Human Capital Perspective Research Articles

Investigating the declining apprenticeship trends in Ghana: a human capital perspective

ABSTRACT Apprenticeship enrollment in Ghana is declining according to recent rounds of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, despite its importance as an avenue for human capital development among young people. This trend is alarming, especially during an era of economic crises and constraints in technical and vocational education. The paper utilizes qualitative approaches involving interviews with key stakeholders such as master craftspeople and apprentices, apprenticeship experts, and secondary data to explore the reasons behind the decline in apprenticeships. The findings reveal that young people’s desire for quick financial gains and lack of interest in apprenticeships, along with structural factors, contribute to the decline. The paper concludes by offering a nuanced critique of the human capital theory’s application to the declining apprenticeship trends in Ghana, underscoring the need for a more comprehensive framework that incorporates social, cultural and environmental factors.

Leveraging procurement capabilities and planning for project success in the construction industry in Ghana

PurposeThe paper examines the influence of procurement capabilities (skills) and procurement planning on project success in Ghana. The paper further examines the mediating role of procurement planning.Design/methodology/approachDrawing insights from human capital theory, a model of four hypotheses was developed and validated. The proposed model was validated using survey data from 200 procurement and construction professionals at construction firms in Ghana. The data gathered was analysed using structural equation modelling. Confirmatory factor analysis using Amos software was conducted to establish reliability and validity of the constructs. Hayes process was employed to test the structural model.FindingsOur study revealed that procurement capabilities and procurement planning directly improve project success in the construction sector in Ghana. We found procurement planning acts as a pathway for achieving greater success in construction projects.Originality/valueThis study is among the very few attempts to demonstrate how project success could be enhanced through developing procurement capabilities for effective procurement planning. Theoretically, this study is among the first attempts to theorise the effect of procurement capabilities and planning on project success from the human capital perspective. Our findings also offer practical insight to practitioners in the construction setting by emphasising the need to pay crucial attention to capabilities and planning in the quest to enhance project success in the construction setting. The findings indicate that building capabilities alone is not enough; rather, the ability to deploy such capabilities for effective procurement planning is necessary for driving project success.

Examining the impact of green human resource management on green innovative work behavior: A multilevel analysis

AbstractThe significance of green human resource management (GHRM) practices in promoting employees' environmentally friendly behaviors and enhancing environmental performance is well‐documented in current research. However, the impact of GHRM practices at the organizational level on the eco‐conscious behaviors of individual employees remains unexplored. Moreover, scholarly attention to employees' green innovative work behavior (GIWB) has been limited. This study explores the novel concept of GIWB from a strategic human capital (SHC) perspective. Drawing on signaling theory, this study proposes that GHRM practices act as signals emphasizing the importance of environmental sustainability, which may influence GIWB at the individual level. This research aims to assess the effect of various GHRM practices on GIWB and to explore how unit‐level GHRM practices moderate the relationship between an employee's creative personality (CP) and their GIWB, using social exchange theory (SET) as the guiding framework. Data were collected from 163 HR managers and plant supervisors and 815 employees within Taiwan's environmental protection sector and then analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques. The findings reveal that specific GHRM practices significantly enhance employees' GIWB. Furthermore, it demonstrates that aggregated GHRM practices moderate the relationship between CP and GIWB. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how signals from organizational GHRM practices can foster GIWB among individual employees.

Training Investment and Voluntary Turnover: Testing the Commitment and Human Capital Perspectives

Training Investment and Voluntary Turnover: Testing the Commitment and Human Capital Perspectives

A Human and Social Capital Perspective on Institutional Owner Reactions to Black CEO Appointments

A Human and Social Capital Perspective on Institutional Owner Reactions to Black CEO Appointments

Barriers to organisational development in higher education lifelong learning initiatives

From an economic human capital perspective, higher education lifelong learning initiatives should include the professional development of individuals as well as organisational development. This indicates the dissolving of boundaries between individual and organisational development and that successful professional development occurs at both individual and aggregated levels. Based on the networked mode, higher education institutions could be closely linked to their surrounding society, embracing a two-way relationship with a hybrid character, including multiple connections with branches and/or organisations. In such initiatives, formal education and informal work-related tasks are blurred and both are emphasised as equally important. In focus are collaborative features and the idea to link theoretical reasoning to authentic organisational problems. To offer higher education lifelong learning for organisational development, Mid Sweden University initiated a project called BUFFL in collaboration with eight organisations belonging to an established network of banks and insurance companies. This paper aims at reporting barriers to organisational development in higher education lifelong learning. It answers the following research question: Which barriers could be identified when implementing a hybrid and networked approach to higher education lifelong learning for organisational development? A case-study-inspired approach was conducted. In total, 328 registrations from the collaborating organisations were documented in the BUFFL courses. In addition to open-ended questions and Likert scale questions in the course evaluations, the methods also included conversations with leading representatives of the collaborating organisations. Although several barriers were highlighted in line with the innovation resistance theory, the main barrier seems to be that no organisation applied lifelong learning as a tool for strategic organisational development. The study suggests that a crucial barrier breaker to reduce or eliminate the main barrier is a course on strategically managed competence development for leading representatives of participating organisations. A combined focus on individuals and organisations could also stimulate leading representatives to take a holistic approach to the organisation’s competence development. This includes increased responsibility to ensure that investments in the competence area are beneficial for the organisation. Bringing company-relevant data as input to the courses could ensure the establishment of strong links between theoretical perspectives and work-related practices.

