E-HR and international HRM:a critical perspective on the discursive framing of e-HR

In the current global economic climate, international HRM is facing unprecedented pressure to become more innovative, effective and efficient. New discourses are emerging around the application of information technology, with 'e-HR' (electronic-enablement of Human Resources), self-service portals and promises of improved services couched as various HR 'value propositions'. This study explores these issues through our engagement with the emergent stream of 'critical' HRM, the broader study of organizational discourse and ethical management theories. We have found that while there is growing research into the take-up of e-HR applications, there is a dearth of investigation into the impact of e-HR on the people involved; in particular, the (re)structuring of social relations between HR functions and line managers in the move away from face-to-face HR support services, to more technology-mediated 'self-service' relationships. We undertake a close reading of personal narratives from a multinational organization, deploying a critical discourse lens to examine different dimensions of e-HR and raise questions about the strong technocratic framing of the international language of people management, shaping line manager enactment of e-HR duties. We argue for a more reflexive stance in the conceptualization e-HR, and conclude with a discussion about the theoretical and practical implications of our study, limitations and suggestions for future research. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

HR outsourcing:the impact on HR role, competency development and relationships

The business benefits of an outsourcing strategy are well documented, and HR is encouraged to outsource in order to add value. Yet little is known about how HR outsourcing affects the HR role, competencies and relationships with senior management. These issues are examined through 27 semi-structured interviews with senior HR professionals, comparing HR departments engaged in HR outsourcing with those maintaining full in-house HR provision. The findings indicate that HR outsourcing stymies HR role transformation. HR outsourcers experienced limited skill development and an increased focus on cost reduction at the expense of their strategic position. In contrast, non-HR outsourcers actively engaged in other parts of the business, developing competencies that garnered trust and support of senior managers. The benefits of an external HR community appear limited. The study suggests that an 'internal' HR community is better placed to enhance HR departmental roles. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Global HR roles and factors influencing their development:evidence from emerging Indian IT services multinationals

The rapid growth of emerging markets’ multinational companies (MNCs) is a recent phenomenon and, as such, their nature and structure of key management processes, functions, and roles need further examination. While an abundance of low-cost labor is often the starting point of competitive advantage for many of the emerging markets’ MNCs, it is the optimum configuration of people, processes, and technology that defines how they leverage their intangible resources. Based on case studies of four Indian IT services MNCs, involving 51 in-depth interviews of business and human resource (HR) leaders at the corporate and subsidiary levels, we identify five key HR roles—namely, strategic business partner, guardian of culture, builder of global workforce and capabilities, champion of processes, and facilitator of employee development. The analysis also highlights that the HR function in Indian IT service MNCs faces several challenges in consolidating the early gains of internationalization, such as lack of decentralized decision making, developing a global mind-set, localization of the workforce, and developing a global leadership pipeline. Based on our exploratory findings, we propose a framework outlining the global HR roles pursued by emerging IT services MNCs, the factors influencing them, and the challenges facing their HR function for future research.

Külső HR-szolgáltatók összehasonlító vizsgálata a világ régiójában, közép-kelet-európai sajátosságokat keresve, két Cranet-felmérés alapján

A HR területén a cégek és más szervezetek növekvő számban alkalmaznak külső szolgáltatókat, tanácsadókat. A közel százéves tanácsadás más területeihez képest viszonylag későn alakult ki a HR-tanácsadás hazánkban és a kelet-európai régióban. A jelen tanulmányban a szerzők azt vizsgálják, hogy a Cranet nemzetközi HR-adatbázis két legutóbbi felmérése (2004–2005 és 2008–2010) tükrében milyen hasonló és eltérő trendek figyelhetők meg a világ különböző régiói között.

Átalakuló emberierőforrás-menedzsment a multinacionális vállalatok magyarországi leányvállalatainál 2008–2009 (Changing HR-practices of the Hungarian subsidiaries of multinational enterprises, 2008-2009)

A Pécsi Tudományegyetem Közgazdaságtudományi Karán sok éve folyó HR-kutatás legújabb eredménye ez a beszámoló, amely 74 Magyarországon is működő multinacionális vállalat helyi leányvállalatának HR-gyakorlatát vizsgálja. Az adatfelvétel (többségében helyszíni interjú) ideje 2010. április-november. Így a megállapítások már a válságból való kilábalás időszakára is vonatkoznak: mit és hogyan tettek a HR-szervezetek, valamint a vonalbeli vezetők a HR-munka hatékonyságának növelésére. A felállított 5, ezzel kapcsolatos hipotézist a szerzők vizsgálataik alapján részben igazolni tudták. A fő megállapítás: a nemzetközi vállalatok – minimális létszámcsökkentéssel – kitartottak Magyarország mellett, megerősítették a helyi leányvállalatoknál folyó HR-munkát. A kutatás nemzetközi keretekben jelenleg is folytatódik: 6 országban készülnek tanulmányok a helyi hasonló vállalati körre, a magyarországiéval azonos HR-vizsgálati szempontok alapján. _________ This article is the result of the several year long HR-research conducted at the Faculty of Business and Management of the University of Pécs, and it analyzes the HR-practices of the Hungarian subsidiaries of 74 multinational enterprises. Data collection (mostly interviews at the subsidiaries) took place during the period of April-November 2010. Hence, the findings also relate to the period of the recovery from the recession: what and how the HR-units/ and line managers did to increase the efficiency of the HR work. The 5 hypotheses in relation with this, could partially be verified by the research of the authors of this paper. The main finding is that the multinational enterprises – with a slight decrease of headcount – stood beside Hungary and strengthened the HR-activities at their subsidiaries. Research is still being continued internationally: studies are being prepared in 6 countries on similar groups of local companies, by using the same HR-research aspects as those used in Hungary.

