HRD Practice Research Articles

The gendered power relations of action learning: a critical analysis of women’s reflections on a leadership development programme

Revealing power relations in HRD research and practice is an important concern for critical HRD scholars, however little attention has been paid to gendered power relations in the HRD practice of action learning. This paper responds to this gap through a critical analysis of a phenomenological study of six women’s reflections of action learning as part of a leadership development programme. Adopting feminist post-structuralist ideas, the paper draws on the study to interrogate gendered power relations in action learning. Key findings include women’s perceptions of gendered power relations in action learning affirm dominant understandings of leaders as male, not attending to gender impedes women’s leadership development in action learning and action learning principles of trust and comradeship can serve simultaneously to avoid difference and to reinforce a dominant set culture that constructs difference. The paper concludes with proposals of how action learning might take gender into account in the leadership development of women.

Servant Leadership and Work Engagement: The Contingency Effects of Leader–Follower Social Capital

Drawing from research on work engagement, contingent leadership, and social capital, the authors investigate the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement, as well as how this relationship might be moderated by leader–follower social capital. Data captured from 263 employees of four information technology (IT) companies show that servant leadership enhances work engagement, especially at higher levels of goal congruence and social interaction. In addition, a significant three‐way interaction effect shows that, in conditions marked by high social interaction, goal congruence more strongly enables the conversion of servant leadership into enhanced work engagement. These findings have significant implications for HRD research and practice.

An Empirical Investigation into Human Resource Development Practices in Public Telecom Organisations in Saudi Arabia

With the advent of globalization and technological advancement, the Saudi Arabia has the largest and fastest growing market for telecommunication products and services in the Middle East. Since the human resource is the most important and indeed an essential imperative for an organization to prosper and grow, their development is certainly an issue of concern for the management of any organization who retain them.The present study was aimed to analyse some of these HRD practices which can help the public sector telecom companies of Saudi Arabia to combat the future challenges on the basis of these variables: Quality of Work Life and Welfare Measures, Organizational Development, Training and Development, Performance Appraisal and Rewards and Participative Management. The present study brings out the fact that appropriate HRD Practices provide an essential springboard for enhancing the Satisfaction and Commitment of the employees in the Telecom Industry. Appropriate Practices in HRD are subjective. What is best for one company may not be best for another. 'Appropriate practices are not a set of discrete actions but rather a holistic approach to management. Thus, to study the appropriateness of the HRD Practices, an attempt was made to identify those HRD practices that are prevalent in the Telecom Sector.

A Study of Trends in Mentoring Relationships Existing in the Indian IT Industry

All kinds of organisations – private or public, large or small, global or local, irrespective of the products they manufacture or the services they deliver practice Mentoring weather formally and informally. While prior mentoring research has yielded significant insights as to importance of mentoring and its outcome for the protégé, mentor and the organization. However, it has been very general and not specific to any sector. Each sector has its own peculiar way of managing people and resources. IT industry is having most robust kind of HRD practices. Thus, it is important to understand the industry specific trends of mentoring relationships. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of mentoring relationships on employees and the organization in some of the companies under Indian IT Sector. It also aims to understand the practices and methodologies followed to pair mentors and mentees that it will enable relationships to be successful & achieve program goals. The research aims to uncover the effect of various mentoring processes across the organizations in this sector, its impact on the employee's career progression, employee satisfaction, and employee commitment and its impact on the knowledge management. This study highlights on employee's perspective about the mentoring program and roles of a mentor with respect to the organisation and with respect to his protégé. The findings of the study also gave an insight into factors that affect the mentoring relationships in an organisation. The primary research was conducted through structured questionnaires and interviews of employees working in the IT Industry.

A theoretical model of the antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical model that links the major antecedents, outcomes, and moderators of employee engagement.Design/methodology/approach– This paper uses the first part of Dubin's two-part, eight-step theory-building methodology, and builds on existing research and empirical studies on engagement. In particular, the following five steps of the Dubin's methodology are addressed in this study: units (or concepts) of the theory, laws of interaction among the units, boundaries of the theory, system states of the theory, and propositions of the theory.Findings– The proposed theoretical model of employee engagement identifies job design and characteristics, supervisor and co-worker relationships, workplace environment, and HRD practices as the major antecedents to employee engagement. The paper also proposes that job demands and individual characteristics act as moderators to the relationships between job design and characteristics, supervisor and co-worker relationships, workplace environment, and employee engagement. Finally, it is proposed that employee engagement is related to three major organizational outcomes: job performance, turnover intention (inverse relationship), and organizational citizenship behavior.Originality/value– This paper addresses the paucity of structured literature on the antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement and presents a comprehensive, holistic model that offers a logical ground on which empirical indicators and hypotheses could be further identified and tested to verify the theory.

