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1 – 10 of 376Carmen Paz-Aparicio, Joan E. Ricart and Jaime Bonache
Offshoring has been studied widely in the literature on strategic management and international business. However, apart from its consideration as an administrative activity, scant…
Abstract
Purpose
Offshoring has been studied widely in the literature on strategic management and international business. However, apart from its consideration as an administrative activity, scant attention has been paid to the offshoring of the human resource (HR) function. Research in this regard has instead focussed on outsourcing (Reichel and Lazarova, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to achieve a better understanding of companies’ decisions to offshore HR activities. It adapts the outsourcing model of Baron and Kreps (1999) by including the HR offshoring phenomenon and a dynamic perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
While the analysis is mostly conceptual, the authors ground the author’s arguments in offshoring data from the Offshoring Research Network, to explore whether the drivers for offshoring HR differ from the drivers for offshoring other administrative activities. The idiosyncrasy of the HR function is supported by the authors’ exploratory analysis and also by the descriptive case of a multinational and its experience with offshoring.
Findings
A coevolutionary model is proposed for understanding the behaviour of companies offshoring their HR activities. This study contends that companies should address their decision to offshore HR activities from a dynamic perspective, being aware of three processes that are in constant change: the evolution of the HR function, the evolution of service providers, and the evolution of offshoring decisions.
Originality/value
This study seeks to make a threefold contribution to the international business, strategy, and HR management disciplines.
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Joana Kuntz and Abigail Roberts
The purpose of this study was to investigate the unique contributions from social (i.e. trust climate, departmental integration) and organisational factors (i.e. managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the unique contributions from social (i.e. trust climate, departmental integration) and organisational factors (i.e. managerial recognition, goal clarity and technology support) to work engagement and identification with the organisation in a human resource offshoring (HRO) context.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were recruited from a large Australian financial institution with an HR centre located in the Philippines. Ninety-one members of the captive HR centre completed the anonymous online questionnaire consisting of quantitative items and open-ended fields. Regression analyses were conducted to ascertain the relationships hypothesised.
Findings
The findings suggest that goal clarity is a key predictor of both engagement and identification with the organisation, and that technology support and managerial recognition also influence offshore staff members’ motivation and workplace attitudes.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional, self-report nature of the study, along with the small sample obtained, are noted as limitations of the study. Nevertheless, the high response rate (91 per cent) and availability of qualitative data provide valuable insight into the key factors that impact HRO operations and performance.
Practical implications
The study uncovers social and organisational variables that affect staff motivation and attitudes in an HRO context, and offers a number of guidelines for practitioners operating in these settings, focussing on goal clarity, managerial recognition and technology support.
Originality/value
The study contributes to a growing body of research into the organisational and human capital factors that account for HRO performance and sustainability, and offers preliminary evidence for their unique contributions to key performance drivers. Guidelines for future research and business practice are proposed, namely, the consideration of multilevel and temporal approaches to the management and investigation of HRO operations.
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The last decades have seen manufacturing and services offshoring on the rise, often motivated by low prices and without consideration of other important criteria such as…
Abstract
Purpose
The last decades have seen manufacturing and services offshoring on the rise, often motivated by low prices and without consideration of other important criteria such as additional cost measures and risk. With wages in former low-cost countries and automation/robotization increasing, these decisions are increasingly contested. Re-evaluations of “shoring” decisions inherently create a need to re-examine theoretical and academic contributions to this rapidly changing phenomenon. Therefore, the special issue sought manuscripts that added to the exciting and dynamic body of knowledge on “rightshoring”. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper starts out by delimiting outsourcing/insourcing and offshoring/reshoring as part of a conceptual “rightshoring” framework to establish a common terminology and context for the insights gathered in the special issue. It illustrates that “shoring” options can be classified along geographical and governance dimensions.
Findings
Both the geographical and governance dimensions are part of the rightshoring decision which is an important conceptual foundation for this special issue, as it invited insightful pieces on all of these phenomena (e.g. outsourcing, insourcing, offshoring, reshoring), acknowledging that these decisions are embedded in the same context – firms making governance and location decisions. Therefore, papers 1-4 primarily focus on offshoring, whereas paper 5 focuses on insourcing and paper 6 on reshoring. Their main findings are summarized in Table II.