Elemental analysis of biological matrices by laser ablation high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-HR-ICP-MS) and high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR -ICP -MS)

The need for elemental analysis of biological matrices such as bone, teeth, and plant matter for sourcing purposes has emerged within the forensic and geochemical laboratories. Trace elemental analyses for the comparison of materials such as glass by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and laser ablation ICP-MS has been shown to offer a high degree of discrimination between different manufacturing sources. Unit resolution ICP-MS instruments may suffer from some polyatomic interferences including 40Ar16O+, 40Ar 16O1H+, and 40Ca 16O+ that affect iron measurement at trace levels. Iron is an important element in the analysis of glass and also of interest for the analysis of several biological matrices. A comparison of the analytical performance of two different ICP-MS systems for iron analysis in glass for determining the method detection limits (MDLs), accuracy, and precision of the measurement is presented. Acid digestion and laser ablation methods are also compared. Iron polyatomic interferences were reduced or resolved by using dynamic reaction cell and high resolution ICP-MS. MDLs as low as 0.03 μg g-1 and 0.14 μg g-1 for laser ablation and solution based analyses respectively were achieved. The use of helium as a carrier gas demonstrated improvement in the detection limits of both iron isotopes (56Fe and 57Fe) in medium resolution for the HR-ICP-MS and with a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) coupled to a quadrupole ICP-MS system. ^ The development and application of robust analytical methods for the quantification of trace elements in biological matrices has lead to a better understanding of the potential utility of these measurements in forensic chemical analyses. Standard reference materials (SRMs) were used in the development of an analytical method using HR-ICP-MS and LA-HR-ICP-MS that was subsequently applied on the analysis of real samples. Bone, teeth and ashed marijuana samples were analyzed with the developed method. ^ Elemental analysis of bone samples from 12 different individuals provided discrimination between individuals, when femur and humerus bones were considered separately. Discrimination of 14 teeth samples based on elemental composition was achieved with the exception of one case where samples from the same individual were not associated with each other. The discrimination of 49 different ashed plant (cannabis) samples was achieved using the developed method. ^

KOSMOS Finland 2012 mesocosm study: primary production and respiration

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reducing the pH in the world's oceans. The plankton community is a key component driving biogeochemical fluxes, and the effect of increased CO2 on plankton is critical for understanding the ramifications of ocean acidification on global carbon fluxes. We determined the plankton community composition and measured primary production, respiration rates and carbon export (defined here as carbon sinking out of a shallow, coastal area) during an ocean acidification experiment. Mesocosms (~ 55 m3) were set up in the Baltic Sea with a gradient of CO2 levels initially ranging from ambient (~ 240 µatm), used as control, to high CO2 (up to ~ 1330 µatm). The phytoplankton community was dominated by dinoflagellates, diatoms, cyanobacteria and chlorophytes, and the zooplankton community by protozoans, heterotrophic dinoflagellates and cladocerans. The plankton community composition was relatively homogenous between treatments. Community respiration rates were lower at high CO2 levels. The carbon-normalized respiration was approximately 40 % lower in the high CO2 environment compared with the controls during the latter phase of the experiment. We did not, however, detect any effect of increased CO2 on primary production. This could be due to measurement uncertainty, as the measured total particular carbon (TPC) and combined results presented in this special issue suggest that the reduced respiration rate translated into higher net carbon fixation. The percent carbon derived from microscopy counts (both phyto- and zooplankton), of the measured total particular carbon (TPC) decreased from ~ 26 % at t0 to ~ 8 % at t31, probably driven by a shift towards smaller plankton (< 4 µm) not enumerated by microscopy. Our results suggest that reduced respiration lead to increased net carbon fixation at high CO2. However, the increased primary production did not translate into increased carbon export, and did consequently not work as a negative feedback mechanism for increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration.