The Organizational Context and Performance Implications of Human Capital Investment Variability

AbstractIn contrast to the traditional focus of HRD on human capital accumulations we examine the issue of variability in human capital investment. Drawing on Real Options Theory, we theorize that larger firms and firms that are faced with greater organizational risk will create a greater number of options in terms of human capital investment decisions resulting over time in greater variability in labor costs. Based on a large sample of U.S. firms and longitudinal data, we found that labor cost variability was positively related to organizational risk and firm size, but negatively related to capital intensity. These relationships were significant even after controlling for employment variability. Overall, we found that in the long term, firms with greater variability in labor costs achieved better performance. Implications for strategic HRD theory and practice are discussed.

An empirical analysis of managerial and non-managerial HRD climate perceptions in SBI and KVB through internal and external comparison: a case study conducted in Andhra Pradesh

HRD is an important aspect of HRM in banks. Recently, technology has brought about profound changes in the conduct of banking business in India. There is an enormous increase in the business and also competition to exploit this opportunity. To survive in this competitive environment, banks need to ensure highly motivated, competent and committed people who can deliver quality service to customers and ensure their retention. In this initiative, frequent HRD climate research helps banks improve their HRD systems, programmes and practices. This paper is an attempt to explore the prevailing HRD climate in SBI and KVB. Internal analysis in each bank discloses significant difference between managerial and non-managerial HRD climate perceptions in SBI. External comparison between banks uncovers significant differences concerning managerial as well as non-managerial HRD climate perceptions measured independently. The model discussed in the paper stresses the need for integrating managerial and non-managerial HRD climate.

Mapping HRD Practices for Business Excellence – A Case of Balasore Alloys Ltd

The dynamics of modern day business have made it imperative for organisations to adopt innovative HRD practices to stay afloat. Metal industries are indispensable part of an economy and the Indian ferro alloys industry is a part of this core sector. Balasore Alloys Ltd. (BAL) is recognised as a major business house in the country engaged in the manufacturing of ferro alloys. Various organisational development initiatives were put into place and several other steps were taken to improve the operational efficiency and productivity. The present study aims at exploring the factors pertaining to HRD practices by administering a structured and pretested questionnaire (Rao, 1999. HRD Audit: Evaluating the HRD Function for Business Improvements. Response Books-SAGE India, New Delhi) to different categories of employees. Factor analysis was conducted for identifying underlying factors from an array of variables under the HRD practice profile. Factor analysing HRD practice profile revealed 14 important factors namely HR innovation and system development, performance planning, analysis and development, HR philosophy and values, creating and sustaining healthy practices, HRD research, organisational health, collaboration, HR transformation, performance revival, re-orientation, appraisal communication, HRD implementation, performance planning and team building. Except team building all other activities under the factors are being performed adequately. The study also reveals that the spread of HRD practices is not uniform in the organisation.

HRD Practices and Initiatives for Managing Talent in Public Sector Banks (PSBs)

In public sector banks, the HR department is more administrative in nature and less developmental and professional in its approach. As the paradigm is shifting the PSBs are undergoing a transition phase and struggling to cope up with the challenges of hiring, retaining, capacity building, motivation and developing leadership in pipeline. Human resource management department requires a systematic approach for acquisition, development and retention of human resources in order to achieve organisational objectives. A proactive human resource development department is the essence for the growth of the organisation and for the development of its employees. In a world that is moving towards a knowledge-based economy, HR systems are becoming an important source of competitive advantage in both manufacturing and service industries, thus demanding the adoption of correct practices in areas such as human resource (HR) selection, job design, performance appraisal, compensation, training and development and retaining and motivating them to deliver the result beyond their capability.