Research limitations/implications
Suggestions for future research out of the six papers are summarized in Table III. There is ample opportunity to further shed light on these suggestions as well as to cover parts of the “rightshoring” framework presented, that remain less covered here (e.g. insourcing and/or reshoring).
Practical implications
The array of potential “rightshoring” options fosters clarity about the phenomena studied and their implications. The main practical implications of the six papers are summarized in Table II.
Originality/value
The overall conceptual framework highlights the positioning of the final papers included into the special issue and provides guidance to scholars and managers alike.
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This chapter seeks to optimize HR shared services performance by highlighting the potential for service fragmentation that can arise out of in the so-called Ulrich (structure or…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter seeks to optimize HR shared services performance by highlighting the potential for service fragmentation that can arise out of in the so-called Ulrich (structure or service delivery) model.
Design/methodology/approach
The evidence used in this chapter principally comes from the author’s own work, especially research for the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), and draws upon academic literature where possible.
Findings
This chapter argues that HR directors should guard against three sets of fragmentation risks. Firstly, HR shared services should be properly connected to the rest of HR to offer customers an integrated service to avoid the structure’s division of labor inducing incoherence. Second, to guard against this risk, HR directors should exercise care in outsourcing/offshoring beyond individual, discrete services because contractually or spatially separating services risks exacerbating this tendency to fragmentation. Outsourcing/offshoring may focus too much on cost savings and insufficiently on quality. So, third, HR should argue for the distinctiveness of its activities and fight commoditization that is also implied in the creation of cross-functional shared service centers.
Research limitations/implications
The arguments in this chapter could be better supported by academic research. In-depth case studies of management decision making and shared services operation would help support or challenge the chapter’s conclusion, as could quantitative evidence on the benefits/disbenefits of outsourcing/offshoring/cross-functional shared services centers.
Practical implications
We have highlighted a number of reported problems with HR shared services operation, besides the three principal risks noted above, but we have suggested possible solutions that could be adopted by practitioners.
Originality/value
HR managers may find this chapter helpful in designing new HR structures or in assessing the effectiveness of shared services that goes beyond the typical key performance indicator measures.
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The paper aims to examine the factors that influence the turnover intention of information system (IS) personnel.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the factors that influence the turnover intention of information system (IS) personnel.
Design/methodology/approach
Anchored in the theory of human capital and the theory of planned behavior, as well as an extensive review of existing turnover literature, the authors propose a novel set of variables based on the three‐level analysis framework suggested by Joseph et al. to examine IS turnover intention. At the individual level, IT certifications, IT experience, and past external and internal turnover behaviors are considered. At the firm level, industry type (IT versus non‐IT firms) and IT human resource practices regarding raise and promotion are included. Finally, at the environmental level, personal concerns about external changes characterized by IT outsourcing and offshoring are studied. The authors investigate the impact of these variables on turnover intention using a large sample of 10,085 IT professionals working in the USA.
Findings
The empirical analysis based on logistic regression indicates significant associations between the variables and turnover intention.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may be directed toward developing multiple‐item measures for better validity and reliability of the study.
Practical implications
The authors derive managerial implications that may help guide firms to formulate effective human resource management and retention policies and strategies. They include the importance of organizational support for certification programs and the retention strategy based on the three phase career life cycle of IT professionals.
Originality/value
The study shows many interesting findings, some of which contrast the existing assertions. For example, the authors cannot find the inverted U‐shaped curvilinear relationship between IT experience and turnover intention shown in previous research.
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Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn and Teit Lüthje
A major part of economic globalization has taken place in the form of different globalization strategies. Offshoring and outsourcing of manufacturing activities from Western…
Abstract
Purpose
A major part of economic globalization has taken place in the form of different globalization strategies. Offshoring and outsourcing of manufacturing activities from Western locations to Eastern Europe and the Far East are used to remain competitive. Such strategies have implications for supply chain performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether supply chain performance is affected differently depending on the choice of globalization strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on in‐depth literature reviews and explorative case studies – two offshoring and two outsourcing projects. A model explaining the choice of localization and globalization strategy (the OLI model) is applied as a basic framework. Data have been collected through in‐depth interviews with persons responsible for the offshoring and outsourcing projects.
