The state of HRM in the Middle East:Challenges and future research agenda

Based on a robust structured literature analysis, this paper highlights the key developments in the field of human resource management (HRM) in the Middle East. Utilizing the institutional perspective, the analysis contributes to the literature on HRM in the Middle East by focusing on four key themes. First, it highlights the topical need to analyze the context-specific nature of HRM in the region. Second, via the adoption of a systematic review, it highlights state of development in HRM in the research analysis set-up. Third, the analysis also helps to reveal the challenges facing the HRM function in the Middle East. Fourth, it presents an agenda for future research in the form of research directions. While doing the above, it revisits the notions of “universalistic” and “best practice” HRM (convergence) versus “best-fit” or context distinctive (divergence) and also alternate models/diffusion of HRM (crossvergence) in the Middle Eastern context. The analysis, based on the framework of cross-national HRM comparisons, helps to make both theoretical and practical implications

Institutional Factors and High-Performance Work Organisations (HPWOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.This chapter focuses on the institutional factors that facilitate or impede the development of high-performance work organisations (HPWOs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is based on the premise that the adoption of institutional perspective across regional hubs is pertinent in revealing and capturing the various factors influencing the creation of high-performance organisations in Africa. We argue that regulatory, normative, sociocultural institutional factors facilitate but also impede the development of HPWOs in SSA. Building on the high-performance work practice (HPWP) model, we uncover the interactive relationship between HPWPs and the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) model of human resource management and how organisations can deploy them for the attainment of HPWO status.Peer reviewe

Patterns in first and daily cigarette initiation among youth and young adults from 2002 to 2015.

This study's objective was to describe long-term trends and patterns in first cigarette use (cigarette initiation) and daily cigarette use (daily initiation) among youth and young adults in the U.S. We used cross-sectional survey data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2002-2015, to estimate annual incidence of first cigarette use (N = 270,556) and first daily cigarette use (N = 373,464) for each year by age groups, race/ethnicity and gender, examining trends over time and the average annual change in initiation for each group. Several clear patterns emerged: 1) cigarette initiation and daily initiation significantly decreased over time among those aged 12-14 and 15-17 and these trends were consistent among nearly all racial/ethnic and gender subgroups; 2) among 18-21 year olds, cigarette initiation sharply increased through 2009, surpassing rates among 15-17 year olds, and sharply declined through 2015 while remaining higher than rates among the younger group, and this trend was consistent for almost all racial/ethnic subgroups; 3) daily initiation for those aged 18-21 significantly declined, and this was significant among most subgroups 4) there was no change in cigarette initiation and daily initiation for 22-25 year olds overall and most subgroups; 5) there was a significant increase in cigarette initiation for 22-25 year old Hispanics males and daily initiation for 22-25 year old males. This study provides a comprehensive look at trends in cigarette and daily initiation among U.S. youth and young adults. Despite notable declines in smoking initiation among youth and young adult populations over the last two decades, targeted prevention and policy efforts are needed for subgroups at higher risk, including young adults and Hispanic males