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This study investigates the effect of continuous improvement initiatives in streamlining HRM practices in Sri Lanka.

Survey methodology was used and 217 respondents who fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study responded. Structural equation modelling was performed to examine the hypothesized relationships.

The analysis supported the hypotheses that continuous improvement initiatives significantly positively influence to streamline HRM practices of performance management, job-related training, employee involvement and team work.

Continuous improvement initiatives that are aligned with the strategic direction of firms guide to design and implement better focused HRM practices.

The failure to streamline HRM practices in accordance with continuous improvement initiatives has been identified as a key barrier for the effective utilization of human resources. Although continuous improvement initiatives demand changes in the way HRM is practiced, so far, little empirical attention has been paid to understand the implications of continuous improvement initiatives for HRM practices.

This research aims to understand whether and how the perceptions that employees build and share over time about training activities and opportunities at work are linked to the knowledge management processes within the organization. This study aims at measuring how different levels of job training satisfaction are linked to employee perceptions of knowledge-sharing (KS) practices at work.

A total of 179 employees from an information and technology firm in Italy took part in the study, by completing questionnaires on job training satisfaction, KS practices and job-related variables (i.e. years of experience, hours of training in the previous year, job role and organizational area of belonging).

Findings showed that high job training satisfaction is related to positive perceptions of KS practices, so that when employees are satisfied with their job training experiences, they are more likely to value and recognize those practices.

The relation between job training satisfaction and KS practices needs to be extended to different sectors and organizations to be generalized.

Training activities within the organization are at the core of knowledge management practices and constitute a main source of sustainable competitive advantage; human resource management should reconsider the importance of monitoring training perceptions inside the organization, to become more conscious of the value and impact of these practices, in particular about training strategies.

Although great attention has been given to single-training satisfaction, only few studies consider the wider impact of job training satisfaction and its possible impact on knowledge sharing.

Cross-cultural mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can generate the number of negative feelings and emotions among the survivors of the deal. These negative outcomes can range from lowered commitment, lack of productivity, and talent loss to the more serious work alienation. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to identify the employees’ level of commitment and their feelings of alienation in the post-M&A integration phase. Also, provided training has proven to be important in building employee commitment and mitigating the feelings of alienation, this studies the relationship of these psychological outcomes with the different kinds of training provided to them during post-M&A situations. The vast literature review studied revealed a significant relationship between employees’ perceived effectiveness of training and their level of commitment with the newly merged firm, while an inverse relationship was found with employees’ feelings of alienation. This chapter has crucial implications for researchers and practitioners.

Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to detect the combination of factors associated with the provision of job‐related training provided by employers located throughout the United Kingdom. The efficacy of broad brush policy initiatives to encourage the provision of training in all very small firms is questioned. A case for targeting training provision assistance is presented.

Using arguments from the knowledge-based view and resource-based view of the firm, the purpose of this paper is to propose that external knowledge (as measured by a firm’s customer orientation) and internal knowledge management (through human capital development techniques of job-related training and enhancing employee capability) together contribute to successful service delivery systems.

The hypothesized model is tested on a large sample of 249 Chinese service firms using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analyses.

The results indicate that the knowledge management factors of customer orientation, employee capability and job-related training had a varying influence on quality and efficiency dimensions of service system performance. Also, internal knowledge facets of employee capability and job-related training had complementary effects in inducing improved performance on both quality and efficiency.

The focus on the key enablers of customer orientation, employee capability and job-related training does not represent a comprehensive set of enablers of service system performance outcomes. Also, a longitudinal examination of capabilities that influence service system performance can also be explored.

The context of service firms in multiple sectors serves as an important contribution to the emerging literature that bridges human resource management and customer orientation in service settings. Implications of the results for practice and theory development are discussed.

What can be learned from management training in other major companies? was the question asked by the training manager of one of Britain's most successful companies. To find the answers, the training managers of 11 major companies were invited to compare experiences, to learn from each other and hence to improve. The companies were chosen for their known interest in training and the diversity of their businesses. All are large or multi‐national companies ranging from electrical component manufacturers to multiple retailers. Between them they employ well over 200,000 people.

The purpose of this study is to examine what job-related training interventions female expatriates seek and can access in order to build necessary knowledge and skills to progress into further career-enhancing expatriate positions.

This study uses a cross-sectional qualitative research approach, drawing upon semi-structured interviews in respect of organisational training practice with 26 current female expatriates and nine human resource, international assignments and training managers in two oil and gas exploration firms.

Budgets, time and travel restrictions and competitive business pressures constrain on-the-job training provision for expatriates. Assignees require specific knowledge and skills ahead of appointment to subsequent expatriate positions. HR personnel believe training provides appropriate knowledge and capability development, supporting women expatriates' career ambitions. Women assignees view training available within their current roles as insufficient or irrelevant to building human capital for future expatriate posts.

Longitudinal research across a wider spectrum of industries is needed to help understand the effects of training interventions on women's access to future career-enhancing expatriation and senior management/leadership positions.

Organisations should ensure relevant technical skills training, clear responsibility for training provision, transparent and fair training allocation, positive communication regarding human capital outcomes and an inclusive culture that promotes expatriate gender diversity.

Set within the framework of human capital theory, this study identifies the challenges that female expatriates experience when seeking relevant job-related training to further their expatriate careers. It identifies clear mismatches between the views of HR and female assignees in relation to the value of job-related training offered and women's access to it.

Headquarters managers of a medium‐sized manufacturing company initiated a culture change in five of their dispersed wholesale units. The aim was for more external service quality. This paper aims to report the results of a test of three hypotheses, shedding light on the behavior of the involved agents. The hypotheses are rooted in the change management literature.

The present study rests both on quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews) field data collected in two discrete phases over 3.5 years and obtained from the operational employees. The authors use their quantitative survey data to examine agentic explanations for the failed change; their qualitative data corroborated the findings.

No culture change or service improvement was detected. Despite the fact that local change agents were not the initiators or owners of the intended change, employee satisfaction with the local change agents (situated in the service units) was found to explain variance in the culture and climate scores. The results underscore, furthermore, the critical importance of training employees, or lack thereof, in instituting the required new behavior.

Most change‐management research collects data from the managers' point of view. There are relatively few studies like this one that have been conducted from the perspective of those employees working in frontline service units. Meeting the challenge to improve external and internal service through culture change is crucial in many firms, for their survival and growth; accomplishing such organisational change (in which both culture and climate are positively affected) does indeed require experienced change‐management skills. Results of this study recommend the honing of the change‐management skill “coaching” for experienced managers, even though they themselves may not feel such a need.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the stressors involved in an occupation at potential risk – the profession of law enforcement.

The paper reviews the history of police stress studies. It describes prevention and treatment programs that have unfortunately not been sufficiently utilized because of the police culture.

The documented symptoms of stress include digestive orders, cardiovascular diseas, alcoholism, domestic violence, post‐traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicide. While some police officers start their careers in excellent physical health, some retire early or even die from job‐related stress disorders if the cumulative impact of stress exacts its toll.

The paper offers a description of COP.2.COP a confidential hotline for officers and their families staffed by retired officers and licensed professionals.

Analyses the role of training in forming under‐employment, which is a basic characteristic of an institutional labour market. Compares the basic assumptions of an institutional labour market to those of a neoclassical labour market. Discusses in detail the institutional framework for on‐the‐job training. Finally, considers policy issues relating to job training.