The changing division of policing labour: with particular emphasis on the policing of shopping centres

A study of the policing of six shopping centres in the north west of England using non-participatory observations, a Likert Scale survey and anecdotal data as a means of examining the changing division of policing labour. The study draws on research carried out in Britain and North America which suggests that although there are strong negative perceptions of the average security officer, the security industry continues to expand. The study examines some of the theoretical concepts used to explain the continuing development and expansion of the private security industry by focusing on one particular sector of the contract guarding division of the industry. Whilst it is accepted that the examination of such a small part of such a large industry can do no more than provide a snap-shot of how policing provision is changing, the conclusions drawn are used to make recommendations with respect to the regulation of the industry

Human Resource Reputation: Looking Good May Feel Good But Does It Add Value?

[Excerpt] Examples of human resource signals, such as these, abound. The critical questions are,do signals like these help create an organization asset, a good HR reputation, and does a good reputation add value? In other words, is a company\u27s HR reputation a valuable resource and source of competitive advantage (Barney, 1991)? Is it difficult to copy by its competitors? Does it favorably influence security analysts, stockholders’, applicants’, employees’, and customers’ views of the company? Or, is information about human resource activities discounted or dismissed altogether as nothing more than mere reflections of a facade having little impact on organizational success

Buy the Book But Not the Stock: The Relationship Between Human Resource Reputation and Corporate Performance

Building upon the tenets of Signaling Theory, Spence (1974), this paper introduces the concept of human resource management reputation signals and examines the effects of these signals on the financial perfomance of over 500 organizations. Numerous human resource, and overall corporate, reputation signals which have appeared in the popular business press are examined to ascertain their effects on two performance measures, the abnormal shareholder returns which occur either side of the announcement of these signals and the annual returns to shareholders in the year in which they are made public. In the end, it appears that is more imponant to utilize ones human resources effectively than it is to be included on the best or most admired lists of the various business observers who create and disseminate these reputation signals. Indeed, the vast majority of the corporate and human resource reputation signals studied had no effect on either shon or long term performance. However, a human resource management effectiveness indicator (net income per employee) was observed to be positively related to the annual shareholder return performance measure suggesting that it is better to be good than to just look good

The Effects of Research and Development Intensity on Managerial Compensation in Large Organizations

Agency theory, leading edge, and administrative life cycle perspectives all predict that organizations having high levels of Research and Development (R&D) intensity will follow different compensation strategies than organizations that are less R&D intensive. Using data from 110 organizations over a 5 year period, and controlling for organization differences in employee and job characteristics, we found support for this general prediction. Specifically, high R&D intensity organizations tended to have higher relative base pay, higher relative bonus pay, and greater relative eligibility for long-term incentive payments. We discuss the importance of further research into compensation decisions in R&D intensive firms, particularly the effects of such decisions on firms\u27 competitiveness

The Effects of Human Resource Management Decisions on Shareholder Value

We examine the effects of selected human resource management decisions on the abnormal change in total shareholder return. Announcements of human resource decisions are classified into five types--general HR system announcements, compensation and benefits, staffing, shutdowns and relocations, and miscellaneous. Using an event study methodology we investigate whether any of these HR decisions had a discernible effect on either the level or variation of abnormal total shareholder return. We find no consistent pattern of increased or decreased valuation in response to the different types of HR announcements, even after controlling for the likely effect of such announcements on total compensation costs. We do find substantially increased variation in abnormal total shareholder return around the announcement date, which indicates that HR decisions do provide information to the stock market. The events associated with increased variation in total shareholder value are permanent staff reductions and shutdown/relocations. The absence of consistent valuation effects combined with the evidence of increased variation in shareholder value may be attributed to uncontrolled firm-specific factors, the categorization of the HR events or, simply, to the unique interpretations the market placed upon these events

The Feasibility of Using Expert Systems in the Management of Human Resources

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a decision aid that is being used increasingly in the business world, the expert system, and to begin to examine its potential for human resource management. First, the expert system technology is reviewed, with a special emphasis on the players, those involved in developing and using the system, and the parts, the three main components of a system. This is followed by an analysis of the costs and benefits and the advantages and disadvantages that have been ascribed to expert systems. We conclude this initial research endeavor by presenting some preliminary findings which suggest that employees are willing to cooperate with expert systems, even those that require personal information, and that they see some benefits to using expert systems as decision aids

The Effects of a Flexible Benefits Expert System on Employee Decisions and Satisfaction

Anecdotal reports and recent reviews assert that expert systems are potentially useful decision aids in human resource management. This study examines the effects of an expert system designed to aid employees when they make their choices in a flexible bellcfit program. A four group quasi-field experimental design is used to examine the relative effects of the expert system compared to a conventional spreadsheet decision aid. Eighty employees at an NCR-AT&T facility were randomly selected and assigned to the groups. Employees using the expert system expressed greater benefits satisfaction compared to those using the spreadsheet aid. The spreadsheet did not have any effect on employees\u27 decisions. When the benefit choices recommended by the expert system differed from the employees\u27 current choices, employees are more likely to change their choices. Consequently, the expert system is likely to affect employees\u27 decisions. Implications are discussed and future research needs are suggested

The Effects of Human Resource Management Decisions on Shareholder Value

We examine the effects of selected human resource management decisions on the abnormal change in total shareholder return. Announcements of human resource decisions are classified into five types--general HR system announcements, compensation and benefits, staffing, shutdowns and relocations, and miscellaneous. Using an event study methodology we investigate whether any of these HR decisions had a discernible effect on either the level or variation of abnormal total shareholder return. We find no consistent pattern of increased or decreased valuation in response to the different types of HR announcements, even after controlling for the likely effect of such announcements on total compensation costs. We do find substantially increased variation in abnormal total shareholder return around the announcement date, which indicates that HR decisions do provide information to the stock market. The events associated with increased variation in total shareholder value are permanent staff reductions and shutdown/relocations. The absence of consistent valuation effects combined with the evidence of increased variation in shareholder value may be attributed to uncontrolled firm-specific factors, the categorization of the HR events or, simply, to the unique interpretations the market placed upon these events.