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Human resource development (HRD) research and practice mostly have focused on performance improvement although HRD fundamentally pursues human development as a whole. The purpose of this study is to conceptualize meaningful work in the context of HRD and provide implications for HRD research and practice.

This study reviewed the literature on topics such as meaningful work, the meaning of work, workplace spirituality, the value of work and work as a calling, to understand the concept of meaningful work. In addition, this study reviewed existing studies on meaningful work in HRD journals to investigate the current status of meaningful work research within the field of HRD. This study reviewed the related literature such as meaningful work, the meaning of work, workplace spirituality, the value of work and work as a calling, to understand the concept of meaningful work. In addition, this study reviewed the existing studies on meaningful work in HRD journals to investigate the current status of meaningful work research in HRD.

The findings of this study identified three main themes in conceptualizing meaningful work, namely, positivity; significance and purpose; and human fulfillment. The authors also suggest that the meaningful work discourse in HRD expands a research boundary of HRD and enables a holistic approach to HRD research and practice.

For future research, the authors recommend that HRD research deepens its understanding of meaningful work and its related concepts. They also recommend studies pursuing empirical evidence to reveal the significance of meaningful work.

Given the limited studies on meaningful work in HRD and a lack of understanding of meaningful work, this study proposes a comprehensive understanding of meaningful work, especially within the HRD context. This study also suggests a holistic approach to HRD by stressing a humanistic perspective beyond the performance-oriented HRD.

Human resource development (HRD) is a concept associated with human resource management, and, by this association, one component of the broader concept of management. Much work has examined management practices from a critical stance and this article provides a brief review. However, HRD is a more recent concept, still emerging and finding space in both academic and practitioner spheres. This article begins a critical examination of HRD by applying some of the strands of critical thinking to HRD practices and discourses. It also critically examines the attempt to conceptualise HRD as a social and discursive construction to connect ways of thinking, talking about and practising HRD to help academics and practitioners reflect critically on their occupational activities. By examining discourses associated with “being critical” as well as the emerging and eclectic discourses of “HRD”, this article contributes to a deeper understanding by evaluating whether this is indeed a critical time for HRD.

The purpose of this paper is to provide clarification of critical human resource development (CHRD), an emerging concept that is complex, ambiguous and lacks clarity.

To address this problem, the technique of concept analysis is employed to help clarify the understanding of CHRD. Concept analysis presents theoretical definitions and defining characteristics of CHRD, drawing upon an extensive review of research literature. Benefits and limitations of the technique are also explored.

The concept analysis identifies antecedents, attributes and consequences of critical HRD. These include: personal and organizational factors; challenging contemporary practices, exposing assumptions, and emancipation; and more democratic work production, improved (working/learning) relationships; and improved creativity and productivity.

This paper presents an initial concept analysis of the emerging concept of critical HRD. This is not without difficulty given the complexity and ambiguity associated with the concept. It has been beyond the scope of this paper to present model and contrary cases of CHRD. Providing clearer operational definitions can assist researchers to investigate and evaluate critical approaches to HRD.

Defining characteristics of CHRD can help provide clearer operational definitions to assist practitioners enact and evaluate critical approaches to HRD.

The paper provides the first ever concept analysis of critical human resource development. The use of this method itself makes a new contribution to the study of HRD. This concept analysis provides other researchers, teachers and practitioners insight into what CHRD might be, through the identification of its attributes, what antecedents and actions it requires, and the possible positive consequences it might realise, thus contributing to new knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a discourse approach to theorising human resource development (HRD) can open a “discursive space” to challenge dominant discourses within the field; enabling a more critical discourse to emerge.

Discusses two approaches to discourse analysis, a “practice” and a “critical” approach, and illuminates how both approaches can contribute to theorising HRD.

The notion of what constitutes HRD is being constantly renegotiated both in theory and in practice. While contemporary HRD discourses are many and there is fluidity in the field a dominant discourse can be identified. The authors argue that a focus on the discourses which construct and constitute HRD need to consider both the “practice” and “the order of discourse” enabling the emergence of alternative discourses within the field.

Due to word restrictions an empirical example has not been included. However, future work will address this limitation.

The two approaches to discourse analysis discussed provide a useful framework; enabling an analysis of the dominant and competing discourses within the field of HRD.

Discourse analysis is rarely discussed in business settings despite the evidence that applied discourse analysis focuses on questions that are of relevance to the field. This paper contributes to a perceived gap and demonstrates how discourse analysis can contribute to researching alternative notions of HRD in order to encourage a variety of conceptual developments.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature on university-based human resource development (HRD) courses and programs.

The methods used in this paper are integrative literature review and content analysis.

