Talent Management and the Talent of Management

The topic that I have chosen to talk about, managing talent, is one that is exercising the minds of organizations, large and small, domestic and global, because it connects very strongly to their concerns, if they are privately owned about being competitive or, if they are public bodies, about providing pubic value

Culture change in a professional sports team: Shaping environmental contexts and regulating power

Although high performing cultures are crucial for the enduring success of professional sport performance teams, theoretical and practical understanding of how they are established and sustained is lacking. To develop knowledge in this area, a case study was undertaken to examine the key mechanisms and processes of a successful culture change programme at English Rugby Union’s Leeds Carnegie. Exploring the change process from a 360 degree perspective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with team management, one specialist coach, six players, and the CEO. Analysed and explained through decentred theory, results revealed that culture change was effectively facilitated by team management: a) subtly and covertly shaping the physical, structural, and psychosocial context in which support staff and players made performance-impacting choices, and b) regulating the ‘to and fro’ of power which characterises professional sport performance teams. Decentred theory is also supported as an effective framework for culture change study

L’impact de la GRH sur le succès des projets : revue de littérature et synthèse

Travail Dirigé présenté à la Faculté des arts et des sciences – École de relations industrielles en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maître ès sciences (M.Sc.) en Relations Industrielles.La gestion des ressources humaines (GRH) comprend les pratiques et les politiques destinées à gérer le capital humain dans le but de la réalisation des objectifs des organisations. La GRH a été reconnue comme un déterminant important de la réussite des organisations et de leur compétitivité durable dans un monde en mutation. Au cours des dernières décennies, la structure des organisations dans de nombreuses industries différentes a changé de façon spectaculaire. En particulier dans les secteurs à forte intensité de connaissances, les organisations sont passées de structures permanentes à des entités qui ont de plus en plus recours à des projets pour atteindre leurs objectifs. Les projets sont des tâches complexes qui peuvent faire appel à un large éventail de compétences pour atteindre un ensemble prédéfini d'objectifs approuvés par les parties prenantes dans un temps et un budget limité. Les caractéristiques inhérentes aux projets, telles que le caractère temporaire, la complexité, l'incertitude et l'interfonctionnalité, à tous les stades, de la définition du projet à son exécution, imposent des défis et des opportunités uniques aux membres de l'équipe, aux gestionnaires de projet et aux autres entités chargées de la mise en oeuvre des politiques de GRH. Tout en permettant à l'organisation de bénéficier de la plus grande expertise pour effectuer des tâches hautement spécialisées et en permettant au personnel d'apprendre continuellement en participant à différents projets, les défis des projets peuvent conduire à la perte de capital humain et à l'échec s'ils ne sont pas gérés de manière appropriée. Néanmoins, compte tenu des différences considérables entre les projets et les environnements de travail traditionnels, les pratiques de GRH peuvent-elles encore être pertinentes et déterminantes pour la réussite des projets ? De plus, quels sont les défis spécifiques aux environnements de travail des projets qui doivent être pris en compte dans la conception et la mise en oeuvre des pratiques de GRH pour les équipes de projet ? Dans cette recherche, la littérature disponible est analysée afin de mettre en évidence les aspects distinctifs de l'environnement de travail basé sur des projets et d'évaluer si et comment les pratiques de GRH peuvent déterminer le succès des projets et des organisations. Human resource management (HRM) comprises practices and policies designed to direct the human capital toward realizing the organizations’ goals. HRM has been acknowledged as a significant determinant of organizational success and sustainable competitiveness in the changing world. Over the past few decades, the structure of organizations in many different industries has dramatically changed. Especially in knowledge-intensive sectors, organizations have shifted from permanent structures toward entities that increasingly employ projects to reach their goals. Projects are complex tasks that can involve a wide range of expertise to reach a predefined set of objectives approved by the stakeholders over a finite time and budget. The inherent characteristics of projects, such as temporariness, complexity, uncertainty, and cross-functionality, in all stages from project definition to implementation, impose unique challenges and opportunities for the team members, project managers, and other entities in charge of implementing the HRM policies. While allowing flexibility for the organization to benefit from the highest expertise to perform highly specialized tasks and allowing personnel to learn continuously through participating in different projects, project challenges can lead to loss of human capital and failure if not appropriately managed. Nevertheless, considering the dramatic differences between project and traditional work settings, can HRM practices still be relevant and determinant in project success? Moreover, what challenges specific to the project work settings must be accounted for in designing and implementing HRM practices for project teams? In this research, the available literature is analyzed to highlight the distinguishing aspects of the project-based work environment and evaluating whether and how HRM practices can determine the success of the projects and the organizations

