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Article
Publication date: 17 October 2023

Chie Yorozu

This research aims to explore whether or not the widely adopted diversity management strategy of Japanese firms aids female self-initiated expatriates' careers. Japan is famous…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to explore whether or not the widely adopted diversity management strategy of Japanese firms aids female self-initiated expatriates' careers. Japan is famous for its male-dominated society (e.g. Hofstede, 2003), which seems to conflict with the recent fading of this strategy in Japanese firms. To what extent does the strategy work for Japanese organisations and how do female self-initiated expatriates perceive it?

Design/methodology/approach

An interview-based qualitative methodology is used to collect testimony from female self-initiated expatriates who are currently working fulltime in Japanese firms. The interviews were conducted with 22 female expats who come from 13 different countries.

Findings

Although the strategy aims for equality, gender still matters in Japanese society and within firms. The interviews found that male-centred rules set out every single step for local employees' behaviours. “Male things” are defined everywhere at work, which makes female expats sceptical of Japan and Japanese firms. The dynamics of the male-based rule seem to eliminate female expats from the centre of organisational society.

Originality/value

Discussion over female expatriates has been increasing due to the frequent movement of international labour to Japan. Also gender fairness has been pushed by the international community, including Japanese. These factors, however, have yet to be explored in the context of the Japanese workplace for female international expatriates. What do we know about female expats working in Japan? What does the male dominance mean for female expats? This study provides an initial insight on female and expatriate diversity management in Japan.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 24 November 2023

Frank Peter Jordan and Anna Lašáková

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the importance of being culturally savvy when working in a culturally diverse environment and managing…

Abstract

Learning outcomes

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the importance of being culturally savvy when working in a culturally diverse environment and managing people from different cultures; critically reflect on the risks resulting from the absence of a clear direction from the company’s top management regarding unifying corporate values and a diversity policy for cooperation across cultures; be aware of best practices in implementing diversity management (DM) initiatives in the company; and learn that changes in the strategic orientation (i.e. focus on automation projects) must be cascaded down to hard elements of structures, processes and systems, as well as to soft elements of skills, staff and management style.

Case overview/synopsis

The Kuwaiti branch of a Japanese corporation specialising in control systems and instruments, Rising Sun IT, hired a German professional, Alex, to handle the increasing demand for automation from customers. This recruitment followed several unsuccessful attempts by the company to deliver more advanced automation solutions. Recognising the need to adapt to Kuwaiti customer requirements or risk losing market share, Japanese management understood the importance of transforming their engineering staff. Failure to achieve this next automation step would result in a steady decline in market share and ultimately impact the company’s survival. However, Alex, who was supposed to lead automation projects, was confronted with opposition from the Indian engineering staff and managers. He was not able to find common ground with the staff and perceived issues such as lack of communication, delays in work schedules, missed deadlines and high levels of absenteeism, as a sign of low work morale. Although he tried to increase the awareness of his supervisor and other managers by informing them repeatedly about the problems regarding employee behaviours, his interventions went unheard. He felt ousted by his fellow colleagues and the other employees. Besides, from Alex’s point of view, the Japanese top management did not provide clear directions to the staff and explicit support to Alex in his efforts. This case study highlights three dimensions of Alex’s problem with establishing and maintaining working relationships with other people in the company:▪ Alex’s cultural “blindness” and ignorance of differences in work behaviours that ultimately led to his inability to build solid and trustful relationships with other employees. The case study demonstrates Germany’s performance-oriented and individual-centric culture versus India’s family- and community-oriented culture and the Japanese employees’ strongly hierarchical and company loyalty-oriented culture.▪ Lack of support from the Japanese top management to Alex, which is connected with a wider problem of the lack of a systematic strategic approach to managing a culturally diverse workforce. The case study pinpoints the rhetoric–reality gap in DM in the company, where the diversity, equity and inclusion programme and corporate values were applied only formally and had little attention from the leaders as well as non-managerial employees.▪ Employee resistance to change: The lack of positive communication from the top management level in the company regarding automation projects and the lack of support for Alex’s mission in the company resulted in steady resistance to executing projects, which endangered the company’s survival in the market. Also, one part of Alex’s problem with building a working relationship with the Indian engineering staff was based on the fact that others perceived him as the automation “change agent” – an advocate and catalyst of an undesirable change connected with adverse consequences on employment in the Indian community.

