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Article
Publication date: 21 August 2018

Huei-Wen Pao, Cheng-Yu Lee, Pi-Hui Chung and Hsueh-Liang Wu

The industry-wide adoption of a novel practice is often considered to be an institutional change. Although research on institutionalization has been accumulating, how and why…

1753

Abstract

Purpose

The industry-wide adoption of a novel practice is often considered to be an institutional change. Although research on institutionalization has been accumulating, how and why embedded actors in the field become motivated to embrace change that remains sidelined. Viewing the introduction of a new human resource management practice, the recruitment of non-compulsory certified manpower, which is still in its infancy in the service sector of Taiwan, as a new institution, the purpose of this paper is to identify the distinct motives behind firms’ hiring decisions, and examine the extent to which such hiring decisions are contingent on institutional conditions and firm attributes.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used to test the hypotheses were drawn from a survey on service firms in Taiwan in the second half of 2011. Hypotheses were examined through moderated hierarchical regression analyses in a sample of 254 Taiwanese service firms across major sectors.

Findings

Integrating the resource dependency and social contagion views, the study contends that resource scarcity drives, or legitimacy enables, service firms to deviate from traditional hiring patterns and instead adopt new preferences toward certified manpower. The study not only shows that social factors should be incorporated into the diffusion of a new HR recruitment practice in the service sector, which is traditionally based upon economic considerations, but also sheds light on the context-dependent nature of the process of institutional innovation.

Originality/value

This study is an attempt not only to test a dual-theoretical model on the extent to which a service firm’s new hiring pattern is influenced by two distinct types of motivation, but also to evidence how an institutional innovation, in terms of the regime of service manpower certification, takes root and spreads in the field. The managerially discretional account of the resource dependence theory needs to be reconciled with social contagion theory, which highlights the influence of collective actions and so provides a better understanding of the diffusion of new HR recruitment practices in the service industry.

Details

Journal of Advances in Management Research, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0972-7981

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1976

This study was undertaken by William Keyser and Tim Sharpe of Metra Oxford Consulting Limited with the Oxford Centre for Management Studies, supported by the Midland Bank Limited…

Abstract

This study was undertaken by William Keyser and Tim Sharpe of Metra Oxford Consulting Limited with the Oxford Centre for Management Studies, supported by the Midland Bank Limited and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The report is intended as a contribution to the national debate on manpower policy. It focusses on the way policies are administered and the degree to which they have the effects intended. It compares the way manpower policy is administered in Britain, West Germany and Sweden and suggests ways in which the effectiveness of the system could be increased. There is much in this report that is of interest, but we have selected chapter 2, Conclusions, to reproduce here. This gives a good summing up of the authors' recommendations and should encourage those interested in this field to study the report in full. Also of interest is what the report has to say about the role of the Manpower Services Commission—a topic on which there has been remarkably little comment in Britain. The conclusions below are derived by the authors from points argued in the chapters which follow, but are not a complete list of all that might be drawn. They are based on the notion that while Britain has many of the necessary components of successful manpower policies, their orientation is lacking in two respects: one is a set of declared national goals and the other is an operational system set up with the objective of meeting the needs of individuals.

Details

Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0019-7858

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1992

S. George‐Jones

Looks at the range of tests developed by Manpower and used to assess the abilities and aptitudes that temporary staff have to offer before they are placed with an employer…

Abstract

Looks at the range of tests developed by Manpower and used to assess the abilities and aptitudes that temporary staff have to offer before they are placed with an employer. Describes the continuous quality assessment programme and continual feedback system used to evaluate employees′ progress and clients′ satisfaction. The aim is to deliver a quality of service based on customer requirements. Shows that Manpower then went on to gain BS5750 registration of its main offices.

