Strategic Business Partner Research Articles

At the Interface of EHRM, Talent Management and HR: A Social Constructionist Perspective

This study examines the role of electronic human resource management technologies (eHRM) plays in how HRM practices are implemented in organizations and the influence eHRM has on the role of the Human Resource (HR) function. Using a qualitative case study of a professional service company with multiple business units, we follow the introduction of a new talent management information technology and how it influences the way in which talent is identified. Our findings illustrate the context- dependent nature of the HRM implementation process. We find that despite there being a standardized HRM process encoded in information technology, a common environmental and organizational context, and HRM policy on talent identification, the final implementation of the HRM practice differed significantly across business units and shaped the role of HR in divergent ways within the same organization. We argue that consideration of contextual factors is of direct significance to the implementation of HR practices and to ongoing debates about the ability of HR functions to become strategic business partners.

The Role of National Cultures in Shaping the Corporate Management Cultures: A Four Countries Theoretical Analysis

This paper studies the impact of national cultures on the management cultures of organizations. In doing so, this paper explores the differences and similarities among the national cultures of USA, Mexico, Pakistan and Russia, and subsequently analyzes the impacts of such differences and similarities on the management cultures of organizations in these countries. The findings of this study suggest that cross-cultural differences greatly influence the management culture in organizations. This finding presents cross-cultural management challenges for organizations in these countries in order to build multinational long-term strategic business partnerships.

Peran Badan Wakaf Indonesia (BWI) Dalam Mengembangkan Prospek Wakaf Uang Di Indonesia

Since established in 2007, Indonesian waqf Board (BWI) which is based upon the mandate of Law No. 41 of 2004 on waqf has had a significant role in the dynamics of waqf management in Indonesia. However, a significant role still has not been completed. The problems of waqf in Indonesia still exist, especially with regard to waqf money (cash waqf). The study is to answer question; how is the role of Indonesian Waqf Board and any effort which should be done, so that the potential of existing cash waqf in Indonesia can grow and develop. From this research, it can be concluded that the role of Indonesian Waqf Board in developing prospects in Indonesia is less maximal. Waqf money can not be mapped on the following things; First, professional nazhir coaching, particularly against individuals or legal entities who are given authority and responsibility as nazhir of money waqf. To improve the quality of human nazhir resources, it can be needed policies that are tentative, or even a steady, so that taste and look for nazhir usefulness. Second, involving strategic business partners engaged in financial services (especially sharia-based), such as banks, cooperatives, Baitul Maal wal Tamwil (BMT) and the like, in the process of promotion and dissemination of money waqf that is being developed by BWI. All that prospects and public confidence in the waqf money at BWI can flourish.

Peran Badan Wakaf Indonesia (BWI) Dalam Mengembangkan Prospek Wakaf Uang Di Indonesia

Since established in 2007, Indonesian waqf Board (BWI) which is based upon the mandate of Law No. 41 of 2004 on waqf has had a significant role in the dynamics of waqf management in Indonesia. However, a significant role still has not been completed. The problems of waqf in Indonesia still exist, especially with regard to waqf money (cash waqf). The study is to answer question; how is the role of Indonesian Waqf Board and any effort which should be done, so that the potential of existing cash waqf in Indonesia can grow and develop. From this research, it can be concluded that the role of Indonesian Waqf Board in developing prospects in Indonesia is less maximal. Waqf money can not be mapped on the following things; First, professional nazhir coaching, particularly against individuals or legal entities who are given authority and responsibility as nazhir of money waqf. To improve the quality of human nazhir resources, it can be needed policies that are tentative, or even a steady, so that taste and look for nazhir usefulness. Second, involving strategic business partners engaged in financial services (especially sharia-based), such as banks, cooperatives, Baitul Maal wal Tamwil (BMT) and the like, in the process of promotion and dissemination of money waqf that is being developed by BWI. All that prospects and public confidence in the waqf money at BWI can flourish. Keywords: Cash Waqf, BWI, Nazhir, Law of the RI Number 41 of 2004 on Waqf

