Knowledge-based human resource management practices,intellectual capital and innovation

This paper proposes a conceptual model in which a human resource management (HRM) system of explicitly knowledge-based HRM practices impacts a firm's intellectual capital, producing higher innovation performance. We have empirically tested this idea in a survey dataset of 180 Spanish companies using structural equation modelling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS). The results show that intellectual capital positively mediates the relationship between knowledge-based HRM practices and innovation performance and illustrate the pivotal role of human capital in this relationship: knowledge-based HRM practices impact structural and relational capital partially through human capital, and human capital affects innovation performance by enhancing structural and relational capital.     

知识动态能力视角的电商平台大数据分析价值链战略

电子商务领域信息技术的开放性提高了服务创新的可见性,为适应多维度要素交互的平台竞争环境,需要基于电商平台丰富的数据资源,通过大数据分析提高战略规划的动态性、灵活性和响应敏捷性,形成一种能够快速集合与组织资源的模式,实现业务价值传递的可持续,满足竞争对抗与互动以及时间轴动态演化的需要。鉴于此,基于大数据分析、知识管理、动态能力、业务流程理论和指向性网络调查数据,构建大数据分析价值链战略研究模型,探讨大数据分析、动态能力、流程级创新与核心竞争力及战略绩效之间的关联。研究结果表明,大数据分析能实现有效的内生源和外生源知识管理,帮助企业形成动态能力,构建核心竞争力,进而提高战略绩效;大数据分析能提高企业组织的灵活性,可作为企业在竞争中赖以生存发展的战略投资;外生源知识管理和内生源知识管理均可单独运作产生知识动态能力,但外生源知识管理的作用更显著有效,更值得重视;知识共享是流程级创新的潜在障碍,与合作商进行知识共享需要选择合适的路径;动态能力既可直接影响流程级创新与核心竞争力,也可调节知识资产对竞争力的影响。总之,大数据分析能够通过影响动态能力和流程级创新来提高核心竞争力,且动态能力在知识管理与流程级创新及核心竞争力(战略绩效)间具有中介作用,电商平台应客观认识大数据分析潜在价值,将之纳入信息技术战略,通过梳理大数据分析→动态能力→核心竞争力→战略绩效的价值链过程,形成战略协同,最终提高知识创新的边际绩效。     

Transforming Human Resource Management Systems to Cope with Diversity

The purpose of this study is to examine how workgroup diversity can be managed through specific strategic human resource management systems. Our review shows that ‘affirmative action’ and traditional ‘diversity management’ approaches have failed to simultaneously achieve business and social justice outcomes of diversity. As previous literature has shown, the benefits of diversity cannot be achieved with isolated interventions. To the contrary, a complete organizational culture change is required, in order to promote appreciation of individual differences. The paper contributes to this discussion by exploring the implications of this change for human resource management, and explaining how the systems of practices should be changed when they are directed to diverse groups. The model designed to test this notion includes: (1) demographic and human capital diversity as independent variables, (2) group performance (measured as innovation outcomes) as the dependent variable and, (3) the orientation of the strategic human resource management system as a potential moderator of this relationship. The main conclusion of the empirical analysis developed is that different patterns of human resource management practices can be used, depending on the type of diversity that the organization faces, and the specific effects that it wishes to manage. Concretely, three alternative management systems are identified in this paper, with different moderating effects. This result has interesting implications for human resource management professionals, explained in the last section. The limitations of this study are also discussed, as well as some issues that future research in this field should address.     

High commitment work system,transactive memory system,and new product performance

Although scholars find that the transactive memory systems can improve new product performance, few studies have empirically examined how managers can induce a transactive memory system in new product development teams with a set of systematic management practices. Based on the theoretical argument about human resource system in the strategic human resource management literature, this study proposes that implementing a set of coherent human resource management practices with workers in new product development teams can induce a transactive memory system in the team. Following previous scholars, this study calls this set of coherent human resource management practices as the high commitment work system. With survey data collected from 336 new product development engineers of 73 new product development teams in 73 firms, this study finds that transactive memory system mediates the positive relationship between the high commitment work system implemented with workers in new product development teams and new product performance.     

French multinational companies' HRM in China: strategic orientation and integration approaches

The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify strategic orientation and integration approaches of French companies in implementing the headquarters-based human resource management (HRM) practices in their Chinese subsidiaries. Through a study of 16 French multinationals’ HRM, our findings reveal that a majority of sample companies tend to standardize the HRM practices in their Chinese subsidiaries to a great extent. This strategic orientation is supported by a combination of specific integration approaches at the subsidiary level. The results add knowledge to international management theory and allow us to develop implications in managing employees in China.     

The Impact of Human Resource Management on Environmental Performance: An Employee-Level Study

This field study investigated the relationship between strategic human resource management, internal environmental concern, organizational citizenship behavior for the environment, and environmental performance. The originality of the present research was to link human resource management and environmental management in the Chinese context. Data consisted of 151 matched questionnaires from top management team members, chief executive officers, and frontline workers. The main results indicate that organizational citizenship behavior for the environment fully mediates the relationship between strategic human resource management and environmental performance, and that internal environmental concern moderates the effect of strategic human resource management on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment.     

