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Human Capital Factors Affecting Human Resource (HR) Managers’ Commitment to HR and the Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Value on HR
Abstract
Human resource (HR) managers’ commitment to their occupation (HR) leads to the proper delivery and implementation of HR practices and, therefore, is deemed as a critical factor for the success of HR practices. Based on socio-cognitive, human capital, and signaling theories, this study examines: (a) HR managers’ own and their chief HR officer’s (CHRO) HR-specific human capital as antecedents of their commitment to HR, and (b) the mediating mechanism through which the CHRO’s HR-specific human capital positively influences HR managers’ commitment to HR. Based on 146 HR managers from 146 organizations in South Korea, the findings of the current study suggest that HR managers with higher levels of HR-specific human capital and those working with CHROs with higher levels of HR-specific human capital tend to have higher levels of commitment to HR. In addition, CHROs with higher levels of HR-specific human capital positively influence HR managers’ commitment to HR by signaling to them that HR and its function are valued and cared about by their organizations. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed along with study limitations and further research directions.
... In contrast, employees' experience in the current position through engaging with task assignments will provide specialized human capital, more applicable to the current organization (Schulz et al., 2013;Wayne, 1999). Oh et al. (2017) highlight that HR managers accumulate HR-specific human capital by HR-specific job tenure, HR-related education and expertise, job position in HR. Ozyilmaz (2020) added employee age as one human capital element because it facilitates gaining job experiences through communication. ...
... Employers offer higher compensation and promotion opportunities to staff and candidates who acquire more expertise and exhibit proficiency in task-specific performance because a task-specific human capital provides a unique value to the organization (Schulz et al., 2013). As suggested by social exchange theory (SET), senior and tenured employees are likely to exhibit higher emotional bonding towards an organization (Oh et al., 2017;Yi-Ching Chen et al., 2012). An individual's feeling of contentment differs by personal human capital. ...
... Based on socio-cognitive theory, Oh et al. (2017) suggest that HR-specific human capital is a determinant of organizational commitment. HR managers perform strategic roles in the organization, represent the organization's value, utilize resources and devote more time and energy, hence exhibiting a high degree of emotional connection. ...
Purpose
The review aims to demonstrate a broader perspective of human capital and employee well-being concept. Moreover, the study attempts to analyse theoretical notions underlying human capital and well-being relationship and thus to guide the integration of two distinct concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
This review followed the systematic literature search protocols from the Academic Journal Guide 2018 generated by the Chartered Association of Business Schools. Sixty-nine quantitative research papers were selected for the review.
Findings
Human capital is not only about individual competence but includes acquisition, utilization and development of competence in a broader sense. Employee well-being has been discussed from subjective and objective viewpoints and categorized into happiness, health and financial aspects. The review results suggest that various organizational theories, workplace learning and learning organization perspectives underlie human capital and well-being relationship. The review guides that the high involvement working model encapsulates well-being as part of human capital development.
Research limitations/implications
This review discusses practical implications for human resource management practitioners.
Originality/value
This review is a unique attempt to assess the human capital and well-being literature systematically.
... It is argued that the implementation of a HRM system is unlikely to be successful unless there is a shared perception among line managers and HR managers in delivering HR practices to employees. HR practices are perceived to be effective when they are consistently internalized among employees (Oh et al., 2017). Following Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) framework, a strong HRM system comprises the similar interpretation about the HRM system among organizational constituents that is dependent on the consistency between HRM orientations of the management and the implementation of HR practices. ...
... Following Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) framework, a strong HRM system comprises the similar interpretation about the HRM system among organizational constituents that is dependent on the consistency between HRM orientations of the management and the implementation of HR practices. In addition to this, two other variables in an organization's HRM orientations that may have an impact on HR department effectiveness are HR philosophy and an organization's commitment to employees (OCE) (Kellner et al., 2016;Oh et al., 2017). These two variables reflect the way organizations value the workforce, commit to human capital development, and manage employees strategically and effectively (Lepak et al., 2007;Nishii et al., 2008). ...
... The HRM-strategy integration begins with top managers' perceptions toward HRs in the execution of business strategy, highlighting the strategic choice in utilizing individual talents. This strategic integration emphasizes high commitment from top managers to enhance employee competencies (Boxall and Macky, 2009;Oh et al., 2017). The commitment to HRs thus ensures the properly effective implementation of HR practices that in turn leads to the success of HRM-strategy integration (Pereira and Fontinha, 2016;Wright et al., 2001). ...
Purpose
Human resource (HR) philosophy and an organization’s commitment to employees (OCE) are important components of a human resource management (HRM) system, yet the influences of these variables on the effectiveness of HRM implementation has been less evident. Similarly, few studies have examined the effect of intended and implemented HR practices on line managers’ perceptions of HR department effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine how these factors could result in a positive evaluation of HR department effectiveness in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 consisted of 405 line managers and the authors used this sample to test the proposed research model. Study 2, comprising 192 line managers, was used to validate the findings from Study 1.
Findings
The authors found empirical evidence of how HR managers should leverage their relationships with line managers to enhance HR department effectiveness in a developing economy such as Vietnam.
Research limitations/implications
As data were from line managers in one point in time, this study could be affected by common method bias. However, the authors conducted three common method variance checks and the analyses showed that this issue was not a major concern. Future studies could extend the sample of respondents by collecting information from CEOs, employees, and HR managers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extant literature empirical evidence of determinants of HR department effectiveness. First, the study shows the simultaneous impacts of HR philosophy and OCE on the actual implementation of HR practices. Second, the authors provide an understanding of line managers’ evaluation of HR department effectiveness through their experience with implemented HR practices.
... It is argued that the implementation of a HRM system is unlikely to be successful unless there is a shared perception among line managers and HR managers in delivering HR practices to employees. HR practices are perceived to be effective when they are consistently internalized among employees (Oh et al., 2017). Following Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) framework, a strong HRM system comprises the similar interpretation about the HRM system among organizational constituents that is dependent on the consistency between HRM orientations of the management and the implementation of HR practices. ...
... Following Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) framework, a strong HRM system comprises the similar interpretation about the HRM system among organizational constituents that is dependent on the consistency between HRM orientations of the management and the implementation of HR practices. In addition to this, two other variables in an organization's HRM orientations that may have an impact on HR department effectiveness are HR philosophy and an organization's commitment to employees (OCE) (Kellner et al., 2016;Oh et al., 2017). These two variables reflect the way organizations value the workforce, commit to human capital development, and manage employees strategically and effectively (Lepak et al., 2007;Nishii et al., 2008). ...
