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This paper aims to review technical vocational education and training (TVET) literature, identify different components of the TVET system and develop a conceptual framework that integrates human resource development (HRD) and national human resource development (NHRD) outcomes. The renewed focus on technical vocational education and training (TVET) is important for human resource development (HRD), as it expands current understanding of its role in economic development through workforce training. National human resource development (NHRD) perspectives recognize the role of TVET in linking regional and national economic development strategies. Furthermore, TVET’s focus on literacy education, poverty alleviation and inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations emphasizes social development outcomes that are critical for NHRD. Using this background, the integration of HRD and NHRD outcomes into one conceptual TVET framework for addressing workforce, economic and social development outcomes has been proposed.

A targeted literature review approach was used for exploring relevant research on TVET systems, identifying the components which support and/or inhibit its effectiveness and an integrative framework that connects education, workforce development, social development and economic development was developed.

Three major themes were identified. The first theme identifies nine sub-themes that make an effective TVET system. These are as follows: national TVET policy, regional TVET policy, training, participation, curriculum, coordination of stakeholder institutions, individual and institutional attitudes toward skill development, managing supply-demand mismatches and economic and social development outcomes. The second major theme underlines the increasing overlap and connection between workforce development, social development and economic development strategies. In the third and final finding, effective TVET systems are positioned as the linking pin connecting the four TVET components (skills, education, innovation and knowledge) to the strategic goals of workforce development, economic development and social development.

Integrating national and organizational-based HRD strategies is a unique focus and reflects the broader examination of the differences in the relationship between corporate HRD and more traditional TVET systems. It is argued that the role of TVET in social and workforce development at the regional and societal level cannot be ignored. HRD and NHRD outcomes were integrated by utilizing TVET as a framework for linking economic, social and workforce development strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concepts of national human resource development (NHRD) and human resource development (HRD) in order to demonstrate their mutually reinforcing strategic value in the nation building process of Afghanistan.

This study conducted an analysis of the national context and organizational context of an international aid agency in relation to Afghanistan's nation building challenges.

The authors propose NHRD as an effective strategic approach to progressing Afghanistan's nation building strategy to be simultaneously used by the Afghan government and UNDP. Effective deployment of HRD principles in the selected international aid agency may further contribute to the nation building effort within Afghanistan by helping maximize organizational and workforce performances. In conjunction, these human development strategies can assist Afghan government's policy makers, and international aid agencies to successfully achieve human development goals.

The authors suggest that it is increasingly important for policy makers to understand the significant contribution of NHRD in nation building and organizational development. The authors propose some recommendations toward a sustainable modernization of a nation specifically in the context of the developing country.

The paper advances the mutually reinforcing value of NHRD and HRD and highlights their contribution towards human development, abatement of social injustices and building democracies around the world.

The paper explores a complex environment such as Afghanistan in which human development challenges are a shared responsibility between the national government and the international community. The authors’ discussion can serve as an example to demonstrate the role of NHRD in other post‐war and transitioning countries. This paper is also important for HRD scholars interested in exploring new and challenging contexts as it highlights HRD's role as a valuable policy tool in the context of national and international development.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors and conditions that influence national human resource development (NHRD) in Brazil. In this paper, the transitioning nature of the political, economic, social and educational conditions; the current challenges and trends that may impact NHRD; and the current status of NHRD research in Brazil are examined.

A search of the research literature focused on the political, economic, cultural, social and educational environment and the research associated with NHRD in Brazil was conducted. After searching several databases, including Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, ERIC and EBSCO, several articles were selected and analyzed based on the depth of description of the conditions and research.

Among the factors discovered, race, gender and educational equality are still concerns. The complex nature of the relationship between the Brazilian Government, its people and organizations, as well as the efforts of Brazil’s multinational and indigenous organizations to address their national development needs, are also presented.

Brazil is currently and projected to be a long-term player in the global economy; however, it struggles to cope with conditions incongruent to the country’s long-term success. This paper frames the conditions and suggests ways of moving forward through human resource development practice, policy and research in Brazil.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a new research topic, national human resource development (NHRD) for neglected but critical components of economics foundation and accumulated international development research and practices.

Through a targeted literature review on NHRD writing, major development economics theory, and international development literatures, this study conducted a critical content analysis.

The findings in the paper are: current research on NHRD has not advanced our knowledge in economic development, human development, and human resource development under different cultural contexts; the HRD concept used by economists means human development (HD), the domain of HRD should not be extended to HD and HRD scholars should understand the different meaning of the same terms used in different fields determined by the contextual and historical background of the field; NHRD should be renamed as HRD national policy studies, and should be firmly based on economic foundation and incorporating accumulated knowledge in international development. Otherwise, the idea of NHRD is to reinvent the wheel with much less scholarly rigor.

HRD research should be firmly based on its theoretical foundations and accumulated knowledge in other related areas. HRD should not define itself by a concept defined by another field, even with the same wording.

As HRD national policy studies, HRD professionals may contribute economic development by analyzing HRD‐related policy implementation and propose policy recommendations by working with existing development communities.

This paper is important for HRD scholars to explore a new research and practice frontier. It calls attention to properly positioning HRD's role in national economic development and clarifies some misunderstandings in the NHRD literature.

An attempt is made to illustrate the multi‐faceted and multifarious nature of human resource development worldwide, following a definition of it and a description of how it operates in a number of countries throughout the world, including the US, the EEC countries, India, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The roles and functions of HRD practitioners are examined, and the competences required listed. A short history of the International Federation of Training and Development Organisations is offered and a list of conferences described.

