The human resource challenge to outward foreign direct investment aspirations from emerging economies: the case of China

The continued influx of foreign investment into China and the growing desire by indigenous Chinese companies to invest abroad have created an unprecedented demand for people who possess competencies to compete successfully in a global economy. Without this pool of human talent, China's economic growth will slow and its outward foreign direct investment aspirations will be thwarted. This paper presents two inter-related studies that can shed light on China's ability to meet this human resource challenge in the years ahead. The first study pertains to the intention of a sample of Chinese university students in Canada to return to work in China upon graduation. Most Chinese students were receptive to the idea of returning to China. The second study examines the willingness of non-Chinese university students to work for Chinese firms overseas or in China. In general, non-Chinese students were more willing to work in the North American operations of Chinese companies and less so in relocating to China. These two surveys are supplemented by in-depth interviews with Chinese who have returned to work in China and those who chose to remain overseas. The implications of these findings, both theoretical and practical, are discussed.     

The adoption of HIV/AIDS policies and practices in businesses in Botswana: an exploratory study

This paper contributes to an under-researched area through an exploration of the factors motivating the adoption of HIV/AIDS policies and practices in businesses in Botswana. The focus of analysis is a developing country where HIV/AIDS is acknowledged to have had a detrimental impact on its human resources. The objective of this research was to assess whether a voluntary, non-legally binding National Policy on HIV/AIDS is an adequate motivator for the adoption of HIV/AIDS policies in businesses. The study engaged employers and managers across a number of key sectors in Botswana. The findings are explored through a theoretical lens that acknowledges institutional isomorphism and rational economic decision-making as potential motivating factors. The data indicate that the National Policy on HIV/AIDS had motivated certain businesses to adopt such policies, but a variety of other factors were also found to be involved in this process. There was, however, lack of engagement with the National Policy and with issues surrounding HIV/AIDS by a high number of the participating organisations. The research findings reveal the complexity of factors involved in adopting HIV/AIDS policies in a developing country, and therefore provide an insight in an under-researched area. They can serve as a foundation for future research on human resource management policies and practices in relation to HIV/AIDS in African economies.     

Strategic global human resource management research in the twenty-first century: an endorsement of the mixed-method research methodology

Global competition is rapidly becoming the norm in which nearly all business organizations must compete in one fashion or another. The complexity and value of strategic global human resource management (SGHRM) will continue to compound in significance as globalization becomes the predominate form of business. Both practitioners and researchers maintain the grapple with understanding the global phenomena and the resulting impact on the entire human resource management system.

Previously, researchers' maintained research programmes utilizing Western-style theories and methods, which were predominantly quantitative, to explore phenomena that may now be inappropriate. These methods and theories frequently do not capture the ‘fabric’ of global phenomena that include complex interactions of culture, institutions, societal norms and government regulations, among a few concerns.

The mixed methods approach is proposed to add the ‘fabric’ required, illustrating the depth and flexibility needed to explore the SGHRM issues. Mixed methods are a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches that maintain methodological rigour as well as measures for reliability and validity. This paper explores the current methods, the reasons for their lack of success in portraying the depth of the phenomena and why the mixed methods approach appears to be a superior method for research for the SGHRM field.     

Talent management of skilled migrants: propositions and an agenda for future research

This paper unpacks the dominant conceptualizations of talent management (TM) in contemporary academic publications, and considers these in relation to the increasingly important workforce population of skilled international migrants. It postulates that TM approaches are generally built from a relatively narrow human capital-based perspective wherein organizations focus on readily accessible and immediate skills, ignoring the longer term strategic potential of the international workforce of skilled migrants, particularly for multinational enterprises and other international organizations. Through a series of propositions, the paper highlights how organizations, in strategically using a more comprehensive TM lens rather than a human capital lens in approaching the TM of skilled migrants, could benefit from improved HRM performance over time. It also proposes a research agenda, by which future studies might test, explore, and further develop understanding on a more strategic utilization of skilled migrants in organizations.     

