Human resources in the German maritime industries: ‘back-sourcing’ and ship management

In today's global shipping industry have management functions often been outsourced to separate companies and to overseas locations. With the appearance of socalled ‘flags of convenience’ the world shipping industry has increasingly registered commercial vessels overseas. Following this trend, human resource management functions have also been relocated, with the opening of recruitment offices and the use of HR agencies outside OECD countries. Recently, new German regulation has sought to attract previously outsourced HRM functions back to Germany. A case study of such a newly established firm, called ‘Reimarus’, will exemplify the impact of the new regulation on HR firms in shipping. The following paper analyses this process based on an empirical study of Germany's commercial shipping industry.     

Emerging managerial competencies of professionals in the Tanzanian construction industry

The managerial competencies required by professionals in the construction industry in Tanzania to operate effectively in a business environment which is changing as a result of a transition from a socialist to a free-enterprise economy, economic liberalization, globalization and regionalization are explored through a qualitative study. The study reveals that local Tanzanian construction firms are finding it difficult to compete with foreign companies for projects. This is mainly because Tanzanian professionals lack the competencies required to compete and manage projects in a liberalized market economy.

The study thus highlights the need for Tanzanian construction professionals to acquire a better grasp of both occupational and organizational competencies. In this respect, it is suggested that they need post-experience training in order to acquire the competencies required to function successfully in a commercial environment.     

Type A behaviour at work – an empirical study of Taiwanese managers and entrepreneurs

Bortner's Type A Behaviour Questionnaires were used to explore the work behaviour of Chinese managers and entrepreneurs in Taiwan and to investigate how that behaviour was influenced by occupation, age and gender. One hundred and seventeen subjects participated in the study, of which 45 were also interviewed. The mean score on the questionnaire was 74.68, the median (74) and the mode (76) within a scoring range of 0–140. Eighty-four subjects registered scores of 80 or less (Type B behaviour) and 33 came within the mid-range of 81–120. None of the subjects registered scores of 121–40 (Type A behaviour). The highest score of 113 was registered by a female bank vice-president and the lowest (47) by a male manager working in a charitable organization and about to retire. The results are discussed within the context of Chinese cultural traditional and parenting practices, the unique characteristics of Taiwan's recent history and the subjects' career experience.     

‘Breaking the ICE’: workplace democracy in a modernized social Europe

The EU seeks to improve its labour market performance through implementing the Lisbon and European Employment Strategies which encourage the modernization of work organization through the development of partnership with the assistance of an ‘appropriate’ regulatory framework. Key aspects of this latter framework concern workers' rights regarding information, consultation and participation in corporate governance. European labour laws, introduced in the 1970s, sought to strengthen employers' consultation with their workforce and, more recently, the changing economic, technological and organizational environment has returned issues related to workplace democracy to the top of the social policy agenda. Here we evaluate the significance of the new Directive on Information and Consultation with Employees (ICE) within the context of this planned modernization of European social policy. In doing so, we re-examine the historical development of workers' consultation laws in Europe and assess the economic rationale for regulating workplace social dialogue in an enlarged Social Europe.     

The impact of culture on HRM styles and firm performance: evidence from Japanese parents,Japanese subsidiaries/joint ventures and South Asian local companies

This paper investigates national and organizational cultural influences among managers in three types of companies: Japanese companies in Japan, South Asian domestic companies and Japanese subsidiaries/joint ventures in South Asia. The findings suggest that a Japanese parent company's culture tends to have a much stronger influence with Japanese companies operating in Japan. Japanese parent company culture tends to have less influence than the South Asian national culture in shaping the HRM styles and practices in Japanese subsidiaries/joint ventures operating in South Asia. While some South Asian firms are in the initial stages of learning about participative HRM from foreign companies, most still tend to maintain their national culture and traditional ways in the operating systems of their organizations.     

The influence of strategic HRM and sector on perceived performance in health services organizations

In this study, we examine a variety of management characteristics of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in the health services (HS) industry. Data collected from Australian senior executives are used to test the relationships between managerial constructs such as employee commitment, customer demandingness, strategic HRM orientation and the adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) practices and perceived overall performance. Data analysis conducted using the Partial Least Square Modeling show a statistically significant path from commitment to employees, customer demandingness and strategic HRM orientation to the adoption of human capital-enhancing HR practices (such as selective staffing, comprehensive training, and performance appraisal) to perceived organizational performance. The results also show that private sector health service organizations have a higher level of perceived performance.     

Visibility in the workplace: still an essential ingredient for career success?

This article explores the extent to which a variety of different absences from the workplace affect perceptions of employee commitment and loyalty, and ultimately, how this ‘temporary invisibility’ might affect career success. Data were derived from 40 interviews (12 women and 28 men) in a public sector agency in Australia. Findings reveal that absences attract substantial career penalties for many employees, not only in relation to gendered flexible work options such as part-time employment and parental leave, but also traditionally uncontested entitlements such as annual and long service leave.     

湖南省果蔬农产品物流一体化形式探析

目前湖南省果蔬农产品分散的物流运作模式不仅增加了果蔬农产品的流通损耗,而且降低了物流运作效率,提高了物流成本。从长远发展来看,湖南省果蔬农产品物流必须构建一体化物流运作模式。文章从物流一体化运作模式的角度出发,主要探析了湖南省果蔬农产品物流一体化的形式,以及每种一体化物流运作模式的原理。     

基于结构方程模型的物流企业品牌培育影响因素实证研究

通过专家咨询和行业访谈,设计了物流企业品牌培育影响因素的调查问卷,并开展了深度访谈和实地调研,基于结构方程原理构建了物流企业品牌培育影响因素模型,利用AMOS17.0软件和SPSS17.0软件对获得的数据进行了测量和分析。研究认为产业支撑和资源基础是物流企业品牌创建和成长的天然土壤,同时,政府扶持政策及行业协会对品牌的经营管理,对提高物流企业品牌的知名度和价值有着至关重要的作用。