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To provide an overview of recent empirical survey research on human resource competencies in Europe.

The survey data were collected in 2002 in the global human resource competence study (HRCS), an initiative of the University of Michigan. The study was processed online (web‐based). The respondents of the European HRCS, the main focus of our empirical analysis in this paper, were HR professionals and line managers of multinational companies located in Europe.

The results suggest that personal credibility and HR delivery have a positive effect on the relative ranking of the HR function and its professionals. According to non‐HR respondents strategic contribution is the competency that will lead to financial competitiveness, while HR managers consider business knowledge to be crucial for added value of the HR function.

First, the data are cross‐sectional and one should therefore be very careful in assuming certain causal relationships between domains and performance. Second, the analyses are built on perception data. Finally, the inclusion of more control variables like “size of the organisation” was limited as a result of missing data.

The approach demonstrates how competencies of the HR function (e.g. HR delivery, personal credibility, strategic contribution) can contribute to a stronger position of the HR function within an organization and to agility and long‐term viability of an organization (sustainability).

This paper gives an overview of the literature on HR roles and introduces the HR competency perspective for strengthening the position of the HR function and the added value of the HR function to the organization's sustainability.

Within the manufacturing sector, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face specific challenges with regard to their strategic HRM capabilities. In this context, an emerging issue for both researchers and practitioners regards HR information systems (HRIS), i.e. the deployment of strategic IT capabilities to enable the firm’s high-performance work system (HPWS) capabilities and thus improve the performance of its HR function. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by using a capability-based mediation perspective to study the strategic alignment of HR and IT.

A survey study of 206 manufacturing SMEs was realized and the data thus obtained was analyzed through structural equation modeling.

Results confirm that the HRIS capabilities of SMEs influence the performance of the HR function through their strategic alignment with the HPWS capabilities of these enterprises.

The results suggest that the manufacturing SMEs most active in developing their HRIS capabilities while developing their HPWS capabilities are most likely to develop a competitive advantage through the improved performance of their HR function. This is especially important in a time when firms of all sizes across the globe are waging a “war for talent,” and are enabled to do so by their strategic use of IT.

The results of the study constitute a valid basis for prediction and prescription with regards to the strategic alignment of human and IT resources.

This article aims to examine the effects of the best value policy initiative on the human resource function in Scottish local government. The article examines whether best value provides the human resource function with the opportunity and ability to perform strategically, rather than in a reactive and opportune manner. In addition, it will examine whether the policy will enable the human resource (HR) function to move from the mechanistic, repetitive activities HR specialists report consume their time, towards the “softer”, more consultative tasks associated with the HR function.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between human resource (HR), situation strength and improvisation behavior. A high degree of “fit” among HR practices and between such practices and organizational strategy, is said to have an impact on organizational outcomes. How these fits are achieved is not fully understood in the literature. It has been proposed that horizontal fit is achieved when messages regarding HR matters are communicated to employees in a distinct, consensual, and consistent way. This will create a strong situation, which in turn will affect outcomes such as improvisation behavior. Situation strength is captured by the concepts of climate strength, and culture strength.

The research was conducted at a call center of a company belonging to a Portuguese Telecommunications Group. In total, 91 questionnaires were collected. Scales in the questionnaire are based on existing indicators, but a new measure of HR strength (HRS) was also used. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling.

Results show that HRS has a direct effect on improvisation behavior. Furthermore, culture is a mediator between HRS and climate. There was also a strong indication that culture may be a mediator between HRS and improvisation behavior.

Limitations concern the sample size and the fact that research was conducted in a call center. Implications for research include the need to introduce leadership into this type of studies, as well as model and scales validation.

The current research advances knowledge in the area in three ways. First, it presents a new instrument to measure HRS. Second, it introduces improvisation as an outcome of HR. And third, it tests a full model that links HR to social common structures (climate and culture) and performance outcomes (improvisation behavior in this work).

Introduction: Healthcare facilities have witnessed deterioration, limited employee engagement, and communication gaps due to a lack of wireless technology. The Internet makes work and life quicker and more intelligent. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a scheme of interconnection equipped with unique identifiers in recent years. Artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT advancement allow employees to develop competent and predictive services and solutions in human resource (HR) practices. This chapter has been formulated to summarise and classify the existing research and better understand the past, present, and future of employee engagement by improving IoT interrelated devices in the healthcare industry.

Purpose: This study aims to categorise and overcome the challenges involved in HR practices. Effectively embracing IoT application-connected devices in the healthcare industry can enhance human resources management’s (HRM) role and measure performance assessment to improve employee engagement and productivity.

Methodology: In this study, the authors develop propositions dependent on a theory-based review. A systematic analysis was applied to minimise the challenges of HRM. The subject-related articles from different journal sources, like Scopus, Emerald, Web of Science, Springer, etc., were analysed based on engagement criteria. It was graphically recorded in a collective and informative way to emphasise the review outcomes. The study has presented the positive impacts of AI and IoT on engagement in health care.