Absorptive capacity and relationship learning mechanisms as complementary drivers of green innovation performance

This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms\u2019 green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance. This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed. The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance. This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios. Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries. The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations. This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance

The role of coaching in supporting private sector organisations in the Unitd Arab Emirates (UAE) to manage diversity and to achieve inclusion

This study aims to examine the role of coaching in helping private sector organisations in the UAE to manage diversity and achieve inclusion in support of Emiratisation initiatives. The research question originates from a personal interest in the field of diversity management and inclusion and stems from experience working with foreign-owned private sector organisations in the UAE in their pursuit to improve local-expatriate work relations. The research paradigm is based on the social constructivist perspective which defines my ontology and role as a researcher-practitioner in diverse contexts and the research strategy adopted a grounded theory approach. Procedures of data collection, coding and analysis were systematically and sequentially carried out in a simultaneous iterative process and included semi-structured interviews with 19 participants working in private sector organisations. Codes were used to retrieve and organise information, which created a web of meaning grounded in the data, constant comparison of the different conceptual levels of data analysis drove theoretical sampling and the ongoing data collection in developing theory. Findings highlight three mains categories illustrating the role of coaching in the context of study: 1) the contextual factors impacting upon the practice of coaching, 2) the use and value and the coach, 3) the coach’s attributes. The theory suggests that the role of coaching should be considered in relation to the contextual factors influencing its use and value, which depends on the coach’ s attributes. This means that the latter supersedes the use and value of coaching, and are preconditions which impact on the role of coaching from the start

Strategic Planning: A Review of Grantee Practices

Provides an analysis of the strategic planning process of nonprofit organizations funded by the foundation, including the process of organizational change. Includes recommendations

Investigating project management practice in Nigerian government construction organisations: a systems thinking approach.

The differences between management in government organisations and private ones are well recognised in the literature, and these variances reflect in how project management is practiced in both organisations. Consequently, the difficulties of developing Project Management in government organisations have been acknowledged. Specifically, in African developing countries where socio-economic and political nuisance prevails, these difficulties are far from being resolved. Although a number of challenges confronting management of government projects in developing countries have been identified in the literature, no significant solution or initiative has been implemented by way of resolving the problem. In Nigeria, public sector projects are activities or projects administered by government in order to provide amenities to the general public. The Nigerian government has positioned itself to advance the nation's economy, by increasing the country's GDP through the execution of adequate and enduring building construction projects. A key component of this positioning is the intervention Vision 20:20, with one of its objectives being to provide housing facilities that will meet the demands of the increasing population and urbanization. Vision 20:20 introduced the project management concept to government organisations so as to improve management capabilities, with the purpose of enabling the public sector to efficiently manage projects and realise developmental objectives. However, the inadequate management and administration of government projects in Nigeria have resulted in a pool of abandoned, poorly developed and failed projects. From a review of previous studies, it was observed that various components have been identified as hindrances to the development of project management practice in African developing countries. However, the reductionist approach applied in these investigations means that components were defined in terms of a singular aspect in relation to the organisation. Such a singular focus on the challenges of developing project management practice has not been sufficient to guarantee a properly developed project management system in these contexts. Consequently, systems thinking theory is used as the basis for this study, in order to explore and explain the causal relationship of components impacting on project management practice in construction government organisations. A critical realism methodology is the philosophical approach adopted for this research, which is underpinned by the use of qualitative methods to explore existing mechanisms. Semi-structured interviews were the primary source of data, while secondary methods (literature review) served a crucial role in verifying the findings from the interview data. The study uncovered the significance of structure and agency on project management practice development in Nigerian government construction organisations. It reveals how the external environment, governance, middle management and project execution systems interact to influence project management practice. Another significant finding is the autopoietic nature of the middle management system, which demonstrates the capability of organising, reproducing and maintaining itself. Identification of this feature indicates that the middle managers in Nigerian government construction organisations have a relatively important role to play in influencing the development of project management practice. The developed framework highlights the relevance of the different systems towards the development of project management practice in Nigerian government construction organisations. It reveals that the project execution system is impacted by several elements within the external environment, middle management system and the governance system; the middle management system is influenced only by elements within the governance system; the governance system is influenced only by elements within the external environment, and the external environment is influenced by elements within the governance and project execution systems