Findings
The paper addresses different practices of managing supply chain performance in offshoring and outsourcing strategies. The OLI model provides an increased consciousness of the managerial challenges related to supply chain performance based on the chosen globalization strategy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is explorative in nature and is based on four case studies. The paper provides no basis for statistical generalizations.
Practical implications
The supply chain performance is affected both positively and negatively in each type of globalization strategy. The OLI model provides an extended understanding of the factors that should be considered in decision processes concerning offshoring and outsourcing.
Originality/value
In this paper, the OLI model is integrated in a new understanding of supply chain performance.
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Anthony McDonnell and John Burgess
This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the global financial crisis (GFC), highlighting its most frightening dimensions, the policy responses and issues around the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a brief overview of the global financial crisis (GFC), highlighting its most frightening dimensions, the policy responses and issues around the management of labour during and post‐GFC. Further, this paper introduces the five research papers that encompass this special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The papers presented here are early contributions on how the GFC has impacted the management of people. The key areas focused upon include the human resource management responses of multinational enterprises, the response of trade unions, the roles of employee representative bodies and the rationalisation of post‐crisis managerial strategies.
Findings
The major conclusions of this special issue are that the impact of the GFC was variable across countries and sectors in addition to the process of decision making, the types of decisions made, and the determinants and consequences of those decisions.
Originality/value
The papers of the special issue provide some of the first empirical findings on how the GFC has impacted on people management, trade unions and the HR function in different contexts.
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Jatinder Kumar Jha, Jatin Pandey and Biju Varkkey
This paper aims to examine the relationship between perceived investments in employees’ development (PIED) on work engagement and the moderating effects of psychological capital…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between perceived investments in employees’ development (PIED) on work engagement and the moderating effects of psychological capital on this relationship for liquid knowledge workers, employed in the Indian cutting and polishing of diamond industry (CPD).
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire composed of established scales was administered to 134 liquid knowledge workers. Having established convergent and discriminant validity using structural equation modelling, the model was further analysed using the Process macro to check for direct and moderating effects.
Findings
The research findings suggest that the perceived investment in employee development and psychological contract enhancement (relational and transactional) made by CPD units for liquid knowledge workers positively influenced their work engagement level. The study also finds that relational contract (not transactional contract) positively moderates the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and work engagement.
Research limitations/implications
This is a cross-sectional single source study; future studies could look at longitudinal and multisource perspective.
Practical implications
The study presents a “star matrix of engagement” that guides the application of the two strategies of perceived employee development and psychological contract enhancement for liquid knowledge workers. This has implications for design and implementation of human resource management practices and policies for employee management.
Originality/value
The study makes significant contributions to existing literature on antecedents of work engagement of liquid knowledge workers by examining the direct and moderating influences.
Details
Keywords
- Quantitative
- Employee management
- Indian cutting and polishing of diamond (CPD) industry
- Liquid knowledge workers
- Liquid workforce
- Perceived investment in employee development (PIED)
- Relational psychological contact
- Transactional psychological contract
- Work engagement
- Highly skilled work force
- Training
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
Scans the top 400 management publications in the world to identify the most topical issues and latest concepts. These are presented in an easy‐to‐digest briefing of no more than 1,500 words.
Findings
Constant pressure on the bottom line and moves towards a global marketplace mean that offshoring elements of the business overseas is a growing trend. A recent survey of 500 finance and HR leaders in the USA suggested that the number of jobs moved offshore will double in three years. Similar predictions from forecasters claim that this number will rise by 40 per cent annually for the next five years. In financial terms, the long‐term prediction is that by 2020 3.3 million jobs in servicing will have moved into offshore markets from the USA alone, which accounts for $136 billion in wages.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.
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Marcus M. Larsen and Torben Pedersen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the organizational reconfiguration of offshoring on firms’ strategies. A consequence of offshoring is the need to…
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the organizational reconfiguration of offshoring on firms’ strategies. A consequence of offshoring is the need to reintegrate the geographically relocated organizational activities into a coherent organizational architecture. In order to do this, firms need a high degree of architectural knowledge, which is typically gained through learning by doing. We therefore argue that firms with more offshoring experience are more likely to include organizational objectives in their offshoring strategies. We develop and find support for this hypothesis using a mixed-method approach based on a qualitative case study and comprehensive data from the Offshoring Research Network. These findings contribute to research on the organizational design and architecture of offshoring and the dynamics of organizational architectures.
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