A framework for comparative institutional research on HRM

Abstract

This article argues that awareness of institutional context has been singularly lacking in the most influential areas of HRM. This lack of attention to external context has resulted in findings that fail to reflect reality. We offer a layered contextual framework embedded in economic institutional theory. We propose that it forms the basis of a comparative research agenda for HRM. We validate the framework using extant publications on institutionally based comparative HRM, drawing on findings from the Cranet research network published in the decade 2007–2017.     

A note on measuring political participation in comparative research

This article presents an application of Prezeworski and Teune's so-called “identity-equivalence method” to a large set of indicators of political participation. By relaxing commonly held assumptions about necessary distinctions among types of participation, it is found that the distinction between “conventional” and “unconventional” modes of participation is unnecessary, while the distinction between “government” and “nongovernment” has some merit. The findings also lend further support to the claims of Prezeworski and Teune that the identity-equivalence method is preferable to the identical indicator method.     

A change management perspective on public sector cutback management: towards a framework for analysis

The financial crisis forces public managers to implement cutbacks within their organization. We argue that adopting a change management perspective contributes to our understanding of cutback management by adding a focus on managerial behaviour regarding cutback-related organizational changes. Relying on change management literature, this paper develops a framework for the analysis of cutback management connecting the context, content, process, outcomes and leadership of cutback-related change. From this it follows that managers can be positioned at the intersection of various imperatives, both externally and internally, such as their political leaders and their own subordinates. A research agenda is proposed.     

Face-to-face versus telephone surveys on political attitudes: a comparative analysis

Several researchers declared that the telephone survey reaches more accurate voting tendencies than the face-to-face surveys. Telephone survey shows numerous advantages compared to a face-to-face one but, however, the telephone survey also has some inconveniences. Among these it is important to highlight the scant quality of the sampling frame; absence of a telephone in some homes and the wide expansion of the mobile phone; low response rate of certain collectives and the overrepresentation of others. There are also some new barrierswhich make access more difficult (e.g. the automatic answering phone) and the saturation of the telephone medium because of the large amount of publicity activities which generate a large number of “unsuccessful” calls and interruptedinterviews. The objective of this paper is evaluating the adaptation of the telephone surveys in the electoral forecasts; in an attempt to see if it shows substantial improvements when they are compared to face-to-face interviews.     

Developed stock market reaction to political change: a panel data analysis

This paper utilized panel data to examine the effects of political change in developed stock market. According to Hausman test, we capture the stock return by the fixed-effect model to fit the stock market. Political change was originally intended as an incumbent party impetus to create opportunities for progress. However, this has caused great political party distress, creating political change with an inverse stock return relationship in developed countries.     

Drivers of change in the European youth employment: a comparative structural decomposition analysis

This paper uses a structural decomposition approach to examine the proximate causes of change in the EU15 youth workforce from 1995 to 2011. Besides the traditional sources considered by the literature, I include age-specific factors: a labor utilization index that accounts for the hours that employed youth work by showing the extent of part-time contracts; an age mix factor that indicates the share that youth comprise of total employment and, finally, changes in the inverse of the overall sectoral labor productivity, which describes variations in total labor demand. By applying this approach, I identify the core drivers behind the recent changes in the evolution of youth employment in each of the 15 countries; this is crucial for tailoring policy strategies. Results suggest that to foster youth employment, most Mediterranean countries should implement youth-specific measures while other EU15 countries could do so by enhancing overall employment.     

A quantitative perspective of Porter's industry forces framework for investment analysis

Porter's industry forces framework is an important tool for external analysis of firms, but its qualitative nature presents numerous limitations to be used in investment analysis. This study introduces a quantitative perspective of the framework using financial information proxies. This allows investors to gauge the external factors quantitatively and to gain enhanced framework usability. In order to test its validity, the correlation movements of our quantitative perspective have been analysed. For demonstration of enhanced usability, our quantitative perspective, alongside machine learning models, was used to predict business performances. The empirical results indicate that our quantitative perspective of the framework corroborates with its original definition and that it exhibits enhanced usability than the original framework.     

Employment impacts of energy: A survey and framework for analysis

This paper provides a critical review of the alternative approaches used for assessment of the employment effects of energy development. It also attempts an evaluation of the policy implications of their use in real-world planning cases. The presentation is based upon an extensive survey of the current practices in energy and employment analysis in Western countries. In the paper, we present an economic framework for the analysis and evaluation of the employment impacts caused by energy development. We proceed with a review of methods, models and techniques available for the study of the labour impacts of energy, their informational requirements, as well as their output and use characteristics. Finally, we attempt a critical presentation of the current practices in energy and employment issues and review the policy options usually employed. Directions for future, related research are identified and discussed.     

