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This paper explores the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong Province of China and identifies its position in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.

The paper reviews construction vocational education and training (VET) of major political economies to develop a theoretical framework that guides an in-depth case study of Guangdong. Document analysis, field trip observations, meetings and semi-structured interviews were combined to explore the political-economic environment, political stakeholders and quality assurance mechanisms of industrial training in Guangdong's construction sector. The findings were compared with construction VET of other economies reported in the literature.

Construction training in Guangdong is deeply rooted in the local history and culture, under strong dominance of the state, while continually evolves to respond to the fluid market and therefore can be conceptualised as “market-in-state”. The political stakeholders are embedded within the state to ensure that skills policies are implemented in-line with industry policies. The differences between the training of Guangdong and its foreign counterparts are attributed to their divergent political-economic models.

As the case study was undertaken only with Guangdong, the generalisability of its findings can be improved through future research within a broader context of multiple provinces of China through both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Plausible foreign VET approaches are likely adaptable to the Chinese context only when conducive political-economic environment could be enabled. The findings are useful for developing countries to learn from the VET experience of industrialised economies. Construction workers' training in Guangdong can be improved by strengthening labour regulation at lower subcontracting levels and ensuring the presence of industrial associations and unions for collective training supervision.

The paper contributes to the field of construction engineering and management with a theoretical framework that guides empirical studies on the influence of the political-economic environment upon the ways political stakeholders develop and participate in construction VET. The exploration based on this framework revealed the position of the vocational training of construction workers in Guangdong in the global political-economic spectrum of skill formation.

The paper seeks to disclose the features and implications of the neoliberal VET and employment policy agendas for the social and institutional VET ecosystems and the integration of at-risk youth in the labour market in the Baltic countries.

The research is based on the comparative policy analysis approach with reference to the theories of social and skill formation ecosystems and the historical institutionalism perspective.

The research has revealed three interconnected and alternately/simultaneously applied development pathways in the skill formation and vocational education of at-risk youth in the Baltic countries: (1) the market-oriented approach based on fostering immediate employability based on the momentary skills needs in the economy; (2) the state-assistance approach based on ensuring equal access to the VET and employment services by the state and (3) the approach of systemic support to socially disadvantaged or at-risk young people in developing their capabilities.

The originality of the paper lies in a new, holistic and comparative perspective in analysing the implications of the “Baltic neoliberalism” for the development of skill formation systems, VET and employment of at-risk youth in this region.

This paper aims to describe how the human resources development (HRD) policy has shifted from the national level to the sectoral levels; the paper also explains the changes that have been made in skills formation in the economy by presenting the emergence of Industry Skills Councils (ISC).

This paper presents perspectives of which include reviewing the change of governance and skills formation at the sectoral level.

Skills development strategy is needed both at the sectoral and national levels to cultivate the core competencies of Korean talents. The feedbacks based on the HRD practices implemented at the micro level are delivered to the state governments and business associations via the ISCs. The policymaking has thus become more decentralized from the state government, and it now reflects inputs from the practical field in the process of making new policies.

Korean skills regime is still difficult to classify because it does not follow the skills formation regime discussed in current scholarship. While the state government has played an active role in decision-making, financing and delivery of vocational training programs since the early phase of economic development, engagement by social partners has been limited in the Korean vocational education and training (VET) system. The participation of social partners in the Korean VET system has been limited, but various stakeholders such as the labor unions; trade unions; chambers of commerce; and small, medium and large enterprises have been engaged gradually in skills identification, formation, development and implementation within individual sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope for action of local human resource managers, who are employed in foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs), for implementing training activities. These managers are situated in relationships to headquarters and the local environment. Related to this is the question whether MNCs contribute to the local skill base by implementing training activities or whether they exploit the existing skill formation system.

This study focusses on German subsidiaries of MNCs with headquarters in the USA and the UK, France, China and Japan. The study is based on 107 expert interviews with subsidiary managers and representatives of local stakeholder organisations, such as educational organisations, chambers, economic promotion agencies and governmental bodies in Germany.

The study reveals that headquarters introduce general schemes for training. In addition to these MNC-internal trainings, local managers use their information advantage over headquarters to implement dual training activities.

The training activities of subsidiaries are dependent on the institutional settings of the host country.

Albeit dual training activities are laborious and tie the local managers down for the medium and long term, the future need of the subsidiary for adequately skilled workforce prompts local managers’ engagement in implementing dual training activities.

Subsidiaries contribute to the local skill base and do not act in a free-rider position, at least in the German variety of capitalism.

The study deepens insights on distanced relations within and how subsidiaries generate scope for action by using this kind of relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the social enterprises and human resource management (HRM) literatures by examining how institutional and cultural contexts influence human resources (HR) practices, i.e., recruitment practices (specifically, recruitment channels) and employee relations (ER) practices that are adopted in social enterprises in the developing country of Thailand.

This paper applies an embedded cross-case analysis of four social enterprises in Thailand across a variety of industries. The case study evidence in this paper draws on semi-structured interviews with each social enterprise’s representatives; field visits to each social enterprise in Bangkok and in other provinces in Thailand; and a review of archival documents and web-based reports and resources. This paper uses thematic analysis to pinpoint, examine and record the patterns or themes found in the data.