Complexity academic level

This case is intended for discussion in undergraduate management and business study programmes.

Supplementary materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code

CSS 6: Human resource management.

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2024

Ödül Bozkurt, Chul Chung, Norifumi Kawai and Motoko Honda-Howard

The paper aims to provide an understanding of how the transfer of progressive human resource management (HRM) practices may or may fail to render multinational enterprises (MNEs…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to provide an understanding of how the transfer of progressive human resource management (HRM) practices may or may fail to render multinational enterprises (MNEs) institutional entrepreneurs creating change in job quality and decent work to underprivileged workers in the low-pay retail sector in Japan.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on survey questionnaire data and interviews with workers and management in a foreign retailer in Japan.

Findings

The findings suggest that even where MNEs may provide some measurable material improvements in job quality, in this case equal pay for equal work, the total outcomes are nevertheless shaped by institutional context and constraints. In this case, the improvement in pay was intertwined with flexibility demands that were possible to meet for some workers but not others. In particular, women with care responsibilities and competing demands on their time were not able to experience “decent work” in the same way as others.

Research limitations/implications

The study had a relatively low response rate, due to lack of discretion over time experienced by workers in Japan, as well as limited data on program outcomes, with interviews conducted with a small number of participants.

Practical implications

The study suggests that spaces and opportunities exist for MNEs to diverge from dominant practices in given host country locations and exercise a level of agency as emissaries of decent work but successful outcomes require a very thorough understanding of individual worker experiences within the institutional constraints of given environments.

Social implications

The study offers insights into the complexities of initiatives by MNEs to contribute to the provision of decent work, particularly for workers in underprivileged positions including women in low-pay sectors such as retail, as firm-level practices lead to variable outcomes when filtered through local institutions.

Originality/value

The study brings together a focus on firm-level practices that inform much of the international HRM and international management scholarship with an emphasis on the experiences of workers, which is pursued in the sociology of work, to investigate whether MNEs can be actors in the realising of the Sustainable Development Goals around decent work.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Giulia Flamini, Luca Pareschi and Marcello Martinez

Since the first definition of Total Quality Management (TQM) was established, its inseparable relationship with Human Resource Management (HRM) has been undeniable. However, many…

Abstract

Purpose

Since the first definition of Total Quality Management (TQM) was established, its inseparable relationship with Human Resource Management (HRM) has been undeniable. However, many years have passed since this initial definition was made. During this time, not only have TQM and HRM evolved, but their relationship has also adapted in order to accompany and follow the environmental and technological changes that have ultimately changed the ways the authors work and how the authors perceive quality. This study provides a detailed map of the knowledge evolution of the TQM–HRM relationship. It also identifies interesting gaps for future researchers to consider to enable us to better understand emerging challenges and identify the next steps in the progression of TQM literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a bibliometric analysis approach, using a systematic literature review of a data set that included 132 peer-reviewed articles published between 1991 and 2021 to identify thematic topics. In exploring each of these, the authors created a framework to spotlight future explorative and exploitative research questions.

Findings

The results show that literature on the relationship between HRM and TQM focuses on six topics: a different performance appraisal (PA); a different role for the human resources (HR) department; HRM practices, such as different bridges between JIT and TQM; the integration of job satisfaction into TQM goals; different TQM healers; and the different effects of HRM practices on firm performance. This paper provides clear interpretations of these topics and offers some recommendations for how HRM studies could contribute towards the development of TQM research, thus forming a clear agenda for the future of TQM–HRM research.

Originality/value

This study represents the first attempt to systematize, analyze and critically interpret TQM–HRM studies, promoting a collective reflection on the state of the art and stimulating further discussions on this topic.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Kenta Ikeuchi, Kyoji Fukao and Cristiano Perugini

The authors' work aims to identify the employer-specific drivers of the college (or university) wage gap, which has been identified as one of the major determinants of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors' work aims to identify the employer-specific drivers of the college (or university) wage gap, which has been identified as one of the major determinants of the dynamics of overall wage and income inequality in the past decades. The authors focus on three employer-level features that can be associated with asymmetries in the employment relation orientation adopted for college and non-college-educated employees: (1) size, (2) the share of standard employment and (3) the pervasiveness of incentive pay schemes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors' establishment-level analysis (data from the Basic Survey on Wage Structure (BSWS), 2005–2018) focusses on Japan, an economy characterised by many unique economic and institutional features relevant to the aims of the authors' analysis. The authors use an adjusted measure of firm-specific college wage premium, which is not biased by confounding individual and establishment-level factors and reflects unobservable characteristics of employees that determine the payment of a premium. The authors' empirical methods account for the complexity of the relationships they investigate, and the authors test their baseline outcomes with econometric approaches (propensity score methods) able to address crucial identification issues related to endogeneity and reverse causality.

