SOTA 2004 Managing for Value(s) in a Commoditized World

Since its inception in 1995, Human Resource Planning Society’s State of the Art/Practice study has become an important way that the Society seeks to generate and disseminate information critical to effective HR strategy decision making. The study began as an effort to identify the major issues driving organizations and causing transformations in HR (Caimano, Canavan, & Hill, 1998; Ulrich & Eichinger, 1995; 1996; Wright, Dyer, & Takla, 1998). More recently, the SOTA/P has focused on drilling down more deeply to understand HR’s role in critical strategic issues such as e-business (Wright and Dyer, 1999) and using HR to build a customer-focused company (Overholt and Grannell, 2002). The 2004 SOTA/P returns to the original roots, and seeks to describe the competitive landscape, and the implications of these trends for HR

Intellectual Capital Architectures and Bilateral Learning: A Framework For Human Resource Management

Both researchers and managers are increasingly interested in how firms can pursue bilateral learning; that is, simultaneously exploring new knowledge domains while exploiting current ones (cf., March, 1991). To address this issue, this paper introduces a framework of intellectual capital architectures that combine unique configurations of human, social, and organizational capital. These architectures support bilateral learning by helping to create supplementary alignment between human and social capital as well as complementary alignment between people-embodied knowledge (human and social capital) and organization-embodied knowledge (organizational capital). In order to establish the context for bilateral learning, the framework also identifies unique sets of HR practices that may influence the combinations of human, social, and organizational capital

Partner or Guardian? HR’s Challenge in Balancing Value and Values

[Excerpt] Is HR at a crossroad? A number of signs seem to be pointing that way. Increasingly HR executives are faced with a critical decision: Will they continue on their journey to be business leaders, , with full sway and equal influence in organizational decision making, or will they take the short-cut by sacrificing professional ethics and values for a seat at the table. This challenge is exemplified by the story of Delta Airlines

Toward a Unifying Framework for Exploring Fit and Flexibility in Strategic Human Resource Management

This paper presents a framework for studying the concepts of fit and flexibility in the field of Strategic Human Resource Management (Strategic HRM) focusing on HRM practices, employee skills, and employee behaviors and reviews past conceptual and empirical work within that framework. A model of Strategic HRM is presented and this model is used to explore the concepts of fit and flexibility as they apply to Strategic HRM. The concepts of resource and coordination flexibility are applied to Strategic HRM, and the implications of the framework for both the practice of and research on Strategic HRM are discussed

Orientation Sensitive Terahertz Resonances Observed in Protein Crystals

A method is presented for measuring anisotropic THz response for small crystals, Crystal Anisotropy Terahertz Microscopy (CATM). Sucrose CATM measurements find the expected anisotropic phonon resonances. CATM measurements of protein crystals find the expected broadband water absorption is suppressed and strong orientation and hydration dependent resonant features.Comment: 3 page

Human Resources Strategy: The Era of Our Ways

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of the main features and trends in human resources (HR) strategy. Inasmuch as people are among the most important resources available to firms, one could argue that HR strategy should be central to any debate about how firms achieve competitive advantage. But this “people are our most important asset” argument is actually fairly hollow in light of the evidence. Far too many articles on HR start with this premise, but the reality is that organizations have historically not rested their fortunes on human resources. The HR function remains among the least influential in most organizations, and competitive strategies have not typically been based on the skills, capabilities, and behaviors of employees. In fact, as Snell, Youndt and Wright (1996:62) noted, in the past executives have typically tried to “take human resources out of the strategy equation--i.e., by substituting capital for labor where possible, and by designing hierarchical organizations that separate those who think from those who actually do the work.

Virtual HR Departments: Getting Out of the Middle

In this chapter, we explore the notion of virtual HR departments: a network-based organization built on partnerships and mediated by information technologies in order to be simultaneously strategic, flexible, cost-efficient, and service-oriented. We draw on experiences and initiatives at Merck Pharmaceuticals in order to show how information technology in establishing an infrastructure for virtual HR. Then, we present a model for mapping the architecture of HR activities that includes both internal and external sourcing options. We conclude by offering some recommendations for management practice as well as future research

A Resource-Based View Of International Human Resources: Toward A Framework of Integrative and Creative Capabilities

Drawing on organizational learning and MNC perspectives, we extend the resource-based view to address how international human resource management provides sustainable competitive advantage. We develop a framework that emphasizes and extends traditional assumptions of the resource-based view by identifying the learning capabilities necessary for a complex and changing global environment. These capabilities address how MNCs might both create new HR practices in response to local environments and integrate existing HR practices from other parts of the firm (affiliates, regional headquarters, and global headquarters). In an effort to understand the nature of such capabilities, we discuss aspects of human capital, social capital, and organizational capital that might be linked to their development. Page

Current Approaches to HR Strategies: Inside-Out vs. Outside-In

In an effort to determine the best practices with regard to Human Resource (HR) strategies, we conducted interviews with HR executives knowledgeable about their HR strategies from 20 companies, and gathered archival materials such as the HR strategy documents from 9 of the companies. We found that the content, process, and evaluation of the HR strategies can each be classified as focusing primarily on the HR function, the people of the firm, or the business. We provide some examples of ways that firms can move from an HR focused to a business-focused HR strategy