Based on these four case studies, this paper proposes that the deficiencies in the Thai skill formation system, especially skill shortages, are associated with the adoption of alternative or substream recruitment channels among social enterprises. Additionally, the weak and highly fragmented ER institution and the cultural context that favor conflict avoidance and unassertiveness among workers within the workplace are associated with the adoption of a paternalistic ER practice in these enterprises.

This paper has only focused on the role of national skill formation system, ER system, and the cultural context that favor conflict avoidance and unassertiveness among workers within the workplace. Future research may explore how other institutional and cultural domains influence the adoption of HR practices in these enterprises in the context of emerging market economies. Additionally, because this research is based on the case studies of four social enterprises in a variety of industries in Thailand, the findings of this paper may not be generalizable to all social enterprises across countries. Another limitation of this research is that it did not include social enterprises in several other industries, including the entertainment and media industry and the printing and publishing industry, and it does not include other forms of social enterprises, such as community-led social ventures. Future research may explore how institutional and cultural contexts influence HR practices adopted in social enterprises in other industries or in other types of social enterprises. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of social enterprises across industries might be useful in deepening our understanding of a topic that is significant from the perspective of both social enterprises and HRM.

This paper provides practical implications for HR professionals, founders and top managers of social enterprises not only in Thailand but also in other countries that face the problem of a skill shortage in the labor market.

This paper provides policy implications for the government of Thailand and the governments of several other emerging market economies in which the skill shortage is particularly severe. These governments should focus on solving this problem to alleviate severe competition among several types of organizations in the labor market. Furthermore, these governments should foster the implementation of a partnership model for employee–management relationships within the workplace. In this model, employees and management perceive each other as partners rather than enemies to sustain win–win solutions to any problems or disputes that may occur.

This paper aims to fill the gap in the literature regarding how social enterprises manage HR across contexts, especially in developing countries where institutional and cultural contexts might differ from those of developed countries. Batt and Banerjee (2012) suggested that the literature on HRM, including strategic human resource management (SHRM), should extend beyond the organizational context and examine how institutional contexts influence the adoption of organizations’ HR practices. Additionally, Batt and Banerjee (2012) noted that the majority of studies in the HRM literature focus on profit-oriented firms in the private sector and ignore other types of organizations such as non-profits or social enterprises.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on global talent management by examining how multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed and emerging economies manage talented employees in other emerging economies. Specifically, it aims to understand why MNCs from developed economies are likely to face lower levels of challenge than MNCs from emerging economies when translating corporate-level talent management strategies to their subsidiaries located in emerging economies and how local contextual factors influence the translation processes.

This paper undertakes a matched-case comparison of two MNCs, one from a developed economy and the other from an emerging economy, that operate in the emerging economy of Thailand. Evidence was obtained from semi-structured interviews field visits and a review of archival documents and Web resources.

Based on the obtained evidence, this paper proposes that MNCs from developed economies tend to face challenges in terms of skill shortages, and these challenges affect their translation of talent management strategies to the subsidiary level. By contrast, MNCs from emerging economies tend to face challenges in terms of both skill shortages and the liability of origin (LOR) (i.e. weak employer branding) in the translation process. Both groups of MNCs are likely to develop talent management practices at the subsidiary level to address the challenge of successfully competing in the context of emerging economies.

One limitation of this research is its methodology. Because this research is based on a matched-case comparison of an MNC from a developed economy and an MNC from an emerging economy, both of which operate in the emerging economy of Thailand, it does not claim generalizability to all MNCs and to other emerging economies. Rather, the results of this research should lead to further discussion of how MNCs from developed and emerging economies translate corporate-level talent management strategies into subsidiary-level practices to survive in other emerging economies. However, one important issue here is that there may be a tension between the use of expatriates and local top managers at MNCs’ subsidiaries located in other emerging economies as drivers for knowledge sourcing in that the importance of expatriates may diminish over time as the subsidiaries located in those economies age (Dahms, 2019). In this regard, future research in the area of global talent management should pay special attention to this issue. The other important issue here is that it is possible that the two case study MNCs are very different from one another because of their organizational development stage, history and current globalization stage. Thus, this issue may also influence the types of talent management strategies and practices that the two case study MNCs have developed in different countries. In particular, MNCs from emerging economies (ICBC) may not have developed their global HR strategies, as they have not yet operated globally as in the case of MNCs from developed economies (Citibank). This can be another important issue for future research. Additionally, both MNCs examined in this research operate in the banking industry. This study, therefore, omits MNCs that operate in other industries such as the automobile industry and the hotel and resort industry. Future researchers can explore how both groups of MNCs in other industries translate their talent management strategies into practices when they operate in other emerging economies. Moreover, this study focuses only on two primary contextual factors, the skill-shortage problem and LOR; future research can explore other local contextual factors, such as the national culture, and their impact on the translation of talent management strategies into practices. Furthermore, quantitative studies that use large sample sizes of both groups of MNCs across industries might be useful in deepening our understanding of talent management. Finally, a comparison of talent management strategies and practices between Japanese MNCs and European MNCs that operate in Thailand would also be interesting.

