Search results

11 – 20 of over 234000
Article
Publication date: 9 June 2021

Chaturong Napathorn

This paper examines the human resource (HR) strategies and practices that are considered to be particularly beneficial for aging employees in organizations in Thailand, which is…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the human resource (HR) strategies and practices that are considered to be particularly beneficial for aging employees in organizations in Thailand, which is an underresearched developing economy, from an employee perspective and the implications of national institutions and cultures for the adoption and implementation of those HR strategies and practices across organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The results of the study, based on a cross-case analysis of seven organizations across industries, are primarily drawn from structured interviews and focus groups with aging employees, field visits and a review of archival documents and web-based resources, including newspaper reports and magazines.

Findings

This paper proposes that HR strategies that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations in Thailand’s developing economy can be classified into four bundles: growth, maintenance, recovery and regulation. Each bundle of HR strategies consists of several HR practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations. In particular, from the perspective of aging employees, these HR practices help aging employees upgrade their skills, prepare them to have a sufficient amount of financial savings after retirement, ensure that they are safe, secure and healthy, help them feel that their tacit knowledge and experience are still valuable, and help them perform jobs that are appropriate for their physical health conditions. Additionally, the adoption and implementation of the proposed HR strategies and practices tend to be influenced by national institutions in terms of deficiencies in the national skill formation system, healthcare institutions, regulatory institutions and welfare state regime and by the national culture in terms of reciprocity and respect for elderly people (i.e. aging employees). However, there are five important HR practices that are specifically appropriate for managing aging employees in Thailand and other developing economies where the level of household debt and/or personal debt is high, where the increasing number of aging employees leads to high demand for medical services when the medical services offered by private hospitals are expensive, and where tacit knowledge and experience are important for creating and maintaining firms’ competitive advantage: (1) the facilitation of financial planning, (2) safety and health training, (3) annual health check-ups, (4) the appointment of aging employees as advisors/mentors and (5) knowledge transfer/job enrichment.

Research limitations/implications

One of the limitations of this research is its methodology. Because this research is based on case studies of seven firms located in Thailand, the findings may not be generalizable to all other firms across countries. Rather, the aim of this paper is to further the discussion regarding HR strategies and practices for managing aging employees in organizations. Another limitation of this research is that it does not include firms located in several other industries, including the agricultural and fishery industry and the financial services industry. Future research may explore HR strategies and practices for managing aging employees in organizations located in these industries. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of aging employees who work in firms across industries might also be useful in deepening the understanding of HR strategies and practices for managing aging/retired employees in organizations.

Practical implications

This paper provides practical implications for top managers and/or HR managers of firms in Thailand and other developing economies where the level of household debt and/or personal debt is high, where the increasing number of aging employees leads to high demand for medical services when the medical services offered by private hospitals are expensive, and where tacit knowledge and experience are important for creating and maintaining firms’ competitive advantage. In particular, the aging employees in this study identified the HR practices that they perceive as being appropriate for aging employees and that were already available in firms or that they expect their firms to have but are currently missing. In this regard, HR managers should take note of these good and appropriate HR practices to ensure that they become part of official, structured HR strategies and practices. This would ultimately help line managers and aging employees think more positively about the future of aging employees within the company and help retain invaluable aging employees over time.

Social implications

This paper provides social/policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies of Thailand and several other developing economies where the majority of aging people do not have sufficient savings to support themselves after retirement, especially when these countries are becoming aging societies, where the increasing demand for medical services cannot be adequately addressed by existing public hospitals while private hospitals’ medical prices are quite expensive, and where intellectual property right (IPR) protection laws are weak. That said, such governments should encourage firms located in their countries to implement these HR strategies and practices for developing, maintaining, deploying and supporting aging employees.

Originality/value

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on human resource management (HRM), specifically on HR practices for aging employees, in the following ways. First, this study is different from the previous studies in that it examines HR practices for managing aging employees from an employee perspective, while most of the previous studies in this area have focused on the management of such employees from an employer perspective. In this case, it is possible that formal company policies may be different from actual HR practices as perceived by aging employees (Khilji and Wang, 2006). Second, this paper explores the implications of national institutions and cultures of Thailand’s developing economy for the adoption and implementation of HR strategies and practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations. Finally, this paper examines HR practices that are specifically appropriate for managing aging employees in Thailand and other developing economies. The literature on HR practices for aging employees has overlooked developing economies, including the underresearched country of Thailand, as most of the studies in this area have focused on developed economies. In fact, developed economies and developing economies are very different in several respects, which may influence the HR strategies and practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2001

Gillian A. Maxwell, Sharon Blair and Marilyn McDougall

Analyses the notion and value of managing diversity to establish its current theoretical positioning and potential organisational significance. Focuses on a recent case study…

12951

Abstract

Analyses the notion and value of managing diversity to establish its current theoretical positioning and potential organisational significance. Focuses on a recent case study examination of equality at work in a major, national public sector organisation. Affords an insight into an organisational shift towards managing diversity, through the lens of key organisational stakeholders. Within this case, proposes three emergent practical implications of managing diversity which may have resonance for other public sector organisations.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2021

Sabrina Spangsdorf and Alex Forsythe

This paper aims to introduce an identity fit perspective adding to the understanding of the Nordic gender equality paradox of top managing positions using a Danish sample as case.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce an identity fit perspective adding to the understanding of the Nordic gender equality paradox of top managing positions using a Danish sample as case.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, five hypotheses concerning identity perception of top managing positions and the relationship with own identity and type of industry were tested through a correlational research design utilizing a cross-sectional survey methodology. A total of 1,054 women aged 18–60 participated in the survey.

