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The purpose of this study is to test a model where human resource inputs (e.g. motivation, employee skill) and human resource processes/practices (e.g. training and development; profit sharing) are hypothesized to contribute uniquely and positively to organizational outputs, i.e. job performance and firm performance.

The cross‐sectional study consisted of 350 business professionals (91 percent managers; 9 percent consultants) from a midwestern US professional organization who took a battery of survey measures via the internet.

After statistically controlling for the background variables (organizational type, size and status), the hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that both the human resource inputs and process/practice variables explained statistically significant variance in each of the nine regression models. The effect size in each model was medium to large.

The findings illustrate the considerable utility of researchers and managers examining the entire human resource system of an organization when searching for productive leverage points to improve organizational outputs like job and firm performance. The results suggest that human resource managers can have a positive influence on firm performance through implementing and supporting organizational policies and procedures that serve to positively motivate workers (e.g. reasonable incentive compensation and rewards, fair grievance procedures, and performance management), and learning and development activities that stimulate optimal task and contextual job performance.

This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies' attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identifies how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on firm and industry level analyses.

Senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews.

The findings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where specific industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt.

This study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical understanding of strategic human resource management and specifically the forces that act to constrain the achievement of competitive advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions' perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.

This study has implications for companies' engagement with their executives' perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will struggle to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions are consistent with their competitors.

Developments in strategic human resource management have relied on the conceptual and theoretical developments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their shaping of SHRM has not been previously explored.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderating effect of environmental human resource management on the relationship between firms' environmental management practices and competitive advantages of cost and differentiation.

CEOs of Spanish chemical firms were asked to respond to a questionnaire containing the measures of the study variables. The final sample consists of 94 firms and the hypotheses were tested using partial least square methodology.

Empirical evidence showed that companies with a high level of human resource environmental practices can benefit from the advantages in costs and differentiation derived from the implementation of pollution prevention technologies.

From a theoretical standpoint, the paper discusses the moderating role of environmental human resource management practices in the relationship between pollution prevention technologies and economic performance. Empirically, it provides evidence of the role of human resource management practices and proactive environmental management practices in supporting competitive advantages of cost and differentiation.

There is noted emphasis on the role of small businesses as conduits for economic development especially in emerging economies. Given this, there is need for constantly seeking for ways to assist small businesses achieve success. Calls exist in the literature to investigate the combined role that strategy and human resource management practices can play leading to efforts of financial success.

A structured questionnaire was utilised and data collected from 401 small businesses operating in the Eastern Province of South Africa. Pearson product–moment correlation and hierarchical regression were used in the data analysis.

The results confirm that a direct relationship exists between strategy and financial performance. Further, the relationship is made significant only through the mediation effect of human resource management practices.

To fully realise the enactment of strategy within small businesses there is need to pay attention to the role that human resource management practices may potentially have on financial performance. Small business owner-managers need to ground their strategies with sound human resource management practices. Through this, firm financial performance can be attained.

The paper sheds light and presents a model that illustrates the mediating role of human resource management practices on the relationship between strategy and financial performance.

The paper investigates the effects of strategic human resource practices on intellectual capital and new product development performance in knowledge-based firms.

A quantitative approach was adopted to conduct the present study. The respondents were sampled from knowledge-based firms in Iran. Overall, 120 managers in 60 knowledge-based firms were selected using convenience sampling. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the validity and reliability of the observed items, and a structural equation model was employed for testing the proposed hypotheses.

In the studied firms, strategic human resource practices have a positive and significant effect on intellectual capital. Moreover, the findings of this study indicate that those firms that use their intellectual capital have a higher new product development performance.

The study focuses on knowledge-based firms in Iran, which limits the generalizability of the research results. Therefore, future studies should be carried out with samples from other settings and countries. Moreover, as the study was cross-sectional, the causal relationships could not be inferred directly.

With regard to key areas of improvement identified in this study, knowledge-based firms should focus on increasing new product development performance by improving employees' training, involving them in their job-related decision-making process, empowering employees to innovate, developing intellectual capital and monitoring the customer's satisfaction level of new products.

The study extends the intellectual capital literature by linking strategic human resource practices to new product development performance in knowledge-based firms via intellectual capital as a mediator.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This research aims to explore perceptions and practices in the area of valuing human resources. It focuses on the importance of valuing human resources, current measurement practices, barriers to measurement and the progress expected in this field.

This research uses a survey questionnaire design to identify and describe perceptions and practices in valuing human resources in three types of UK organizations: traditional companies; knowledge intensive companies; and local authorities.

While the majority of respondents regarded the measurement of human resources as important to their organization, little or moderate progress was expected in measurement practices over the next few years. The main reasons for this included a lack of organizational support, uncertainties as to what should be reported, lack of precision in current measurement practices and sensitivities around what should be reported.

A limitation was in identifying who in the organization should receive such a questionnaire in order to improve the response rate.

Organizations need to be made more aware of the benefits and strategic importance of measuring human resources particularly in an era of resource‐based strategies – competing through people.

The paper highlights that by reporting the data descriptively it can be used as a context for considering what issues need to be resolved and what barriers need to be overcome to take measurement beyond just recognizing its importance.

More attention should be paid to human resource management practices, as they play a vital role in the retention of the skilled workforce for improved competitive advantage and reduced skill shortage. This study aims to examine the impact of engineers' satisfaction regarding fairness in key human resource management practices such as performance management, compensation and pay, and employee relations on their intention to stay in Indian construction firms.

This research was undertaken using a questionnaire survey conducted among 230 engineers working in Indian construction firms. Data collection was done by using self-administered questionnaires. The quantitative analysis of the collected data was carried out. The constructs involved in the study were validated using factor analysis. The correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between engineers' satisfaction with fairness in human resource practices and their intention to stay.

Results showed that satisfaction with fairness in human resource practices, such as performance management and employee relations are positively related to engineers' intention to stay, whereas satisfaction with fairness in employee relation practices highly predicts engineers' intention to stay.

This study adds to the body of knowledge by examining the impact of engineers' satisfaction with fairness in human resource practices on their intention to stay in the Indian construction sector, which is an under-researched area. Satisfaction with fairness in employee relation practices is identified as the strongest predictor of engineers' intention to stay. The finding of the research could help construction companies develop human resource practices and policies to promote the retention of construction professionals, particularly engineers, who work for them.

Drawing on theories pertaining to knowledge sharing, ageing at work and human resource practices for ageing workers, this article explores knowledge sharing challenges arising from the interaction between an increasingly ageing workforce and younger employees.

Contextually, the authors focus on China, where the pace of demographic transformations offers a unique opportunity to investigate knowledge sharing practices in their socio-economic context. Empirically, the authors analyse knowledge sharing behaviours and practices of retail banking professionals in a Chinese big four bank.

The encouragement of knowledge sharing between younger and older workers should be incorporated into organisations' human resource strategies. The availability of development, maintenance, utilisation and accommodative human resource practices signals to older workers that they are valuable and are worth investing in.

The authors’ contribution to theory and practice is twofold: starting with the identification of perceived knowledge sharing challenges, the authors’ analysis offers important contextually grounded insights into what types of managerial practices are relevant in eliciting successful knowledge sharing within organisations faced with an ageing workforce.