The conditions for successful knowledge transfer in development‐aid training programs

The shortage of qualified human capital is a major impediment to development. In the field of international development cooperation, training programs (TPs) have been widely employed to enhance the capacity of workforces in developing countries. This paper investigates the conditions in which these programs can contribute not only to individual human resource development but also to organization‐level reform and innovation in developing countries. The methods were regression analyses of training monitoring records as well as follow‐up e‐mail interviews with former participants of information and communication technology TPs sponsored by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. The research reveals that bilateral communication between training participants and the home organizations during the training plays a key role in increasing the probability of successful organization‐level transfer of individual‐level learning, irrespective of the original level of organization's absorptive capacity. The researchers examine the differences in transfer factors between the development aid context in their research and the paradigm case of the business organization found in much of the transfer literature.     

The Effects of Initial Location,Aspirations, and Resources on Likelihood of First Sale in Nascent Firms*

The formation of a new venture includes initial choices that affect the process of start‐up. Primary among these decisions is the choice of location whether to start from home or from an away location. This paper examines the impact of initial firm location choices and aspirations of the entrepreneur on the resource assembly process and the likelihood of first sale. Results show that home‐based businesses assemble different types of resources from their away‐based counterparts. Higher aspirations were associated with greater accumulation of organizational resources. The combined influence of location and aspirations showed that home‐based firms with high aspirations were less likely to achieve first sale. A post hoc analysis examined these affects within a subgroup of service firms and confirmed the previous results. This study suggests that in the initial stages of the new venture, there are processes and routines that home‐based businesses engage in that lead them to achieve first sales in a timelier manner than those businesses that are located away from home. Furthermore, high aspirations are associated with greater scale of organizational resources but not necessarily with achievement of sales. Implications are discussed.     

Similarities and differences in human resource management in the European Union

This study explores similarities and differences in human resource management (HRM) in the European Union (EU). Common factors in the development of European HRM are the importance of consultation, the emergence of flexible work patterns, the role of work and the employer in the life of employees, and the introduction of the Euro. National, company, and regional factors create divergence in European HRM. National factors include societal hierarchy, different cultures and mental models, societal structure, and language. Company factors include size of companies, public versus private, and multinational or local. Regional factors differentiate along north‐south and east‐west axes. The EU had relatively little impact on HRM in terms of harmonization of labor and tax laws but had major impact on the opening up of markets to foreign competition and privatization of public sector companies. While cultural diversity remains strong, the influence of large multinational companies may lead to more regional integration in the practice of HRM. European HRM is much more comfortable operating in a polycentric mode than U.S. HRM, which seeks universality and standardization. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Human resources in Vietnam: The global challenge

This article takes a critical look at the management of people in Vietnam. It examines the prevailing business environment and the reform process and their implications for skill formation and the development of managerial expertise. The analysis then proceeds to examine on a thematic basis some specific human resource practices in four firms based in Hanoi—two state‐owned enterprises and two multinationals. The article analyzes the traditional and emergent human resource practices showing how they reflect industrial and historical‐cultural contextual factors. The discussion also considers the suitability and adequacy of these practices while locating them within the international human resource management debate. This article thus contributes to the critique of global human resource management by exploring the relevance of mainstream human resource theory and practice to the Vietnamese case, especially given the increasing role of multinational firms in the Vietnamese economy. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Gender,Risk, and Venture Creation Intentions

This paper is concerned with whether women are less likely to express business start‐up intentions because of a less favorable attitude to risk. Previous research suggests that attitude to risk differs significantly between genders, but has not addressed the question of whether this contributes to lower levels of female interest in venture creation. This paper describes a conceptual basis for this question, and investigates it using a survey of business start‐up intention from across a sample of European universities. A large proportion of the difference in average levels of intention between genders appears to be associated with attitude to risk.     

Determinants of Success of Employer Branding in a Start‐up Firm in Nigeria

This article aims at providing an understanding of factors that determine the success and failure of employer branding. An African steel‐producing start‐up company developed an employer brand image, which enabled it to effectively attract and hire talent from the labor market and inspired high engagement and productivity. A few years later, the firm lost its attractive brand image and its employer brand loyalty also declined. The study is a longitudinal investigation, and data were collected from policies and through structured interviews with the employees, ex‐employees of the organization, and prospective employees. Findings show amazing success of the employer brand in the first six years in talent attraction, hiring, engagement, and retention. Thereafter, the brand lost its potency, and its dysfunctionality significantly impacted on the future of the firm—employee dissatisfaction, decline in productivity, and increase in turnover. The reasons include a toxic organizational environment, overbranding, failure to keep promises, disconnect between employer branding and human resource strategy, shift of emphasis by senior management from people to production, and lack of a dynamic and differentiated employee value proposition. The study offers practical lessons to managers. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The transfer of training at macro level in least developed countries: a case study of the ‘brain‐drain’ in Eritrea