Findings

The authors' findings indicate that larger establishment size, a larger share of regular workers and more pervasive implementation of IPSs for college workers tend to increase the college wage gap once all observable workers, job and establishment characteristics are controlled for. This evidence corroborates the authors' hypotheses that a larger establishment size, a higher share of regular workers and a more developed set-up of performance pay schemes for college workers are associated with a better capacity of employers to attract and keep highly educated employees with unobservable characteristics that justify a wage premium above average market levels. The authors provide empirical evidence on how three relevant establishment-level characteristics shape the heterogeneity of the (adjusted) college wage observed across organisations.

Originality/value

The authors' contribution to the existing knowledge is threefold. First, the authors combine the economics and management/organisation literature to develop new insights that underpin the authors' testable empirical hypotheses. This enables the authors to shed light on employer-level drivers of wage differentials (size, workforce composition, implementation of performance-pay schemes) related to many structural, institutional and strategic dimensions. The second contribution lies in the authors' measure of the “adjusted” college wage gap, which is calculated on the component of individual wages that differs between observationally identical workers in the same establishment. As such, the metric captures unobservable workers' characteristics that can generate a wage premium/penalty. Third, the authors provide empirical evidence on how three relevant establishment-level characteristics shape the heterogeneity of the (adjusted) college wage observed across organisations.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2023

Thunyalak Weerasombat, Pongsaya Pumipatyothin and Chaturong Napathorn

This paper aims to apply a mixed-methods approach to redefine essential work skill sets, propose components of these skill sets that are necessary for workers in the contexts of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to apply a mixed-methods approach to redefine essential work skill sets, propose components of these skill sets that are necessary for workers in the contexts of emerging market economies (EMEs), examine potential selection tools that should be applied across firms and explain implications for the labour process theory (LPT) of work.

Design/methodology/approach

During the first phase of this study, qualitative data was collected from methods, including semi-structured interviews with human resources (HR) experts from the Personnel Management Association of Thailand, top and HR executives and managers of firms across industries in Thailand. Non-participant observations were made during the pre-interview, interview and post-interview stages. Analysis of archival documents and Web-based resources was then conducted. The authors used the qualitative data obtained from the first phase to develop survey instruments for conducting quantitative research during the second phase of this study.

Findings

The empirical findings demonstrate that essential work skill sets are “soft skills” that help workers survive and thrive in the business arena in EMEs. These essential work skill sets have implications for the LPT of work in that they play an important role in transferring the power of negotiation from employers to workers in the labour market. Essential work skill sets here can be divided into eight skill domains: (1) ideation and system thinking, (2) information and digital literacy, (3) social skills with appreciation for diversity and inclusion, (4) communication and language, (5) creativity and innovation, (6) emotional quotient (EQ) for self-management and development, (7) growth/outward mindset and (8) cognitive skills for the job role. Within each essential work skill set, there are several skills that workers in the current world of work need to possess (42 skills in total). Additionally, potential selection tools include behavioural observation, behavioural-based interviews, STAR (Situation, Task, Action and Results) interviews, role plays, case studies and simulations, high-pressure interview questions, project assignments, assessment centres, in-depth interview questions and special methods, such as face reading and fingerprint reading. Top and HR managers across industries strongly agree that the eight essential work skill sets and 42 skills are necessary for workers to survive in the business arena in EMEs. They also strongly agree that talent selection tools, especially behavioural-based interviews, are used by their firms to select high-skilled job candidates in the labour market.

Research limitations/implications

Because the eight essential skill sets proposed in this paper are based primarily on the qualitative data obtained from top/HR managers in firms across some industries, generalization to respondents across other industries or across other EMEs may be limited. It is possible that the context of other EMEs may be different from that of Thailand. In this regard, some of the essential work skill sets that are suitable in the case of Thailand may not be suitable in the case of other EMEs. Future studies should thus explore how institutional contexts of other countries/economies shape the definition of essential skill sets and their components, as well as potential selection tools that shall be applied to select high-skilled labour in those contexts.

