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The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how highly educated women respond to career chance events in a Korean context where traditional cultural values and male-dominated organizational culture coexist.

The authors conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with highly educated women operationalized as women with doctoral degrees in and out of Korea. The authors used a collaborative research process with a team of ten Korean-born researchers who have built consensus on research themes through discussions on the collection and analysis of a large data set, thus reducing the researcher bias issue inherent in qualitative research.

In an analysis of the interview data collected, the authors report on three themes: before obtaining a doctoral degree, during and after their doctoral study and responses (coping strategies) to chance events in their careers. Highly educated women’s pursuing a doctoral degree was a way to maintain work–life balance in Korea where women are expected to take a primary caregiver role. After obtaining a doctoral degree, participants struggled with limited job opportunities in the male-dominated higher education. Women’s unplanned and unexpected chance events are intertwined with the male-dominated culture in Korea, and career interruptions as such a chance event, whether voluntary or involuntary, happened largely due to family reasons. In this context, highly educated women responded to chance events largely at individual and family levels and articulated the need for support at organizational and government levels.

The study findings confirm the literature that women’s careers are limited by traditional family roles in non-Western countries where strong patriarchal culture is prevalent. Particularly, women’s career interruptions surfaced as a critical chance event that either disrupts or delays their careers largely because of family issues. Future research is called for to identify both individual and contextual factors that influence women’s decisions on voluntary and involuntary career interruptions as their responses to chance events.

Based on highly educated women’s coping strategies largely at individual and family levels, we suggest national human resource development policies put in place not to lose out on the opportunity to develop highly educated women with doctoral degrees as a quality workforce for a nation’s sustainable economic growth. Additionally, organizations need to be aligned with the government policies and programs for the provision of developmental programs for women in the workplace, beginning with highly educated women’s career planning, while creating organizational culture to promote gender equality as a long-term goal.

The participants’ voluntary career breaks helped them care for their children, be involved in their children’s education, reflect on work–life balance after having long hours of work for many years and move forward with personal satisfaction. Voluntary career breaks can be understood as highly educated women’s unique way of responding to chance events.

This chapter is devoted to sustainable human resource management that leads to sustainable competitiveness. It features the ways human resources can be managed to carry out sustainable goals and the impact of sustainability on employees' attitudes and behaviours. The aim of this study is to explore the complex objectives of sustainability and human resource management and empirically investigate the dynamic relationship between human resources in science and technology and sustainable competitiveness in the case of 35 European countries. Our contribution emphasizes this interrelationship and its causality. For this research, we applied a vector auto-regression (VAR) model, and the Granger causality method to examine the relationship between human resources in science and technology and sustainable competitiveness. A panel data included 314 observations between 2012 and 2021. The panel VAR for analysing the impulse response function was enriched with the 5% and 95%, using Monte Carlo simulations. The research results revealed bidirectional causality in the European countries between human resources in science and technology and sustainable competitiveness. Human resources in science and technology trigger sustainable competitiveness and vice versa. As an element of originality, our study demonstrates that human resources in science and technology contribute to sustainable performance, and, on the other hand, a more competitive and sustainable environment contributes to the development of human resources in science and technology. Thus, the chapter outlines the role of human resources in science and technology with regard to sustainable human resource management (HRM), and how to navigate these objectives so that they can positively influence sustainable competitiveness.

AI-based chatbots are revamping employee communication in organizations. This paper examines the adoption of AI-based employee experience chatbots by employees.

The proposed model is developed using behavioral reasoning theory and empirically validated by surveying 1,130 employees and data was analyzed with PLS-SEM.

This research presents the “reasons for” and “reasons against” for the acceptance of AI-based employee experience chatbots. The “reasons for” are – personalization, interactivity, perceived intelligence and perceived anthropomorphism and the “reasons against” are perceived risk, language barrier and technological anxiety. It is found that “reasons for” have a positive association with attitude and adoption intention and “reasons against” have a negative association. Employees' values for openness to change are positively associated with “reasons for” and do not affect attitude and “reasons against”.

This is the first study exploring employees' attitude and adoption intention toward AI-based EEX chatbots using behavioral reasoning theory.

This paper investigates the interactional relationships between sustainable human resource management (SHRM) and organizational performance (OP). Sustainable HRM is an approach that links HRM and sustainability. These studies focused on integrating HR with sustainable developments, such as economic and social aspects, in favour of focusing on the environmental aspect. Organizational change is an ongoing process that has to be managed effectively to keep the change in place for a long time.

A framework was offered to estimate the cause-and-effect relation of the SHRM and OP factors. Data is gathered from professionals from various pharmaceutical industries. This study applied two methods, Fuzzy AHP and DEMATEL Type II. These techniques are used to understand the cause-and-effect factors and their interactions.