... The HRM-strategy integration begins with top managers' perceptions toward HRs in the execution of business strategy, highlighting the strategic choice in utilizing individual talents. This strategic integration emphasizes high commitment from top managers to enhance employee competencies (Boxall and Macky, 2009;Oh et al., 2017). The commitment to HRs thus ensures the properly effective implementation of HR practices that in turn leads to the success of HRM-strategy integration (Pereira and Fontinha, 2016;Wright et al., 2001). ...
... They also found a negative correlation between affective and continuance commitment and intentions to leave an occupation. Oh et al. (2017) proposed that a person's ability to exhibit competence and creditability, and earn recognition are critical factors related to commitment to the HR profession, and found support for their proposition with Korean HR managers. The desire to achieve certification and the costs of switching careers given the investment in an HR-specific certification, along with the competence and creditability gained, and recognition earned for meeting the experience and knowledge requirements of the HR professional certification, suggest the following: ...
In response to Lengnick-Hall and Aguinis' (2012) call for examining the practical value of HR professional certification, and using Lengnick-Hall and Aguinis' individual-level propositions as hypotheses, this study compares 123 HR practitioners' evaluations of HR certification based on attained education, membership in professional associations, and commitment to the HR profession. Our analysis found that HR practitioners value certification equally regardless of attained education level, members of professional associations ascribe 16% more value to certification than nonmembers, and certified members have a higher commitment to the profession. Further, a comparison between the established HRCI certifications and the newly competing SHRM certifications on pay level, job offers, and promotions received mixed results, with the established HRCI credential yielding slightly more value for job offers than the new SHRM certifications.
... This is surprising given that the CHRO is the top decision maker in terms of designing and developing HR-related policies, practices, and procedures, and HR managers administer HRM directly or in collaboration with line managers. For example, Oh et al. (2017) argued and found that the CHRO's HR-specific human capital (e.g., HR function-related experience, knowledge) serves as a signal to HR managers that organizational decision makers value the function of HR. Using the same logic, we argue that CHRO's and HR managers' HR-related human capital are implicit signals that employees draw on when cognitively appraise the motives behind HR practices. ...
... This may encompass the interchange of skills, tacit knowledge and trust (Obrenovic et al., 2020), while sustainability is grounded in all these, particularly trust. Earlier, Oh et al. (2017) also highlighted that the business's sustainable performance can be positively influenced by human capital factors, such as, knowledge, skills, motivation and trust. Aras and Crowther (2007) emphasized that sustainability is not grounded in the negotiated deals an organization endorses but fundamentally lies in trust. ...
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the impacts of human capital factors in terms of spiritual intelligence (SI), emotional intelligence (EI) and workplace attitude in terms of trust on organizational sustainability (OS) in the hotel industry in Malaysia. In addition, this study intends to examine the mediation role of trust between human capital factors and OS.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey method using a questionnaire was used to collect data from 361 employees, including middle management, who are in direct contact with guests in the hotel industry. The partial least squares technique, SmartPLS3.3.3, was used to examine the hypotheses.
Findings
The analysis found support for the impacts of SI, EI and trust on OS. Additionally, the mediation effect of trust was also supported.
Originality/value
This pioneering study has combined human capital factors (i.e. SI and EI) to predict their effects on OS in the hotel industry. Moreover, this research established relatively new relationships between SI and OS and between EI and OS through the mediation role of trust. Furthermore, this study confirmed the validity and reliability of SI, EI and OS at first and second orders. Given the adverse impact of COVID-19 and its variants on the sustainability of all business organizations, this research has highlighted the crucial role of human factors and workplace attitude in the sustainability of the hospitality sector during difficult times.
... This is surprising given that the CHRO is the top decision maker in terms of designing and developing HR-related policies, practices, and procedures, and HR managers administer HRM directly or in collaboration with line managers. For example, Oh et al. (2017) argued and found that the CHRO's HR-specific human capital (e.g., HR function-related experience, knowledge) serves as a signal to HR managers that organizational decision makers value the function of HR. Using the same logic, we argue that CHRO's and HR managers' HR-related human capital are implicit signals that employees draw on when cognitively appraise the motives behind HR practices. ...
... Specifically, results indicate that organizations may support work-related psychological well-being of women in management positions who recently become mothers by offering services and spaces to facilitate the efficient management of work and family; providing measures to support information exchange and psychological support during pregnancy and maternity; and offering part-time arrangements and flexible management of breaks. Within current organizations, managers' commitment to their occupation leads to the proper delivery and implementation of organization practices and, therefore, is deemed as a critical factor Return to work after maternity leave for the success of such practices (Oh et al., 2017). This may be especially interesting for countries with meager fertility rates and available support such as Italy, where women who experienced maternity and hold high responsibilities at work can contribute to reshaping discussions of women at work. ...
Purpose
This study aims to expand our knowledge on the processes through which work–family policies relate to work–family conflict as well as work–related attitudes among women in management positions returning to work after maternity leave.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 238 women in management positions who recently have returned to work after maternity leave completed a self-reported questionnaire.
Findings
Results show that the availability of policies was either directly or indirectly positively related to work attitudes among female managers. Also, findings show that work–family conflict partially mediates the relationship between the availability of communication and psychological support and flexible time management policies with work engagement, and policy availability moderates the relationship between work–family conflict and work engagement.
Originality/value
Managers have a crucial role in conveying the value of work–family policies and in creating a culture supporting the management of work and family. By investigating the processes underlying the role of work–family policies in influencing work attitudes of women in managerial positions, this study sheds light on how the awareness of the available policies might be an important determinant of work-related well-being and organizational commitment.
... Using a postal survey and target sample of middle managers (Ansell et al., 2010) may have contributed to the low response rate. Although a response rate around 17 per cent is considered normal in surveys addressed to managers (Oh et al., 2017), future research should consider using a mixed mode of data collection approach to improving the response rate. Lastly, we did not rule out the possibility of other explanations such as other cultural differences. ...
Purpose
Building on the conservation of resource theory, the authors posit work-life support as an essential resource for middle managers. This paper aims to explore the positive association between work-life support, positive emotion, job satisfaction and happiness. The paper also assesses the moderating role of work pressure on work-life support and positive emotion relationship on the one hand and flextime on positive emotion and job satisfaction on the other.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collected from 512 middle managers of small and medium-sized firms including manufacturing, service and finance sectors in Taiwan were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results reveal that work pressure strengthens the effect of work-life support on positive emotions, whereas time flexibility weakens the effect of positive emotion on job satisfaction. Work-life support positively influences happiness through the intervening variables of positive emotion and job satisfaction.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the importance of creating a positive work environment, as empowering middle managers with work-life support can help them handle work pressure and work-life conflict. The negative influence of flextime on positive emotion and job satisfaction highlights the need for effective handling of flextime.