HR as a Strategic Business Partner - Insights into Japanese Housing Industry

HR as a Strategic Business Partner - Insights into Japanese Housing Industry

ISkills and Competencies for The Contemporary Human Resource Practitioner: A Synthesis Of The Academic, Industry and Employers' Perspectives

New developments in technologies and changes in business environment have placed demands on the HR professionals to acquire new and skills. The role of Human Resources Management (HRM) and the Human Resources practitioner has long been discussed within the walls of academia and in the practical work environment. Over time, the HR practitioner has taken on new roles and responsibilities in order to meet increasing expectations around the value-add of the Human Resource (HR) function and its legitimacy within the workplace. In order to take on new and adaptable roles, those looking at working in HR need specific skills and competencies (Girardi, 2014A). This study set to identify the technical and generic skills and needed to be a contemporary HR practitioner from three different perspectives – the academic literature, the practitioner (industry-based) literature and the potential employer. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to analyse the perspectives of the academics. To peep into the professional perspective, a critical review of the HR generalist, HR specific associations and HR consulting firms was carried out. Finally a desktop research of various HR related advertisements, helped to identify the employers' perspectives. The key skills identified include: ability to build effective relationships, influence, negotiate and lead effectively. The findings revealed that scholarly journals do not identify the project management skills required by HR practitioner. The professional literature synthesis also did not capture the theme of change steward. The employers' perspective also excluded the change steward and global acumen themes. The breadth and depth of the identified themed skills will result in the HR practitioner requiring further education in other business fields or training and experience in fields such as financial, marketing and information technology. Employers will place significant value on its HR practitioner as a strategic business partner (the identified theme) for its business. The perspective identified from three different viewpoints should help HR professional to take initiative in excelling in many areas especially knowledge beyond the traditional HR practices.

Determinants of effective management in the sport with the use of large sport arenas in selected cities

The aim of this paper is to identify factors that influence to the effective management in the sport on the example of few cities in Poland and Lithuania with large sports facilities. To achieve this purpose, Authors in the article are used the method of observation and comparative analysis of selected cities and their major sports arenas as the entities with particularly strongly influence the development of sport in these cities. The key determinants of sport management in the city include: the title sponsor for the largest sports facility as a strategic business partner in the development of sports in the city, multifunctional sports facility, the level of commercialization of sports, organizational structure dedicated to sport governance, many the international sport events in the great arena. The research and conclusions are focused on the sport management, sport services in selected Polish and Lithuanian cities, where are great sport arenas. In the case of using the results of this study in sport management in other cities, it should be judiciously use the conclusions of the study, taking into account the specifics of a particular city. The paper is a kind of review, and an attempt to show some concepts of the theoretical perception of the factors influencing the sport management in the cities with the use of large sports facilities.

Evolution of a Strange Pathology: HRM as a Strategic Business Partner and Employee Advocate in the USA

Evolution of a Strange Pathology: HRM as a Strategic Business Partner and Employee Advocate in the USA

E-business and fast growth SMEs

This paper tests a theoretical model to evaluate e-business capability and value in the fast growth small-to-medium enterprise (SME) context. We propose that e-business value depends on how fast growth SMEs deploy IT resources, strategic planning, culture, and business partnerships to develop e-business capability and business process competence which help these companies to achieve outstanding business performance. Structural equation modelling is employed to test our theoretical conceptualization on a cohort of 310 Australian fast growth SMEs across different industrial sectors. The results show that IT resources, strategic IT alignment, market orientation, and business partnerships do contribute significantly and indirectly to SME performance through the development of e-business capability and business process competence. Our study provides an initial empirical evidence to understand the relationship between IT and entrepreneurial SME performance. These findings have important implications for research and business practices.