Avaliação das técnicas de soldagem MIG-P CA e MIG-P CC+ aplicadas ao passe de enchimento em liga de alumínio AA5083

For contain beneficial properties, aluminum alloys are gaining more importance in different industrial areas, becoming the subject of study in several academic fields. When related to welding these alloys have some peculiarities that may hinder the union, such as microscopic oxide layer present on the metal surface. The MIG welding process, also known as GMAW, has developed versions that can be effective for welding aluminum. Knowing this, for this paper, two versions of pulsed MIG (CC + and CA) were chosen to evaluate which best suits pass by filling bevel on AA5083 aluminum sheets with 8 and 12 mm thick respectively. Furthermore, two types of wire, ER5087 and ER5183 were evaluated. To evaluate the process and versions of the wires, the high-speed cameras and thermal were used to monitor the metal transfer and the thermal behavior respectively, and the metallographic analysis for macrographic view of the weld beads and non-destructive testing by radiography for observation of possible discontinuities. It was found that the technique of MIG-P CA showed better results ahead of another technique both welding conditions imposed. When connected to the wires, they showed similar results, with uniform cords and seamless

Determinação de CD, PB, e TL em água produzida por HR-CS GF AAS após extração em ponto nuvem

Produced water is a major problem associated with the crude oil extraction activity. The monitoring of the levels of metals in the waste is constant and requires the use of sensitive analytical techniques. However, the determination of trace elements can often require a pre-concentration step. The objective of this study was to develop a simple and rapid analytical method for the extraction and pre-concentration based on extraction phenomenon cloud point for the determination of Cd, Pb and Tl in produced water samples by spectrometry of high resolution Absorption source continues and atomization graphite furnace. The Box Behnken design was used to obtain the optimal condition of extraction of analytes. The factors were evaluated: concentration of complexing agent (o,o-dietilditilfosfato ammonium, DDTP), the concentration of hydrochloric acid and concentration of surfactant (Triton X -114). The optimal condition obtained through extraction was: 0,6% m v-1 DDTP, HCl 0,3 mol L-1 and 0,2% m v-1 of Triton X - 114 for Pb; 0,7% m v-1 DDTP, HCl 0,8 mol L-1 and 0,2% m v-1 Triton X-114 for Cd. For Tl was evidenced that best extraction condition occurs with no DDTP, the extraction conditions were HCl 1,0 mol L-1 e 1,0% m v-1 de Triton X - 114. The limits of detection for the proposed method were 0,005 µg L-1 , 0,03 µg L-1 and 0,09 µg L-1 to Cd, Pb and Tl, Respectively. Enrichment factors Were greater than 10 times. The method was applied to the water produced in the Potiguar basin, and addition and recovery tests were performed, and values were between 81% and 120%. The precision was expressed with relative standard deviation (RSD) is less than 5%

Desenvolvimento de metodologia de extração e pré-concentração utilizando sistema microemulsionado para determinação de Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb e Tl em águas naturais e produzidas por HR-CS AAS

The determination and monitoring of metallic contaminants in water is a task that must be continuous, leading to the importance of the development, modification and optimization of analytical methodologies capab le of determining the various metal contaminants in natural environments, because, in many cases, the ava ilable instrumentation does not provide enough sensibility for the determination of trace values . In this study, a method of extraction and pre- concentration using a microemulsion system with in the Winsor II equilibrium was tested and optimized for the determination of Co, Cd, P b, Tl, Cu and Ni through the technique of high- resolution atomic absorption spectrometry using a continuum source (HR-CS AAS). The optimization of the temperature program for the graphite furnace (HR-CS AAS GF) was performed through the pyrolysis and atomization curves for the analytes Cd, Pb, Co and Tl with and without the use of different chemical modifiers. Cu and Ni we re analyzed by flame atomization (HR-CS F AAS) after pre-concentr ation, having the sample introduction system optimized for the realization of discrete sampling. Salinity and pH levels were also analyzed as influencing factors in the efficiency of the extraction. As final numbers, 6 g L -1 of Na (as NaCl) and 1% of HNO 3 (v/v) were defined. For the determination of the optimum extraction point, a centroid-simplex statistical plan was a pplied, having chosen as the optimum points of extraction for all of the analytes, the follo wing proportions: 70% aqueous phase, 10% oil phase and 20% co-surfactant/surfactant (C/S = 4). After extraction, the metals were determined and the merit figures obtained for the proposed method were: LOD 0,09, 0,01, 0,06, 0,05, 0,6 and 1,5 μg L -1 for Pb, Cd, Tl, Co, Cu and Ni, re spectively. Line ar ranges of ,1- 2,0 μg L -1 for Pb, 0,01-2,0 μg L -1 for Cd, 1,0 - 20 μg L -1 for Tl, 0,1-5,0 μg L -1 for Co, 2-200 μg L -1 and for Cu e Ni 5-200 μg L -1 were obtained. The enrichment factors obtained ranged between 6 and 19. Recovery testing with the certified sample show ed recovery values (n = 3, certified values) after extraction of 105 and 101, 100 and 104% for Pb, Cd, Cu and Ni respectively. Samples of sweet waters of lake Jiqui, saline water from Potengi river and water produced from the oil industry (PETROBRAS) were spiked and the recovery (n = 3) for the analytes were between 80 and 112% confirming th at the proposed method can be used in the extraction. The proposed method enabled the sepa ration of metals from complex matrices, and with good pre-concentration factor, consistent with the MPV (allowed limits) compared to CONAMA Resolution No. 357/2005 which regulat es the quality of fresh surface water, brackish and saline water in Brazil.