Doing more with less: productivity or starvation? The intellectual asset health check

The recent wave of savings in public service expenditure comes at the risk of creating starved workplaces, depleted of intellectual assets. This paper examines the perils of starved workplaces and how to avoid them. Organizations that nurture their intellectual assets were found to outperform their peers with 13.3% higher productivity. These organizations created a ‘win–win situation’, achieving both productivity targets while sustaining high stocks of emotional and human capital

Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications

Few would disagree that human resource initiatives aimed at enhancing employees' quality of life have universal appeal, but the definition of 'quality of life' varies by generation. Workplaces are becoming increasingly age diverse and the likelihood that an older employee will report to a younger manager is increasing. Burke's study for the Society for Human Resource Management found that in organizations with 500 or more employees, 58% of human resource management (HRM) professionals reported conflict between younger and older workers, largely due to their different perceptions of work ethics and work-life balance requirements. While cultural and gender diversity have received significant attention in the literature, little attention has been paid to the impact of age diversity on HRM practices. This study attempts to bridge this gap by examining the work values of four generational cohorts - Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y - across five countries. Generational differences were found when the effects of culture and life stage were controlled for. Significant differences were observed with Generation Y in particular, presenting creative challenges in accommodating the needs of this cohort while still watching the bottom line. This study establishes the legitimacy of intergenerational differences as an important social categorization variable

Methodological choices of HR research conducted in Asia

A twenty-year study of the Human Resource (HR) practices-outcome relationship has found that more rigorous methodologies have been adopted over time. However, several problematic features such as cross-sectional, single-informant, and single-level designs continue to be adopted (Bainbridge et al., Human Resource Management, 2016). Responding to calls for increased contextualization of research by investigating the relationship between the location of data collection and the methodological choices of researchers, this study answers the question "How unique are the methodological choices of HR research conducted in Asia?" Applying content analysis to 241 published articles, we compare internal, external, construct and statistical conclusion validity of studies collected in North America (n=66), Europe (n=95) and Asia (n=80, including 57 studies from China). Results show that despite similarities in cross-sectional, single-informant and single-level designs across regions, research conducted in Asia is mainly undertaken via field studies, using subjective outcome measures at the organizational level, following a post-predictive design. In addition, studies from Asia are more recent, and show a shorter time gap between data collection and publication. Theoretical and practical implications embedded in the dynamic context of Asia in general, and China more specifically are discussed

Managing sexual harassment more strategically: an analysis of environmental causes

Despite the growing prevalence of sexual harassment across industries, the majority of research has focused on the frequency of harassment and the associated outcomes. While this situation provides strong justification for strategies such as policy development, grievance handling procedures and training to be implemented within organizations, it does not help business leaders adopt a strategic orientation to eradicating the problem. A shift away from a reactive response once a claim is made towards initiatives geared at prevention is required. Operationalizing this argument requires an understanding of what heightens a person's vulnerability to being harassed. This paper reports the results of a project on the environmental factors that contribute to incidents of sexual harassment. Data for this study was collected from 538 nurses working in a sample of Australian hospitals. A model is introduced that examines organizational variables and correlations to sexual harassment. The model was tested via SEM and revealed that an unbalanced job gender ratio, a nurses' negative perception of their manager's leadership style and no prior socialization are all positively associated with sexual harassment

The challenge to become a strategic HR business partner: an HRM case study from the Asia Pacific region

Research consistently demonstrates that the human resource (HR) function is a key driver of business performance and HR professionals play an important role as a strategic business partner. This view often contrasts with our daily experiences of HR where professionals engage in administrative, technical and control based activities and the HR function is perceived as a support service department. In this paper, we argue that a large body of research focuses on the role HR should play in a context where the function is valued, without sufficient studies examining whether this occurs in practice. Using the case of a large Asia Pacific organization in the communications sector, we applied conceptual models to ascertain whether HR added value to this firm. We then investigated the barriers for HR operating as a strategic business partner. Qualitative data was collected across three studies. In study one all 18 divisional HR managers were interviewed. Study two comprised of an on-line qualitative survey and focus groups with a total of 258 HR customers, including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, all Divisional General Managers and a sample of Line Managers. Study three included interviews with both National General Managers of HR. In total 278 managers participated in the study and more than 225.5 hours of interview and focus group data were collected.1 page(s