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Article
Publication date: 27 June 2008

O. Aura, G. Ahonen and K‐E. Sveiby

The paper's aim is, in a framework of intellectual capital (IC), to study the interactions of a worksite fitness program (WFP) policy with a multidisciplinary approach in an…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper's aim is, in a framework of intellectual capital (IC), to study the interactions of a worksite fitness program (WFP) policy with a multidisciplinary approach in an IT‐company of 220 employees.

Design/methodology/approach

In a five years follow‐up setting, the associations of physical activity and the company's worksite fitness policy (WFP) effects on different elements of IC were studied. Qualitative methods were applied in constructing indicators and a scorecard type IC measure.

Findings

In a cross‐sectional and follow‐up setting, several findings with respect to IC were observed regarding physical activity in general and activity in WFP in particular. The findings were relatively strong regarding health‐ and wellness‐related indicators as part of human capital, where also relational capital indicators such as project feedback, revealed positive associations. Overall, WFP was seen to be an integrated part of structural capital.

Research limitations/implications

This case study was carried out in Finland, where the traditions of WFP are relatively long. This will, to some extent, restrict the implications of the results in countries or business cultures where WFP is not general.

Practical implications

The results emphasize first the need for company specific IC measures, and second the importance of humane, soft management procedures (like WFP) in developing a company's IC.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to examine the relations of IC and WFP and will thus provide new insights in developing a company specific IC.

Details

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1401-338X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2020

James Richards

Currently, sustainable HRM is largely an employer-driven exercise based on raising employee productivity. The purpose of the article is to expand this position by fully mapping…

4338

Abstract

Purpose

Currently, sustainable HRM is largely an employer-driven exercise based on raising employee productivity. The purpose of the article is to expand this position by fully mapping out sustainable HRM and placing employees at the centre of such practices. A further purpose is to provide a research agenda suited to a wider take on sustainable HRM.

Design/methodology/approach

The article centres on an analytical review of extant sustainable HRM literature, plus an analytical review of wider literature considering further ways to sustain employment.

Findings

Employee-centred sustainable HRM goes far beyond what is accounted for in the extant HRM literature. The new map accounts for wider parties to sustainable HRM, including trade unions and self-organised employees. An extensive research agenda is a further key output from the study.

Research limitations/implications

The article is based on a literature review. Follow-up empirical research is required to test out aspects of the new map, as well as address research gaps identified by the review.

Practical implications

The findings have practical implications for HRM and occupational health practitioners, line managers, built environment and ergonomics specialists, governments, trade unions and workplace activists. A key practical implication is the potential to create micro-forms of corporatism, where wider political structures are absent, to foster employee-centred forms of sustainable HRM.

Originality/value

The article is novel in terms of drawing on a wide range of incongruous literature and synthesising the literature into a new map and an extensive research agenda.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 44 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2014

Lia Ahonen and Jürgen Degner

Institutional staff encounter juveniles with complex problems (externalizing and internalizing) which calls for adequate formal education/training and professional experience to…

Abstract

Purpose

Institutional staff encounter juveniles with complex problems (externalizing and internalizing) which calls for adequate formal education/training and professional experience to deliver quality treatment, contributing to an effective organization and increasing public value. The purpose of this paper is to investigate staff's formal education, professional experience and the institutions’ organizational strategies providing knowledge and clinical training to staff.

Design/methodology/approach

The study includes staff questionnaires from eight wards (n=102). In addition, 39 in-depth interviews were conducted with management and staff members.

Findings

Results show that institutions lack clearly defined target groups, 70 percent of staff members lack college education, 30 percent has never been offered education within the organization, and the vast majority of staff does not feel competent in performing their daily work.

Practical implications

The results from this study shed light on an overlooked area in institutions, detention centers and prison settings, and are important to policy makers and governmental organizations responsible for coercive care of juveniles.

Originality/value

Unlike previous studies, treatment and detention organizations are emphasized as similar to manufacturing industry and profit organizations, and the results are discussed with departure in organizational theory.

Details

International Journal of Prisoner Health, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-9200

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2009

Guy Ahonen

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the feasibility of market based estimations of the value of human capital in firms.

1428

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the feasibility of market based estimations of the value of human capital in firms.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of intangible assets and market‐based valuation of human capital is presented. Cases of extreme estimates of human capital values are presented. The possibility of extremely low or even negative human capital values is examined.

Findings

It is demonstrated that odd human capital values can be explained by referring to principles of valuating fixed assets and intangible liability.

Practical implications

The paper demonstrates that market‐based methods for estimating the value of human capital of the firm can be feasible despite the existence of very odd human capital values.

Originality/value

The findings of the paper adds to the discussion of how to valuate human capital in intellectual capital accounts in general and human capital accounts in particular.

Details

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1401-338X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Lidia Galabova and Guy Ahonen

The purpose of this paper is to construct a strategy model based on Intellectual Capital (IC) theory and to demonstrate that it is not purely resource‐based (RBV), but includes…

1548

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to construct a strategy model based on Intellectual Capital (IC) theory and to demonstrate that it is not purely resource‐based (RBV), but includes many elements that are rooted in the market based view (MBV). The authors' analysis indicates that only strategies which lead to both tangible and intangible revenues are sustainable in a knowledge‐based economy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of an extensive review of IC and strategy literature, and in‐depth comparative analysis of IC concept and the strategy management frameworks, particularly Porter's framework.