Originality/value
This paper examines the work-life support and happiness of middle managers in the Chinese cultural context which has been under-explored. This paper expands the external validity of previous research results of Western samples by finding the positive influence of work pressure on work-life fit and positive emotion and negative influence of flextime on positive emotion and job satisfaction link.
... The extant literature that investigates this topic has primarily focused on domestic operations of firms (Pak & Kim, 2016;Sikora, Ferris, & van Iddekinge, 2015) and emphasized the role of line managers or HR managers in the translation of intention into actual implementation (Piening, Baluch, & Ridder, 2014;Trullen et al., 2016). According to prior studies, the gap between intended versus implemented HRM practices is likely to be mitigated when managers understand and accept the intended goals of HRM (Oh, Blau, Han, & Kim, 2017), have strong competencies and political skills to implement HRM practices (Sikora et al., 2015), or have substantial discretion in deciding appropriate Some recent studies have applied this analysis to the international context, investigating the transfer of standardized HRM practices from global headquarters to foreign subsidiaries (Ahlvik et al., 2016). ...
Despite the rapid growth of Chinese outward foreign direct investment in developed markets, many Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) suffer from liabilities of origin (LOR)—capability‐ and legitimacy‐based disadvantages associated with the country of origin. This study identifies localization as a strategic mechanism through which Chinese MNCs overcome their LOR. With a specific focus on human resource management (HRM), we examine how factors associated with firms' perceived LOR, including springboard intent, local competition, and host country regulatory pressures, affect Chinese MNCs' adoption of local HRM practices in developed markets. We differentiate HRM practices that managers intend to adopt from those that are actually implemented and explore how state ownership affects the intention–implementation gap. Based on a sample of Chinese MNCs in the United States, we find that springboard intent, local competition, and host country regulatory pressures are positively associated with intended, but not implemented, HRM localization. Further examination demonstrates that springboard intent and local competition have significant effects on implemented HRM localization among private businesses but not in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs). The managerial constraints and resource endowment of Chinese SOEs may hinder their overseas subsidiaries from implementing local HRM practices to address LOR.
... The employees or HR managers of the organizations always play a crucial role in formulating and enacting the well-designed HR practices. The study of Oh, Blau, Han, and Kim (2017) considered the perceived organizational value as a mediating variable in their study and revealed that those employees working with chief HR officers with top levels of human capital likely to have higher levels of commitment to HR and positively impact the managers' commitment plus behavior. Moreover, Mackay (2018) indicated that the strong significant correlation exists between employee job satisfaction with the high commitment HR practices (which includes training opportunities, feedback opportunities, etc.) and OC. ...
HRM has the capacity of influencing the organizational behavior of the employees, thereby ensuring achievement of the corporate objectives. HRM positively influences firm performance which leads to Organizational Commitment. This study proposed to assess the relationship of HR practices & Organizational Commitment. It is also intended to test job satisfaction as a mediator, between HR practices and Organizational Commitment among the employees of the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. The data was gathered from 218 individuals employed at various telecommunication companies located in Lahore. PLS, SEM was performed on the data, using the SmartPLS 3 software. “Recruitment and Selection”, “Performance Appraisal Satisfaction”, “Rewards and Recognition” & “Work Environment” result in statistically significant variation in “Organizational Commitment”. Relationship of “Recruitment and Selection”, “Training” and “Work Environment” is complementarily mediated by “Job Satisfaction. Relationship of “Performance Appraisal Satisfaction” is Indirect-only mediated by “Job Satisfaction”. The relationship of “Reward and Recognition” and “Organizational Commitment” is not mediated by “Job Satisfaction”. Our findings contribute to the existing body of literature of how the different facets of Job Satisfaction can mediate the relationships among the HR practices adopted by firms & Organizational Commitment. Telecom companies should improvise extra attention over HR practices that contribute positively towards the performance of employees eventually accentuating employees’ level of satisfaction and consequently the quality of services rendered to customers.
... The use of a professional standard as a basis for evaluating an employee of the personnel management service ensures an objective assessment and differentiates the requirements for specialists in a given functional area depending on their position (Oh, Blau, Han, & Kim, 2017). ...
... While diversity of experience seems positively associated with providing support for HR initiatives, some studies find that it is whether or not top management has HR-related experience what really makes a difference. For instance, Oh, Blau, Han, and Kim (2017) found that when the CHRO (as a member of the TMT) had a strong HR specific human capital, this increased HR managers' commitment to the organization through an increase in the perceived organizational value of HR; and Tootell et al. (2009), in the study on HR measurement quoted before, also found that when the CEO had some HR experience, it seemed easier that he or she supported HR measurement (although it also helped that the HR manager had business experience in non-HR areas, as this enhanced the chances for common understanding). ...
Despite the significant influence that top management exerts on different aspects of people management, it remains the missing stakeholder in the HRM literature. In this paper, we take stock of previous research, and conclude that it is scarce and lacks consolidation. On the basis of our findings, but also thinking in terms of what is still missing, we develop a conceptual framework that may guide further research, advocating for the need to consider co-evolutionary approaches in an attempt to integrate selection and adaptation perspectives, as well as multi-level and multi-actor factors. Future work should systematically address and distinguish top management characteristics from top management agency and link these more clearly to a diversity of HRM dimensions. By doing so, scholars will help to firmly incorporate the role of top management in the research agenda of HRM and pursue different avenues that can be scientifically sound as well as practically relevant.
... Likewise, transformational team managers may seek to change the content of HRM systems for the benefit of the organization. However, the HRM system in our study is a company-wide HPWS upon which frontline team managers may have little or no impact, especially in the context of this study (i.e., Korea), where HR managers play central roles in formulating HRM systems (Oh, Blau, Han, & Kim, 2015). Further, if a TFL-enhancing HPWS were introduced to address the lack of TFL in team managers, the relationship between the TFL-enhancing HPWS and TFL would be negative, contrary to our finding of the positive cross-level relationship between them. ...
This study integrates strategic human resource management (SHRM) and transformational leadership (TFL) literatures to address gaps in each of the two literatures. Building on the concept of strategically targeted HRM systems and the contingency perspective in SHRM, we propose that an organization's high-performance work system (HPWS) affects team managers' TFL, and that the emergence of TFL and the effectiveness of TFL on team performance are contingent on organizational adaptation and efficiency orientations. Analyses of multilevel data from 179 teams in 44 organizations revealed a positive relationship between HPWS and TFL, which was positively and negatively moderated by adaptation and efficiency orientations, respectively. Further, TFL was positively related to team performance and negatively moderated by efficiency orientation. Finally, the results supported a multilevel, moderated mediation effect with the indirect effect of HPWS on team performance via TFL varying significantly as a function of adaptation and efficiency orientations. Implications for the SHRM and leadership literatures and practice are discussed.