The purpose of this paper is to explore recent national human resource development (NHRD) practices in China through a literature review focusing on programs and activities that represent the roles and interactions among the government, industry and universities.

To effectively consolidate previous work and conceptualize the recent development of the NHRD practices in China, a semi-narrative literature review was used to explore and analyze NHRD-related functions and activities.

Findings from the literature review showed that although the central government still plays a predominant role in China, universities and corporations are increasingly playing a critical role in developing an innovative and skilled workforce. At the regional level, NHRD initiatives in China have been increasingly undertaken by universities, industry and government–industry–university collaborations. The authors also found a disparity between developed and underdeveloped regions in terms of NHRD in China.

This study used the triple helix model as a framework that provides an insightful lens for researchers to examine how various social entities interact with each other and jointly contribute to NHRD. Further case studies are needed to generate evidence-based knowledge to the NHRD literature.

A more systematic NHRD leadership structure at both the national and local level is desired to unleash the potential of bottom-up development and active government–industry–university collaboration. To counter regional divergence in NHRD in China, intra- and cross-regional collaborations are helpful in improving resources distribution and workforce development.

Based on open system theory, this study focused on programs and activities that represent the roles and interactions among the government, industry and university in Chinese NHRD through the lens of the triple helix model. In addition, this study offers a conceptual model of Chinese NHRD to help scholars and practitioners understand the transitional efforts in NHRD.

The purpose of this study is to describe South Korea’s unique fever for public service jobs (FPSJ) and to critique it from a National Human Resource Development (NHRD) management framework.

This paper reviewed previous studies, news and technical reports related to FPSJ and NHRD to connect FPSJ and NHRD.

This study analyzed FPSJ-related issues based on three areas (development, allocation and utilization) of human resources and four contexts (political, economic, social and educational backgrounds). FPSJ has led to multiple concerns about developing human resources (vocational education and career guidance), allocating human resources (the unbalanced supply-demand mismatch and flawed selection) and using human resources (delayed job entry and low public service ethos).

This study analyzes the challenges related to FPSJ in Korea from a NHRD perspective. Based on the analysis, this study recommends strategies for reducing the over-emphasis on FPSJ.

The paper aims to examine the relationship between human resource development (HRD) and organizational and national competitiveness and identify research opportunities for Chinese human resource management (HRM) scholars.

Literature and document review.

HRD and innovation is not only critical for economic development, but also for political, technological, socio-cultural and environmental developments. The state and organizations, particularly multinational corporations, play an important role in developing human resources and their capability in innovation. Through a brief review of recent HRD national policies and MNC organizational practices, the paper presents a number of research topical areas, including HRD national system and policy formation and related mechanisms, national and organizational HRD program evaluations, comparative HRD research, and international agencies' involvement in national HRD system in relation to MNCs' efforts in developing human capital.

This essay presents research opportunities in Chinese HRD and innovation that may not only contribute to the HRM literature, but also inform HRD policy formation, implementation, and evaluation, as well as organizational practices.

The purpose of this study is to explore ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of national human resource development (NHRD) policies led by South Korean central government agencies, identifying what policy decisions have been made and how they were implemented.

The authors collected data from the 2016 NHRD policy budget plans of the ministries and used content analysis. The unit of analysis was the fourth level, a sub-task, in each ministry’s policy budget plan. All coded policy contents were analyzed in terms of the centralized NHRD model, as well as through the perspective of developmental task theory.

The study yielded the following policy and implementation problems. First, the current system of NHRD policies established and implemented by individual ministries risks hampering the validity and effectiveness of the policies. Second, the structure of NHRD policy execution may cause similarity and redundancy across policies, thereby hindering the efficiency of the policies. Third, it is problematic when NHRD policies focus on solving short-term problems to the exclusion of long-term ones.

This study provides public recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of NHRD policies created by South Korea’s Central Government. If such an analysis has been made internally by the government, it has not been made publicly available. It also offers practical insights that might help to improve state-led human resource development policies for other countries – especially developing countries – that are planning to introduce central government-led NHRD or to improve existing NHRD policies.

The aim of the paper is to present the findings of a definitional review and comparative study of HRD definitions. It also reports the results of comparing and contrasting a synthesis of the “intended purposes” and “processes” constituting these definitions against various definitions and conceptualisations of organisational development (OD) and coaching.

A targeted literature review was conducted to identify and collate a comprehensive range of HRD, OD, and coaching definitions/conceptualisations. These were then subjected to forms of content and thematic analysis in search of similarities and differences.

The literature review has revealed many “contradictions”, “confusions” and “controversies” concerning the identity of HRD. Results from the definitional review suggest two or more of four synthesised “core purposes” of HRD are embedded explicitly or implicitly within the respective HRD definitions examined. Furthermore, these HRD “core purposes” and “processes” are virtually the same as those associated with OD and coaching

The definitions used in the study were limited to those that define HRD practice at the individual, group and organisational level, and are based on conventional and predominantly western conceptualisations. A challenge and dilemma arising from our findings bring into question the notion of HRD, OD, and coaching as unique and distinct fields of study and practice. Rather, the evidence implies there may be a compelling logic for these three fields to converge into a unified disciplinary domain concerned with “people and organisation development”.

The paper is particularly relevant for scholars interested in HRD theorising and/or developing HRD theories on the basis of empirical evidence. This is because they need to know whether the foci of their studies lie inside or outside the boundaries between HRD and other related domains. It may also be of interest to practitioners who wish to identify themselves as HRD professionals, as opposed to OD or coaching professionals.