An aggregate quantity framework for measuring and decomposing productivity change

Total factor productivity (TFP) can be defined as the ratio of an aggregate output to an aggregate input. This definition naturally leads to TFP indexes that can be expressed as the ratio of an output quantity index to an input quantity index. If the aggregator functions satisfy certain regularity properties then these TFP indexes are said to be multiplicatively complete. This paper formally defines what is meant by completeness and reveals that (1) the class of multiplicatively complete TFP indexes includes Laspeyres, Paasche, Fisher, T?rnqvist and Hicks-Moorsteen indexes, (2) the popular Malmquist TFP index of Caves et al. (Econometrica 50(6):1393?C1414, 1982a) is incomplete, implying it cannot always be interpreted as a measure of productivity change, (3) all multiplicatively complete TFP indexes can be exhaustively decomposed into measures of technical change and efficiency change, and (4) the efficiency change component can be further decomposed into measures of technical, mix and scale efficiency change. Artificial data are used to illustrate the decomposition of Hicks-Moorsteen and Fisher TFP indexes.     

A comparative analysis of certification in human resource management

This comparative analysis explores the certification process in three leading organizations in the USA, Canada and the UK. The findings show considerable similarity across countries concerning the major stakeholders and certification criteria. Conversely, they reveal major differences with respect to the basic assumptions underlying the programmes, the standards and qualifications, the programmes' complexity and the programmes' integration with the government, industry and academia. Dissimilarity also exists in the certification process. Hence, certification programme models for each organization are advanced to illustrate the process. Moreover, an overall strategic programme framework is developed for all the agencies collectively. Finally, suggestions for future research are provided.     

Is Germany following the British path? a comparative analysis of stability and change

This article reviews recent developments in industrial relations in Britain and Germany and examines the different adjustments to external influences of an economic, political and social structural kind. It concludes that the higher degree of stability and legitimacy of the German system is partly due to the lesser severity of external challenges and partly to structural characteristics of the two systems.     

A comparative analysis of measures of social homogeneity

Social homogeneity refers to the degree to which the preferences of individuals in a society tend to be alike. A number of studies have been conducted to determine whether or not a relationship exists between various measures of social homogeneity and the probability that a Condorcet winner exists. In this study, it is shown that a strong general relationship of this type does not exist for measures of social homogeneity which account only for the proportions of individuals with various preference rankings. That is, for measures which account for these proportions but not for the preference rankings to which they are assigned. Profile specific measures of homogeneity do account for the preference rankings to which the proportions of voters are assigned. A much stronger relationship exists between profile specific measures of homogeneity and the probability that a Condorcet winner exists than for non-profile specific measures. In particular, Kendall's Coefficient of Condordance is shown to dominate twenty other measures of social homogeneity in terms of the strength of its relationship to the probability that a Condorcet winner exists.     

A framework for the analysis of socioeconomic and geographic sugarcane agro industry sustainability

Sugarcane agroindustry sustainability is the result of interaction of technology, land suitability, environment, management practices, by-products utilization, socioeconomic and geographic constraints of stakeholders. Nevertheless, as competitiveness factor is measured by three self-dependent indicators: sugarcane, sucrose and factory yield by statistically analysis, without consider multiple interrelated and interdependent socioeconomics and ecological factors. This paper presented a method for development of composite sustainability index, based on the Multicriteria evaluation Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a GIS, as a technique for supporting the decision making, which integrates in the analysis 14 sector-specific criteria ranked along all the three aspect of value chain, raw material production, processing and markets at the Mexican sugarcane agroindustry, as case study. These criteria were integrated in a hierarchic structure, pair-wise comparisons matrix and after obtaining the relative importance of each criterion, an integrated sustainability assessment tool was developed. Results show that the construction of sustainability index, provides a framework for assessing and zoning the sustainability, and the variables Sugarcane yield, Sugarcane Agroindustry final products, Sugar mill Yield and Productivity Index (Ratio Harvested area/sugar production), as socio-economic factors and Agro-climatic suitability for sugar cane cultivation are highly relevant with a overall weight of 69.5% and represent the key point of decision making by stakeholders.