Effect of Organizational Culture on Personal and Organizational Outcomes in Pakistan

This study is conducted to see weather HRD practices can play an important role in personal and organizational outcomes of employees of the private organizations. The organizational culture has played a leading role in business progress in private organizations in the twenty-first century. The organizational culture can improve and promote the employee performance. This research was designed to inspect the effects of Reward System, Innovation, Control, Identity, Compromise with Conflict, Integrity, Leadership, Communication Pattern, Management Support and Organizational Culture on the performance output of employee in private organizations of Pakistan. Result of study shown that the effects of these factors influences performance of employees in private organizations. Many other factors contribute in employees performance including instinct, attitude, commitment and intact Pattern. The nine variables jointly as Organizational culture. The conclusion focuses on the increased management concern for the betterment of organization as well as employees.

Comparing team learning approaches through the lens of activity theory

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to examine the distinctive features of three team learning approaches (action learning, problem-based learning, and project-based learning), compare and contrast them, and discuss implications for practice and research.Design/methodology/approach– The authors used Torraco ' s integrative literature review method and activity theory as a framework for analyzing commonalities and differences of the three learning approaches.Findings– Action learning emphasizes the balance between action and learning, problem-based learning has evolved to develop knowledge acquisition, application, and reasoning skills, and project-based learning connects learning with work. All three learning approaches are learner-centered, tackle real problems, emphasize collaboration, have a learning coach, and work through learning processes.Research limitations/implications– Comparison of the three approaches has been done through a review of the literature only. More qualitative analyses of actual cases need to be done to confirm or improve the findings. Qualitative knowledge from this study should be linked to quantitative research.Practical implications– Comparison of each team learning approach provides team managers, instructional designers, and instructors with guidance of pedagogy selection regarding what particular team learning approach fits best for their organizational learning needs. Six components of activity theory can be useful to evaluate team learning interventions.Originality/value– The findings can be used for clarifying the relationships among the three learning approaches, and can guide HRD practice and research in line with improved team learning design, process, and measurement. The current study is possibly the first attempt to analyze the three team learning approaches based on activity theory.

The interplay of personal, professional and field development: a dialogue with K. Peter Kuchinke

This article contains a conversation with K. Peter Kuchinke, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The aim is to reflect upon factors that influenced his professional and personal development and his life experiences as lens to understand his contributions and the field. For the past 30 years, his career has focused on HRD research and scholarly practice. He has published over 150 refereed articles and book chapters, and lectures widely on issues of HRD, leadership and career studies in the United States and abroad. He served on the Board of Directors of the Academy of HRD as VP of Research from 2000 to 2004, was Proceedings Editor for the US conference in 1997–2000 and served for HRDI as Associate Editor, General Editor and Editor-in-Chief from 2002 to 2009. Currently, he is the President-Elected of the University Council for Workforce and Human Resource Education (UCWHRE) and one of 25 North American PromoDoc Ambassadors for the European Commission Education and Training, Erasmus Mundus Program. The conversation considers the influence of his life experiences in Germany and the United States on his professional career, and his reflections about the trade-offs, meanings and dynamics between life and work in the context of HRD research and practice.

The impact of organizational learning capacity from the socio-cognitive perspective on organizational commitment

This study is to examine the impact of organizational learning on affective commitment in Korea. In particular, this study addressed the importance of organizational learning as an HRD strategy from the socio-cognitive perspective. Data were collected from four large companies located in the area of Seoul, South Korea. There were 233 usable questionnaires yielding a response rate of 61 %. Multiple regression analysis and principal factor analyses were applied to conduct a data analysis. The results showed that a linear relationship existed between the organizational learning capacity and affective commitment (R 2 = .495). Four dimensions were statistically significant with the exception of “feedback.” Participative decision-making is the most important factor. Finally, the study discussed some implications for HRD theory and practice.

HRM Practices and Managerial Effectiveness In Indian Business Organizations

There are a lot of research evidences predicting the relationship between managerial effectiveness and HRM practices. Although research work between HRM practices and managerial effectiveness differ on parameters, the paradigms of research in terms of rules of interpretations are not established. The term managerial effectiveness and HRD practices have been treated differently by different researchers. This Study is an attempt to assess the relationship between HRM practices and managerial effectiveness both in private and public sector business organizations in India. HRM practices are viewed in terms of planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, career management, and rewards. There is an attempt to standardize the parameters and paradigm of research in the field of HRM.