Findings

It is found that the IC‐based view (ICBV) is much closer to the MBV than what one would expect and the ICBV is more appropriate for a knowledge‐based economy than both the MBV and the RBV in general.

Originality/value

It is widely assumed that IC theory is strongly related to resource‐based strategy. The authors question this simple view and maintain that the IC‐based view relates to both MBV and RBV.

Details

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1401-338X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2008

Paula Kujansivu

Intellectual capital (IC) management includes various activities that focus on identifying, measuring, controlling and developing the intangible resources of business. As a

Abstract

Purpose

Intellectual capital (IC) management includes various activities that focus on identifying, measuring, controlling and developing the intangible resources of business. As a concept IC management is still theoretical – the managerial problem is that managers do not know the most appropriate approach for them to operationalise IC management. The purpose of this research is to understand the situation in which a suitable approach to IC management is chosen and factors affecting the choice.

Design/methodology/approach

Factors that may affect choosing the approach to IC management are suggested in light of the literature. In addition, three cases in which a suitable approach to IC management is chosen in practice are examined. The main research method used in the cases is action research.

Findings

The results may provide support when operationalisation of IC management is relevant. The framework presented can be used as a guideline when deciding how to operationalise IC management in one's own organisation. In addition, three examples are given of how IC management can be initiated and why certain choices have been made. Using the framework researchers can improve their models to take better of account various situations.

Originality/value

This paper provides new knowledge about the situation in which a suitable approach to IC management is selected and the factors affecting the choice. The results contribute to the existing discussion on IC management by diminishing the gap between theory and practice.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Lotte Holck

The purpose of this paper is to apply a spatial approach to organizational inequality to explore why unequal opportunity structures persist in an organization despite its…

1149

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply a spatial approach to organizational inequality to explore why unequal opportunity structures persist in an organization despite its commitment to diversity and employing highly skilled ethnic minority employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The (re)production of inequality is explored by linking research on organizational space with HRM diversity management. Data from an ethnographic study undertaken in a Danish municipal center illustrates how a substructure of inequality is spatially upheld alongside a formal diversity policy. Archer’s distinction between structure and agency informs the analysis of how minority agency not only reproduces but also challenges organizational opportunity structures.

Findings

The analysis demonstrates how substructures of inequality stabilize in spatial routines enacted in an ethnic zoning of the workplace and ethnification of job categories. However, the same spatial structures allows for a variety of opposition and conciliation strategies among minority employees, even though the latter tend to prevail in a reproduction rather than a transformation of the organizational opportunity structures.

Research limitations/implications

The reliance on a single case study restricts the generalizability of the findings but highlights fruitful areas for future research.

Practical implications

The study sensitizes HRM practitioners to the situated quality of workplace diversity and to develop a broader scope of HRM practices to address the more subtle, spatially embedded forms of inequality.

Originality/value

Theoretical and empirical connections between research on organizational space and HRM diversity management have thus far not been systematically studied. This combination might advance knowledge on the persistence of micro-inequality even in organizations formally committed to diversity.

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2004

Tomi Hussi

Intellectual capital, intangible assets and knowledge creation are all concepts that are strongly linked to the phenomenon of knowledge management. Yet they have only been…

6242

Abstract

Intellectual capital, intangible assets and knowledge creation are all concepts that are strongly linked to the phenomenon of knowledge management. Yet they have only been parallel to each other. This controversy between different approaches has also resulted in vague definitions of knowledge management. This paper will critically discuss the definitions of these concepts. The analysis shows that different concepts actually focus on different angles of the topic. Based on this, a model will be built that ties all of them into a unitary entity. At the same time, this model gives a reconfigured definition of the concept of knowledge management.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Monika Kansal and Mahesh Joshi

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of corporate disclosure on human resources (HR) in the annual reports of top performing Indian companies.

1252

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent of corporate disclosure on human resources (HR) in the annual reports of top performing Indian companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the extent to which top 82 companies from India present information about HR in their annual reports. This study examines the annual reports of each of the top Indian firms listed on the Bombay stock exchange, using the “content analysis” method. Statistical tests have been performed to analyse the difference between the HR disclosure score across public and private sectors and disclosure variations among various industrial sectors.

Findings

In-house training programmes has been noticed to be the favourite item of disclosure followed by safety awards/certifications and statements regarding cordial relations with the employees/unions. A majority of the Indian firms have ignored significant HR issues such as employee welfare fund, maternity/paternity leaves, holiday benefits, employee loans and adopting old age homes, etc. Overall, the study reflects low HR related disclosures. No statistically significant difference has been found between the mean HR disclosure from one industry to another and disclosure practices of the private and the public sector companies.

Practical implications

The disclosure pattern of the Indian companies suggests that they only a few companies are concerned about employees’ welfare than the rest. This may motivate a change of the disclosure policy of the rest of the firms who may follow the reporting pattern of the most disclosing ones.

Originality/value

This is first study on the disclosure of HR by the Indian corporate sector in the CSR domain with a disclosure analysis for a period of nine years . This research provides new directions for the literature in this area and may promote comparative studies on HR-based studies from different perspectives.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 August 2021

Anna Schliehe

Abstract

Details

Young Women's Carceral Geographies: Abandonment, Trouble and Mobility
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-050-9

1 – 10 of 384