Practical implications

This paper provides practical implications for top managers and/or HR managers of firms across various industries in EMEs. In particular, managers should internally train and develop their employees/workers to possess the eight essential skill sets: (1) ideation and system thinking, (2) information and digital literacy, (3) social skills with appreciation for diversity and inclusion, (4) communication and language, (5) creativity and innovation, (6) EQ for self-management and development, (7) growth/outward mindset and (8) cognitive skills for the specific job role so that their employees/workers can survive and thrive in the era of the brittleness, anxiety, non-linearity and incomprehensibility of the business world under pandemic conditions. Additionally, top managers and/or HR managers of these firms should apply the potential selection tools proposed in this paper to probe into job candidates’ past experience and behaviours to better predict such candidates’ success at work. In this regard, job candidates/workers should prepare themselves to possess these essential work skill sets so that they can be successful in the business arena and should understand potential selection tools that firms may apply to recruit and select them.

Social implications

This paper provides social/policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies of Thailand and of other EMEs. These governments should encourage firms across industries to invest resources in training and developing their employees/workers to possess those essential work skill sets so that these employees/workers are industry-ready, leading to the alleviation of the problems of skill and mismatch in the labour market.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the prior literature on human resource management (HRM), the comparative institutional perspective on employment systems based on the varieties of capitalism (VoC) framework and the LPT of work in the following ways: first, this paper fills in the research gap in the field of HRM that calls for studies that explore how the COVID-19 pandemic shapes essential skill sets and skills development among workers within firms (Cooke et al., 2021). Second, this paper provides implications for the LPT of work regarding how essential work skill sets are likely to return the power of negotiation from employers to workers in EMEs during the current situation. Third, the VoC framework tends to focus on only two types of economies, liberal market economies and coordinated market economies. However, this paper examines essential work skill sets and potential screening tools in the context of the underresearched country of Thailand, an EME. In fact, the Thai labour market is quite different from that of other EMEs labour markets, as it is impacted by an aging workforce. This paper contributes to the literature on comparative institutional perspectives on employment systems as it redefines essential work skill sets, proposes various components of these skill sets among workers and examines potential selection tools that are applied across firms located in EMEs.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Masahiro Hosoda and Shima Nagano

This study aims to explore the mechanism of the relationships between financial and non-financial outcomes and gender equality through a case study of a Japanese bank that has…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the mechanism of the relationships between financial and non-financial outcomes and gender equality through a case study of a Japanese bank that has consistently pursued gender equality.

Design/methodology/approach

A single case study was adopted to explore the outcomes of promoting gender equality. Primary data were collected from 12 semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed by rereading and coding the interview responses coded to generate themes.

Findings

Through governance reform in Company A, women have been placed in top management positions and the number of female managers has increased, allowing frontline intentions to be reflected in decision-making. The increased number of female managers has led to a decrease in female turnover, men taking parental leave, improved training of female managers and the recruitment of excellent new graduates. The appropriate allocation of jobs to female managers and employees also meets customer needs and has led to increased sales. Finally, involvement of female employees in product development in male-dominated workplaces brings women’s experiences and perspectives to product development, resulting in the development of products that are favoured by customers.

Originality/value

This study determined the mechanism behind the relationships between financial and non-financial outcomes and gender equality, based on agency, upper echelons, resource dependence, institutional and social role theories. It also contributes to gender equality research methodology by providing compelling qualitative stories of gender equality outcomes to increase a company’s commitment to promoting gender equality.

Details

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 February 2023

Ayaka Noda

This study aims to examine the rationales for and obstacles to developing a national qualifications framework (NQF) in Japan. From a research perspective, it attempts to propose a…

1274

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the rationales for and obstacles to developing a national qualifications framework (NQF) in Japan. From a research perspective, it attempts to propose a model of a qualifications framework in the national context to provoke further political discussion in developing the Japanese Qualifications Framework (JQF).

Design/methodology/approach

To propose a possible model of a qualifications framework in the Japanese context, this study employs a qualitative document analysis approach to known NQFs. Next, based on documents and the literature, including government data and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Tokyo Convention (2011a, b), this study analyzes the motives and challenges in developing the JQF.

