bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
HRM practice and employee attitudes: different measures – different results
Authors: Edgar Fiona , Geare Alan 
Published: September 2005

PurposeTo test the relationship between HRM practice and employee work‐related attitudes and examine whether different approaches to measurement of HRM gives different results.Design/methodology/approachHRM practice was measured in three ways: additive measures of numbers of HRM practice, employer reports and employee reports of strength of practices. Employee attitudes were measured using organisational commitment, job satisfaction and organisational fairness scales. Matched data sets tested the relationships.FindingsStatistically significant results were obtained between HRM practice and employee attitudes, but only when employee reports of the strength of HRM practice were used to measure HRM.Research limitations/implicationsThis study emphasises that care must be taken in HRM research to use suitable data sources, with employees being a valuable, but under‐used, source.Practical implicationsEffective HRM policies and practices should be measured by their perceived quality, not simply by the number of practices introduced.Originality/valueThis study highlights that there are perceptual differences as to the strength of HRM practices and emphasises the importance of allowing employee voice in HRM research.
Human resource function competencies in European companies
Authors: Boselie Paul , Paauwe Jaap 
Published: September 2005

PurposeTo provide an overview of recent empirical survey research on human resource competencies in Europe.Design/methodology/approachThe survey data were collected in 2002 in the global human resource competence study (HRCS), an initiative of the University of Michigan. The study was processed online (web‐based). The respondents of the European HRCS, the main focus of our empirical analysis in this paper, were HR professionals and line managers of multinational companies located in Europe.FindingsThe results suggest that personal credibility and HR delivery have a positive effect on the relative ranking of the HR function and its professionals. According to non‐HR respondents strategic contribution is the competency that will lead to financial competitiveness, while HR managers consider business knowledge to be crucial for added value of the HR function.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the data are cross‐sectional and one should therefore be very careful in assuming certain causal relationships between domains and performance. Second, the analyses are built on perception data. Finally, the inclusion of more control variables like “size of the organisation” was limited as a result of missing data.Practical implicationsThe approach demonstrates how competencies of the HR function (e.g. HR delivery, personal credibility, strategic contribution) can contribute to a stronger position of the HR function within an organization and to agility and long‐term viability of an organization (sustainability).Originality/valueThis paper gives an overview of the literature on HR roles and introduces the HR competency perspective for strengthening the position of the HR function and the added value of the HR function to the organization's sustainability.
Comparing HRM in the voluntary and public sectors
Authors: Parry Emma , Kelliher Clare , Mills Tim , Tyson Shaun 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the practice of human resource management (HRM) in voluntary sector organisations providing substance misuse treatment services and to compare these findings with similar organisations in the public sector.Design/methodology/approachHRM practices are examined using a survey of voluntary and public sector drug and alcohol treatment provider organisations. The survey data are supported with a number of case studies and qualitative interviews with the HR managers of such organisations.FindingsThe data show that in many areas practice is broadly similar in the voluntary and public sectors. However, there are also a number of important differences, influenced by both their relative financial positions and the value‐led nature of the voluntary sector.Originality/valueRecent estimates suggest that over half a million people are in paid employment in the UK voluntary sector; however, relatively little is known about HRM within this sector. This paper provides a valuable insight into HRM within this sector and highlights the similarities and differences between this and the public sector.
Testing for pay and promotion bias in an international organization
Authors: Filmer Deon , King Elizabeth , van de Walle Dominique 
Published: September 2005

PurposeInternational organizations pursue multiple objectives in hiring policies including cultural diversity, reducing costs and avoiding discrimination among which there can be sharp trade‐offs. The paper has the purpose of studying how these trade‐offs are resolved in the World Bank's hiring processes.Design/methodology/approachThe paper estimates that half of salary and grade differentials between men and women and staff from high‐ and low‐income countries are attributable to differences in productive characteristics. Alternative explanations for the remainder are explored, including omitted variable bias, quotas and discrimination.FindingsThe paper argues that the salary and grade differentials and differences in productive characteristics are not compelling explanations. Discrimination probably exists, though less than would be implied by a cost minimizing hiring policy.Originality/valueProvides a discussion of the World Bank's hiring processes.
Recruiting personnel in a tight labour market: an analysis of employers' behaviour
Authors: Henkens Kène , Remery Chantal , Schippers Joop 
Published: September 2005