Over the past four decades, governments in the least developed countries (LDCs – a categorization adopted by the United Nations) have been attempting to improve the skills and knowledge of their public servants by providing local and international training programs. Despite these training activities, however, many LDCs continue to experience acute shortages of high‐level technical and managerial skills. This is because LDCs are increasingly unable to retain trained personnel employed in the public sector, resulting in a ‘brain‐drain’. The present study critically assesses that part of a major human resource development project implemented in Eritrea, an LDC, between 1998 and 2005, which provided overseas scholarships for 674 public servants. Almost two‐thirds did not return to Eritrea, and the study seeks to establish the reasons for nonreturn. It identifies from the literature five factors that appear to influence return and examines the relationship between these and nonreturn. Economic and political conditions and lack of peace and stability were significant in explaining changes in nonreturn. The results point to the areas of change needed to enable LDCs to retain highly qualified nationals. These areas involve significant changes in government policy, but training providers themselves may be able to take some steps to minimize the lack of benefit from their human resource development investment. The conclusion is that the retention and effective utilization of trained people by LDCs remains challenging. In theoretical terms, the concern of this study can be seen as a macro‐level expression of the transfer problem.     

The Gravity of China's African Export Promise

Africa's largest trade partner, China, criticised for exchanging resources for manufactures, has promised to increase imports and optimise the structure of trade with Africa. Using a gravity model of China's imports for the years 1995–2009, we explore potential dynamics for this promise, uniquely accounting for market economy recognition and Taiwan recognition. The former is associated with increased imports, while the latter effect is ambiguous and statistically insignificant. Comparison of projected against actual imports across three growth‐path‐aligned economic geography typologies – resource‐rich; landlocked and resource‐poor; coastal and resource‐poor – sets out China's imports trends in an abstract framework of African export potential. We find not only ‘under’ importing across a majority of resource‐poor countries. We also find that current trade policy is the least applicable to these comparatively poor exporters’ trade with China. If the latter are to serve a broader catalytic role in Africa's regional industrial transformation as compared to the role of coastal and resource‐poor countries in regional economic transformation in Asia and Latin America, China–Africa trade and investment policies may need additional thinking.     

基于全局主成分法的区域资源禀赋综合评价研究

本文根据我国国情构建了资源禀赋评价指标体系,采取全局主成分法对2011-2017年我国30个省、自治区、直辖市（西藏除外）的区域资源禀赋状况进行衡量,并运用聚类方法对资源禀赋水平相似的区域进行拟合,结果表明：不同资源在区域间分布呈现较强的不均衡性;不同地区资源禀赋的丰歉差距主要由技术资源、市场化水平决定;依据资源禀赋丰歉情况,将我国区域分为领先型地区、崛起型地区和追赶型地区,三类地区资源禀赋的综合丰歉程度与经济发展水平基本一致。     

Contrasting Strategic Response to Economic Recession in Start‐Up versus Established Software Firms*

Economic recessions represent a period of greatly reduced environmental munificence that threatens the survival of all firms. This is especially the case for smaller, start‐up firms, which have been shown to fail at a much higher rate compared with their larger, more established peers. This study surveyed 137 software executives regarding their strategic response to the most recent economic downturn (2001–2003). I draw upon Hofer's framework for turnaround strategies to develop hypotheses to explore how smaller, start‐up firms adjust their strategies in response to economic recession. The results suggest that start‐up organizations are much more inclined to pursue revenue‐generating strategies as a means to weathering recession rather than cost reductions, which tended to be the preferred strategy of larger firms.     

Global Consistency Versus Local Responsiveness: Deutsche Telekom's Human Resource Management Strategies in Central and Eastern Europe

This article analyses the competing demands faced by Deutsche Telekom for global consistency and local responsiveness as it attempted to coordinate its human resource management strategies across its Eastern European subsidiaries. It considers the degree to which the former economic and political histories of Eastern Europe continue to influence and/or constrain multinational corporation strategies and practices in the post-2000 era. Institutional path dependency, strategic international human resource management, and international industrial relations theories are used to assist in analyzing the data. The study concludes that managerial constraints associated with the historical and economic legacies of these former socialist countries are rapidly declining, thereby allowing multinational firms to implement “Western-style” human resource management strategies. It further suggests that industrial relations institutions at the European Union level, rather than individual country level, have the greatest potential to impact on international human resource management strategies in the region. Multinational corporations should therefore engage in more-integrated strategic international human resource management and international industrial relations approaches.     

比较优势发展战略与泛珠三角区域经济收敛

通过实证分析发现遵守比较优势发展战略并不能导致泛珠三角区域经济收敛,相反差距却是在拉大。这是因为泛珠三角大部份省的资源禀赋结构相似性很大,产业趋同导致企业缺乏竞争力;由于市场规模有限、市场发育不成熟等因素,导致现有的及潜在的比较优势难以实现,而且储蓄率、外商直接投资和人力资本存量是影响泛珠三角经济收敛是否发生的重要因素。所以,为了实现泛珠三角区域经济收敛,泛珠三角各省区在参与合作的同时,应深化比较优势发展战略,扩大对外开放,实行走出去的战略,改善区内投资环境吸引外商投资,加大教育投入提高人力资本存量。     