... Likewise, transformational team managers may seek to change the content of HRM systems for the benefit of the organization. However, the HRM system in our study is a company-wide HPWS upon which frontline team managers may have little or no impact, especially in the context of this study (i.e., Korea), where HR managers play central roles in formulating HRM systems (Oh, Blau, Han, & Kim, 2015). Further, if a TFL-enhancing HPWS were introduced to address the lack of TFL in team managers, the relationship between the TFL-enhancing HPWS and TFL would be negative, contrary to our finding of the positive cross-level relationship between them. ...
Drawing upon the theory of contextual influences on organizational behavior (Johns, 2006) and interactionist perspective (Chatman, 1989), we propose that organizational empowerment climate cultivates team leaders’ empowering leadership, which is more pronounced when team leaders’ organizational identification is high and less pronounced when their need for power and narcissism are high. We further propose that the empowering leadership induced by the organizational empowerment climate in turn enhances team members’ job performance, which is more pronounced when team members are high in leader identification, need for power, and narcissism. Analyses of data from 834 team members and 189 teams in 46 organizations reveal that organizational empowerment climate was positively related to team leaders’ empowering leadership particularly when they were high in organizational identification and low in need for power and narcissism. Empowering leadership was found to significantly relate to team members’ job performance particularly when they were high in narcissism. Several theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The implementation of HR practices has received increasing attention in recent years with researchers examining the many factors which influence effective implementation, yet the importance of the HR delivery model in supporting effective implementation of HR practices has not been considered in the literature to date. HR shared service centres are ubiquitous in many countries and have been established in many cases with efficiency and cost saving in mind. First line managers are the key communicators of HR practices in many organisations today, translating key messages for their team members. The implementation literature has overlooked the effect which the HR shared service centre model of supporting these managers may be having on how they subsequently implement HR practices with their teams.
This thesis sets out to explore the impact of the HR shared service model on managers attitudes and behaviours when implementing HR practices. The study examined data collected from two case study organisations, chosen from different industry sectors, each with different HR delivery structures in place -one with a HR shared service team based offshore and the other with a HR services team based onshore. A mixed method research approach was used to firstly understand whether there were significant differences between the two organisations and then to explore these differences using interviews with both managers and HR professionals in both organisations. The findings highlighted the effects which the HR delivery model can have on the complexity of communication between the HR department and the first line manager, the need for additional skills both for the first line manager and HR department, and the effect which deficits in HR support have on others around the first line manager, such as their peers, their teams, and their own manager.
This study makes a theoretical contribution to the implementation literature by highlighting the importance of the HR delivery model in supporting effective implementation and its effect on the wellbeing of managers and by proposing an empirically based model which researchers can use in understanding the effects of the HR delivery structure on implementation. The study also provides a practical contribution by underlining key factors which are affected by the establishment of a HR shared service centre model and offers recommendations for ways in which practitioners can support managers to allow HR practices to be more effectively applied throughout organisations and ultimately lead to more effective organisational performance.
Bireysel Emeklilik Sistemi ve Emeklilik Yatırım Fonları: Türkiye Uygulaması
A recent survey discloses 93% of graduating management students from Indian business schools are unemployable. Several business schools have closed due to their chronic non-viability. This action research study in an Indian business school employs local systemic intervention, and the viable systems model to diagnose the school’s chronic pathology. Theories of neurotic organizations, psychic prisons, and escalation of commitment guide the critical review mode and help in acquiring a deeper understanding of the school’s dysfunctionality. The liberating systems theory and the challenge of getting national accreditation influence the problem-solving mode that includes initiating actions for operationalizing a ritualistic vision statement, re-designing academic processes aligned to the vision, making a shift from an ineffective commoditized approach to a personalized strengths-based approach to placement, and professionalizing the admissions process by making it competency-based. In the critical reflection mode, I share phenomenological insights on nuances of successful entrepreneurship, the disloyalty of loyalists, the syndrome of “operation successful, but the patient died”, the coupling of time with the principle of equifinality to influence decision choices, leadership’s confusion with populism and finally drawing a few key messages from the Indian sacred text of the Bhagavadgita. The significance of the study lies in providing a proof of concept for transforming a business school from non-visible to a viable system and in the transportability of the approach to other non-viable business schools and organizations across industries and geographies. The study provides a solution to the huge social costs associated with the unemployability of graduating management students.
Purpose
According to human capital theory, companies derive economic value from the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) of their employees. Research conducted by strategic human resource management has focused on how investment in human capital can create a competitive advantage for an organization. The purpose of the paper is, therefore, to investigate how the choice of different human capital acquisition strategies – “make or buy” – can influence employee attitudes and behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores the relationship between internal and external human capital strategies and employee’s attitudes and behavior in Taiwan's IC (integrated circuit) design industry. The cross-sectional dataset derives from a sample of 49 human resource departments and 497 employees from 25 different IC design companies.
Findings
The findings indicate that the decisions made on human capital strategies have an important influence on employee’s attitude and behavior. The results also show that a climate of trust and perceived organizational support is a cross-level mechanism for both human capital strategy and employees' attitudes and behavior.
Originality/value
There has been little research on the cross-level analysis of human capital acquisition strategies that can influence employee’s attitudes and behavior. This study verified that internal and external human capital strategies do affect employees' individual perceptions of organizational support via the organizational-level climate of trust, which in turn influences employees' attitudes and behavior. This cross-level mechanism indeed will facilitate new insights into the nature of strategic human resource management.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, insan kaynakları yönetimi literatürüne dayalı
olarak, insan sermayesinin ölçülmesinde ve ona değer biçilmesinde hangi
faktörlerin dikkate alınması gerektiğini ortaya koymaktır. Araştırmamız,
insan sermayesinin bireye performans, kariyer ilerlemesi, kariyer başarısı
ve değer kattığını göstermektedir. Birey akli yeteneğini insan sermayesiyle
daha da geliştirdikçe hem kendisi hem de çalıştığı işletme açısından
beklenenin üzerinde performans çıktıları ortaya koymaktadır. Bu insan
kaynakları yöneticilerine, sadece akli yeteneği değil aynı zamanda yüksek
insan sermayesi yeteneğine sahip bireylerin işe alınması, geliştirilmesi ve
işletmede tutulması gerektiğini göstermektedir çünkü rekabetçi ortam
işletmelerin her gün daha başarılı sonuçlar ortaya koymasını zorunlu
kılmaktadır. Rekabetçi sonuçlara ulaşabilmenin yegâne yolu da insan
sermayesi ileri düzeyde ve akli olarak yeteneği olan bireylerin işletmelerde
çalıştırılmasıdır.