Details

Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-4529

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1977

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that…

2044

Abstract

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1990

Eileen Drew

The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total…

Abstract

The subject of part‐time work is one which has become increasingly important in industrialised economies where it accounts for a substantial and growing proportion of total employment. It is estimated that in 1970, average annual hours worked per employee amounted to only 60% of those for 1870. Two major factors are attributed to explaining the underlying trend towards a reduction in working time: (a) the increase in the number of voluntary part‐time employees and (b) the decrease in average annual number of days worked per employee (Kok and de Neubourg, 1986). The authors noted that the growth rate of part‐time employment in many countries was greater than the corresponding rate of growth in full‐time employment.

Details

Equal Opportunities International, vol. 9 no. 3/4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0261-0159

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1994

C.M. Khoong and Y.W. Ku

The Total Service Concept (TSC) framework, which forms part of along‐term R&D strategy in the Information Technology Institute inSingapore, is aimed towards sustained product…

1169

Abstract

The Total Service Concept (TSC) framework, which forms part of a long‐term R&D strategy in the Information Technology Institute in Singapore, is aimed towards sustained product development for service operations management applications. The TSC project is centred around the design of state‐of‐the‐art, robust operations research and management science models, supported by innovative computing tools. The project is an unprecedented, multi‐million dollar effort that is targeted for regional market penetration by the mid 1990s. Discusses the key motivations behind the TSC project, the TSC framework, and the long‐term R&D strategy and deliverables for the TSC effort.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 14 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1990

Lyn Martin

Although the nursing profession is a largeoccupational group and a major part of the NationalHealth Service, surprisingly little is known aboutthe demand for and supply of nurses…

Abstract

Although the nursing profession is a large occupational group and a major part of the National Health Service, surprisingly little is known about the demand for and supply of nurses. Current demographic trends, however, have ensured that a traditional “easy in/easy out” model of recruitment and retention, with high wastage rates during and after training, is being replaced by the idea that nurse education is a valuable and expensive investment and trained nurses must be encouraged to view nursing as a life‐time career. In 1988 there was considerable media interest in shortages of skilled nurses. A number of factors are examined, relevant to assessing whether there are such shortages. In particular, the demand for nurses, manpower and financial aspects of supply, recruitment and retention, and skill mix are considered. Two groups of nurses in which there are said to be shortages are briefly discussed: paediatric intensive care and community mental handicap and mental illness nurses.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1973

An Act to establish public authorities concerned with arrangements for persons to obtain employment and with arrangements for training for employment and to make provision as to…

Abstract

An Act to establish public authorities concerned with arrangements for persons to obtain employment and with arrangements for training for employment and to make provision as to the functions of the authorities; to authorise the Secretary of State to provide temporary employment for unemployed persons; to amend the Industrial Training Act 1964 and the law relating to the provision by education authorities of services relating to employment; and for purposes connected with those matters. [25th July 1973]

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1978

N.J. Adnett and A. Tennant

Since the war there has been increased government intervention in the operation of the economy. Its objectives have been those of promoting growth, full employment, price…

Abstract

Since the war there has been increased government intervention in the operation of the economy. Its objectives have been those of promoting growth, full employment, price stability and a favourable balance of trade. The belief that a major reason for the failure of the economy to achieve these objectives was manpower constraints, led to governments intervening into labour markets. One feature of this movement has been the particular concern with the supply of skilled workers. This concern stemmed from the belief that the skilled labour market was characterised by persistent shortages and large cyclical fluctuations in the training of skilled workers.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 2 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1985

A. Roberts and S. Griffiths

Britain's Present Plight: The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) note that “The last few years have seen a steep decline in output and employment. Between mid 1979 and mid 1981…

Abstract

Britain's Present Plight: The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) note that “The last few years have seen a steep decline in output and employment. Between mid 1979 and mid 1981 national out‐put fell by about 8 per cent and manufacturing output by nearly 20 per cent… Employment has fallen by 1.8 million…, total unemployment has risen to… 12.5 per cent of the work force compared with 5.5 per cent in the autumn of 1979”.

Details

Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0019-7858

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