Human resource involvement in developing intellectual capital

This study examined the extent of a strategic approach to human resource (HR) management in small and medium professional service firms, and if it is used to develop intellectual capital (IC). Data were collected from 165 Australian professional service firms. Path analysis showed that HR involvement and the adoption of a collective set of strategic HR practices contributed positively to IC levels (particularly human, social and organizational capital). IC acts as a mediator between HR practices and firm performance. HR practices alone did not increase the performance of the firms studied. The findings are unique in the context of studies on small- and medium-sized professional service firms in that a holistic approach to assessing both HR practices and all IC components was taken rather than examining the individual construct relationships. In the context studied, HR influence is critical to increasing IC.     

Intra‐firm transfer of best practices in moral reasoning: a conceptual framework

In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework of the intra‐firm transfer of best practices in moral reasoning by integrating three streams of literature: internal knowledge transfer in strategic management, moral reasoning and epistemology in philosophy and business ethics, and leader–member exchange in human resource management. We propose that characteristics of moral reasoning (nature of moral knowledge, tacitness of moral reasoning and causal ambiguity), source characteristics (moral development of leaders), target characteristics (integrity capacity and moral development of subordinates), leader–member exchange and internal ethical climate influence the transfer of best practices in moral reasoning.     

Motivation to Manage in China: Implications for Strategic HRM

Since 1979, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has made tremendous economic progress. As a result, China and its management practices have received increasing research attention. Human resource management practices in China have been extensively explored elsewhere. Unfortunately, little research has dealt with the concept of hierarchical role motivation theory; its main construct, motivation to manage; and its potential implications for strategic human resource practices in the PRC. The study reported here is an attempt to fill this void.     

Strategic Orientation, Management Characteristics, and Performance: A Study of Spanish SMEs

This paper analyzes from a resource-based view the management characteristics of Spanish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) according to their strategic orientation and the consequences in terms of firm performance and business efficiency. The typology of strategies formulated by Miles and Snow has important implications for management, because depending on the strategic orientation adopted—defender, prospector, or analyzer—the firm can emphasize to a great extent some aspects of management, such as technological position, innovation, organizational design, and human resource management. Moreover, these aspects of management can largely determine firm performance and business efficiency. A sample of 1,351 Spanish SMEs provided the data for an empirical test of these issues. The results confirm the expected relationships, revealing, on the one hand, significant differences between prospector and defender SMEs regarding the key factors on which they base their management characteristics and, on the other hand, the different influences that each strategic orientation has on firm performance.     

Deploying Environmental Management Across Functions: The Relationship Between Green Human Resource Management and Green Supply Chain Management

Balancing environmental, social, and economic performance is today considered a key responsibility that firms have toward society. As a result, academics, practitioners, and political decision makers are increasingly paying attention to environmental management systems improving a full spectrum of environmental performance. In that regard, even if recent literature suggests that environmental management should be deployed through a cross-functional approach, extant literature mostly focuses on independent functional systems. This paper addresses this gap investigating how the deployment of environmental management in the human resource function—adopting green human resource management (GHRM) practices—and the supply chain function—adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices—impact on environmental and financial performance. We draw from a multiple-respondent survey of human resource and supply chain managers in multiple industries in Italy. The study suggests that GHRM and GSCM impact on both environmental and financial performance and shows that GHRM and GSCM exert those impacts in a joint fashion. Indeed, our results show that GSCM plays a mediating role in the relationship between GHRM and performance. Overall, our results provide researchers and managers with relevant insights into the cross-functional deployment of the environmental values and principles across functions.     

Managing employee performance in an emerging economy: perceptions of Vietnamese managers

This qualitative study explores employee performance management (PM) in Vietnam from the perspectives of Vietnamese managers in three case study organizations: a state-owned enterprise, a joint venture and a private Vietnamese company. Findings suggest that western PM practices and techniques are being utilized in all three organizations and that PM is seen as an essential and strategic component of human resource management policy. These findings suggest an increasing awareness of PM in Vietnamese enterprises and a desire to improve competitiveness by developing a highly skilled and high-performing workforce.     

Strategic human resource management in department stores: An historical perspective

The department store as a retail format created special demands on the organization of staff and the creation of a harmonious and productive workplace. Despite a lack of theoretical knowledge of human resource management strategy, early 20th century department store owners used the business strategy to guide strategic decisions about internal communication and staff training. The most obvious area of training was in selling. However, the more innovative department stores also recognized the need for management development programs. This study examines how the business strategy which embraced business growth, efficiency and effectiveness, building the firm's image and creating a supporting culture, strategically guided selected human resource management policies and practices in an Australian department store.     

