An examination of e-HRM as a means to increase the value of the HR function

This article examines the potential use of e-human resource management (e-HRM) as ameans to increase the value of the human resources (HR) function, within theframework of the resource-based view. Past research has suggested that e-HRM maysupport the HR function in becoming more efficient, improving service delivery andadopting a greater role in delivering the firm's business strategy. The results from alarge-scale survey across 12 countries showed that e-HRM may help HR to increase itsvalue by becoming more strategic, but found no evidence of cost savings due toreductions in HR headcount. This suggests that organisations are using e-HRM in orderto redeploy HR practitioners from transactional work to more strategic and value-addedactivities

Acute flares in knee osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis affects 8.75 million people in the United Kingdom. Acute episodes of pain (“acute flares”) may be an important, although poorly understood, part of its natural history. This thesis is a mixed methods study of acute flares in knee osteoarthritis, exploring how to define them for the purposes of research, their frequency, nature, impact, and possible causes. My systematic review of 69 studies found a variety of ad hoc definitions and concluded that key domains used to define acute events in other chronic conditions - worsening signs/symptoms, minimum duration, speed of onset, impact - could provide the basis for future consensus. Based on worsening symptoms alone, a secondary analysis of existing cohort data estimated that 23-32% of symptomatic adults over 50 years report significant variability in their knee symptoms. A prospectively designed cross-sectional survey and nested pen-and-paper daily diary study, designed with lay member input, found that flares were often disruptive and associated with changes in pain quality, nature of knee symptoms and increased health care utilisation, and self-care activity. Findings from the analysis of 15 patient semi-structured interviews supported these associations with flares, but also highlighted the variable nature of the pain experience and the impact ‘major’ flares had on their daily functioning. The participants described the differences between daily variability in pain and flares, and this highlighted the importance of using a minimum duration in flare definitions to differentiate between them. Findings from the secondary analysis of the Knee Clinical Assessment Study (CAS(K)) data and diary study suggest that nearly a half of adults aged over 50 years with knee OA may experience an acute flare. Flares impact on daily activities and social participation, and may take a median of 8 days to settle although this appears highly variable. While not consistently demonstrated, susceptibility (for example previous knee surgery and higher body mass index) and extrinsic mechanical exposures (such as squatting and heavy lifting) are implicated as causes of acute flares in knee OA although larger-scale studies to confirm and extend these findings are needed

Leadership identity:using artefacts (and storytelling) to discover new insights.

Artefacts are used in management education to reflect upon the experiences of participants. Story-telling has a leadership influence that is long recognised in the leadership literature. However, artefacts and story-telling have not been used concurrently in leadership and management development programmes. We used artefacts combined with story-telling to help participants understand their leadership identity. Louisa’s story and artefact are the basis of this research. We found that the story-teller gained a clearer image of their leadership identity; and engaged in more effective leadership. We also found that the audience members gained a clearer notion of their leadership identity. Implications for organizational leadership and management development programmes are posited

Significant pain variability in persons with, or at high risk of, knee osteoarthritis: preliminary investigation based on secondary analysis of cohort data

BACKGROUND: While knee osteoarthritis (OA) is characterised as a slowly progressive disease, acute flares, episodes of severe pain, and substantial fluctuations in pain intensity appear to be part of the natural history for some patients. We sought to estimate what proportion of symptomatic community-dwelling adults might be affected, and to identify patient and problem characteristics associated with higher risk of such variability in pain. METHODS: We analysed data collected at baseline, 18, 36, 54, and 72 month follow-up of a prospective cohort of symptomatic adults aged over 50 years with current/recent knee pain. At each time point we estimated the proportion of participants reporting 'significant pain variability' (defined as worst pain intensity in the past 6 months ≥5/10 and ≥2 points higher than average pain intensity during the same 6-month period). The associations between significant pain variability and demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, clinical, radiographic, and healthcare utilisation factors measured at baseline were estimated by adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (aOR; 95%CI) from multivariable discrete-time survival analysis. RESULTS: Seven hundred and nineteen participants were included in the final analysis. At each time point, 23-32% of participants were classed as reporting significant pain variability. Associated factors included: younger age (aOR (per year): 0.96; 95% CI 0.94, 0.97), higher BMI (per kg/m(2):1.03; 1.01, 1.06), higher WOMAC Pain score (per unit: 1.06; 1.03, 1.10), longer time since onset (e.g. 1-5 years vs < 1 year: 1.79; 1.16, 2.75) and morning stiffness (≤30 min vs none: 1.43; 1.10, 1.85). The models accounting for multiple periods of significant symptom variability found similar associations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with studies showing that, for some patients OA symptoms are significantly variable over time. Future prospective studies on the nature and frequency of flare ups are needed to help determine triggers and their underlying pathophysiology in order to suggest new avenues for effective episode management of OA to complement long-term behaviour change

Localization of staff in a hostile context: An exploratory investigation in Afghanistan

Hostile environments pose a distinct threat to international organizations and their staff and yet they are under researched within the literature on IHRM. Localization of staff may present a means to manage some of the risks and also to provide the resources needed to achieve competitive advantage. Drawing on the resource-based view and institutional theory, we explored resource- and capability-based and institutional influences in relation to the decision of whether to localize professional staff in a hostile environment (Afghanistan). Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with representatives from four organizations in Afghanistan, our investigation identified new influences on localization at the societal and organizational level. These include ongoing security issues as well as influences on localization such as corruption, impartiality and the need for outside experiences as well as perspectives not identified in previous work. In addition, we emphasize the importance of both picking appropriate valuable local human resources and using appropriate internal capabilities to develop and deploy them in such a way to build firm-specific assets which are also rare, inimitable and non-substitutable, thus leading to sustainable competitive advantage