Findings

Japanese motives to develop the JQF can be summarized in four conditions: (a) International expectations along with the Tokyo Convention and establishment of the National Information Center, (b) avoiding qualification holders’ disadvantages in mobility, (c) quality assurance of qualifications with a competence-based approach and (d) lifelong learning by promoting recognition of diverse learning. The challenges in developing the JQF are (a) fitness with the traditional employment system and (b) multiple stakeholders’ involvement. The current priority in developing an NQF in Japan is to make educational qualification information “visible” based on legal grounds, particularly entrance requirements, to facilitate mobility.

Originality/value

This study explores the possibility of the JQF by summarizing the background and roles of NQFs worldwide and clarifying the motives and challenges for developing the JQF. This study provides suggestions for the possible qualifications framework model in the Japanese context from academic and practical perspectives in Japan, where official discussions on establishing an NQF have not progressed. Ensuring the international compatibility of qualifications so that qualification holders can smoothly take the next step in their studies and employment is important.

Details

Higher Education Evaluation and Development, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-5789

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 January 2024

Nobutaka Ishiyama and Hideki S. Tanaka

This study aims to examine the relationship between self-perceived talent status (SPTS) and positive employee outcomes (work engagement and organisational commitment), mediated by…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between self-perceived talent status (SPTS) and positive employee outcomes (work engagement and organisational commitment), mediated by organisational justice (distributive and procedural justice). The authors define SPTS as employees’ self-conceptualisation of talent, formed by inferring the organisation’s initiatives regarding training and development opportunities and through informal recognition by others.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors measured SPTS using eight items on a five-point scale. Through an internet survey company, the authors initially surveyed 1,207 full-time employees from 300 Japanese companies with ≥ 300 employees. In the second round of the survey, conducted after approximately two weeks, 876 (82.9%) responses were collected from the initial 1,207 respondents, which were used for the final analysis.

Findings

SPTS was directly and positively related to work engagement, organisational commitment, distributive justice and procedural justice. In learning organisations, SPTS was positively but indirectly related to work engagement and organisational commitment, mediated by distributive justice. In non-learning organisations, SPTS was positively but indirectly related to work engagement and organisational commitment, mediated by procedural justice.

Practical implications

Given SPTS’s positive impact on employee outcomes, to eliminate the information asymmetry between organisations and talent due to strategic ambiguity, organisations should increase SPTS by helping talents perceive the plethora of development opportunities in the talent pool.

Originality/value

The results demonstrate the utility of SPTS for improving employee outcomes based on strategic talent management (TM) mechanisms including talent rewards, talent development opportunities and promotions. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that distributive justice plays an important role in the build-based TM context of learning organisations.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2022

Yasir Ahmad and Memoona Rauf Khan

In large enterprises, the notion is that an organization’s business strategy is a significant determinant of its human resource (HR) practices. However, there is limited evidence…

Abstract

Purpose

In large enterprises, the notion is that an organization’s business strategy is a significant determinant of its human resource (HR) practices. However, there is limited evidence in the literature of such linkages for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of the relationship between the types of business strategies used and HR practices, namely, staffing, training and employee relations among SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have collected data from 168 SMEs manufacturing autoparts and purposively chosen three SME case studies to derive in-depth observations of business strategies and HR practices. Quantitative results from the survey indicate that these SMEs exhibit a logical relationship between the strategic posture of the SMEs and their adopted HR practices.

Findings

This study illustrates that SMEs operating in the risky and lesser developed labor markets of a lower-income country such as Pakistan adopt certain practices that differ considerably from firms operating in more competitive automotive markets using highly skilled labor. The findings suggest that there is a significant potential to be realized through strategically managing HR practices to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Practical implications

Education of supervisors and management and suitable skill level of labor in tandem with continuous cutting edge industrial training appear to be the most successful business strategy followed by Prospector and Analyzer SMEs. For greater efficiency they need to have dedicated HR management, and financial and auditing services. Meanwhile, public sector entities as well as representative business bodies need to provide targeted practical technical and financial training and assistance to strengthen Defender and Reactor SMEs and improve their range of outputs.

Originality/value

This study contributed to the SMEs’ management literature in the context of Pakistan because there are very few studies that have examined the impact of business strategy on the HR practices in SMEs manufacturing autoparts in the automotive industry of Pakistan. The case study approach captures detailed insights and identifies the areas where the SMEs in developing countries perform differently than the SMEs in developed countries.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

1 – 10 of 170