Exploring team collaboration in the metaverse from a human capital perspective

PurposeWe aim to help better understand how organizations can develop their human capital in virtual teams through technological advances in the metaverse. To this end, we examine how virtual team collaboration with virtual reality technologies in the metaverse compares to traditional videoconferencing. Our study demonstrates how the metaverse can facilitate collaboration in virtual teams and examines the factors that are critical to successful team collaboration in the metaverse.Design/methodology/approachWe conduct a lab experiment comparing Meta Horizon Workrooms with Zoom. Using a between-subjects design, we observe virtual team collaboration in five teams. All teams solved the Lost on the Moon Exercise used by NASA to train teamwork. We collected data during and after the experiment to explore emerging collaborative behaviors based on audio and video recordings, a quantitative survey, and qualitative feedback.FindingsWe find higher levels of immersion, social presence, and collaboration among team members in the metaverse. We further identify new opportunities for social interaction and greater focus on team members and shared tasks. Our study suggests that the metaverse can enable effective collaboration in virtual teams and uncovers related guidance for organizations.Originality/valueWe connect the research streams on the metaverse, team collaboration, and human capital. We add empirical evidence to the largely theoretical discussion on the metaverse and explore collaboration tools for virtual teams, helping to enable effective collaboration of organizations’ virtual teams. We hope to stimulate further research to unlock the full collaborative potential of the metaverse and establish the metaverse for effective development of human capital.

Digital Transformation and Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance from a Human Capital Perspective

The strategic adoption of digital technologies has increasingly been recognized as a crucial driver of cost reduction and operational efficiency in enterprises. It optimizes production processes and promotes sustainable growth. In this context, understanding the specific impact of digital transformation on enterprises’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance holds significant practical value for promoting sustainable development in China’s economy and society. This study focused on Chinese A-share listed enterprises from 2010 to 2022, specifically exploring the role of digital transformation in enhancing ESG performance from the perspective of human capital. Our findings reveal that digital transformation significantly augments their ESG performance. Notably, the improvements are more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned ones. Specifically, digital transformation initiatives contribute to ESG performance enhancement by increasing the extent of high-quality labor and elevating the skill levels of the existing workforce. Furthermore, environmental regulation moderates the positive impact of corporate digital transformation on the quantity and skill level of labor, thus influencing firm-level ESG performance. The study sheds light on the transformative role of digital transformation and its implications for ESG performance improvement by elucidating the mechanisms through which digital transformation affects human capital and interacts with regulatory environments.

The impact of city size on income inclusive growth: A human capital perspective and evidence from China.

This paper methodically investigates the influence of inclusive income growth on city size, examining it through the dual lenses of "income" and "distribution." The analysis leverages meticulously collected panel data encompassing 276 Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above, spanning the period from 2005 to 2019. Theoretical analysis indicates that the effect of city size expansion on per capita income adheres to a 'U'-shaped trajectory, while its influence on the urban-rural income gap manifests an 'inverted U' pattern. Moreover, the inclusive income growth stemming from city size demonstrates notable heterogeneity across various geographic locations and city hierarchies. The findings reveal that human capital serves as the primary mechanism through which city size influences inclusive income growth. After decomposing the income inclusiveness index, it becomes evident that the expansion of city size exerts a more potent direct driving effect on the income of urban residents. On the one hand, city size expansion directly increases rural residents' income levels by improving labor productivity. On the other hand, it facilitates leapfrog income development by inducing the rural labor force to move to cities.

Emerging Dynamics of Training, Recruiting and Retaining a Sustainable Maritime Workforce: A Skill Resilience Framework

The maritime industry is regarded as the fulcrum of the global economy. It contributes significantly in diverse ways to the movement of goods. To effectively deliver on its mandate, maritime transportation needs to be sustainable. In the absence of a resilient and highly adaptive workforce; however, it is impossible to address the tangible set of economic, environmental and social expectations for the sector. From a human capital perspective, this paper explores the emerging dynamics of producing a sustainable workforce for global maritime transportation. Results from a recent study involving 305 ship officers (web-based survey) are compared with new changes (from academic sources and industry reports) in the maritime transportation sector. The comparison (findings) highlights emerging changes within the global maritime workforce and the implications for skill development. It also emerged that the shortage of highly skilled talent (on both the landside and seaside) is a critical challenge and is being exacerbated by growing industry changes. Ultimately, these developments endanger sustainable maritime transportation. Consequently, the paper proposes a skill resilience framework with which industry stakeholders could identify skill gaps among the workforce and improve training content to produce an adaptive workforce capable of handling emerging challenges.

Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education: a human capital perspective

Students' perceptions of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education: a human capital perspective

Do Individual Ambidexterity and Career Experience Help Technological Startup Founders Acquire Funding?

In an extension of the entrepreneurship literature's long-standing emphasis on the role of human capital in attracting startup funding, we propose that tech-based startup founder’s ambidexterity and experience-based human capital have direct and interactive effects on new venture funding. Drawing on the human capital perspective, we consider ambidexterity an ability-based human capital that helps entrepreneurs navigate new venture environments and carry out entrepreneurial tasks more effectively. We compiled a unique dataset by gathering data from Crunchbase, social media sites, and entrepreneur’s online communications posted on Reddit. On the basis of text analyses on 115 startup founder’s public discourse using a purpose-built dictionary to measure ambidexterity, our empirical results confirm that founder ambidexterity has positive effects on tech startup funding and that these effects are moderated by founder’s experience-based human capital in terms of prior career experience and startup creation experience. This finding is complemented by semistructured interviews with venture capitalists providing evidence that funders consider founder ambidexterity in their investment decisions. Implications for literature and practice are discussed.

Bouncing back from failure: Digital technology capability, entrepreneurial alertness, and reentry intention

AbstractEntrepreneurs who have recovered from failure and reentered entrepreneurial activities account for almost half of all entrepreneurs. However, extant research drawing on a human capital perspective has provided mixed evidence regarding whether failed entrepreneurs subsequently choose reentry or seek paid employment. Situating our study in the context of the digital era, we consider digital technology capability as an emerging, specific, and critical human capital in the development of entrepreneurial alertness, thereby influencing reentry intention. Our study proposes that entrepreneurs possessing a high level of digital technology capability have the potential to obtain rich and diverse information, reduce reentry barriers, and enhance their capacity to materialize business ideas, all of which are conducive to the development of entrepreneurial alertness and increased reentry intention. Using a sample of 263 Chinese entrepreneurs who have experienced at least one entrepreneurial failure, we find evidence in support of our hypotheses. Moving beyond the extant literature’s focus on the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial alertness, our study enriches our understanding of its mediating role in the relationship between human capital and reentry intention. Further, we provide a nuanced understanding of these relationships by demonstrating social costs and entrepreneurial resilience to be important moderators.

Study on the influence mechanism of learning-application matching of graduates from private institutions: Based on human capital and family capital perspectives

In the context of the connotative development of higher education, the match between what college graduates have learned and what they have used and its causes has aroused the attention of society. Human capital and family capital are two important research perspectives when analyzing what graduates learn and what they use. The study selects professional ability, general ability and allocation ability to measure graduates' human capital and analyzes their family capital from three levels: economic, cultural and social. The study verified that human capital plays a mediating role in the influence of family capital on graduates' learning-application matching. Among the factors of human capital, professional ability and allocation ability have a significant positive influence on graduates' learning-application matching while general ability has a negative influence on graduates' learning-application matching. Family economic capital and family cultural capital have a significant positive influence on graduates' learning-application matching. Based on the findings of the empirical study, we propose countermeasures for universities to improve and enhance graduates' learning-application matching.

A Human Capital Perspective on Behavioral Factors Affecting Customers’ Acceptance of Crowd Logistics: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper provides a systematic review of the customer’s behavioral deliberations that govern their choice to participate in a crowd-logistics market. Little attention has been given to the crowd logistics platforms and small businesses. This paper presents the analysis of customers' crowd logistics adoption from a behavioral perspective. The study applied a systematic literature review method and examined previous literature on crowd logistics from Science Direct and Taylor and Francis. Systematic literature review involve the principles of transparency, rigor, and replicability, which bring significant benefits over traditional literature reviews through greater objectivity. The findings suggest that customers’ ability to use technology, safety considerations, desire to make social connections, trust, and convenience are the factors that influence people’s decisions to participate in the crowd-logistics market. The findings of this study are valuable for empirical research in a particular setting and strengthen the body of knowledge on the adoption or acceptance of the crowd-logistics concept.