It was observed from the findings that the factor of SHRM, such as Social Justice (F2), Green Job Design (F5), Green Training (F6) and Implementation of Green Policy (F8), was the most critical for the pharmaceutical sector that effects Financial performance (F13), Customer Satisfaction (F15) and Market performance (F14). Pharmaceutical firms ought to coordinate public health advocacy efforts, engage in healthcare initiatives and provide financial support for environmentally friendly efforts that improve social and economic conditions.

For this sustainability, managers concentrate on creating an environment that is healthy and acceptable, and they work hard to mitigate the impact of natural factors and repair damage done to the environment; it is essential to move towards sustainable development to resolve environmental problems. Improving HR efficiency is among essential HRM responsibilities, as they expand the knowledge base of the workforce, enhance human capital, and eventually create valuable intangible assets and promote and encourage sustainable pharmaceutical products for some years.

This research paper has presented exclusive worth to the SHRM and organizational performance literature as it employs fuzzy FAHP and DEMATEL type 2. There is less research on SHRM in the pharmaceutical sector with these factors. In addition, FAHP and TYPE 2 DEMATEL are used in very few researches on SHRM approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that human resource development (HRD) needs to embrace and include futures and foresight learning (FFL) as a new addition to its field of theorising and practice. The question to consider is: How can FFL become a new feature of HRD? A key part of the authors’ argument is that the inclusion of FFL will enable HRD to add to the success of any organisation and make a vital contribution to the management of people at work.

This paper firstly considers some of the debates surrounding the meaning of HRD. The authors suggest that instability of the time serves to disturb any comforts that have been created in HRD and that there is a need to consider how there might be different futures for what we still call HRD in research, practice and praxis. This paper then considers how FFL might become one possibility for expanding the existing boundaries of HRD. The authors characterise futures and foresight as a learning process, which provides new but complementary features to what is already considered as HRD. This paper will show how FFL can lead to organisation's success and the way this can be achieved.

There is a wide variety of meanings of the term HRD; however, HRD is still cast as a “weakened profession” which has to play a subservient role to others in the workplace. Over the last 15 years, the expansion of the meaning of HRD has been seen as evidence of its evolving and emerging nature and development based on a co-creation with other disciplines. This creates a space for FFL, defined as an ongoing learning process to find predictable, probable, possible and/or a variety of long-term futures. FFL embraces three key processes of scanning, futuring and reconfiguring, all of which contain a high potential for participants and others to learn as they proceed, providing outcomes at each stage. FFL has been shown to enhance organisation performance and success and HRD interventions can play a key part in implementation. This represents a significant opportunity for the HRD profession to move from weakness towards strength.

For HRD researchers, while FFL is not yet on its radar, the authors would argue that the uncertainties of the future require that more attention be given to what might lie ahead. Indeed, HRD researchers need to ask the question: What is the future of HRD research? In addition, if the authors’ call for FFL to be included in the practice of HRD, such practice will itself provide new pathways for HRD research. Further research questions might include: To what extent is FFL practiced in organisations and what role do HRD practitioners play in delivery? How does FFL impact on organisation behaviour and outcomes? What new products and services emerge from FFL? What new skills are required to deliver FFL? Can FFL enhance the status of HRD practitioners in the work place and its role in decision-making? and How can the HRD profession develop as a hybrid profession with respect to machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI)?

FFL produces outcomes that have importance for strategy, HRD practitioner can learn to facilitate FFL by action learning and in leadership development programmes. FFL offers a significant opportunity to enhance the importance of HRD in organisations and beyond. FFL offers those involved in HRD a significant opportunity to transfer ideas into practice that have an impact on organisation sustainability. HRD can play a significant role in the design and delivery of ML and AI projects.

This paper concludes with a call for embracing FFL as a challenging but important addition to how we talk about learning at work. The authors argue that FFL offers a significant opportunity to enhance the importance of HRD in organisations and beyond. At its centre, FFL involves learning by people, groups, organisations and machines and this has to be of concern to HRD.

Smart HR 4.0 is a new concept characterized by adopting innovative technologies of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in the HR domain. This study attempts to identify the key factors of Smart HR 4.0 to foster organizational innovation ambidexterity.

Based on review of literature and survey from expert opinions by using the Delphi method, 12 factors were found most suitable for this study. Further, the fuzzy-TISM technique was used to establish contextual relationships and develop a hierarchical model on the identified factors. Subsequently, the MICMAC analysis was applied to classify these factors according to their driving and dependence power.