İnsan sermayesinin unsurları çok yönlüdür çünkü pek çok unsur insan
sermayesinin gelişmesine ve ilerlemesine katkı sağlamaktadır. İnsan
sermayesi bireyin sahip olduğu eğitimi, bilgiyi, hünerleri, yetenekleri,
fikirleri, sağlığı ve enformasyonu içerir. İnsan sermayesi tecrübeyi de içine
alır. Tecrübe içinde işle ilgili tecrübe, çalışılan işletmeyle ilgili tecrübe ve
çalışılan endüstri ile ilgili tecrübe yer alır. İnsan sermayesinde bilginin
önemi büyüktür. Bilgi bireyde açık bilgi ve örtük bilgi şeklindedir.
Bireysel sağlık son yıllarda önemi giderek artan bir insan sermayesi
unsurudur. Farklı meslek gruplarının kendine özgü insan sermayesi
unsurları olabilir.
İnsan sermayesi organizasyon içerisinde farklı seviyelerde
bulunmaktadır. Bunlar bireysel sosyal sermaye, ünite veya fonksiyonel
sosyal sermaye ve işletme seviyesindeki sosyal sermayedir. İnsan
sermayesinin bu niteliğinin ötesinde insan sermayesinin işletmedeki
homojen ve heterojen yapısı da dikkate alınmalıdır.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the current status of strategic human resource management (SHRM) research in the context of Korea as well as to provide specific recommendations for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrative literature review was performed to aggregate a body of studies in the Korean context. In total, 39 articles were carefully selected for inclusion in the present review.
Findings
The review demonstrated that prior studies conducted in Korea have examined whether the established relationship between strategic human resource (HR) practices and organizational outcomes has cross-national validity in Korean contexts, the extent to which the established relationship is moderated by contextual factors, as well as whether a combination of strategic HR practices and the congruence of HR practices with other organizational factors affect organizational outcomes. In addition, the review revealed four unique methodological characteristics of Korea-based studies, namely, the extensive use of self-reported questionnaires, personnel in managerial positions serving as the main sources of primary data, secondary data collected by Korean government research bodies being actively dealt with and an awareness of the necessity of a longitudinal design for causal research.
Originality/value
The present review makes an important contribution to the study of SHRM in general and the strategic human resources management model in Korea in particular. It is clear that more research is required, although it is encouraging to note the quality of prior research concerning Korean contexts and the specific mechanisms by which strategic HR practices influence organizational outcomes. Finally, there is a clear need for future research that explicitly considers employees' perceptions of strategic HR practices and specific contextual factors in Korea, and further, that utilizes more rigorous and diverse research methods to investigate the effectiveness of strategic HR practices in Korea.
Drawing from conservation of resources theory, we contend that motivation (job engagement) fully mediates the relationships between hope and human capital (antecedents) and task performance. We also propose that job engagement provides an interesting explanation for organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) that differs from the explanation provided by human capital. Using triad data collected from 170 employees, their supervisors, and their peers at 15 different business organizations in Turkey across four waves, we find that the associations of hope and human capital with task performance occur through job engagement. Interestingly, one path (human capital–job engagement–task performance–OCBs) provides a chain of positive associations that can explain OCBs, whereas another path (human capital–OCBs) has a direct, negative association with OCBs. The results suggest that the motivational value of job engagement leads to improvement in the task performance and OCBs of individuals who are full of hope and have high human capital. Practising managers should invest in hiring, training, and retaining individuals with high levels of hope and human capital to enhance job engagement in the workplace because such individuals conserve their resources to engage in their job. Job engagement in role A (task) contributes to role B (OCBs) because high accomplishment in task performance generates positive emotions, which lead to high achievement in OCBs. Therefore, practising managers should allow their subordinates to allocate their resources to addressing their multiple roles in the order of the importance that they assign to these roles because employees’ resources, energy, time, and attentional capacities are limited.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This paper introduces a radically different conceptualization of human capital resources that runs counter to the individual-level approaches that have dominated human capital theory for the last 50 years. We leverage insights from economics, strategy, human resources, and psychology to develop an integrated and holistic framework that defines the structure, function, levels, and combinations of human capital resources. This multidisciplinary framework redefines human capital resources as individual or unit-level capacities based on individual knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that are accessible for unit-relevant purposes. The framework and definition offer three broad contributions. First, multidisciplinary communication is facilitated by providing precise definitions and distinctions between individual differences, KSAOs, human capital, human capital resources, and strategic human capital resources. Second, given that human capital resources originate in individuals' KSAOs, multiple distinct types of human capital resources exist at individual and collective levels, and these types are much more diverse than the historical generic-specific distinction. Third, the multiple types of human capital resources may be combined within and across levels, via processes of emergence and complementarity. Consequently, the locus of competitive advantage has less to do with whether human capital resources are generic or specific but instead occurs because nearly all human capital resource combinations are complex, are firm-specific, and lack strategic (or efficient) factor markets. Overall, the proposed multidisciplinary framework opens new avenues for future research that challenge the prevailing literature's treatment of human capital resources.
Over 1,000 U.S. Army officers responded to two surveys over a two-year period. Results indicated that mentoring was positively related to affective commitment and continuance commitment and negatively related to "turnover behavior.". The relationship with affective commitment was moderated by the conditions of mentorship (supervisory versus nonsupervisory) but not by the type of mentoring support provided (career-related versus psychosocial). Affective commitment partially mediated the negative relationship between mentoring and actual turnover behavior ten years later.
In this study, we examine the cross-cultural differences in human resource (HR) managers’ beliefs in effective HR practices by surveying HR practitioners in Finland (N = 86), South Korea (N = 147), and Spain (N = 196). Similar to previous studies from the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia, there are large discrepancies between HR practitioner beliefs and research findings, particularly in the area of staffing. In addition, we find that interpersonal-oriented aspects of HR practices tend to be more culturally bound than technical-oriented aspects of HR practices. We interpret the differences using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Power Distance, Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term Orientation, and Uncertainty Avoidance). We discuss the overall nature of the science-practice gap in HR management, and the implications for evidence-based management.
