Turning Doctors Into Managers: an Evaluation of A Major Nhs Initiative to Improve the Managerial Capabilities of Medical Consultants

Alan Cowling and Karin Newman, who are Professor of Human Resource Management and Reader in Marketing respectively at the Middlesex University Business School, report on their experience in carrying out a national evaluation of a major management development programme designed to improve the managerial capabilities of hospital consultants. They show that not only did the majority of consultants subsequently feel more confident in their ability to carry out their current and prospective managerial roles, but also that there was evidence to show that they were managing more effectively. They argue that the evaluation methodology, which involved self-efficacy ratings as well as qualitative techniques, should contribute to improved evaluation of management programmes more generally.     

A case‐study of an organisation for creche teachers in a rural area of South Africa

Early childhood educare programmes can aid development through their impact on young children, their mothers and the community. The stages of development of the Hlanganani Crèche Teachers’ Organisation are outlined. The lessons for development and the effectiveness of the organisation in addressing educare issues are examined. An organisation for educare workers can be effective in dealing with problems facing educare workers if it is approached with the aim of developing and empowering its members.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Is the HRM Process Important? Past,Current, and Future Challenges

Ten years ago, Bowen and Ostroff ( 2004 ) criticized the one‐sided focus on the content‐based approach, where researchers take into account the inherent virtues (or vices) associated with the content of HR practices to explain performance. They explicitly highlight the role of the psychological processes through which employees attach meaning to HRM. In this first article of the special section entitled “Is the HRM Process Important?” we present an overview of past, current, and future challenges. For past challenges, we attempt to categorize the various research streams that originated from the seminal piece. To outline current challenges, we present the results of a content analysis of the original 15 articles put forward for the special section. In addition, we provide the overview of a caucus focused on this theme that was held at the Academy of Management annual meeting in Boston in 2012. In conclusion, we discuss future challenges relating to the HRM process approach and review the contributions that have been selected—against a competitive field—for this special issue. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring outward FDI and the choice of destination: evidence from Swedish firm-level data

Using Swedish firm-level data on all firms and their affiliates abroad, we investigate what observable firm and country characteristics affect the size of an affiliate in a particular destination. We employ the richness of the data to investigate the importance of destination country factors in explaining firm outward FDI activities and distinguish between the factors that affect such activities in manufacturing versus services firms as well as vertical versus horizontal investments. Our results lend support to existing theories of multinational activity of manufacturing but not services firms. We also find observable differences between vertical and horizontal manufacturing firms that are not always explained by theory.