PurposeDuring recent years, the Dutch labour market has developed from a buyers' market into a sellers' market. Consequently employers had to increase their efforts to find suitable staff. This paper aims to analyse the instruments employers use to contact with potential workers. To what extent do employers still rely on traditional means like advertisements in the paper or do they behave more actively, using the world wide web, visiting job fares et cetera.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey among more than 1,000 employers in The Netherlands. Factor analyses and regression analyses are carried out to explain different recruitment strategies.FindingsThe factor analyses show that the different recruitment methods can be traced back to three recruitment strategies. The first strategy was described as active and informal recruitment. The second strategy was called recruiting via the internet and the third is characterised by formal recruitment. The results suggest that many organisations – not in the least organisations in the local government sector – could gain a great deal from using a wider range of instruments to recruit new personnel.Originality/valueThe paper analyses the instruments used by employers in search for potential workers.
Relationship between strategic human resource management and firm performance
Authors: April Chang Wan‐Jing , Chun Huang Tung 
Published: September 2005

PurposePrevious studies suggest that strategic human resource management (SHRM) is beneficial to firm performance. This study seeks to investigate the moderating effect of product market strategy (PMS), one of the contextual factors, on the relationship between SHRM and firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a survey on 235 Taiwanese firms and hierarchical regression analysis was performed.FindingsThe results failed to support the “universalistic” SHRM perspective. Only the interaction between an innovative PMS and SHRM exerted a significant effect on firm performance, which supporting the argument of the “contingency” perspective. The findings of this study confirmed the validity of the contingency model in an Asian society.Research limitations/implicationsDifferent from most previous studies conducted in a Western context, this study examined the data of Taiwan, and thus examined a very different cultural and institutional environment. Although this study obtained valuable results, the limitations of the subjective data, number of measurement items and the cross‐sectional design were discussed. In a future study, more work on revealing the influence of other unexplored factors to better understand the determinants of firm performance should be done.Practical implicationsCoping with innovation needs, the degree to which traditional human resource management (THRM) is transformed into SHRM determines how well a firm is able to sustain and enhance growth. This will enable firms to keep pace with the rapid environmental changes associated with globalization.Originality/valueInvestigates the moderating effect of PMS on the relationship between SHRM and firm performance in a Taiwanese context.
Exploring determinants of job involvement: an empirical test among senior executives
Authors: Carmeli Abraham 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThis study proposes and tests a model that attempts to explain the role of situational and personal‐related factors relating to why top executives become involved in their jobs.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on job involvement, literature, the present study involved senior managers employed in public sector organizations in Israel. Data were collected through structured surveys. A total of 98 usable questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 37.4 percent). Path analysis, using AMOS 4.01 program, was conducted to assess the research model.FindingsThe results indicate that both situational and personal‐related factors predict job involvement. The findings show that the relationship between perceived external prestige and job involvement is mediated by affective commitment, and that the relationship between protestant work ethic and job involvement is mediated by normative commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is one effort to unraveled situational and personal‐related factors that affect the degree to which senior managers become highly involved in their job. The findings shed light on the process that job involvement is developed among senior executives. Future research, however, should apply a longitudinal design to fully understand the dynamic process of becoming involved in a job among people who are being promoted to senior managerial positions.Practical implicationsBeing involved in a job may produce both positive and negative consequences at both the individual and organization level. Thus, efforts should be directed to fit and balance expectations, needs and interests of both sides.Originality/valueThis study provides useful information on the determinants of job involvement among top executives
Management development in SMEs
Authors: Mumby‐Croft Roger , Berman Brown Reva 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThe paper aims to examine a management development programme provided for local small businesses by a West Midlands university in order to evaluate how successful the course had been in meeting its goals, to ascertain the extent to which the participants had benefited from the course, and to establish whether any common themes could be found which might contribute to the success of teaching managerial skills to small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/ approachData were collected by means of two questionnaires and one group discussion at the end of each course. They were analysed very simply by averaging scores to give a broad picture of participants' views.FindingsThe participants saw the course as very worthwhile, claiming that it had met their training needs and improved their performance in the workplace.Originality/valueThe research has indicated that, by using innovative programmes such as the one described here, higher education institutions can contribute to the empowerment and to self‐management among the employees of small companies.
The relationship between top management teams and innovative capacity in companies
Authors: Camelo‐Ordaz Carmen , Hernández‐Lara Ana Beatriz , Valle‐Cabrera Ramón 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThe aim of this research is two‐fold: to examine the effects of certain characteristics of top management teams (TMTs) on innovative performance in their companies; and to determine if this influence is direct or if it is influenced by other factors, such as the existence of strategic consensus in the team.Design/methodology/approachThe research is developed using Upper Echelon Theory. This study was conducted with a sample of 100 companies from innovative sectors. Different regression analysis were undertaken in order to test the established hypotheses.FindingsThree main conclusions can be drawn from this research. First, it cannot be stated that all types of diversity related to TMT activity or work have a positive effect on innovation in companies. In this way, diversity in TMT tenure appears to have a negative influence. Second, the incidence of diversity on innovation cannot be direct in all cases. Therefore, functional diversity has a positive effect on innovation, but always when there is a context of strategic consensus in the management team. Finally, TMT educational level exerts a positive effect on organizational innovation degree, independently on processes, which may occur within the team.Originality/valueThe paper has tried to improve and clarify the contributions about the direct relationship model proposed by Upper Echelon Theory between TMT demographic characteristics and innovation. The results have confirmed, in support of the critics of the theory that it is necessary to introduce and analyze, along with demographic variables, other factors and processes which affect TMT decision making.
The big five in the USA and Japan
Authors: Robie Chet , Brown Douglas J. , Bly Paul R. 
Published: September 2005