Using a qualitative approach, this study fills a void in the literature on strategic HRM by analyzing Austrian CEOs' perceptions of the role of the HR department in their organizations, and the conditions that affect the development of a strategic role. The results suggest that even if CEOs have an overall positive evaluation of their HR departments and are willing to delegate responsibility for higher-level decision-making, to develop the HR department's role, CEOs must also feel they have the scope to do so. A framework for future research and practical implications for opportunities and constraints confronting HR managers are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
On the basis of the sense-making and sense-giving literature, this study addresses factors helping the HR function gain greater acceptance by employees for its proposals and innovations. Using an original sample of 298 employees from nine firms in Spain, we find that HR department credibility is only one of the factors that influence employees' acceptance. Other essential elements are top management and supervisor support. We also investigate the consequences that differential levels of support from supervisors and top managers can have for the acceptance of HR innovations, and we find that supervisor support carries more weight than that of top managers. Finally, we explore variations in the importance of the HR function credibility as an acceptance enabler under different organizational innovation climates. The results suggest that HR credibility plays an essential role independently of climate.
To respond to the challenge of how organizations can develop leaders who can think strategically, we investigate the relation of leaders’ global work experiences—that is, those experiences that require the role incumbent to transcend national boundaries—to their competency in strategic thinking. We further examine how leaders’ exposure to a country whose culture is quite distinct from the culture of their own country (i.e., one that is culturally distant) may moderate these relationships. Our analyses of 231 upper-level leaders reveals that the time they have spent in global work experiences positively relates to their strategic thinking competency, particularly for leaders who have had exposure to a more culturally distant country. We discuss these findings in light of the research on international work experiences and leader development.
Drawing on the ability-motivation-opportunity model, this meta-analysis examined the effects of three dimensions of HR systems-skills-enhancing, motivation-enhancing, and opportunity-enhancing-on proximal organizational outcomes (human capital and motivation) and distal organizational outcomes (voluntary turnover, operational outcomes, and financial outcomes). The results indicate that skill-enhancing practices were more positively related to human capital and less positively related to employee motivation than motivation-enhancing practices and opportunity-enhancing practices. Moreover, the three dimensions of HR systems were related to financial outcomes both directly and indirectly by influencing human capital and employee motivation as well as voluntary turnover and operational outcomes in sequence.
Signaling theory is useful for describing behavior when two parties (individuals or organizations) have access to different information. Typically, one party, the sender, must choose whether and how to communicate (or signal) that information, and the other party, the receiver, must choose how to interpret the signal. Accordingly, signaling theory holds a prominent position in a variety of management literatures, including strategic management, entrepreneurship, and human resource management. While the use of signaling theory has gained momentum in recent years, its central tenets have become blurred as it has been applied to organizational concerns. The authors, therefore, provide a concise synthesis of the theory and its key concepts, review its use in the management literature, and put forward directions for future research that will encourage scholars to use signaling theory in new ways and to develop more complex formulations and nuanced variations of the theory.
We evaluated the impact of human resource (HR) managers' capabili- ties on HR management effectiveness and the latter's impact on corpo- rate financial performance. For 293 U.S. firms, effectiveness was asso- ciated with capabilities and attributes of HR staff. We also found rela- tionships between HR management effectiveness and productivity, cash flow, and market value. Findings were consistent across market and accounting measures of performance and with corrections for biases.
From the origins of resource-based theory, scholars have emphasized the importance of human capital as a source of sustained competitive advantage, and recently there has been great interest in gaining a better understanding of the micro-foundations of strategic capabilities. Along these lines, there is little doubt that heterogeneous human capital is often a critical underlying mechanism for capabilities. Here, the authors explore how individual-level phenomena underpin isolating mechanisms that sustain human capital–based advantages but also create management dilemmas that must be resolved in order to create value. The solutions to these challenges cannot be found purely in generic human resource policies that reflect best practices. These are not designed to mitigate idiosyncratic dilemmas that arise from the very attributes that hinder imitation (e.g., specificity, social complexity, and causal ambiguity). The authors drill down deeper to identify individual- and firm-level components that interact to grant some firms unique capabilities in attracting, retaining, and motivating human capital. This cospecialization of idiosyncratic individuals and organizational systems may be among the most powerful isolating mechanism. The authors conclude by outlining a research agenda for exploring cross-level components of human capital–based advantages.
Although there is growing evidence that high performance work practices (HPWPs) affect organizational performance, varying sample characteristics, research designs, practices examined, and organizational performance measures used has led extant findings to vary dramatically, making the size of the overall effect difficult to estimate. We use meta-analysis to estimate the effect size and test whether effects are larger for (a) HPWP systems versus individual practices, (b) operational versus financial performance measures, and (c) manufacturing versus service organizations. Statistical aggregation of 92 studies reveals an overall correlation that we estimate at .20. Also, the relationship is stronger when researchers examine systems of HPWPs and among manufacturers, but it appears invariant across performance measures. We use our findings as a basis to offer 4 suggestions intended to shape research practices such that future meta-analyses might answer today's emerging questions.
The aim of this study was to investigate which leader behaviors mediate the relationship
between leader expectations and employee engagement in learning activities. Based on
Rosenthal’s Pygmalion model, five potential mediators of the Pygmalion effect were distinguished:
leader–member exchange relationship, goal setting (i.e., goal specificity, goal difficulty),
providing learning opportunities, and feedback. Data from 904 manager–subordinate
dyads in six organizations showed that leader expectations were related to employee engagement
in learning activities. Goal specificity, goal difficulty, and providing learning opportunities proved
to be mediators. These findings suggest that goal setting lies at the heart of the Pygmalion effect.
Theory building has lagged on the intermediate linkages responsible for the relationship between HRM and firm performance. We introduce the construct "strength of the HRM system" and describe the metafeatures of an HRM system that result in a strong organizational climate, analogous to Mischel's "strong situation," in which individuals share a common interpretation of what behaviors are expected and rewarded. The strength of the HRM system can help explain how individual employee attributes accumulate to affect organizational effectiveness.
This study argues that for a human resource (HR) department to be highly effective, it should be socially well connected to the line managers and their subordinates. We theorize that the interdepartmental social capital of HR leads to positive HR effectiveness through the benefits of information, influence, and solidarity. Furthermore, we argue that this relationship is stronger when HR undertakes the role of a change agent. We have tested our theory using nationally representative survey data from South Korea (n = 300). The results of our empirical analyses support our claims.
This study examines the response rates for surveys used in organizational research. We analyzed 1607 studies published in the years 2000 and 2005 in 17 refereed academic journals, and we identified 490 different studies that utilized surveys.We examined the response rates in these studies, which covered more than 100,000 organizations and 400,000 individual respondents. The average response rate for studies that utilized data collected from individuals was 52.7 percent with a standard deviation of 20.4, while the average response rate for studies that utilized data collected from organizations was 35.7 percent with a standard deviation of 18.8. Key insights from further analysis include relative stability in response rates in the past decade and higher response rates for journals published in the USA.The use of incentives was not found to be related to response rates and, for studies of organizations, the use of reminders was associated with lower response rates. Also, electronic data collection efforts (e.g. email, phone,web) resulted in response rates as high as or higher than traditional mail methodology. We discuss a number of implications and recommendations.
