Managing the duality of IHRM: unravelling the strategy and perceptions of key actors in South Korean MNCs

This research aims to extend our understanding of the duality between global integration and local responsiveness in multinational corporations (MNCs) by exploring the perceptions of corporate HR actors regarding the intra-organisational factors that alter the balance between these pressures. It examines the perceptions and actions of key actors in the context of two Korean MNCs. The study shows the importance attributed to a range of socio-procedural factors by corporate actors and which, therefore, inform the practical management of the dual forces, notably: HR expertise, social ties, trustworthy relationships and co-involvement in decision processes.     

The liability of mimicry: Implementing “global human resource management standards” in United States and Indian subsidiaries of a South Korean multinational enterprise

There is increasing evidence that multinational enterprises (MNEs) from less dominant economies tend to mimic and disseminate human resource management (HRM) practices sourced from a dominant economy, usually the United States, to overcome their “liabilities of origin.” However, our understanding of the specific challenges involved in the implementation of such practices by firms across different national and subsidiary contexts remains limited. Drawing on evidence from a case study of a South Korean MNE, we examine the extent to which, and ways in which, global HRM policies mimicking U.S. practices are implemented across its sales, manufacturing, and research and development subsidiaries in the United States and India. We find discernible differences in the implementation of the global policies both between the two host country sites and across the three function-specific subsidiaries in each country, identifying a range of national and subsidiary-specific factors that inform these variable implementation outcomes. In addition to legitimacy challenges related to the source, appropriateness, and process of transfer, we note a unique form of legitimacy challenge—“the liability of mimicry”—whereby local actors can challenge head office policies on the basis of a claim to superior expertise in the dominant practices, as a particular concern of MNEs from emerging economies.     

Hospitality Employees’ Future Expectations: Dissatisfaction,Stress, and Burnout

This study aims to explore the relationship between future expectations of Turkish hotel employees and employee burnout. A survey with 260 hotel employees across Turkey measured whether employees expected their current levels of stress to increase or decrease in future. Those employees who showed signs of burnout syndrome were the ones who expected their current levels of stress to increase in future. The demographic factors such as age and education also related to stress and satisfaction levels of the employees. The findings point out that hotel employees tend to be more satisfied with their jobs at the beginning of their careers, in spite of the higher levels of perceived stress. The study has significant implications for human resource management activities and organizational climate.     

The relationship between Turkey’s foreign debt and economic growth: an asymmetric causality analysis

Tackling foreign debt that arises as a result of limited and ineffective use of resources is an item that remains on the agenda particularly for developing countries. In this study, we examine the foreign debt debates to date in terms of economic growth and using the time series for the period 2003Q1 to 2017Q1. We used unit root tests to determine the maximum integration degree of series, and we conducted causality analysis. We found a causality relationship between net foreign debt stock and economic growth in causality analyses performed for Turkey. The empirical results of this study indicate that there is a causality relationship, including both positive and negative aspects, between net foreign debt stock and economic growth. The results of our testing showed a significant causal relationship between the variables.     

Concepts of creativity in design based learning in STEM education

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Creativity is deemed as an integral part of twentyfirst century skills and is emphasized in science education curricula in Turkey as well...     

Airline services marketing by domestic and foreign firms: differences from the customers’ viewpoint

Based on a survey of 1014 passengers of five European airlines, this paper reveals differences between passengers on the Turkish domestic airline and those on four foreign airlines on the same flight destinations with respect to demographic profiles, behavioral characteristics, understanding of airline service dimensions, and satisfaction levels. Differences between the two passenger groups are highlighted in terms of age, sex, education, occupation, sector affiliation, location of domicile, travel purpose, travel frequency, service expectations, and satisfaction levels. It is concluded that the differences in consumer profiles and expectations are valuable clues for domestic and foreign airline firms in understanding their consumers and in designing their marketing strategies.     

Forms of cross‐border mobility and social capital in multinational enterprises

This paper discusses how different forms of cross‐border employee mobility all contribute to establishing social ties across different units of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite the growing recognition of the significance of employees' cross‐unit social ties in MNEs for both individuals and the organisation, the mechanisms for creating such ties remain underspecified. We contribute to closing this gap by identifying the role that an array of forms of international mobility can play in promoting employees' (cross‐unit) social ties inside MNEs. We draw upon empirical accounts of the job‐related international mobility experiences of 72 high‐skilled employees in three leading MNEs in the mobile telecommunications sector. Guided by a framework that utilizes some of the key concepts of the debate on social ties and social capital, we discuss traditional expatriation, short‐term assignments, localised transfers and business travel in terms of the structure and strength of the cross‐unit ties they engender, as well as their accessibility. We find (1) that it is not only traditional long‐term assignments in the form of expatriation that enable individuals to create cross‐unit social ties; and, (2) that different forms of international mobility promote cross‐unit social ties in variable ways and to different extents.     

Skills in the green economy: recycling promises in the UK e‐waste management sector

In advanced economies the ‘greening’ of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job creation and upskilling, alongside its other benefits. In popular and policy rhetoric, the growing importance of ‘green skills’ is asserted frequently. This study critically examines these claims within the context of the electronic waste management sector in the United Kingdom. Drawing on the cases of a non‐profit organisation and a small private enterprise in North West England, we observe that despite government support for developing skills in e‐waste, both the development and utilisation of skills remain minimal. Critically, the relatively more skill‐intensive process of reuse is substantially less profitable than recycling and resource capture. The study concludes by noting that the expectations from the green economy for high‐quality jobs need to be assessed within the context of similar, misplaced celebrations of previous transformations of work to avoid recycling the same promises.     

El futuro del trabajo: Hacer frente a los retos mundiales del cambio demográfico y la automatización

Sobre la base de estimaciones y proyecciones de 2010-2020, se proyectan las necesidades mundiales de creación de empleo en 2020-2030 teniendo en cuenta las previsiones de crecimiento demográfico y participación laboral, los objetivos en cuanto a control del desempleo y las tendencias en cuanto a automatización, por edad, por género y por grupos de países según su nivel de renta. Serán necesarios 340 millones de nuevos puestos en el próximo decenio según estas estimaciones, debido en mayor medida a la evolución demográfica que a la automatización.     

Investigating the need for consumer education among Turkish secondary school students

This study has been planned to determine the need for consumer education by secondary school students. A total of 300 secondary school students (150 female, 150 male) living in central Ankara in different regions with respect to socio‐economic status participated in the study. Consumer education is defined as the management of economic resources, consumer behaviour concepts, relating to consumption, level of knowledge about consumer rights and responsibilities and environmental sensitivity. On the basis of this study, almost half the adolescents draw up a budget plan and carry out market research before shopping. Also, almost half of them put quality first when choosing goods and cost is of secondary importance. More than half of the students save money for unexpected outlay. Nonetheless, adolescents do not know about consumer rights and responsibilities, nor do they have sufficient information about consumer law and the concept of protecting the environment. More than half of the students stated that they need consumer education courses as part of their curriculum.