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Article
Publication date: 16 November 2012

Vathsala Wickramasinghe and Gayan Perera

The purpose of this paper is to investigate human resource management (HRM) practices adopted by firms during the recession period of 2008‐2010, their impact on employees'…

1740

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate human resource management (HRM) practices adopted by firms during the recession period of 2008‐2010, their impact on employees' happiness at work, and whether there are any differences by the size of the firm.

Design/methodology/approach

Two survey questionnaires were developed for the study, one targeting non‐managerial employees and the other targeting senior managers. Two random samples of non‐managerial employees (n=263) and senior managers (n=76) attached fulltime to globally distributed software development firms in Sri Lanka responded. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple regression were used.

Findings

It was found that reduction in financial rewards, reduction in benefits, and training and development provision significantly vary by the size of the firm. Further, the communication of information, performance management, reduction in financial rewards, and reduction in benefits significantly predict employees' happiness at work during recession.

Research limitations/implications

The research was designed as a cross‐sectional study employing survey methodology. Respondent senior managers were reluctant to provide actual data on layoffs and quits during the recession period.

Practical implications

The findings of this study would contribute for practitioners to better understand the HRM practices adopted by the firms during recession and effects of these HRM practices on employees' level of happiness at work.

Social implications

Employees' happiness by doing what is worth doing, pursing important goals, and using one's skills and talents during the economic recession could be affected by the HRM practices adopted during the recession.

Originality/value

It is evident that firms facing economic recession launch cost reduction initiatives such as pay cuts and freeze in new hires. From the academic and practical standpoint it is important to identify the influence of such HRM practices adopted during the recession on employees' happiness at work. However, available research does not provide sufficient understanding about the influence of HRM practices on employees' happiness at work during recession as empirical research on this area is presently lacking.

Details

Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8297

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1988

Karen Legge

Since the late 1970s, the study of the role, structure and functions of personnel management in the United Kingdom has been greatly facilitated by surveys emerging from a number…

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, the study of the role, structure and functions of personnel management in the United Kingdom has been greatly facilitated by surveys emerging from a number of large‐scale surveys. A major interest in interpreting the data from these surveys has been to evaluate the impact of recession, and, latterly, recovery on the power, structure and roles of personnel departments and personnel specialists in recent years. The survey data are used comparatively to evaluate the empirical plausibility of the different scenarios which have arisen, and to account for the results that emerge.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1995

Sinikka Vanhala

Describes the state‐of‐the‐art of human resource management inFinland in the mid‐1990s as the Finnish economy recovers from itsdeepest and longest post‐war recession. Typical to…

6461

Abstract

Describes the state‐of‐the‐art of human resource management in Finland in the mid‐1990s as the Finnish economy recovers from its deepest and longest post‐war recession. Typical to the Finnish system has been the mix of social, political and employers′ interests in the collective bargaining system; Finnish HRM cannot be understood without knowing its context, the main trends of which are: survival from rationalization and related labour reductions, increasing cost‐effectiveness and line responsibility, the flexible use of labour and utilization of the labour force. The implications of EU membership on the Finnish HRM are mainly seen to be related to free mobility of employees and changes in social security and labour relations.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 17 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2013

Patrick Gunnigle, Jonathan Lavelle and Sinéad Monaghan

This paper aims to examine the impact of the global financial crisis on human resource management (HRM) in multinational companies (MNCs) in Ireland. It focuses on four key areas…

4403

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of the global financial crisis on human resource management (HRM) in multinational companies (MNCs) in Ireland. It focuses on four key areas of HR, namely staffing, pay and benefits, industrial relations and the HR function.

Design/methodology/approach

It uses a mixed methods approach involving four major data sources combining objective information reported on the impact of the GFC on HRM with subjective perspectives on HRM practice within MNCs.

Findings

Specific findings are presented in regard to staffing, pay and benefits, industrial relations and role of HR function. The authors find extensive evidence to indicate that MNCs have been in the vanguard of organisations engaging in multidimensional restructuring programmes in response to the GFC, incorporating many initiatives in the domain of HRM. These include job cuts, short‐term working, reduction in training and development expenditure, pay cuts and freezes, reduced benefits and changes in industrial relations. While the authors find that HR function has played a central key role in “delivering” responses to the GFC within MNCs, they also find evidence of a reorganisation of, and financial pressure on, the HR function itself.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to and develops the extant literature on the impact of economic crisis on human resource management.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 April 2021

Arosha S. Adikaram, N.P.G.S.I. Naotunna and H.P.R. Priyankara

This paper aims to present an empirically driven crisis management framework of complementary human resource management (HRM) bundles that can be utilized in simultaneously…

5661

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present an empirically driven crisis management framework of complementary human resource management (HRM) bundles that can be utilized in simultaneously managing the health crisis, financial crisis and disruptions to business operations through lockdown and other government restrictions propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The framework is developed employing qualitative methodology, drawing from the successful HRM practices adopted by 26 Sri Lankan companies in battling the many crises of COVID-19 and using the soft HRM approach as the theoretical basis.

Findings

The findings report a framework that consists of three key HRM bundles (health and safety bundle, cost-saving bundle and employee motivation and engagement bundle) entailing an array of inter-related, internally consistent, complementary and mutually reinforcing HRM practices and HRM activities. These HRM bundles and the HRM practices as well as the HRM activities therein, indicate how a softer approach to managing employees can be used during a crisis.

Practical implications

The framework will inform the HRPs of the HRM bundles, HRM practices and HRM activities that can be used to manage the multiple crises created by COVID-19 and other similar pandemics.