The equifinality of success in the operational excellence market discipline

Differentiation in positioning or operations is an impo1iant element is creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Firm should understand the boundaries and constraints associated with strategic differentiation. This paper examines how successful firms with similar strategies can differentiate through workforce practices. Management paths to success can vary, given an understanding the various imperatives under which business leaders work

Adaptabilidad en La Educación Superior: revisión de un estudio de seguimiento

ABSTRACTNowadays, the higher education setting is a portrayal of the characteristics and increasing heterogeneity of its population. This tendency has become particularly noticeable in the Portuguese context, through the opportunity given to adults over the age of 23, from a broad range of educational backgrounds, to gain access to higher education. From a lifelong learning perspective, one of the main goals in the promotion of equal opportunities in access to higher education has been to attract new populations. By doing so, a great diversity among such individuals has been accomplished to cover a wider scope of adults.By analysing participants’ answers to the measurement instruments used in the follow-up study, the findings corroborate developmental differences in relation to the career point at which those starting out on their course and those nearing its end find themselves. Given that personal adaptability, as a cross feature, is increasingly relevant for both higher education students and workers in the current labour market, we set out to analyse the conclusions of this study in light of the constructivist career approach put forward by Mark Savickas. It is also our aim to reflect on the importance of research for intervention in young adult career counselling and management.RESUMENEl entorno académico refleja el aumento de la diversidad y las características de la población que accede a la educación superior, una tendencia que ha ido creciendo en el contexto portugués debido la oportunidad de entrar en este nivel de educación de las personas con más de veintitrés años de edad y con diversos cursos de capacitación. Desde la perspectiva del aprendizaje permanente, la incorporación de nuevos participantes ha sido un privilegio de cara a la promoción de los objetivos de la igualdad de oportunidades en el acceso a la educación superior. Este incremento ha contribuido a la diversidad de la población, con un aumento creciente de estudiantes más adultos. A través del análisis de las respuestas de los participantes a los instrumentos de medida utilizados en un estudio de seguimiento, se obtuvieron resultados que corroboran las diferencias de desarrollo de la fase de la carrera donde se encuentran las personas que inician el curso y los que ya lo están completando. Dado que la capacidad de adaptación personal, como rasgo transversal, es cada vez más importante para los estudiantes en la educación superior y para los trabajadores en el mundo laboral actual, se consideró pertinente para analizar los resultados de este estudio siguiendo el enfoque constructivista para la carrera recomendado por Mark Savickas. También se pretende reflexionar acerca de la importancia de la investigación sobre la intervención en el asesoramiento y gestión de la carrera en los adultos jóvenes.ABSTRACTNowadays, the higher education setting is a portrayal of the characteristics and increasing heterogeneity of its population. This tendency has become particularly noticeable in the Portuguese context, through the opportunity given to adults over the age of 23, from a broad range of educational backgrounds, to gain access to higher education. From a lifelong learning perspective, one of the main goals in the promotion of equal opportunities in access to higher education has been to attract new populations. By doing so, a great diversity among such individuals has been accomplished to cover a wider scope of adults.By analysing participants’ answers to the measurement instruments used in the follow-up study, the findings corroborate developmental differences in relation to the career point at which those starting out on their course and those nearing its end find themselves. Given that personal adaptability, as a cross feature, is increasingly relevant for both higher education students and workers in the current labour market, we set out to analyse the conclusions of this study in light of the constructivist career approach put forward by Mark Savickas. It is also our aim to reflect on the importance of research for intervention in young adult career counselling and management