How do employees shape HR implementation? Intra-team acceptance of espoused HR practices, frontline managers’ implementation behavior, and team performance

This study investigates the critical role of employees in shaping frontline managers’ (FLMs) HR implementation. It goes beyond previous research, which recurrently attributes FLMs’ implementation behavior to the facilitating conditions and FLMs’ personal capabilities, overlooking or downplaying the potential impact of employees during the implementation process. In doing so, we characterize the construct of intra-team acceptance of espoused HR practices as a key force influencing FLMs’ HR enactment. Hence, we hypothesize how intra-team acceptance of espoused HR practices is linked to FLMs’ implementation behavior through FLMs’ performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence. In this narrative, we position team-level HPWS as a direct outcome of FLMs’ implementation behavior. Therefore, we establish that team-level HPWS mediates the relationship between FLMs’ implementation behavior and team performance, underscoring the importance of employees in the HRM variability debate. Conducting a time-lagged study and analyzing data collected from 23 South Korean firms, we found support for our theoretical claims. Our findings recognize employees as significant contributors to the implementation process and challenge the conventional wisdom in which employees are viewed as passive recipients of HR practices. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications and offer directions for future endeavors

QCD effective action with a most general homogeneous field background

We consider one-loop effective action of SU(3) QCD with a most general constant chromomagnetic (chromoelectric) background which has two independent Abelian field components. The effective potential with a pure magnetic background has a local minimum only when two Abelian components H_{\mu\nu}^3 and H_{\mu\nu}^8 of color magnetic field are orthogonal to each other. The non-trivial structure of the effective action has important implication in estimating quark-gluon production rate and p_T-distribution in quark-gluon plasma. In general the production rate depends on three independent Casimir invariants, in particular, it depends on the relative orientation between chromoelectric fields.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures (9 pages in published version

Studying Human-Centered IT Innovation Using a Grounded Action Learning Approach

This paper describes how two research methodologies, grounded theory and action learning, were combined to produce a rigorous yet creative and flexible method for field study of a recent IT-based innovation, virtual teams. Essentially, an action learning program was used to train facilitators of virtual teams and generate research data while grounded theory techniques were used to analyze and interpret the data. This paper shows how this combined method can be used to develop local and practical theory for complex, human-centered areas of information technology. The implications of this grounded action learning approach for practice and research in IS will be discussed

Relationship Building and the use of ICT in Boundary-Crossing Virtual Teams: A Facilitator\u27s Perspective

Global virtual teams are playing an increasingly important role in international business by offering organizations the opportunity for reaching beyond traditional boundaries. However, their use has outpaced our understanding of their dynamics and unique characteristics. For example, global, multicultural, interorganizational, virtual teams and the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) present real and compelling challenges to facilitators, but they also present teams with unparalleled opportunities for expanding on perspectives, approaches and ideas. However, crossing organizational, cultural and time and distance boundaries requires training, experience and organizational support. While research shows that the development of personal relationships between virtual team members is an important factor in effective working relationships, little research has been conducted on the effects of crossing organizational, cultural and time and distance boundaries on relationship building in virtual teams. This paper reports on a field study of New Zealand-based virtual team facilitators working with boundary-spanning virtual teams. From a facilitator\u27s perspective, boundary-crossing issues (organizational, cultural, language and time and distance) can affect relationship building in many important ways. For instance, facilitators found that organizational boundary crossing was affected by differing organizational cultures and policies, while working across cultures required awareness and adjustment in relationship-building expectations and strategies. Crossing time and distance barriers necessitated the skilful use of synchronous and asynchronous ICTs and communication channels. These findings will be explored and the implications for practice and research will also be discussed