Human resource management : transforming theory into innovative practice

Facilitates the development of critical and innovative thinking, allowing readers to make Strategic Human Resources Management decisions in the light of the diverse features of any given business and its operating environment. Hartel, Fujimoto, Stybosch all from Monash University, Fitzpatrick, Victorian Chamber of Commerce.

Tapping global human resources in an MBA teaching team : insights with implications for management education worldwide

It is found that geographic diversity, respect for differing beliefs, encouraging feedback, active participation and interaction with the students, and techniques such as active listening, contribute an architecture and atmosphere to student learning, teacher effectiveness and program excellence in virtual education. One functioning teaching team in University of Maryland University College’s online MBA program provides the action research foundation underpinning the findings. A widely dispersed team of academics and assistants have documented the ways they enhance educational information for students in the program. Assessment activities, supplementary communications and biographical information contribute to student perception of the quality of management education in the program. Mechanisms for effectively tapping a global faculty team are discussed and are informative for administrators and academics alike.

The role of human resource management (HRM) in Australian-Malaysian joint ventures

This article examines human resource management (HRM) for successful Australian-Malaysian joint ventures (JVs), on the basis of survey data and case studies. The findings suggest that each phase of JV development had its own pattern of HR practices. Three phases of development were distinguished - initiation, transitional, and maturational. The first phase involved selecting, recruiting and training a skilled workforce and formulating rudimentary human resource policies. Cultural differences were most marked in this phase. The second phase, after three years of operation, involved evolution of human resource policies better suited to local conditions, and more polycentric management staffing. The final phase, after six years of operation, saw the development of a distinctive human resources system, and the minimisation of cultural differences as an operational issue. In this phase there was also a move to more geocentric management staffing.

A preliminary study on human resource management in international construction

As construction companies continue to explore foreign construction markets, various international construction projects are being undertaken in all corners of the world. In an international construction project with many unique and complicated characteristics, human resource management can play a significant role in promoting the efficient use of complex human resources. The aim of this paper is to establish a valid foundation for further research on measuring the impact of human resource management economically for international construction projects. The paper examines human resource management literature and identifies the application of the related management techniques to the construction industry. In addition, the paper uses the literature analysis to describe the nature of human resource management with particular reference to international construction projects. In particular, the research described in this paper identifies economic performance factors in the implementation human resource management in international construction projects. This paper also identifies the social effects of human resource management practices.

International human resource management strategies of Chinese multinationals operating abroad

Strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) is crucial for the effective leveraging of human resources in organizations to achieve the desired business strategies. There is a rich collection of studies on western multinational corporations (MNCs) in China, but few studies that explore the SIHRM of Chinese MNCs operating overseas. This study utilizes cross-level, in-depth interviews to analyse SIHRM of three large Chinese multinationals. The paper contributes to literature by addressing two contextual SIHRM issues, namely the characteristics of the SIHRM for Chinese multinationals and how their SIHRM orientation facilitates their international investment and operation. The findings indicate that organizational transformation is the starting point for latecomers matching their international HRM strategies. Their SIHRM approaches, such as forming learning organizations, reliance on host-country nationals, reconciling both home and host-country effects and promoting ‘best practices’, facilitate their international operations.

Suzhi development: Indigenous approaches to enhancing the quality of human resources

Purpose- This paper aims to examine the Chinese indigenous concept of suzhi ((ProQuest: Non US-ASCII text omitted)) by analyzing its historical evolution and its contemporary implications for human resource management (HRM) research and practice at the national and organizational levels.Design/methodology/approach- An integrated review of literatures in sinology, political science, anthropology and sociology concerned with suzhi-related research, combined with recent incidents associated with suzhi.Findings-Suzhi is an indigenous concept embedded in the centuries-long historical context of China.Suzhi development has been focused on three key dimensions, moral, physical and mental, as a way of building quality employees and citizens. Yet developing and quantifying the moral aspects ofsuzhi is more challenging than measuring its physical and mental dimensions. Linkingsuzhi development to human capital theory enriches the understanding of this indigenous concept at both organizational and national levels.Research limitations/implications- By analyzing a three-dimensionalsuzhi composite, the article offers an example of howsuzhi may be linked to human capital theory and identifies directions for future research.Originality/value- By analyzingsuzhi at organizational and national levels for HRM purposes, this article broadens thesuzhi literature from its place in the political sciences and social anthropology to encompass a theoretical analysis in HRM and development for the benefit of organizations and the society.

Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage

Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to argue in support of a model that shows how four key HRM practices focused on engagement influence organizational climate, job demands and job resources, the psychological experiences of safety, meaningfulness and availability at work, employee engagement, and individual, group and organizational performance and competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach - This conceptual review focuses on the research evidence showing interrelationships between organizational context factors, job factors, individual employee psychological and motivational factors, employee outcomes, organizational outcomes and competitive advantage. The proposed model integrates frameworks that have previously run independently in the HR and engagement literatures.
Findings - The authors conclude that HRM practitioners need to move beyond the routine administration of annual engagement surveys and need to embed engagement in HRM policies and practices such personnel selection, socialization, performance management, and training and development.
Practical implications - The authors offer organizations clear guidelines for how HR practices (i.e. selection, socialization, performance management, training) can be used to facilitate and improve employee engagement and result in positive outcomes that will help organizations achieve a competitive advantage.
Originality/value - The authors provide useful new insights for researchers and management professionals wishing to embed engagement within the fabric of HRM policies and practices and employee behaviour, and organizational outcomes.

Employment relations : integrating industrial relations and human resource management

Incorporating Human Resource Management policies within the regulatory and institutional framework that governs contemporary industrial relations has always been problematic. This paper details the nature and causes of this problem, noting the different conceptual and practical understandings that underpin each form of labour management when being applied in organisational settings. It then looks at a range of industrial relations realities confronting managers when trying to apply HRM practices, and how these practices might be accommodated within the context of such realities as a means of improving organisational effectiveness. In so doing it delineates four approaches an organisation might take in its relations with trade unions when bargaining and concluding labour contracts, and which of these are consistent and inconsistent with the coexistence of HRM and industrial relations practices. It then looks at the issue of workplace change involving trade unions and collective bargaining in terms of three categorical models—the management-driven model, the trade union gatekeeper model, and the management-union alliance model, the intention again being to show which are consistent and inconsistent with the coexistence of these different forms of labour management. The paper concludes by drawing on these conceptual models to outline the issues and policies that need to be considered when applying HRM practices within an industrial relations setting.

A review of international human resource management : integration, interrogation, imitation

International human resource management (IHRM) represents an important dimension of international management. Over the past three decades, there has been considerable growth in research and practice in IHRM. While there have been extensive developments in this field, numerous scholars have identified aspects requiring review and revision. Hence, this paper reviews and interrogates the progress in IHRM's theoretical development. The review leads to the conclusion that research in IHRM has tended to emphasize integration over other forms of progress. In response, and in provocation, imitation rather than integration is suggested as an approach for the development of future theoretical and conceptual directions in IHRM.

Think global, act local: from naive comparison to critical participation in the teaching of strategic international human resource management

In this paper, we examine the implications of ethnocentrism and paternalism in teaching approaches for the field of strategic international human resource management (SIHRM), as an example of management studies. We argue that the teaching of SIHRM has been approached in a colonizing fashion, joining and extending the territories of human resource management and organizational strategy through the definition and teaching of a new language and conceptual vocabulary. We explore philosophical approaches and processes involved in teaching SIHRM, and consider implications of pedagogical developments in this field of management education.

A model for the implementation of strategic human resource management

This paper has been developed out of an action research project involving the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). One of the outcomes of this project was the development of a model for the implementation of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) for the purpose of cultural change and/or alignment to business strategy.

The paper brings together many of the theories that have arisen in SHRM in the last decade or so, including theories around human capital, the resource-based view, HR configuration, HR architecture, vertical and horizontal fit, HR systems and HR roles.