Understanding the drivers of organizational business performance from the human capital perspective

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to understand the drivers of organizational business performance from the perspective of human capital. Data were collected from 691 employees working in 15 North American credit unions. The model was developed and tested by means of the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling technique. This study illuminates an underexplored mechanism driving the association between transformational leadership and business performance based on several theoretical frameworks such as leader–member exchange theory, the conservation of resources theory, the heuristic model of employee turnover, equity theory, and capital‐based view. The findings indicate that transformational leaders provide their subordinates with constructive feedback and offer training and development (T&D) opportunities, which are the key factors driving employee job satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction curtails turnover intention, which, in turn, reduces human capital outflow and, consequently, increases business performance. Managers should always act as true transformational leaders and provide their subordinates with relevant performance feedback and ample T&D opportunities. Workers who undergo T&D at the expense of their organization become more loyal and are less likely to leave even though they become more marketable. Organizations are recommended to administer periodic employee satisfaction surveys and prevent the exodus of human capital, which may be difficult to replenish.

Toward a knowledge‐based view of the board: Modeling board intrafirm knowledge networks

AbstractThis study introduces a conceptualization of board of directors' intrafirm knowledge network and a methodology for its construction, assessment, and analysis. We use network theory and analytical techniques to construct boards of directors' intrafirm knowledge networks based on directors' functional domain and committee affiliations. We demonstrate the utility of this approach for governance research by examining the intrafirm knowledge network of the board of directors of General Electric and offer testable propositions that link key director turnover with the properties of and the structural changes in the board's knowledge network and the firm outcomes of strategic change and innovativeness. Our approach bridges the human and social capital perspectives on boards of directors by considering the mechanisms through which turnover of key directors influences firm‐level outcomes. Directors are increasingly expected to not only fulfill their monitoring responsibilities but also provide firms with resources and service (e.g., involvement in strategy‐making). The enactment of these responsibilities is contingent on the effective collaboration within board intrafirm networks. Our conceptualization of intrafirm board ties as a knowledge network can help practitioners identify key directors, analyze the implications of director turnover, and develop succession plans. We make important contributions to corporate governance research and offer insights into understanding the knowledge dynamics in small team‐like settings, such as boards of directors and their impact on firm strategy and innovativeness.

Research on the Development of Equitable Education in China from the Human Capability Perspective

“Capability” is an important conceptual tool for addressing educational inequity (EI). This paper analyzes the existing limitations of developing educational equity in China from the human capital perspective and proposes the human capability approach as a way to improve it. This paper begins by a policy review on China’s education equity measures, revealing a troubling emphasis on resources allocation and a “top-down” governance. In response, we propose an actionable research approach as a means to improve multi-stakeholder collaboration in educational equity reform and to further the development of student capabilities. The study also presents a case study to illustrate the process of using “capability” and actionable research methods to promote educational equity, demonstrating the necessity and effectiveness. We also note that education inequality is a delicate and complicated topic that requires joint, flexible and innovative efforts.

CEO international experience and firm performance revisited: What’s culture got to do with it?

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) international experience (IE) and firm performance. The authors also examine the symmetry of this relationship, whereby home and host countries would be interchangeable without any significant change in the impact of each cultural dimension on firm performance.Design/methodology/approachFor a sample of CEOs from Fortune's list of Global 500 companies, firm performance was measured as average net margin for the first four years of CEO tenure. IE was the difference between home country culture and that where CEO experience was gained, based on the GLOBE cultural dimensions. Regression then tested the IE/firm performance relationship. For symmetry, distance direction was coded as either positive or negative, depending on whether home country score on a given dimension was higher or lower than that of the host. Moderator regression then tested for whether distance direction impacted the relationship between IE and firm performance.FindingsResults show that overall distance between home and host cultures in aggregate does not have a significant effect on firm performance. However, for specific dimensions, greater distances between the CEO's countries of experience and that of the parent company on in-group collectiveness and performance orientation are associated with higher firm performance, and greater distances on power distance and assertiveness are associated with lower performance. The authors further find asymmetric patterns in the IE–performance relationship, attributable primarily to the fact that, when scores on performance orientation are greater for the home than host country, organizational performance is significantly enhanced.Originality/valueThis study's hypotheses are grounded in theory, combining the human capital perspective with cultural paradox theory. In addition, the authors offer a unique approach for measuring the dimensional distance of culture.

Analisis Social Media Pada UMKM Ditinjau Dari Perspektif Open Innovation Dan Human Capital

The use of social media and understanding in the field of Information Systems (IS) in the early stages of business activities is a new phenomenon. Social media can provide additional customer and industry data to digitally transform information into knowledge for innovation. Such an amalgamation provides a potentially complementary role in the relationship between human capital and innovation outcomes. Through social media technology, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can communicate information and respond to competitors with minimal costs. The ability to share and access information can affect the performance of MSMEs. One important aspect that has emerged recently is open innovation. A previous study has highlighted the importance of human capital for innovation performance. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the use of social media in an effort to improve the performance of MSMEs from an open innovation-based human capital perspective. The method used is a literature review that is relevant from 2018 to 2022. The results show that the importance of using social media and human capital has a synergistic relationship that has a direct effect on open innovation in improving MSME performance.