The depth metaphor and international human resource development: from theory to practice

This paper analyses the depth metaphor as a boundary object which has become integral to the transfer of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism which focus on soft skills development and behavioural change. The paper uses a meta-ethnographic methodology to compare and synthesize three existing anthropological international case studies in Poland, India and South Africa with the accounts of UK-based HRD practitioners. The paper applies the theory of Nietzsche to reveal the practical difficulties of implementing neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in different international workplace contexts. It is argued that the choices made by the organizations/senior managers regarding the use of neo-liberal depth-oriented approaches to HRD in global capitalism and the existing Foucauldian theory has not recognized these problems of implementation. The paper explores and discusses the implications of this for international HRD theory and practice.

Toward a British Taxonomy of Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness

AbstractA long‐standing problem in management research has been the lack of agreement about the specific managerial behaviors that are most closely associated with effective management practice and leadership practice. The study reports the results of a qualitative multiple cross‐case and cross‐sector exploration of what managers and nonmanagerial employees within British public‐, private‐, and third‐sector organizations perceive as effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behavior. Based on empirical findings obtained from nine prior emic replication studies, our derived etic comparative analysis has led to a deduced taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness comprised of eight positive (effective) and six negative (least effective/ineffective) generic behavioral criteria. Comparisons against extant U.S.‐derived taxonomies have revealed many similarities but also significant differences. The findings go against the grain of predominant discourse, and challenge long‐held, taken‐for‐granted assumptions about the “contingent” nature of management and leadership. Implications for HRD research and practice are discussed.

An Analysis on the Isomorphism of HRD Practices with Socially Responsible Management

An Analysis on the Isomorphism of HRD Practices with Socially Responsible Management

‘Space, the final frontier’? Social movements as organizing spaces for applying HRD

This article suggests a qualitatively different type of ‘space’ that fits the classic definition of what constitutes an ‘organization’, but that is frequently rejected as being beyond the scope of HRD because it does not fit preconceived notions of an ‘organization’. In this article, I describe how social movements are spaces analogous to organizations that can enrich our understanding of HRD principles and that may benefit from our professional experience in fostering learning and development for and within organizations. Using concepts of sensemaking in the organizing process (Weick, K. E. 1979. The Social Psychology of Organizing. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications) and concepts of space (Foucault, M. 1986. “Of Other Spaces.” Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16 (1): 22–27; Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. Translated by D. Nicholson-Smith. Oxford: Blackwell), I show how the social movement, Occupy Wall Street, can be seen as an important site of HRD practice and research.

Response to Nieminen et al.'s Feature Article on Executive Coaching and Facilitated Multisource Feedback: Toward Better Understanding of a Growing HRD Practice

AbstractExecutive coaching is a booming, but understudied, HRD‐related practice. Given the limited number of available studies that have been deployed with rigor and systematic methods, the study by Nieminen et al. adds to our understanding of the impact of executive coaching and multisource feedback on leadership development. Explored in the context of a U.S. government agency, the study used two large groups of respondents. One group received executive coaching as part of a leadership development program and was compared to a group not receiving coaching. The study design and limitations articulated by the authors provide both interesting results and insights regarding design improvement for future studies.

Predictors of workplace deviant behaviour: HRD agenda for Malaysian support personnel

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model of the determinants of workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel in Malaysian Public Service organisations.Design/methodology/approach– This study is based on reviews of past studies on workplace deviant behaviour. To conduct the literature review, several keywords were identified. Several electronic databases available at the university ' s library such as Springer, Proquest, SAGE, Emerald, EBSCOHost, Science Direct, and Blackwell Synergy were used to search for supporting materials and resources.Findings– In the reviews, the authors found three potential groups of workplace deviant behaviour determinants among support personnel. The determinants are individual-related factors, organisational-related factors, and work-related factors. The paper established job satisfaction as a mediating variable between the three potential groups of determinants and workplace deviant behaviour.Practical implications– Future research could provide a more definitive theoretical statement of workplace deviant behaviour and develop an additional proposition which may be derived from a more refined theory. Practical interventions for HRD professionals were suggested to assist individuals and organisations towards reducing the prevalence of workplace deviant behaviour.Originality/value– The research yields a theoretical framework that outlines the predictive potential of the three key factors in explaining workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel. The factors can be considered in developing HRD practices.