区域技术创新能力的影响因素分析——以江浙沪两省一市为例

根据2000-2007年度统计资料,运用知识生产函数对江浙沪区域技术创新能力的影响因素进行实证研究。研究结果表明,大中型企业对区域的创新产出具有显著的促进作用,科研机构与高等院校对区域创新产出贡献不明显,人力资本在创新产出中具有最大的贡献作用。     

Human resource development to facilitate experiential learning: the case of Yahoo Japan

Although work experiences are recognized as important mechanisms for developing leaders in organizations, existing research has focused primarily on work assignments rather than on human resource development (HRD) systems that promote experiential learning of managers. The primary goal of this study was to develop an HRD model for facilitating experiential learning by examining the case of Yahoo Japan, which has transformed its HRD system based on experiential learning theory. The results indicate that Yahoo Japan has promoted experiential learning at the individual level by introducing new HRD systems consisting of four elements: reflection support (one‐on‐one meeting and coaching training), assignment support (HRD meeting and job rotation), assessment support (360‐degree appraisal and one‐on‐one meeting assessment) and visionary support (a vision and values). Although these elements are closely associated with each other, reflection support plays a key role in the HRD system. The proposed model is discussed from theoretical and practical viewpoints.     

区域装备制造业产业结构优化影响因素分析

装备制造业是一个国家或地区工业化水平与经济科技总体实力的标志,其产业结构的优劣决定了一个国家或地区经济发展质量和水平。对区域装备制造业产业结构优化进行理论分析显示,影响产业结构的主要因素是供给结构和需求结构。供给结构下资源禀赋、技术进步有助于实现产业结构的优化;需求结构下消费需求的变化以及投资需求的比例对装备制造业产业结构优化有一定的影响。在经济全球化背景下,外商带来的先进技术,进出口贸易的兴起加速产业结构的优化。政府经济政策和市场也是影响因素。因而要充分利用有利因素促进产业结构的优化。     

自然禀赋对欠发达地区经济增长的影响研究——来自安徽的例证

自然资源与经济增长的关系一直是经济学家关注的焦点。通过扩展已有文献对自然资源的定义,即从自然资源、旅游资源和地理区位三个方面来表征自然禀赋,以安徽省2000—2010年市级面板数据为样本,考察自然禀赋对欠发达地区经济增长的影响。结果表明:自然资源和地理区位对安徽城市经济增长具有正向影响,旅游资源对安徽城市经济增长的影响不显著,"资源诅咒"假说在安徽省市级层面不成立;对于安徽这样的欠发达地区而言,地方经济发展对自然禀赋具有较高的依赖性。     

我国人才开发投入长效机制的构建研究

加快转变经济发展方式的关键在于大力实施人才强国战略和人才资源优先开发战略。投入不足及效益低下是制约我国人才资源开发的瓶颈。而影响我国人才开发投入的主要因素包括投入对象、投入主体、投入总量、投入效能、综合管理水平等。要构建我国人才开发投入的长效机制须明确目标导向,建立分层投入机制;开展动力分析,建立多元投入机制;加强科学概算,建立预测规划机制;着眼效能提升,建立考核监督机制;强化系统管理,建立综合运行机制,以促进我国人才的可持续开发利用。     

The Capital Gains Tax: A Curse but Also a Blessing for Venture Capital Investment

Our study analyzes the effect of the capital gains tax on the individual investment decisions of venture capitalists. By doing so, we are able to study the decisions for a sample of 61,558 funding rounds in 32 countries from 2000 to 2012. Our results support the predictions of the theoretical model that higher capital gains tax rates are associated with fewer start‐ups financed and a lower probability of receiving follow‐up funding. However, the results concerning the effect on the probability of success of start‐ups show that a higher tax burden is associated with a higher probability of eventual start‐up success.     

网络时代企业人力资源管理的对策

网络时代企业人力资源管理面临人力资源管理环境、人才竞争、企业文化及员工发展等多方面的挑战。企业对这些挑战应采取更新观念、建立有效的企业人力资源管理体系、采取人性化管理和网络化管理方法、建立专业化的人力资源管理队伍和人力资源管理信息系统等对策     

Angel Financing and the Performance of High‐Tech Start‐Ups

In this paper, we investigate what drives the performance of high‐tech start‐ups receiving angel financing, while taking a closer look at the capabilities (i.e., experience) and investment behavior of business angels (BAs). We exploit a new data set (extracted from Crunchbase), which consists of 1,933 high‐tech start‐ups that received at least one financing round from a BA. The results indicate that the experience of BAs in early stage investments is positively associated with additional receipt of follow‐on rounds of financing and sequential capital injections from venture capitalists (VCs). Later‐stage experience is positively associated with the start‐up's success (i.e., probability to be listed or acquired), but reduces the need for new VCs to invest in the start‐up. Furthermore, we find consistent evidence that start‐ups that combine BA and VC financing experience higher levels of funding amounts, additional VC financing, and an improved likelihood of success. Finally, we find that the co‐localization of BA investors and start‐ups in the same area facilitates the attraction of VC financing.