Role of Performance Improvement and Instructional Design in Strategic Human Resource Management

The use of instructional design theory and approaches has been dramatically increased in the field of education. This profession has made tremendous improvement in solving real world authentic problems. Different types of instructional approaches are very effective in designing curriculum depending upon the skills, knowledge, and task requirements of courses. However, there is less literature available in the area of use of instructional design and performance improvement in strategic HRM. Instructional design is a very innovative field and it can do wonders in the areas of complex problem solving, knowledge construction, and performing real authentic tasks in the business scenarios, if the principles, approaches and theories of instructional design with performance improvement models are adopted in a right context and with alignment of organization task requirements. This paper is an attempt to strengthen the role of human resource as a strategic business partner through insinuating and integrating the fields of human performance improvement and instructional design in a business context. We call the 21st century the era of strategic human resources. There are so many convoluted HR roles and verbiages in the field of training and development, learning at the workplace, talent management, and compensation. There are abundance of books written on the role of human

Transforming HR to a Strategic Business Partner: Meaning, Required Competencies; Mindset; Challenges and Prospects.

This paper examines the role of the HR Strategic Business Partner (SBP). A well-designed SBP role coupled with excellent delivery of operational HR functions will go in a long way in bringing the HR to the table with other strategic management parties. Human Resources, as a discipline, has been going through a great deal of change in the past two decades. Phrases such as “business partner” and “getting a seat at the table” are common.For HR to move up and command management attention as a business partner, some important factors and conditions must be in place ranging from a combination of having skills and knowledge in the areas of Human Resources, Organization Development, business acumen, global awareness and being in business partnership with the lines. However, once the competency profile is developed, it is also important to understand there are common tensions as an organization transitions from their current HR state to the use of an SBP model.

HR managers in five countries: what do they do and why does it matter?

The 1980s saw the need for change in the organizational role of human resource (HR) professionals, from the traditional employee champion and administrative expert to strategic business partner and change agent. The argument posited was that a more challenging environment compels organizations to turn to managing their HRs as a source of competitive advantage and that means an increasing business partnership for HR professionals. However, very few studies examine the execution of these multiple, sometimes contradictory roles, despite the risk that neglecting traditional roles endanger organizational performance in the long term. This five-country comparative study finds that multiple roles are at least moderately executed, and that these HR roles have different impact depending on the aspect of organizational performance. As well, a more challenging environment, defined here as legal constraints and industry challenges, generally does not have a significant moderating effect on the impact of the different HR roles on organizational performance.

The Right Strategy? Examining the Business Partner Model's Functionality for Resolving Human Resource Management Tensions and Discussing Alternative Directions

A large number of organizations restructured their Human Resource Management (HRM) departments according to their interpretation of Ulrich's (1997) business partner model into strategic business partners, centers of expertise and shared service centers. I argue that this approach could gain widespread acceptance in organizational practice because of its functionality in addressing tensions inherent in HRM. I relate to paradox research and categorize contradictory HRM demands into tensions of (1) identity, (2) learning, (3) performing and (4) organizing. The implementation of the business partner model resolves these tensions in the short-term by addressing the opposing forces separately. Yet, these resolution strategies are not sustainable and threaten the long-term impact of HRM. I discuss the shortcomings of the business partner model and explore how organizational actors can reframe HRM work to embrace the multifaceted nature of HRM.

The Right Choice—What Does It Mean? Groundbreaking Research from the Early Days of Customer Value Management