Only 71 peer-reviewed articles that address university-based HRD courses and programs in any way were found. Forty-six were empirical studies and 25 were either conceptual or editorial in nature. The majority of articles focused on HRD courses and programs in the USA and the UK. Perspectives from other countries were nearly absent. Many of the claims about the content and quality of HRD courses and programs were not supported by empirical evidence.

HRD courses and programs are offered in universities around the world. Almost nothing is known of their content, quality or methods. Future research on these courses and programs should focus on the relevance of curriculum to the needs of organizations.

While HRD research and practice are concerned with learning and development, topics related to the learning and development of future HRD scholars and practitioners are rarely addressed in the HRD literature. This is the only comprehensive review of the small-body peer-reviewed literature on university-based HRD courses and programs. It provides a summary of the findings of empirical research on HRD courses and programs, and an analysis of the warrant for the claims about these courses and programs.

The study presents preliminary findings from research begun at the 2005 Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference held in Estes Park, CO, USA. The qualitative case study captures what new learning occurred as a result of the conference and how the new learning at the conference occurred.

The qualitative case study used conceptual foundations grounded within critical theory and focused on learning organizations, communities of practice (CoP), and knowledge generation.

Participant reactions documented on approximately 1,000 data forms were categorized for this preliminary study as critical perspectives on HRD where typically underrepresented voices critiqued the conference, CoP as relationships between theory and practice where participants reported that theory to practice was a rich research topic, and learning organizations where results indicated that the academy benefits through conferences in terms of creating a learning organization.

Preliminary results were based on preliminary analysis of data forms only. Future reports will include in‐depth analyses of data forms, and results of interviews and other collected data such as journals and observations.

Findings are important to conference planning and evaluation that seeks to create and sustain new learning.

The study is the first of its kind addressing the way conferences can influence the creation of new learning and how learning occurs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a prologue to the issue of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resource development (HRD). Although issues of sustainability and CSR have become an important topic of research, there are few studies on this topic in the field of HRD. To address this gap, we edited a special issue of European Journal of Training and Development that explicitly focuses attention on sustainability and CSR issues in HRD.

The paper provides an overview of the conceptualisation of sustainability and CSR and their relevance for the concept of sustainable HRD. We then outline the contributions of the authors of the six papers that make up the special issue.

There are issues related to the conceptualisation and measurement of sustainability, CSR and sustainable HRD. The role that HRD plays in contributing to sustainability and CSR in organisations is not well understood.

The paper introduces the special issue on sustainability, CSR and HRD. It shows that this is an under-researched area. However, we propose that a focus on sustainability and CSR will serve to advance the field of HRD and contribute to enhancing practices within organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the state of extant academic research on workplace innovation (WI) by proposing a comprehensive conceptual framework and outlining research traditions on the phenomenon.

This paper systematically reviewed the literature published over the past 20 years, basing on a predefined research protocol. The dimensions of WI were explored with the help of thematic synthesis, while the research perspectives were studied by means of textual narrative synthesis.

The analysis suggests that there exist four research traditions on WI – built container, humanized landscape, socio-material macro-actor, and polyadic network – and each of them comprises its own set of assumptions, foci of study, and ontological bases. The findings suggest that WI is a heterogeneous process of renovation occurring in eight different dimensions, namely work system, workplace democracy, high-tech application, workplace boundaries, workspaces, people practices, workplace experience, and workplace culture. The analysis showed that over years the meaning of innovation within these dimensions changed, therefore it is argued that research should account for the variability of these categories.

The paper includes implications for developing and implementing WI programs. Moreover, it discusses the role of HR in the WI process.

This paper for the first time systematically reviews literature on the topic of WI, clarifies the concept and discusses directions and implications for the future research.

This paper explores this relationship between the individual values of managers and human resource (HR) decision‐making.

Questionnaire data were collected from a total of 340 line managers from both Ireland and Canada. The questionnaire instrument comprises three components: Rokeach's instrumental and terminal values instrument; two HR related decision scenarios; and demographic and human capital data.

The results provide modest support for the proposed model that individual values affect HR decision‐making in that capability values were shown to be a significant positive predictor of the importance of health and safety, and peace values were a significant positive predictor of the importance of employment equity.

The findings emphasise the need to simultaneously examine both individual values and organisational factors as predictors of HR decision‐making. Future work should examine the psychometric use of value instruments.

The study underlines the fact that managers need to be aware of the fact that their own values influences how they make decisions. Attention to the values concept amongst managers will improve comprehension of the decision‐making process within organizations.

The value of the paper lies in the fact that the effect of individual values on decision‐making has been under‐researched in the literature.