Findings

The analysis revealed a strong masculine perception of a top managing position whereas women's own identity perception was much more diverse. The more masculine a woman perceives herself to be, the more motivated she is to climb the career ladder. Type of industry moderates the relationship between identity fit and motivation for top positions, but only for the masculine traits. The relationship between identity fit and motivation is stronger for women in high masculine industries.

Originality/value

Apart from being the first study of identity fit in a Nordic setting, this study contributes to the identity fit theory by employing a semi-objective fit approach exploring identity fit on an industry level, including female-dominated industries, as well as examining identity fit in relation to motivation to pursue a top managing position.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2019

James Richards, Kate Sang, Abigail Marks and Susannah Gill

The purpose of this paper is to address a significant gap in the line manager, HRM and the diversity management literature, that of exploring the role and significance of…

2714

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address a significant gap in the line manager, HRM and the diversity management literature, that of exploring the role and significance of emotional labour (EL) in relation to the lived experienced of line managing neurodiversity.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was used to explore lived experiences of line managers responsible for managing neurodiverse employees. Interviews were conducted with line managers employed in the UK transport industry.

Findings

The findings provide rich insights into line managing neurodiversity. A key overall finding is reasonable adjustments deemed essential to support neurodiverse employees require a myriad of hidden, complex, time consuming and often emotionally draining interactions with disabled employees, the employee’s wider team, and HRM and occupational health (OH) practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

This is an exploratory study and therefore limited by nature of the research design, industry focus, scope of study and sample size.

Practical implications

The findings have the potential to inform HRM and OH practitioner support for line managers responsible for managing neurodiverse employees.

Social implications

The study contributes to wider societal attempts to make employment more inclusive to a range of historically disadvantaged groups.

Originality/value

The study fills an important gap in the HRM literature on line managing neurodiverse employees. The study makes a specific and unique contribution to extensive literatures on line management, disability and EL.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 48 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Earnest Friday and Shawnta S. Friday

Many organizations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing vinculum (link) between how an…

24662

Abstract

Many organizations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing vinculum (link) between how an organization deals with diversity and its impact on the bottomline is a corporate diversity strategy that is executed using a planned change approach to systemically manage diversity. While many organizations have implemented a corporate diversity strategy, most have not used a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy”. The lack of a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy” is quite likely to inhibit managing diversity from becoming systemic to an organization's culture and its way of doing business, thus tending to disallow the potential benefits of diversity to be maximized. Hence, this paper offers a framework for using a “planned change‐corporate diversity strategy” to: progress along the “diversity continuum” starting with acknowledging to valuing, and ultimately to managing diversity; and systemically managing diversity using a eight‐step “managing diversity process”.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 22 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2018

Wilke Weerheim, Lisa Van Rossum and Wouter Dirk Ten Have

Following health-care organisations, many mental health-care organisations nowadays consider starting to work with self-managing teams as their organisation structure. Although…

3131

Abstract

Purpose

Following health-care organisations, many mental health-care organisations nowadays consider starting to work with self-managing teams as their organisation structure. Although the concept could be effective, the way of implementing self-managing teams in an organisation is crucial to achieve sustainable results. Therefore, this paper aims to examine how working with self-managing teams can be implemented successfully in the mental health-care sector where various factors for the successful implementation are distinguished.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative case study is executed by analysing 18 interviews within two self-managing teams in a mental health-care organisation located in the Netherlands. A coding process is executed in two steps. The first step is open coding, to make small summarising notes within each interview section. The second step is refocused coding, where the open codes were collected, categorised and summarised by searching for recurrence and significance. The coding process is made visible within a code tree. This code tree formed the basis for writing the findings.

Findings

Success factors for the implementation of a self-managing team that resulted from this research are a clear task portfolio division, good relationships within the team and a coaching trajectory with attention for a possible negative past.

Originality/value

By having used a specific change management model, the Change Competence Model, it can be concluded that a high change capacity will positively influence the success of a self-managing team in the context of a mental health-care organisation.

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Jerry Hallier and Tom Forbes

Aims to illustrate how the use of a social identity approach can help to refine our understanding of how organizational professionals experience the introduction of managerialism…

1547

Abstract

Purpose

Aims to illustrate how the use of a social identity approach can help to refine our understanding of how organizational professionals experience the introduction of managerialism and the incorporation of managing specialist roles.