During the early 1980s, if one were to research the expressions, value management or value creation at your local library, 99 per cent of the articles and books would be on shareholder value. The only reference to customer value would be advertising articles that promised ‘new improved value’, marketing hype for consumer goods, such as larger sized laundry detergent boxes. Shareholder value management had 100 years of art and science for measuring and managing financials complete with standards and guidelines and government-mandated reporting rules and regulations. There were none to help businesses measure, manage or create customer value. Michael Porter from Harvard University just published his book on competitive strategy stating you can compete on quality or price, pick your competitive strategy. The early days of the world-wide quality revolution was in full swing. Quality was designed by engineers and measured by quality experts in the firm. If you asked anyone what the purpose of a business was the answer would be ‘to make money’ or ‘to create value for the shareholde’. But global competition was increasing. Customer choice was exploding. The customer was flexing his or her power of choice and voting not for either the best quality or the best price, but for both. They wanted the best value. Quality now would be measured by the customer perceptions in the marketplace not engineers or quality-control experts. Goodness of price would be determined by the marketplace. The resulting perceived value of goods and services would be judged by the customer. The real purpose of a business was becoming clear, to improve the quality of life and create value for the customers. Firms that did it best would thrive and survive. To win, business managers needed new concepts, tools and methods for creating and managing customer value. The following article is a 1989 paper that reported on some of the most significant findings in the early days of customer value measurement and management. It is based on one of the largest empirical data bases available at that time. AT&T was doing over 60,000 customer surveys per month. Three years of monthly findings were analyzed by some of the best researchers and scientists in the 300k employee and $85 billion annual revenue company. The paper presented empirical evidence of the power of the consumer's perception of customer value, its impact on market share, growth and customer loyalty and ultimately its impact on shareholder value and employee value. The paper was never published, but it was released throughout AT&T and also to AT&T's strategic business partners. Its content was presented and discussed at national conferences hosted by the American Marketing Association and the US Conference Board. Its findings have stood the test of time. It is published here for the first time. It is important to note that today AT&T is a completely different company from then in 1989. Since then the company split into three separate businesses, AT&T, Lucent and NCR. The portion of the business that kept the name later merged with another communications company.

ПЕРЕВАГИ РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ СТРАТЕГІЧНОГО БІЗНЕС-ПАРТНЕРСТВА НА ЗАЛІЗНИЧНОМУ ТРАНСПОРТІ

The article analyzes the motivational factors of implementation of strategic business partnerships, among which are competitive, resource and time motives, as well as conditions for the functioning of enterprises. Disclosed the direction of the strategic partnership with the participation railway enterprises, including made the conclusion of the significance of their partnership with suppliers to formation of a modern technological base. The features of the advantages of strategic business partnerships as a factor of competitiveness in the modern conditions of managing, namely highlighted as factors of success of modern enterprises core competencies as a set of interrelated skills, abilities and technologies. Introduced the notion "emergent benefits of a strategic business partnership" and justificated of its content with the key significance the development of collective competencies to ensure successful operation of railway transport.

Are we there yet? What's next for HR?

Over the last three decades, the practice of HR has experienced significant transformation. This has included HR moving from being a lower level, administrative and maintenance oriented function to operating in many organizations as a core business function and a strategic business partner. Because of dramatic changes that have occurred in HR, the question arises whether HR has arrived at its final destination or whether the journey will continue and if so, what is next for HR? In setting the stage to discuss the future of HR, we briefly describe the journey HR has traveled thus far since its emergence as a field. We characterize HR's journey as having a singular direction and that is to add value to the organization. To continue in this direction we propose that future HR will need to adopt an outside/inside approach where the external environment and stakeholders influence what HR does inside the organization. From this, we discuss other specific actions HR will need, in order to add value, with respect to targets for HR work (individual, organizational, and leadership) and areas for HR investments (HR function, HR practices, HR people, and HR analytics). We present a number of propositions on these that can be used by researchers and practitioners in guiding future research and practice.

Human Resource Management Roles & Skills Shortages in Malaysian Organisations

Human Resource Management (HRM) theorists reported that the key roles of HRM were four inter-related broad competencies namely, strategic partner, change agent, employee champion and administrative expert. If properly managed, these roles could create efficiency, commitment and cultural construction improvement in organizations. The roles were practiced differently to suit organizational objectives, industries and cultural values. But, without skilled, knowledgeable, qualified and experienced employees; it may affect organisational performance. This research was aimed to address HRM roles and Malaysians skills shortages from the perspectives of a sample of HR managers in a variety of Malaysian organisational types and sizes. The findings revealed that HR professionals were mostly performing their tasks as ‘administrative expert’ and less ‘strategic business partner’ in large companies. It was also found that Malaysians were lacking of accounting, Information Technology and human resource management skills.