Originality/value

The study contributes to and expands the knowledge of HRM in crisis management generally and HRM in a global pandemic more specifically.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 43 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2011

Johngseok Bae, Shyh‐Jer Chen and Chris Rowley

Human resource management (HRM) practices have been re‐evaluated under the pressures and constraints of factors such as globalization, inward and outward investment patterns…

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Abstract

Purpose

Human resource management (HRM) practices have been re‐evaluated under the pressures and constraints of factors such as globalization, inward and outward investment patterns, multinational companies (MNCs), indigenous cultures and institutions. This paper aims to compare changes and continuities in key aspects of HRM in South Korea and Taiwan. It examines the impacts on HRM policies ‐ particularly employment security, extensive training, performance based pay and employee influence ‐ and the role of a core‐periphery model. Time effects, country effects and the interaction between them are explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was undertaken across a decade at three time periods between 1996 and 2005 and in both locally‐owned firms and MNC subsidiaries using questionnaires.

Findings

The authors find, first, recognizable general patterns over time; second, significant interaction effects of country and time; third, some HRM practices more culturally bounded than others.

Practical implications

These include issues relating to companies using more core‐periphery and performance based employment.

Originality/value

The paper makes use of an under‐used perspective, both comparative and longitudinal, at three time periods in two under‐researched contexts of South Korea and Taiwan.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 40 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 July 2013

Biju Varkkey and Randhir Kumar

The Indian diamond cutting and polishing (CPD) industry enjoys a global leadership position, but at the same time is vulnerable to economic shifts in the global market…

Abstract

Purpose

The Indian diamond cutting and polishing (CPD) industry enjoys a global leadership position, but at the same time is vulnerable to economic shifts in the global market. Historically, such shocks have resulted in shake down of the industry, including closures, bankruptcies, job losses and labour unrest. Most recently, the vulnerability was experienced during the economic recession of 2008, which impacted both entrepreneurs and diamond workers alike. The shock elicited different adaptation strategies from individual firms. The paper aims to understand the adaptation strategies of large and formally organized diamond enterprises in Surat, India, with particular reference to “labour hoarding” as a strategy for workforce management.

Design/methodology/approach

Using case studies of four large CPD firms, the paper investigates patterns in managerial decision making pertaining to workforce management and adaptation strategies taken during recession. The authors also traced the subject companies' performance post‐recession. The tool used for data collection was semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews with entrepreneurs and human resource managers. For additional inputs and triangulation of findings, content analysis of news reports, along with interactions with several knowledgeable persons from both industry and government, were conducted.

Findings

The authors' study of the sample firms neither supports the popular notion of “workforce retention by large diamond enterprises, in spite of recession” nor the generalized statements about “massive lay‐offs by all”, as reported in popular media. The authors found that, due to recessionary pressure, there was a deep managerial dilemma in the companies about how to strike the right trade‐off between workforce retention (labour hoarding) and downsizing. The paper argues that, post‐recession, the companies whose decisions were pro‐labour retention (hoarding) oriented were able to come back in business stronger and perform better.

Originality/value

The diamond industry of India is ethno‐bound in its functioning, where community and regional/linguistic affiliations of both workers and entrepreneurs traditionally played a vital role. Therefore, the employee management practices adopted do not strictly fall within the general realm of western management practices or popular HRM frameworks. The study shows that context‐dependent employee management strategies, suiting the need for maintaining the traditional ethno‐bound values even during recessionary pressure, created long‐term positive effects for the firm.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2013

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…

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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.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2010

Rūta Kazlauskaitė and Ilona Bučiūnienė

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

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Abstract

Purpose

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

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2016

Seamus McGuinness and Hugh Cronin

The purpose of this paper is to use a linked employer-employee data set, the National Employment Survey, to examine the determinants of organisational change and employee…

2013

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use a linked employer-employee data set, the National Employment Survey, to examine the determinants of organisational change and employee resistance to change and, specifically, to examine the influence of employee inflexibility on the implementation of firm-level policies aimed at increasing competitiveness and workforce flexibility. A key finding arising from the research is that while workforce resistance to job-related change often forces firms to seek alternative means of achieving labour flexibility, there appears little that firms can do to prevent such resistance occurring. The presence of HRM staff, consultation procedures, wage bargaining mechanisms, bullying and equality polices, etc. were found to have little impact on the incidence of workforce resistance to changes in job conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The objectives of this paper are twofold: first, the authors model the determinants of a measure of workforce resistance to job-related change and, second, the authors assess the impact of workforce resistance on the probability that firms will implement various wider forms of organisational change using linked employer-employee data.

Findings

Workforce resistance to proposed changes in job conditions was found to be lower in organisations employing higher shares of educated workers and also in smaller firms. HRM and employee relations measures were found to have little impact on worker resistance to changing employment conditions, while trade union density was important only with respect to alterations to core terms and conditions. Resistance was found to be important for wider organisational change.

Research limitations/implications

From a policy perspective, the key finding arising from the research is that while workforce resistance to job-related change often forces firms to seek alternative means of achieving flexibility, there appears little that firms can do to prevent such resistance occurring or mediating its impacts. The presence of HRM staff, consultation procedures, wage bargaining mechanisms, bullying and equality polices, etc. were found to have little impact on the incidence of workforce resistance to changes in job conditions.

Social implications

The results support the hypothesis that the increased use of peripheral workers observed in many aspect of the economy is due, at least in part, to inflexibility among existing workers to take on additional roles and responsibilities.

Originality/value

The paper utilises a linked employee-employer data set in a novel way to investigate within firm relationships and tests a number of hypotheses using advanced econometric techniques.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

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