Design/methodology/approach

Draws on theories of social identity and social categorization to examine the process by which clinical directors tackle and assign meaning to their managing roles. Interviews were conducted with a sample of current and previous clinical directors over a five year period. Variations in doctors’ responses were explained by a range of self enhancement strategies that emerged to deal with tensions between prepared management identities and actual role experiences.

Findings

Reveals the importance of multiple self‐enhancement strategies as a way for doctors to protect self definitions in failing identity situations where immediate exit from a new role is not feasible. Concludes that a greater use of social identity and social categorization theory may add much to general explanations of how varied stances towards management interventions emerge and develop among professional workers.

Originality/value

Points to how we might achieve a deeper understanding of the diverse ways that the organizational professionals experience the introduction of managerialism and the incorporation of managing the specialist roles.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2004

Gillian A. Maxwell

Academic interest in managing diversity is now developing from conceptual analyses to practical examples. However, the conceptual relationship between managing diversity and equal…

5909

Abstract

Academic interest in managing diversity is now developing from conceptual analyses to practical examples. However, the conceptual relationship between managing diversity and equal opportunities remains rather blurred. Perhaps investigation of managing diversity in practice may help bring greater focus to the relationship. This article seeks to bring further insight into the debate on managing diversity in terms of its link with equal opportunities and key dimensions in practice. On the basis of consideration of theoretical perspectives and dimensions of managing diversity, a practical development of managing diversity is discussed in a longitudinal case study of a proactive diversity initiative in BBC Scotland.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2011

Søren Voxted

This paper aims to illustrate how employees in self‐managing teams handle the fact that each self‐managing team includes traditional as well as non‐traditional team members.

1572

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to illustrate how employees in self‐managing teams handle the fact that each self‐managing team includes traditional as well as non‐traditional team members.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper, based on two case studies from Post Danmark A/S, the Danish national postal service company, examines the work organization of self‐managing teams as well as the mobility of self‐managing teams' traditional and non‐traditional employees in the teams.

Findings

In terms of its contribution to research, this paper illustrates the paradox of an organization using self‐managing teams consisting of traditional and non‐traditional employees. This article argues that two characteristics contribute to this situation. First, self‐managing teams are unique in the sense that they are open to the participation of employees with different qualifications and with varying levels of contribution and, second, the position of “traditional” and “non‐traditional” employees means that non‐static mobility is allowed in both directions, contributing to cohesiveness and conflict reduction, as the empirical study shows.

Research limitations/implications

One of the limitations of the research presented is its focus on only one organization, Post Danmark A/S. Identification of this limitation is based on available indicators in the absence of quantitative evaluations of the team's performance.

Practical implications

This paper provides an example for researchers and practitioners (e.g. managers and HR personnel) on how production teams can handle the challenge of dealing with teams that consist of traditional and non‐traditional employees.

Originality/value

Based on empirical data, this paper describes the positions, internal mobility and relationships between traditional and non‐traditional employees in self‐managing teams comprising skilled and unskilled workers.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2021

Nyamagere Gladys Sospeter, Pantaleo D. Rwelamila and Joaquim J. Gimbi

This study develops a conceptual framework appropriate for managing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Projects (PDRPs) so as to avoid cost and time overruns in Angola.

Abstract

Purpose

This study develops a conceptual framework appropriate for managing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Projects (PDRPs) so as to avoid cost and time overruns in Angola.

Design/methodology/approach

An explanatory sequential mixed research approach was used. Data was collected from project participants within the ministry of planning, the provincial government office of planning and the local government in Angola. A questionnaire with closed questions was completed by 130 survey respondents. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with seven participants selected through purposive sampling. Descriptive statistics, t-test and content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.

Findings

The study indicates that there is presently no formal project management process. Neither have government project management standards been developed and broadcast. This results in ad hoc processes being mostly used for managing PDRPs. The study further presents disaster preparation programme, community engagement, resources and stakeholder's engagement, post-disaster procurement policies, financial guides, post-disaster recovery legislation, context-specific (social economic, demographic, political and cultural variables), programme preparation as essential components to be considered for developing an appropriate framework for managing PDRPs.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited by its geographical settings which focussed the results on one province in Angola. However, the findings can be useful for other countries wishing to gain insights on the framework with “overlooked components” for managing DPRPs in emerging countries with similar disaster environment, government policies and same business environment.

Practical implications

The framework for managing PDRPs may positively impact project realization, hence minimization of time and cost overruns. The findings are vital for managers, local practitioners and policy/decision-makers in emerging countries of essential components and lessons useful for managing PDRPs and making decisions when they intend to participate in such projects. An understanding of which approaches are critical and essential components of the framework serves as a basis for improving project delivery. Future research studies should describe its practical application.

Originality/value

The study provides insights by identifying an ordered grouped set of project management models/approaches mostly applicable for managing PDRPs in Angola, better understanding of appropriate components/variables to be considered and develops a conceptual framework for managing PDRPs in emerging countries, post-war context.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 234000