HR flexibility and firm performance: analysis of a multi-level causal model

Human resource flexibility as a construct, how it develops, and its effect on firm performance have not received adequate attention in strategic HRM literature in spite of their obvious importance in today's dynamic competitive environment. Based on a study of 98 manufacturing and 103 service firms in India, this paper addresses these issues by developing and testing a multi-level model that attempts to explore the ‘black box’ of the interlinkages between the various components of HR flexibility and firm-level human, operational, and financial outcomes. The results suggest that a certain set of ambidextrous HR practices constitute a distinct dimension of HR flexibility, beyond the dimensions of flexibilities of skill, behaviour and HR practices as already identified in the existing literature. Evidences from both manufacturing and service sectors support the notion of HR value chain that suggests that HR system has a direct impact on firm-level HR outcomes which are most proximal, and its effects on increasingly more distal operational and financial outcomes are mediated by HR outcomes that it produces. Another important finding is that HR practices as a system have both direct and indirect (mediated by behavioural flexibility) effects on firm-level HR outcomes. Existence of significant direct effects highlights the important role that HR practices play as a structural mechanism in achieving superior firm performance.     

Industrial relations and the management of flexibility: factors shaping developments in Spain and the United Kingdom

Any analysis of workforce flexibility within particular countries needs to take account not only of the character of industrial relations and union organization at workplace and company levels, but also of how actions at those levels are influenced by broader regulatory arrangements covering employment and work practices. In other words, to avoid the over-simplifications and over-generalizations which much of the flexibility debate has in the past been (correctly) accused of and to expand the analysis offered by the relatively broad-brush, multi-country studies, it is necessary to locate issues of flexibility more securely within both existing national regulatory and institutional frameworks, and also to take account of patterns of union organization and job regulation at the local level, and the ways unions and workforces have responded to (and at times even shaped) different flexibility initiatives by employers. By analysing different types of enterprise in Spain and the United Kingdom, this article seeks to illustrate the role and significance of these factors for the particular development of workforce flexibility in the two countries.     

浅析国外企业供应链管理实践

对近三年来国外供应链管理实践方面表现突出的企业进行分析,总结了这些企业供应链管理的三大特点和供应链管理实践的六大策略。这些国外企业在供应链管理方面的最佳实践对于企业的供应链管理和供应链学科都有非常宝贵的借鉴作用。     

Human resource management implications of dual-career couples

The dual-career couple is a contemporary phenomenon in Western industrialized nations. This Australian qualitative investigation explored the organizational issues associated with dual-career couples from the perspective of both dual-carrer couple members and their employing organizations. Overall, it was found that organizational responsiveness to dual-career issues was limited, and consequently dual-carrer couples themselves were forced to make most of the necessary accommodations. Human resource management implications of the dual-career couple are discussed. To date, however, such implications have been largely ignored by organizations. The findings of this study suggest that the failure of organizations to respond to dual-career issues results in costs, not only to the couple, but also to their employing organizations. Predictions for continued growth of the dual-career phenomenon mean that an organization s willingness to address dual-career issues may become an important element in achieving and retaining competitive advantage.     

Riding the typhoon: the HR response to the economic crisis in Hong Kong

The financial crisis that hit Asia in 1997 was the economic equivalent of a typhoon. It came suddenly, leaving much destruction in its wake, in the form of bankruptcies and business closures, retrenchment, wage cuts and ultimately high unemployment. Much has been written about the financial, economic and social ramifications of the crisis. This paper takes a critical look at the human resource practices adopted by an industry that appears to have been particularly affected by the subsequent economic downturn – the hotel industry. We consider how managers responded to the economic turbulence by confronting the apparently dichotomous pressures of tightening structure and managerial control, on the one hand, and the need to permit the flexibility that would facilitate change and innovativeness, on the other. Findings from a sample of hotels suggest that, while managers recognize the need to allow flexibility that would foster employee creativity, there remain deep-seated cultural and other factors that militate against such flexibility. This casts doubt on the organizations' ability to generate and sustain employee creativity and a climate in which employees can respond to unexpected challenges as they struggle to satisfy equally unusual customer demands.     

基于Sap2000的井字梁设计

根据工程经验，确定构件截面及布置方式，使用软件Sap2000快捷、准确的计算内力和弹性挠度，进而可以完成井字梁构件的设计。在施工过程中，应特别注意井字梁的配筋构造要求，确保建筑结构安全可靠。     

Mickey Mouse and the IDioT principle for assessing research contribution: discussion of ‘Is the relationship between investment and conditional cash flow volatility ambiguous,asymmetric or both?’

Keefe and Tate ( 2013 ) provide both interesting and worthwhile insights into whether, under what circumstances and to what extent cash flow volatility impacts corporate investment. In the current paper, I have two related goals. First, more narrowly, I provide a constructively critical commentary on salient aspects of their empirical strategy, giving particular emphasis to the key drivers of Keefe and Tate's contribution to the literature. Second, illustrated in the context of Keefe and Tate, my broader goal is to give general advice especially aimed at novice researchers on how to make any empirical study more appealing to a critical reader.     

中国上市公司的非效率投资研究:一个财务弹性的视角

从财务弹性的视角,研究中国上市公司的非效率投资问题。通过构建财务弹性指数来测算公司的财务弹性情况,并以Richardson的残差度量模型来测算公司的非效率投资情况。研究发现:高财务弹性公司更容易出现投资过度问题;公司在财务弹性处于极高或极低水平时更经常表现为投资不足;财务弹性对公司的非效率投资行为存在一定的制约作用,财务弹性较低的公司会更加审慎地进行投资。     

Interrelación de la cultura,flexibilidad laboral,alineación estratégica,innovación y rendimiento empresarial

The objectives of this research are to understand the relationships between the organizational practices related to alignment strategies (AE), organizational culture (CO), innovation initiatives (INN), and flexible labor practices (PFL), with the perceived firm's performance from the worker's perspective. To achieve these goals, we use a quantitative analysis with a sample of 98 people working on a firm with more than 500 employees. We define firm's performance using five alternative definitions: Creativity and initiatives (IC), goals achieved (OA), workers’ satisfaction (ST), fast workers’ advance (EO), and resources’ efficient use (AR). Preliminary results indicate that CO and AE positively affect firm's performance under the five alternative definitions used. However, INN and PFL have asymmetric effects in firm's performance, which are sensitive to the firm's performance definition used. Particularly, firms face a tradeoff between performance objectives selection and the organizational flexible processes they pursue. In summary, innovation processes and flexible labor practices work in opposite directions in pursuing the firm's goals achievement, and consequently do not lead to the development of a unidirectional development of a sustainable competitive advantage.     

荪锡常产业结构差异化分析

20世纪80年代中期，常州曾经作为苏南模式的典型代表，但自90年代起，常州在长三角经济圈中的经济地位出现边缘化迹象，且与周边城市的差距逐步拉大。如何应用定量研究方法从结构性问题入手，从产业结构和就业结构角度分析问题的根源，为常州今后经济发展提供必要的支持，缩小区域经济差距显得十分紧迫。从产业结构和就业结构两个角度，应用结构变化值、洛伦兹曲线和基尼系数、产业扩张弹性对苏州、无锡、常州苏锡常的经济发展状况进行比较分析，为促进常州经济的进一步发展，制定发展时策提供一些有益的参考。