     

战略人力资源管理与组织绩效关系研究的新框架：理论整合的视角

人力资本理论、行为理论和资源理论是研究者们研究战略人力资源管理和组织绩效之间关系的常用理论基础,但单一的理论基础不能完全揭示战略人力资源管理对组织绩效的作用机制。为此,首先分析比较了3种理论基础各自的研究框架及研究现状;然后,基于理论整合的视角构建了战略人力资源管理与组织绩效关系研究的新框架;最后,对该领域研究的未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

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.     

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.     

人力资源管理系统影响企业绩效的复杂性机理——基于高新技术企业的实证研究

破解人力资源管理系统影响企业绩效的机理是战略人力资源管理研究领域的核心问题。基于164家高新技术企业的调查数据,采用层级回归模型检验了人力资源管理系统与企业绩效间的复杂性机理。结果显示,人力资源管理系统对企业绩效的正向直接效应显著,影响二者关系的外生变量是创新战略非高管价值观;人力资本在二者关系间的中介效应不显著,但以组织氛围为控制变量时中介效应有了显著提高;"组织氛围调节下的人力资本中介作用模型"很好地刻画人力资本发挥中介效应的机理。研究结果强化了我们对人力资源管理系统与企业绩效关系机理的认知,同时为高新技术企业管理者在实践中管理员工提供了有益启示。     

Attracting and retaining talent: exploring human resources development trends in Australia

Drawing from the resource based view of the firm (RBV) the argument developed in the paper is that in an environment characterized by increasing levels of skilled labour shortages organisations need to design employment systems that prioritize human resource development to enable competitive advantage. The literature review examines the issues associated with the attraction, retention and development of human resources, and the major contextual issues and debates underpinning skill and labour shortages. A research question is then framed to capture the HR priorities of Australian organisations. We examine responses from 1372 Australian human resources (HR) professionals who participated in an online survey of a national HR professional association and results are interpreted with respect to HR efforts to attract, develop and retain talent.

Our findings suggest that employers are addressing issues related to attraction - recruitment and selection. However, in critical HR development areas associated with retention such as training, job design, skill development, careers management and team building, results indicate a lower level of resource allocation. We conclude that this lack of resource allocation is of concern for Australian organisations that are struggling to compete both domestically and internationally for skilled workers.