Based on an original survey of senior human resources (HR) executives, this paper provides empirical data for a comparison of HR management structures and practices in Japan and the United States. In both countries, the headquarters HR function has shrunk and employment decisions have become more decentralized in recent years. However, because the pace of change has been more rapid in the United States, the gap with Japan has widened. Significant differences persist in other areas, such as the HR executive's role in strategic decisions, perceived power of the HR function, executive values, and the consequences of these values for organizational outcomes and corporate governance.
The authors reviewed more than 70 studies concerning employees' general belief that their work organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support; POS). A meta-analysis indicated that 3 major categories of beneficial treatment received by employees (i.e., fairness, supervisor support, and organizational rewards and favorable job conditions) were associated with POS. POS, in turn, was related to outcomes favorable to employees (e.g., job satisfaction, positive mood) and the organization (e.g., affective commitment, performance, and lessened withdrawal behavior). These relationships depended on processes assumed by organizational support theory: employees' belief that the organization's actions were discretionary, feeling of obligation to aid the organization, fulfillment of socioemotional needs, and performance-reward expectancies.
Understanding sources of sustained competitive advantage has become a major area of research in strategic management. Building on the assumptions that strategic resources are heterogeneously distributed across firms and that these differences are stable over time, this article examines the link between firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Four empirical indicators of the potential of firm resources to generate sustained competitive advantage-value, rareness, imitability, and substitutability are discussed. The model is applied by analyzing the potential of several firm resources for generating sustained competitive advantages. The article concludes by examining implications of this firm resource model of sustained competitive advantage for other business disciplines.
Past research has not adequately considered the importance of interconnected human capital resources. Drawing on the resource-based view, we propose a dynamic model in which changes in generic human capital (personality and cognitive ability) lead to changes in unit-specific human capital (advanced training and experience), which in turn lead to changes in unit service performance behavior and effectiveness. We examined 238 units in a restaurant chain using data from different sources spanning ten quarters. The hypothesized causal sequence among the constructs was supported. These findings advance resource-based scholarship and highlight the value of understanding the relationships among human capital resources.
This study provides an innovative perspective on empirically assessing HR by focusing on the duality of HR professionals’ experiences as both implementers and, concurrently, as recipients or internal customers of HR practices given that they are also employees of the organization. We hypothesize that HR professionals experience HR practices more favorably from an implementer perspective as compared to an internal customer perspective. These differences in experiences are likely to be influenced by HR professionals’ hierarchical position in the HR department.
Our analyses of 1271 HR professionals employed by Indian Railways revealed a number of differences between the two types of experience. Some practices (recruitment and selection, training and employee welfare) were viewed more negatively from the implementer perspective, whereas others (compensation, benefits and employment relations) were rated more negatively from the internal customer perspective. Those holding more senior HR positions reported more positive experiences of training and employment relations from an internal customer perspective. Overall our contributions draw on the attribution theory and concepts of intra-organizational power and voice, and have implications concerning the effectiveness of HR practices.
Human capital refers to the knowledge, information, ideas, skills, and health of individuals. This is the "age of human capital" in the sense that human capital is by far the most important form of capital in modern economies. The economic successes of individuals, and also of whole economies, depends on how extensively and effectively people invest in themselves. Studies suggest that capital invested in men and women constitutes over 70 percent of the total capital in the United States. The total invested in schooling, on-the-job training, health, information, and research and develop-ment is surely over 20 percent of gross domestic product. Technology may be the driver of a modern economy, espe-cially of its high-tech sector, but human capital is certainly the fuel. An economy like that of the United States is called a cap-italist economy, but a more accurate term is human capital or a knowledge capital economy. While all forms of capi-tal are important, including machinery, factories, and fi-nancial capital, human capital is the most significant.
This article argues that the field of industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology should expand its focus from studying individual and small-group behavior to also studying how psychology contributes to organizational strategy and sustained competitive advantage. The field of strategy has recently sought to understand the microfoundations of competitive advantage, and I–O psychology brings much expertise to inform the study of such microfoundations. However, most I–O research pays little attention to strategic issues. In this article, I provide an introduction to strategic management, focusing primarily on the resource-based determinants of competitive advantage. I then discuss the potential benefits of I–O science and practice tackling important strategic issues yet also note the challenges and likely evolutions that will be necessary in our theory and research. The field of personnel selection is used as an illustration, but other areas of I–O are also considered.
The development and construct validation of a 12-item career entrenchment measure is reported. Taking a theory-driven approach, three dimensions comprising career entrenchment were defined: a career investments dimension reflecting accumulated investments in one's career success that would be lost or deemed worthless if one were to pursue a new career, an emotional costs dimension assessing the anticipated emotional costs associated with pursuing a new career, and a limitedness of career alternatives dimension gauging the perceived lack of available options for pursuing a new career. Using a combination of methodological procedures, these three dimensions were investigated in two pilot studies and a field test. Results support the intended measure's reliability and validity. Implications for individuals and their careers are discussed.
The human capital of a firm as manifested by employee knowledge and experience represents a key resource of a firm's capabilities. Prior empirical studies have found that firms composed of high levels of human capital experience superior firm performance. Human capital theory proposes that an individual's general or firm-specific human capital is positively related to compensation. However, empirical studies examining firm-specific human capital's association with higher employee compensation have been inconclusive. The current study proposes that firm-specific human capital be categorized as task-specific and non-task-specific. Employees accumulate task-specific human capital through duties conducted in their current position. Non-task-specific human capital represents experiences gained in prior positions to an employee's current job within the firm. Utilizing human capital data from 38,390 employees representing 76 firms in the IT sector, this study examines the association between forms of human capital and employee compensation at different levels of firm productivity. Results show that task-specific human capital is associated with higher employee compensation. In addition, firm productivity moderates this association.
This study proposes that employees have to face a variety of obstacles over the course of their careers, each of which can create stress for employees and, in so doing, lower their subjective career success (SCS). Using a meta-analysis of 216 samples published over the past three decades (N = 94,090), we found that career hurdles associated with dispositional traits (e.g., low emotional stability), motivation (e.g., low work engagement), social networks (e.g. low supervisor support), and organizational and job support (e.g., job insecurity) were all significantly related to lower SCS. Counter to expectations, background-related hurdles (e.g., being female) and skill-related hurdles (e.g., lack of job changes and international experience) were not significantly related to SCS.
