Towards an Asian model of human resource management? A comparative analysis of China,Japan and South Korea

There has been much discussion regarding the possible decline and weakening of national systems of human resource management (HRM). Yet, culture and institutions are often cited as the major stumbling blocks to this outcome. Such constraints may dissipate in the analysis, particularly if ‘regional clusters’ are considered where geographic and cultural closeness and ‘openness’ to similar economic pressures exist. In such cases, it might be postulated that convergence in HRM will occur. We argue that China, Japan and South Korea represent such a cluster. This article examines these countries, to see if a degree of convergence is taking place and if it is towards an identifiable ‘Asian’ model of HRM. A model of change is presented that distinguishes between levels of occurrence and acceptance. Details of the development and practice of HRM in each country are then set out. The article ends with a discussion and implications section and a brief conclusion.     

Human resource strategy and unionization: evidence from Taiwan

Over the past two decades, industrial relations (IR) have seen the continuous decline of trade unions and a growing interest in high performance work practices (HPWPs). Human resource researchers, examining the traditional adversarial IR strategies, are increasingly calling for more co-operative and innovative HPWPs in employment relations. Can traditional union adversarial strategies exist along with HPWPs or does one necessarily exclude the other? To answer this question, this study, using questionnaires collected from locally owned and multinational corporations in Taiwan, investigates the association between unionization rate and HPWPs. Contrary to most findings from the Western context, HPWPs were found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on unionization at the firm level in Taiwan. The positive impact may be result of close and friendly relationship between employers and unions and the practices of ‘employer-sponsored’ unions in Taiwan. Furthermore, traditional Confucian culture and institutional factors have strengthened the influence of HPWPs on unionization.     

Shaping the bargaining agenda. The Audit Commission and public service reform in British local government

This article examines the role of the Audit Commission (AC) in local government collective bargaining. While the AC has no official role in such bargaining, it has a role in monitoring the performance of local government services. In this role the AC has a clear potential, in the context of the government's ‘modernization’ agenda – as manifested in its ‘Best Value’ regime, for influencing both the content of collective agreements, and the process of collective bargaining, where these are seen to conflict with other Best Value objectives – particularly in relation to external competition. The research conducted involved a content analysis of AC inspection reports on human resource services and longitudinal case studies of two local authority union branches' experiences of Best Value and the role of the AC. The findings from the inspection reports indicate that, while the AC is actually acting to promote activities that could be seen as supportive of union bargaining agendas, notably in relation to equality type issues, they are also supporting service externalisation and thereby acting to limit the scope of their impact. The reports also indicate that, despite there being prescribed ‘best practice’ for local government employment relations (‘social partnership’ with unions), the AC is not promoting any such engagement with unions. Evidence from the case studies add weight to these observations: the AC, in one case, was deeply suspicious of an attempted union management agreement on procurement, while in the other, the AC made no criticism of the costly effects that externalization had on union-management relations.     

New new technologies: the future and the present of work in information and communication technology

This paper outlines a selection of technological and organisational developments in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and analyses their likely challenges for workers and trade unions around the globe. It addresses the convergence of telecommunications and information technology, the related developments of ubiquitous computing, ‘clouds’ and ‘big data’, and the possibilities of crowdsourcing and relates these technologies to the last decades' patterns of value chain restructuring. The paper is based on desk research of European and international sources, on sector analyses and technology forecasts by, for instance, the European Union and Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, and some national actors. These prognoses are analysed through the lens of recent research into ICT working environments and ICT value chains, identifying upcoming and ongoing challenges for both workers and unions, and outlining possible research perspectives.     

“人才强校”战略下高校师资培养体系的构建——结合南京航空航天大学的师资培养工作实践

本文结合南京航空航天大学师资队伍建设的工作实践,从分析"人才强校"战略下高校师资培养存在的问题入手,对如何构建适宜的师资培养体系进行了探讨。     

高校院系层面“青马工程”大学生骨干培养的几点思考

2007年由团中央启动的"青年马克思主义者培养工程",简称"青马工程",是近年来高校进行优秀学生骨干培养的一项重要工程,是高校党团工作的一项重要内容。他们活跃于学校各级学生组织,起到十分重要的作用。他们更多时候都是基于学生所在院校基础上进行的。因此,有效利用大学生骨干所在院系这个有力平台,更好地推进"青马工程"将具有极其重要的意义。     

Campaigning for retirement: State teacher union campaign contributions and pension generosity

Since Tullock (1972) first asked why there is so little money in U.S. politics, several studies have found evidence that political activism has the potential to yield significant returns. This study is the first to directly investigate the returns to public sector union activism by leveraging a transactions-level dataset from the National Institute on Money in Politics to estimate the relationship between teachers' union campaign contributions and the generosity of teacher pension systems. Our results show that more politically engaged teachers’ unions, as evidenced by their aggregate campaign contributions, are successful at both securing a higher level of retirement benefits and at shifting a greater burden of the financing of those benefits to the sponsoring government. Our estimates are in line with recent related studies and imply an investment return on campaign contributions of nearly 1500%.     

高职院校专业教学团队建设的问题与对策

专业教学团队建设是高职院校实施人才培养工作和服务社会的重要力量。以教育部"质量工程"项目在高校推动的国家、省、校级教学团队建设工作在人才培养中成效凸显。但由于此项工作时间不长,其建设过程中难免存在一些问题。本文针对高职院校专业教学团队建设中存在的问题进行了分析,并提出相应的对策。     

关于创建劳动关系和谐企业的认识和研究

建立和谐劳动关系是构建和谐社会的基石,是企业健康发展,实现人企价值共融、人企价值共创、人企价值共享的重要保证,是落实科学发展观的基本要求,是维护好职工群众利益的重要途经。     

A further inquiry into the scholarly productivity of academic accountants: Twenty years of evidence from classes of 1980-82

Scholarly productivity is a key component of faculty evaluation at many universities. In fact, under current accreditation standards promulgated by the AACSB, faculty members must remain academically qualified in research. Here we provide evidence regarding faculty research productivity. The determinants of faculty productivity are estimated with data spanning a 20 year period for 487 accounting doctoral graduates during the years of 1980-82. Sample statistics reveal that a relatively small portion of researchers produce over half of the sample's articles. Also, our regression results suggest that top-tier institutions of first hire, larger department size of initial hire, and the experience within academic ranks are all positive determinants of scholarly productivity. Conversely, research output is reduced with increased time spent teaching and accepting an initial hire at a public rather than a private institution.