The HR professionals and managers of MNCs that operate in emerging economies or of companies that aim to internationalize their business to emerging economies must pay attention to local institutional structures, including national skill formation systems, to successfully implement talent management practices in emerging economies. Additionally, in the case of MNCs from emerging economies, HR professionals and managers must understand the concept of LOR and look for ways to alleviate this problem to ensure the success of talent management in both developed economies and other emerging economies.

This paper provides policy implications for the government in Thailand and in other emerging economies where the skill-shortage problem is particularly severe. Specifically, these governments should pay attention to solving the problem of occupation-level skill shortages to alleviate the severe competition for talented candidates among firms in the labor market.

This paper contributes to the prior literature on talent management in several ways. First, this paper is among the first empirical, qualitative papers that aim to extend the literature on global talent management by focusing on how MNCs from different groups of countries (i.e. developed economies and emerging economies) manage talented employees in the emerging economy of Thailand. Second, this paper demonstrates that the institutional structures of emerging economies play an important role in shaping the talent management practices adopted by the subsidiaries of MNCs that operate in these countries. In this regard, comparative institutionalism theory helps explain the importance of recognizing institutional structures in emerging economies for the purpose of developing effective talent management practices. Finally, there is scarce research on talent management in the underresearched country of Thailand. This study should, therefore, assist managers who wish to implement corporate-to-subsidiary translation strategies in Thailand and other emerging economies.

We investigate the relationship between job complexity and skill development of adult workers in Europe using the Cedefop European Skills and Jobs Survey. ¹ The results suggest that challenging workplaces in which jobs are designed to include complex tasks that place high demands on workers’ skills also stimulate skill development. Increasing the degree of job complexity has positive and robust effects on the degree of skill development. Skill development is also positively linked to job tenure. The analysis stresses the importance of on-the-job learning and contextual workplace characteristics for adult workers’ skill development.

In the context of far-reaching changes in higher education and the labour market, there has been extensive discussion on what constitutes graduate employability and what shapes graduates’ labour market outcomes. Many of these discussions are based on skills-centred approaches and related supply-side logic. The purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative, relational conceptualisation of employability based on the concept of capitals. It discusses how this provides a more detailed and multi-dimensional account of the resources graduates draw upon when transitioning to the labour market.

The paper presents a new model on graduate employability, linked to five areas of capital which are seen as constitutive of graduates’ employability and significant to their transitions to the labour market. The paper draws together existing conceptual approaches and research studies to illustrate the different features of the model and how they relate to graduate employability. It also discusses some practical implications for those helping to facilitate graduates’ transitions to the job market.

The paper argues that the graduate capital model presents a new way of understanding graduate employability which addresses the challenges of facilitating graduates’ transitions and early career management. The forms of capital outlined are conceived as key resources that confer benefits and advantages onto individuals. These resources encompass a range of human, social, cultural, identity and psycho-social dimensions and are acquired through graduates’ formal and informal experiences.

Whilst this is a conceptual model, it has potentially strong implications for future research in this area in terms of further research exploration on the core components and their application in the labour market.

This re-conceptualization of graduate employability has significant implication for graduates’ career management and strategising in developing resources for enhancing their transitions to and progression within the labour market. It also has implications for career educators in developing practical employability strategies that can be used within institutional settings.

The paper raises salient implications for the effective and equitable management of graduate outcomes post-graduation which has clear relevance for all stakeholders in graduate employability, including students/graduates, career educators and employers.

The paper develops a new model for conceptualising graduate employability and illustrates and applies this to discussion of graduate employability. It also raises practical applications around the different components of the model.

Employers attempt to shape employees' work identities through the organisation of work. However, they are partly constrained by employee expectations related to education and training, the occupational structure and the labour market. Employees, individually and collectively, also attempt to influence how their work is performed and play an active role in shaping their own work identities. Work identities are therefore influenced both by structural factors and the agency of employers and employees. This article concentrates upon how individuals working in engineering seek to shape their own work identities. An overview of the broad structural context of working in engineering and metal working in France, Germany, Spain and the UK is given, followed by an outline of how employers sought to shape work identities.

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the essence of project education in the classroom in the foreign (English) language of students of nonlinguistic specialties of the university.

A sample of the study consisted of 20 first-year students of profile “Lawyer.” The study took place in three stages. The implementation of the training project was carried out based on the university in a group of students studying for the specialty “Lawyer.” At the organizational stage, primary diagnostics of the level of development of communicative competence through testing and communicative cases were carried out. In the second stage, the project was carried out for one semester under four topics by the thematic plan of the English language program. In the third stage, rediagnostics was carried out using testing and communicative cases following the completion of projects.

Based on the results of repeated diagnostics, a positive dynamic was revealed in the level of development of communicative skills, the development of the independent communicative activity of students at both a productive and a creative level.

The research shows that the inclusion of project activities in the educational process of students of the university contributes to the formation and development of information skills. These skills quite effectively fit into the educational process, carried out in the form of a workshop. And the workshop is effective at all the stages of the project activities.