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.

Labour relations in Zimbabwe, 1980-1987

This study examines labour relations in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987, and finds that the government had a major impact on reforming labour relations. This interpretation differs from accounts presented in literature. Most writers assume employers are exploitative, and depict the government as acting on behalf of capital to control workers and ensure peaceful capitalist accumulation. It is argued that this view is one-sided, and a more balanced view of labour relations is provided by examining national labour policy and labour relations in three prominent organisations. This account suggests that government labour policy was to promote workers' interests while taking into consideration the need for national economic growth to enable employment and welfare services to be expanded. In an effort to balance workers' and national interests, the government pursued a corporatist strategy which involved the monopolisation of trade union representation, and control over unions to enforce government labour policy. A disaggregated view of "capital" is required which recognises that different management or organisational cultures exist. Thus, while some employers in Zimbabwe are exploitative and maintain racist management practices, others have gradually reformed their labour practices and have advanced black employees. In some cases this reform process has proceeded quite rapidly. The government's policies to protect and promote workers' interests provided the major stimulus for this reform of labour relations within enterprises

Bluetooth: Towards a Cooperative Model of Technological Innovation in Mobile Telephony

This paper notes the creative tension created by network industries in high technology production. The tension emerges due to firms ’ needs to both focus on developing strong and defensible competencies and also the need to share knowledge as part of wider development networks. The paper looks at the development of the Bluetooth wireless standard within this context. We find that Bluetooth’s promoters made the standard open to create support within a competitive technical environment. Downstream profits will flow to the technology’s developers both through the creation of patentable technologies relating to the standard’s use, and also through the ability of th

The Mobile Telephone Cluster in the Nordic Countries: Policies to Foster Innovation and Success through Provider Competition and Knowledge Alliance Development

The Nordic countries, and most especially Finland and Sweden, have been very successful in the development of international leadership in both mobile telephone penetration and mobile terminal and infrastructure manufacturing. Nokia and Ericsson are often discussed as world leaders in product design and innovation for both terminal and network infrastructure. Their success is the product of many years ’ government focus in developing the mobile telecommunications industry as a whole, with a key policy aim of having a innovative manufacturing sector anchored within an advanced and demanding regional mobile telecommunications market. We examine here the policy and market environment in these countries that has supported the development of this highly vertically integrated and successful industry. Some attention has been given to the development of science parks, support of collaborative research that has supported both research and development and the development of a skilled labor market to assist firms ’ growth. Less attention has been given to the success of government policies that have promoted the firms ’ core technological competencies in supranational fora (most notably the promotion of firm competencies in the GSM standard) and the positive impact of the deregulated competitive telecommunications market, especially in Finland. The Nordic industry is also quite vertically integrated in that a number of Small and Medium Enterprises contribut

Kidney Mentoring and Assessment Program for Students: a guide for engaging medical students in nephrology.

Background: The American Society of Nephrology\u27s (ASN) Workforce Committee created a unique program called the Kidney Mentoring and Awareness Program for Students to engage medical students in the fight against kidney diseases and interest them in careers in nephrology. Methods: The program provided a framework and 2 years of funding to three medical schools to organize and carry out health screenings in underserved areas of their communities as well as a structure for student mentoring by the practicing nephrologists. Results: The Workforce Committee identified three medical schools (Emory University, Atlanta, GA; Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN and University of Louisville, Louisville, KY) and engaged faculty at each school to serve as advisors. The ASN committed funding to the groups for 2 years, after which the groups became self-sufficient. Three nephrologists participated in each chapter, building on existing relationships with community groups to identify sites and carry out kidney screening events. Conclusions: We report here the experience of those chapters and a blueprint for other schools interested in setting up a similarly structured program to interest students in nephrology while working with community groups to spread awareness of the major underlying causes of kidney disease