This study framed a conceptual hierarchical model of Smart HR 4.0 and established contextual relationships among identified factors. Result shows that smart organic structure, industry–institute interface, IT-enabled system and ambidextrous leadership are important factors as they have the highest driving power. Further, knowledge management, learning culture and psychological empowerment are the linkage factors having both driving as well as dependency power in the whole system.

This study can guide the managers in smoothly implementing these practices to manage their human capital amidst digital disruption, ensuring innovation competitiveness of the firm. The structural hierarchical framework of Smart HR 4.0 may serve as a blueprint for HR professionals and business leaders to attain organizational innovation ambidexterity in the current wave of digital disruptions (Industry 4.0).

This study provides a holistic model of smart HR 4.0 integrating innovation ambidexterity in I4.0.

This case study attempts to sensitize the impact of restructuring on the organization’s employer brand. The students shall learn to appreciate the criticality of maintaining a balance between being an employee-centric organization and building a sustainable business model, to analyze the alternative people management strategies in emerging start-ups.

This case study illustrates the innovative human resource (HR) policies adopted by the start-up Meesho. Meesho was started as “Fashnear” by two Indian Institute of Technology graduates Sanjeev Barnwal and Vidit Aatrey in the year 2015, with the headquarters located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It was a social commerce platform wherein the local apparel sellers or manufacturers could register themselves on the app and sell their products online to nearby consumers and the product would be delivered to their homes. Later, it was renamed Meesho (Meri E-Shop) with an improved business model. The innovative people-centric policies got Meesho recognition as one of the most employee-friendly start-ups and an innovative employer. However, later as part of the restructuring exercise, it had to lay off employees, which had a counter impact on its reputation and image as a desirable employer. This case study captures the dilemma faced by start-ups like Meesho who were in the process of sustaining their growth and optimizing their workforce and, at the same time, have to manage their employer brand in the process.

This case study can be used at the postgraduate level of management and in executive management programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS6: Human resource management.

The author aims to develop an employee competency framework for a volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) environment and propose learning and development (L&D) interventions for organisations and employees to develop competencies for thriving in a VUCA environment.

The framework synthesis method was used to determine employee competencies that are essential in a VUCA world.

The author identified 10 competencies that are essential for employee development in a VUCA world. The author categorised these employee competencies as cognitive (cognitive flexibility, agility mindset and personal ambidexterity), cross-cultural (cross-cultural intelligence and cross-cultural collaboration), analytical (creativity and complex problem solving) and personal effectiveness competencies (personal resilience, continuous learning and adaptive mindset).

The proposed competencies could be used for the personal development of employees and organisations. The VUCA competency framework developed in this study includes behavioural dimensions for each competency, which could be used in self-assessment, recruitment and selection and talent and performance management. Furthermore, the author proposes L&D interventions required for developing these competencies. Overall, this study contributes to human resources (HR) development in the VUCA era by proposing the development of specific individual competencies as necessary conditions for survival and growth.

VUCA competencies empower employees to not only survive but also thrive in an unpredictable and rapidly changing world. By incorporating these competencies in L&D interventions, organisations can help employees develop the necessary competencies to thrive in a VUCA environment, thus contributing to their personal and organisational success.

Nowadays, a prominent research area is the development of competitive advantages in companies, due to their environmental commitment and orientation. Based on resource-based view (RBV) and institutional theory (InT), this paper aims to investigate the influence of internal and external orientation on businesses' sustainable performance while considering the effect of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices.

Data from 351 manufacturing companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been collected and analysed through structural equation modelling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method.

The results indicated that both internal and external environmental orientation have important effects on SSCM practices, which in turn have a considerable beneficial effect on environmental, social and economic performance.

Although SSCM is constantly gaining ground in the literature, most SSCM research and models examine its effects, antecedents or motivation, mainly adopting a qualitative approach. Research on the topic adopting a large-scale empirical approach is still limited. In this context, this study contributes to the SSCM management literature by exploring the role of environmental orientation in facilitating the adoption of SSCM practices and improving companies' performance.

This paper aims to focus on the issue of high employee turnover in the Indian tech industry. An integrative review is conducted to analyse the past and current state of literature, as well as prepare a research agenda for future studies.

A pool of 72 articles published between 2010 and 2022 is reviewed with a special focus on Indian tech employees. This study elucidates the extent and impact of employee retention strategies through content analysis.

Two broad perspectives have been established in the literature: the reasons for quitting and the explanations for staying. By means of a comprehensive review, this paper combines these two aspects of literature and suggests factors under organization’s control to retain competent tech employees.

The study is designed to integrate the two theoretical viewpoints of employee turnover literature by consolidating the reasons behind quitting behaviour and staying intention. Codes combining the two aspects are presented as a valuable resource to retain tech talent.