Knowledge of Inter-customer Relations as a Source of Value Creation and Commitment in Financial Service Firm's Intermediation

This paper develops a knowledge perspective on value creation in organisations that employ mediating technology to facilitate inter-customer relations. Mediators, individually and collectively, build networks of customers between whom linking can take place, and they provide services that facilitate inter-customer exchanges. Earlier research has shown the importance of size and standardisation in mediation. A different stream of research has shown that contextual knowledge is important for problem solving and innovation in organisations. Combining theories of mediating technology and situated problem solving, the paper posits that inter-customer relations constitute the fundamental context for value creation of firms using the mediating technology. LISREL is used to test relationship-level, cross-sectional hypotheses that link knowledge of inter-customer relationships, added value, and customer commitment to bank services for small firms. This work extends Thompson's work on mediating technology with implications for organisation action by demonstrating that mediators' knowledge of inter-customer relationships is an important resource in intermediation. Three contributions are made to strategic management and organisation theory. First, the paper provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between knowledge and committed customers. Second, fundamental resources are developed for firms using mediating technology. Finally, the use of the situated knowledge concept is extended to inter-customer relations, thus explaining performance beyond the contexts to which the concept has previously been applied. The findings have implications for segmentation practices, organisation domain decisions and the corresponding organisational structures, and practices that can provide effective service to inter-customer relations rather than to atomistic independent customers.     

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.     

高参与工作系统对工作绩效的影响研究——人力资源柔性的中介作用

基于战略人力资源管理理论,在文献回顾的基础上,将人力资源柔性作为中介变量引入到高参与工作系统对工作绩效作用机制的研究中,同时运用多元线性回归和结构方程模型方法对假设理论模型进行实证分析。研究结果表明:高参与工作系统对人力资源柔性、工作绩效具有显著正向影响;高参与工作系统四个维度对人力资源柔性等有正向影响;人力资源柔性在高参与工作系统与工作绩效关系中起部分中介作用,增强人力资源柔性对提高工作绩效有重要作用。     

中小企业人力资源管理存在的问题及对策研究

当前,我国中小企业在人力资源管理方面存在的问题,主要有缺乏人力资源战略规划,缺乏完善的人力资源开发和培养体系,人员考核与激励机制不规范等,原因在于中小企业缺乏必备的人力资源管理知识,人才观念落后,缺乏良好的企业文化支支撑等。中小企业做好人力资源管理工作,需要科学构建人力资源管理体系,采取积极有效的人力资源管理战略,以科学规范的人力资源配置来为企业的永续发展服务。同时,在做好人力资源规划、培训与开发、考核与激励的基础上,努力构建发展型的企业文化,坚持以人才为本,重视员工在企业中的价值,从而使人力资源管理发挥最大的效用,促进企业实现持续快速发展。     

Realising competitive advantage through HRM in New Zealand service industries

An emerging source of competitive advantage for service industries is the knowledge, skills and attitudes of their employees. Indeed, achievement of a ‘service quality’ culture, considered imperative for competitive advantage in service organisations, supposedly results from the use of best practice human resource management (HRM), and from a strategic approach to their implementation. This paper empirically explores the use of these dimensions of HRM as a source of competitive advantage. It finds high-performing service organisations actively engage best practices across the areas of recruitment and selection, training and development, communication and team working. Evidence of a strategic approach to the implementation of these practices is also found.     

Absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries: The effects of language-sensitive recruitment,language training,and interunit knowledge transfer

Are multinational corporations able to enhance the development of absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries through language-oriented human resource management (HRM) practices? Taking into account that a shared language enhances absorptive capacity and that many multinational corporations are multilingual entities, this question is relevant but given little focused attention in international business research. In this paper, we hypothesize that two language-oriented HRM practices – language-sensitive recruitment and language training – enhance absorptive capacity in foreign subsidiaries. In addition, we hypothesize that interunit knowledge transfer partially mediates the positive relationship between these language-oriented HRM practices and absorptive capacity. Analyses of survey data derived at three points in time from 574 foreign subsidiary units in Japan provide support for these hypotheses.     

Knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation: Role of knowledge management capability in France-based multinationals

This paper discusses the links between knowledge-oriented leadership, open innovation and knowledge management in the international business context. Open innovation has become crucial for an increasing number of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to gain and maintain competitive advantage and become a market leader. Despite the recent proliferation of papers dealing with open innovation practices of MNEs, there is limited work investigating the role of knowledge management (KM) capability on the relationship between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation. Given MNEs’ growing interest in open innovation, the lack of research on knowledge-oriented leadership and KM capability in the open innovation context is a significant research gap in our knowledge. In response, we conducted a study on the mediating role of KM capability in the linkage between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation (inbound and outbound), using data collected from 172 subsidiaries of MNEs based in France. A structural equation modelling approach is employed to study the impact of the latent variables associated with knowledge-oriented leadership and KM capability on open innovation. The results indicate that higher levels of knowledge-oriented leadership can lead to enhanced KM capability and improved open innovation outcomes. That is, knowledge-oriented leadership has a direct, positive impact on KM capability and open innovation. Also, KM capability is found to mediate the linkage between knowledge-oriented leadership and open innovation. This study provides useful insights for managers who wish to enhance open innovation activities in MNEs, and offers useful guidance to international business scholars, encouraging further research in this area.