This study extends current knowledge of upper echelon executive compensation beyond the CEO, specifically CFO compensation, based on whether they possess generalist or specialist skills. We find that ‘strategic’ CFOs with an elite MBA (generalist) consistently command a compensation premium, while ‘accounting’ CFOs (specialist) and CFOs with a non-MBA master's degree, even from an elite institution, do not. Further, scarce ‘strategic’ CFOs are awarded both higher salaries and higher equity-based compensation. Our findings support the view that unique complementarities between scarce CFOs and firms increase these executives’ bargaining power leading to pay premium. Our results are robust to post-hiring years, firm sizes, board characteristics, and CFO’s insider/outsider status. We contribute at the confluence of upper-echelon compensation, executive human capital, resource-based view, and assortative matching literatures.
In order to be effective, managers at all levels of the firm must engage in resource management activities, and these efforts are synchronized and orchestrated by top management. Using a specific type of strategic resource, commitment-based human resource systems, we examine the effect of CEO resource orchestration in a multi-industry sample of 190 Korean firms. Our results demonstrate that CEO emphasis on strategic HRM is a significant antecedent to commitment-based HR systems. Furthermore, our results also suggest that CEO resource orchestration efforts have their primary effects on firm performance through commitment-based HR systems. This finding underscores the importance of middle managers in operationalizing top management's strategic emphasis, lending empirical support to a fundamental tenet of resource orchestration arguments.
Theories of workplace commitment have become increasingly complex with propositions regarding its multiple-component structure (e.g., affective, normative, continuance) and multiple foci (e.g., organization, supervisor, team). To date, most research has taken a variable-centered approach (e.g., regression, SEM) to address the additive and interactive effects of commitment components and foci on behavior and well-being. This assumes that research samples are homogeneous and that the same theoretical framework and empirical findings apply uniformly to employees in general. More recently, it has been proposed that a sample can contain subgroups and that the variables of interest (e.g., commitment components or foci) might combine and relate differently to other variables within these subgroups. Consequently, there has been an increase in the use of person-centered strategies (e.g., cluster analysis, latent profile analysis) to identify and compare these subgroups. We provide an overview of commitment theory and research to demonstrate how use of a person-centered research strategy can provide new insights into the nature and implications of commitment. We also provide a critical evaluation of person-centered strategies with the objective of encouraging greater use of more advanced analytic procedures in future research. Finally, we discuss the benefits of person-centered research for theory and practice.
Occupational commitment and occupational (career) entrenchment are two multidimensional constructs in the “early development” stages. The construct validity evidence to date for each multidimensional construct is constructively critiqued. Suggestions for building stronger measures of occupational commitment and occupational entrenchment are offered. It is argued that using longitudinal research designs and revisiting the nomological net can provide stronger discriminant validity evidence for each multidimensional construct. Finally, research simultaneously studying both constructs is needed. Preliminary work suggests that occupational entrenchment can be integrated within the continuance dimension of occupational commitment. Human resource implications for studying such occupational-level constructs are discussed.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons behind human resource (HR) managers' participation in the international mergers and acquisitions (IM&A) process building on the general discussion of the factors explaining the roles of HR in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
Six sets of factors can be found to affect the roles of HR managers in general: the orientation of top management to people management; the skills, abilities and competencies of HR managers themselves; the HR function and its characteristics; the expectations that line managers have of HR; external factors; and internal factors. This review forms the basis for subsequent data analysis in the context of IM&As. The factors that contribute to HR managers' participation are studied from HR and other management's perspectives. Based on interviews with 12 corporate level managers in three Finnish international industrial companies.
Findings
The results show that top management sees the participation of HR managers as being very important and agree that it should be a common policy. The factors explaining the roles in the case organisations focused on certain factor groups and were similar across the cases. Based on empirical analysis, this study finds that the most important contributing factors to HR managers' participation are HR managers' own capability and activity throughout the IM&A process.
Originality/value
This study has analysed the reasons related to the roles of HR managers in an IM&A context in general, not just the strategic role within. Based on the case studies it seems, however, that a seat on the management team and HR managers' business competencies as well as personal skills contribute to the strategic role.
Due to the increasing importance of moderating (i.e., interaction) effects, the use of moderated multiple regression (MMR) has become pervasive in numerous management specialties such as organizational behavior, human resources management, and strategy, to name a few. Despite its popularity, recent research on the MMR approach to moderator variable detection has identified several factors that reduce statistical power below acceptable levels and, consequently, lead researchers to erroneously dismiss theoretical models that include moderated relationships. The present article (1) briefly describes MMR, (2) reviews factors that affect the statistical power of hypothesis tests conducted using this technique, (3) proposes solutions to low power situations, and (4) discusses areas and problems related to MMR that are in need of further investigation.
To examine the effects of organizational strategic variables, such as management values regarding human resource management (HRM) and the sources of competitive advantage, we developed a model and tested it with data from 138 firms in Korea. The workers studied were nonmanagers. Firms with high scores on valuing HRM and people as a source of competitive advantage were more likely to have high-involvement HRM strategies. These variables also had positive effects on firm performance. In addition, firms with high-involvement HRM strategies had better performance.
For companies striving to meet the competitive challenges of today and tomorrow - including globalization, technology, profitability through growth, and capacity for change - the management of human resources holds the key to future success. Ulrich urges a shift of the HR professional's mentality from "what I do" to "what I deliver" and identifies four distinct roles that human resources staff must assume in order to make the transition: strategic partner, administrative. expert, employee champion, and change agent. Full of examples from dozens of companies that have transformed their HR functions, Human Resource Champions provides hands-on tools that show HR professionals how they can operate in all four areas simultaneously. It offers specific recommendations for HR staff and line managers about how to establish a partnership to deliver value and make their organizations more competitive.
This article presents a comprehensive definition and conceptual model of person-organization fit that incorporates supplementary as well as complementary perspectives on fit. To increase the precision of the construct's definition, it is also distinguished from other forms of environmental compatibility, silch as person-group and person-vocation fit. Once defined, commensurate measurement as it relates to supplementary and complementary fit is discussed and recommendations are offered regarding the necessity of its use. A distinction is made between the direct measurement of perceived fit and the indirect measurement of actual person-organization fit, using both cross- and individual-level techniques, and the debate regarding differences scores is reviewed. These definitional and measurement issues frame a review of the existing literature, as well as provide the basis for specific research propositions and suggestions for managerial applications.
Five thousand human resource (HR) professionals were surveyed regarding the extent to which they agreed with various HR research findings. Responses from 959 participants suggest that there are large discrepancies between research findings and practitioners' beliefs in some content areas, especially selection. In particular, practitioners place far less faith in intelligence and personality tests as predictors of employee performance than HR research would recommend. Practitioners are somewhat more likely to agree with research findings when they are at higher organizational levels, have SPHR certification, and read the academic literature. Suggestions are made for more effective dissemination of HR research findings. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.