Summary: This chapter accumulated theory-based knowledge about healthcare employee engagement and how IoT-based technology like AI can optimise employees’ engagement effectively. Further, it draws comparative benefits for a workforce to execute performance advancements and create future progressive aspects for healthcare employees.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of past and current developments in human resource (HR) function in Lithuania.

The paper discusses the antecedents of HR function developments in Lithuania through an analysis of the country's demographic, economic, legal and cultural environments and historical human resource management (HRM) developments. Current HR function status is shown through findings of an HR manager/specialist survey conducted at 119 medium‐ and large‐sized organisations, which was part of the 2008‐2009 Cranet survey.

The majority of organisations have HRM departments and an HR strategy, and in about half HR is represented on the board and is involved to some extent in business strategy development. HR responsibility is shared by line management and HR function. About 90 per cent of organisations have a mission statement and a business strategy. Trade union power is currently low due to historic and political reasons; however, findings show that it is gaining more status. About half of the organisations have developed corporate social responsibility policies, though few offer non‐statutory social welfare schemes. Reward individualisation is higher among private‐sector employers. Downward communication is used to a considerable extent by both private and public organisations, while upward communication is more extensively practised by private‐sector organisations.

The paper discloses current HR function developments in Lithuania based on its historical heritage, antecedents in macro/micro environments and empirical data, which provide valuable insights for local organisations and foreign investors into current HRM status.

The paper discloses the influences on HR function developments and their current status in Lithuania, which are still under‐researched in the country, and contributes to HRM research in the Central and East Europe region.

The purpose of this paper is to derive a measure for the performance of human resource shared service providers (HR SSPs) and then to develop a theoretical framework that conceptualises their performance.

This conceptual paper starts from the HR shared services argument and integrates this with the knowledge‐based view of the firm and the concept of intellectual capital.

The authors recommend measuring HR SSP performance as HR value, referring to the ratio between use value and exchange value, that together reflect both transactional and transformational HR value. They argue that transactional HR value directly flows from the organisational capital in HR SSPs, whereas human and social capitals enable them to leverage their organisational capital for HR value creation. The authors argue that the human capital of HR SSPs has a direct effect on transformational HR value creation, while their social and organisational capitals positively moderate this relationship.

The suggested measure paves the way for operationalising and measuring the performance of HR shared services providers. This paper offers testable propositions for the relationships between intellectual capital and the performance of HR shared service providers. These contributions could assist future research to move beyond the descriptive nature that characterises the existing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to derive a measure for the performance of human resource shared service providers (HR SSPs) and then to develop a theoretical framework that conceptualises their performance.

This conceptual paper starts from the HR shared services argument and integrates this with the knowledge‐based view of the firm and the concept of intellectual capital.

The authors recommend measuring HR SSP performance as HR value, referring to the ratio between use value and exchange value, that together reflect both transactional and transformational HR value. They argue that transactional HR value directly flows from the organisational capital in HR SSPs, whereas human and social capitals enable them to leverage their organisational capital for HR value creation. They argue that the human capital of HR SSPs has a direct effect on transformational HR value creation, while their social and organisational capitals positively moderate this relationship.

The suggested measure paves the way for operationalising and measuring the performance of HR shared services providers. The paper offers testable propositions for the relationships between intellectual capital and the performance of HR shared service providers. These contributions could assist future research to move beyond the descriptive nature that characterises the existing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to look into the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource management (HRM) developments in Lithuania and to study the relationship between CSR, HRM and organisational performance outcomes.

A survey of 119 medium and large‐sized organisations (over 100 employees) in Lithuania was conducted to study CSR and HRM implementation in the country and to test the relationship between CSR, HRM and organisational performance outcomes.

In total, 78.1 per cent of the respondent organisations have a written or unwritten HR strategy. Only 38.8 per cent have a CSR statement, but more than half of respondent organisations have a code of ethics, corporate values statement and diversity statement (respectively 65.4, 63.0 and 53.1 per cent). Research findings show that there is a linkage between HRM, CSR and performance outcomes – organisations with more developed HRM, i.e. those where HRM performs a strategic role and the HR function performance is evaluated, have better developed CSR policies. The latter were found to have an impact on organisational and financial performance outcomes.

The study is built on the Cranet survey data, therefore not all CSR‐related HRM practices are analysed. Due to a limited number of organisations using CSR‐related HRM practices, the statistical analysis fails to determine statistically significant relationships between the usage of those practices, the level of CSR development and performance outcomes.

Organisations that are socially responsible and follow a strategic approach to HRM exhibit better performance outcomes, profitability in particular.

The paper confirms the existence of the HRM‐CSR‐performance linkage, i.e. organisations with better developed HRM, where HR plays a more strategic role and its performance is more evaluated, also have more developed formal CSR policies, which in turn has a positive impact on organisational and financial performance outcomes.

Describes a process through which an organization moved from traditional personnel management towards a more strategically oriented human resource management. Focuses on tracking down, periodically, the actions taken by the human resource manager and his/her relationships with the strategic management team within the context of major structural and strategic changes. Suggests that the internal dynamism of the human resource function led by an innovative leader, serves as a critical mechanism to keep the change process going after its start under favourable organizational and strategic circumstances.