Human resource management in developing economies: a comparison of India and Thailand

This paper reports the results of surveys of firms that were conducted both in India and Thailand. The surveys centred on a wide range of human resource management practices (staffing, training, compensation and evaluation). The sample consisted of both the subsidiaries of multinational corporations and locally owned companies. Statistical analysis suggests pronounced differences in employment practices between India and Thailand in some areas, while considerable similarities in other areas. The study controls for a variety of organizational factors (e.g., firm size, ownership (foreign versus domestic), union status).     

Management and employee involvement in achieving an environmental action-based competitive advantage: an empirical study

The objective of this work is to conduct an empirical study that shows whether certain management and human resource factors influence the achievement of an environmental action-based competitive advantage in a company. To this end, we have taken a sample of 110 factories. Management's deep involvement and its strategic integration, as well as employee motivation and participation, have a positive impact on the achievement of an environmental action-based competitive advantage in a company.     

Human resource management and innovation in the Canary Islands: an ultra-peripheral region of the European Union

This study attempts to answer the question about how firms in an ultra-peripheral region innovate to compete in a global market when they often seem not to have the basic conditions to innovate identified in the literature. On that line, and based on the notion that firms in ultra-peripheral regions must recognise the value of their human capital in order to overcome the limitations typical of their social and geographical context, this research aimed to analyse the relationship between the human resource (HR) policy and innovation in an ultra-peripheral region of the European Union, namely the Canary Islands. The objective of this study is to identify the HR-related internal factors that can affect the innovation capability of firms. In particular, this paper considers the HR management policy, the formalisation of that policy in an HR plan, and job stability. To achieve this goal, an empirical study of 157 Canarian firms was carried out and arrived at the conclusion that high commitment human resource management (HRM) has a positive influence on organisational innovation in processes. The results also show that the formalisation of the HR policy in a plan, and job stability also increases innovation in processes.     

A comparative study of performance appraisals,incentives and rewards practices in domestic and multinational enterprises in the country of Brunei Darussalam

Very little work in the past has focused on the comparative analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices between domestic and multinational enterprises (MNEs). The majority of the work in this area has instead concentrated on comparing the HRM practices utilised by the subsidiaries of MNEs, and has mostly been conducted in the context of developed countries. In this paper, we examine how the HR practices of appraisals, rewards and incentives are offered, explained and monitored in domestic enterprises (DEs) versus MNEs, and how they are similar or different in nature. This paper is based on primary data collected from a cross-section of firms operating in the country of Brunei Darussalam – a context within which no previous work of this nature has been undertaken. An analysis reveals several interesting results: HR practices are more advanced and better structured in MNEs that conduct performance appraisals (PA) more frequently than DEs, and their feedback system is also rapid; incentives and rewards systems in MNEs follow market ethos and principles; the HR directors and employees of MNEs are more receptive to PA than those in DEs whilst, in contrast to DEs, incentives and rewards systems in MNEs follow market ethos and principles. Furthermore, with regard to size, younger firms are more likely to be following market principles in terms of explaining incentives and rewards systems to their employees, whilst older firms claim that working for them carries social and psychological benefits for employees.     

Job satisfaction in aging workforces: an analysis of the USA,Japan and Germany

In light of the dramatically aging workforces in many industrialized countries, age diversity management will become a major challenge in human resource management. To successfully handle an age-diverse workforce, it is crucial to understand how employees of different ages can be motivated. This paper analyzes age's moderating role in the relationship between situational job characteristics and job satisfaction. To control for the potential influence of the cultural and institutional context, we use data from the USA, Japan and Germany. Findings show that older employees' job satisfaction is driven by different factors than younger employees: older employees put more emphasis on good relationships with colleagues, while income, advancement opportunities, job security and having an interesting job are less important. However, these effects are mostly nation-dependent, which underlines the importance of conducting cross-cultural or cross-national aging research.     

Managing the duality of IHRM: unravelling the strategy and perceptions of key actors in South Korean MNCs

This research aims to extend our understanding of the duality between global integration and local responsiveness in multinational corporations (MNCs) by exploring the perceptions of corporate HR actors regarding the intra-organisational factors that alter the balance between these pressures. It examines the perceptions and actions of key actors in the context of two Korean MNCs. The study shows the importance attributed to a range of socio-procedural factors by corporate actors and which, therefore, inform the practical management of the dual forces, notably: HR expertise, social ties, trustworthy relationships and co-involvement in decision processes.     

Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management: a study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism

Gossip is a common phenomenon in the workplace, but yet relatively little is understood about its influence to employees. This study adopts social information theory and social cognitive theory to interpret the diverse literature on gossip, and to develop and test hypotheses concerning some of the antecedents of gossip, with an aim of developing knowledge of the relationship between gossip and employee behaviour in the workplace. The study analysed survey data in a two-stage process, from 362 employees across a range of industries in Taiwan. The findings revealed that job-related gossip predicted employee cynicism and mediated the relationship between psychological contract violation and cynicism, and that non-job-related gossip showed a similar but weaker effect to employee cynicism. The contribution made by this paper is of value to both the academic subject domain and managers in Human Resources. First, we have identified two constructs of gossip, job-related and non-job-related gossip not previously reported and a validated scale has been created. Second, we have confirmed that these different constructs of gossip impact differently on employee behaviour and therefore HR managers should be cautious about gossip in the workplace, as it can cause cynical behaviour amongst employees.     

Contextualizing performance appraisal practices in Chinese public sector organizations: the importance of context and areas for future study

Abstract

Public sector organizations (PSOs) continue to undergo pressures for change due to economic globalization and the changing role of the state, resulting in increased focus on performance management, particularly employee performance appraisal. New public management’s emphasis on transparency, accountability, efficiency and performance highlights the multiple and often conflicting roles and performance outcomes of PSOs, the social and economic contexts in which PSOs operate, and the multiple ways they measure and manage performance. Responding to this special issue and calls for a richer understanding of performance management in PSOs we examine the impact of context on performance appraisal in Chinese PSOs. As China continues its transitions to a market-driven economy, Chinese PSOs have engaged in managerial reforms to improve governance, efficiency and productivity, including the strategic implementation of western-based HRM practices to manage employee performance. Our analysis demonstrates the challenges context poses for analysing HRM practices in Chinese PSOs.     

Ownership,governance, and the diffusion of HRM practices in multinational worker cooperatives: Case‐study evidence from the Mondragon group

Drawing on a qualitative study of one Mondragon multinational worker cooperative (WC) based on longitudinal data and in‐depth interviews, our research evidences the contradictions that internationalisation poses in WCs, both through privileging managerial control at the expense of worker–member participation and through the setting‐up of capitalist subsidiaries in which employees are excluded from ownership and decision‐making. It further shows how institutions, power relations, and interests shape transfer in WCs, supporting the diffusion of certain human resource management (HRM) practices on grounds of efficiency but hampering the implementation of core cooperative practices. We make a threefold contribution: first, to a strand of inquiry focused on the influence of corporate governance on HRM; second, to the field of international HRM by analysing the cross‐national diffusion of HRM practices in WCs; and third, to ongoing debates on the challenges that WCs face when striving to balance the economic and social dimensions in globalisation.     

A survey study on weights of decision criteria for job rotation in Thailand: comparison between public and private sectors

Five hundred Thai organizations (from both public and private sectors) were surveyed to learn how decision criteria were weighed when conducting job rotation. The organizations were categorized into three groups, namely, government agency (GA), private service company (PSC), and private manufacturing company (PMC). Three purposes of job rotation were considered: (1) restructuring of the organization, (2) periodic reshuffling of employee-job assignments, and (3) efficiency/productivity improvement. The findings from responded questionnaires (with a response rate of 41.40 per cent) show that the criterion weights are significantly dependent on both the organization type and the purpose of job rotation. It is found that organizations from both sectors considered ‘knowledge, skills, and abilities’ as a predominant decision criterion, irrespective of the purpose of job rotation. For the organizations that periodically reshuffled their current employee-job assignments, ‘job seniority’ was also considered as an important criterion. Regarding the other two job rotation purposes, organizations from the public sector consistently gave more attention to ‘job seniority,’ ‘years of service,’ and ‘age’ than did those from the private sector.