Exploring sub-suppliers' compliance with corporate sustainability standards

Firms face the challenge for ensuring compliance with their corporate sustainability standards (CSS) in their supply chains, i.e. internally, by their suppliers, and also upstream by subsuppliers. Supplier management strategies to ensure compliance with CSS in the supply chain usually focus on suppliers. These strategies fall short when ensuring compliance of sub-suppliers. Firms' sustainable supplier management practices focusing on first-tier suppliers have been studied extensively, while little is known on how firms reach out to sub-suppliers. Firms' challenges include the identification of sub-suppliers, the evaluation of compliance levels, and the execution of corrective action. This study investigates the management of sub-suppliers to ensure sub-suppliers' compliance with CSS of two focal firms in the electronics and retail/food industries using case study research. It focuses on the activities of the focal firm and its perception of sub-suppliers' compliance with its CSS. The findings propose that firms can improve sub-suppliers' compliance with CSS by actively managing sub-suppliers through assessment and collaboration. It was found that (1) public attention on the mediating first-tier supplier, (2) perceived risks of sub-supplier's non-compliance with CSS, and (3) a firm's channel power are antecedents to sub-supplier management. Involving strategic business partners suggests amplifying the positive effect of managing sub-suppliers on sub-suppliers' compliance with CSS. This paper is one of the first studies addressing the management of sub-suppliers from a sustainability perspective. It proposes a framework for understanding sub-supplier management to achieve compliance with sustainability standards, which can also be used for further research and theory development.

Global HR Roles and Factors Influencing Their Development: Evidence From Emerging Indian IT Services Multinationals

The rapid growth of emerging markets’ multinational companies (MNCs) is a recent phenomenon and, as such, their nature and structure of key management processes, functions, and roles need further examination. While an abundance of low‐cost labor is often the starting point of competitive advantage for many of the emerging markets’ MNCs, it is the optimum configuration of people, processes, and technology that defines how they leverage their intangible resources. Based on case studies of four Indian IT services MNCs, involving 51 in‐depth interviews of business and human resource (HR) leaders at the corporate and subsidiary levels, we identify five key HR roles—namely, strategic business partner, guardian of culture, builder of global workforce and capabilities, champion of processes, and facilitator of employee development. The analysis also highlights that the HR function in Indian IT service MNCs faces several challenges in consolidating the early gains of internationalization, such as lack of decentralized decision making, developing a global mind‐set, localization of the workforce, and developing a global leadership pipeline. Based on our exploratory findings, we propose a framework outlining the global HR roles pursued by emerging IT services MNCs, the factors influencing them, and the challenges facing their HR function for future research. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Strategic management research: The missing linchpin in developing economy’s context

Research is conducted to identify impact of adopting Strategic HRM on HR outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and performance measures (i.e. organizational and, individual performance) in order to the fill empirical gap in developing economy’s context. Cased based survey approach has been adopted to retrieve the evidence from companies. Three organizations are studied in depth to identify the evidence about strategic role of HRM. Objectivism has been adopted to test ontological assumption whereas positivism has been incorporated to test the epistemological assumption to prove the nature of reality about Strategic HRM. Results depict that effective Strategic HRM adoption can help companies to enhance the work attitudes’ of staff along with company's performance. Study has extended universal perspective of Strategic HRM. Study accepts that HR paradigm is shifting in to prove HR as strategic business partner in developing economies. Results reveal that Strategic HRM is positively associated with HR outcomes and performance measures and varies between companies of different sizes. Practitioners are encouraged to adopt Strategic HRM with the trust that company’s performance will be improved by addressing the HR outcomes. Thus companies that align HR function and practices perform better and produce satisfied and committed employees for enhanced individual and organizational performance in developing economies like Pakistan.