PurposeTo examine whether the “big five” personality factors operate similarly from a psychometric perspective across dissimilar cultures.Design/methodology/approachManagers from the USA and Japan were administered a work‐oriented measure of the big five and overall assessment ratings were collected. Independent groups t‐tests were used to examine mean differences in personality scores across samples. Factor analysis was used to examine the structure of the big five across samples. Relative importance analyses were used to examine whether assessors across samples differentially weighted the big five in arriving at overall assessment ratings.FindingsBig five personality dimension scores were significantly higher in the US sample compared to the Japanese sample. Across both samples, relative importance analyses revealed extraversion to be the most important correlate of predicted job performance, whereas conscientiousness was the least important correlate of predicted job performance.Research limitations/implicationsThree limitations existed: relatively small sample size for the Japanese sample (n=410) compared to the US sample (n=3,458); scarcity of Japanese demographic information makes interpretation of results due to culture less certain; and follow‐up data on actual hiring decisions would enable additional interpretations of the data to be made.Practical implicationsResults suggest that: the Five Factor Model of personality is rather robust across cultures, samples, and types of instruments, possible response biases across cultures should be taken into account when developing norms and setting cutoffs.Originality/valueAlthough a consistent response bias is evidenced across the USA and Japan, the Five Factor Model of personality remains robust and what makes for an effective manager appears to be consistent across cultures.
Money ethic, moral conduct and work related attitudes
Authors: Gbadamosi Gbolahan , Joubert Patricia 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThis study aims to investigate perception of ethical and moral conduct in the public sector in Swaziland, specifically, the relationship among: money ethic, attitude towards business ethics, corruption perception, turnover intention, job performance, job satisfaction, and the demographic profile of respondents.Design/methodology/approachThe study was a survey using self‐administered questionnaires. Using stratified sampling technique in selected organisations, usable data were collected from 83 public sector employees in Swaziland.FindingsResults indicated significant relationship among money ethic, attitude towards business ethics, turnover intention and job performance. The importance of money as a motivator was also demonstrated. Respondents hold that civil servants' involvement in corruption is high and that bribery and corruption is widespread in Swaziland.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was small and hence limits generalisation of findings, but provides preliminary information for a larger study. The need to enrich future studies with in‐depth follow‐up interviews was noted.Practical implicationsThe respondents' perception of widespread corruption calls for a reinvigoration of government anti‐graft efforts and the need to promote ethical consciousness in the country.Originality/valueThis paper has demonstrated the importance of ethical awareness, the importance of money as a motivator and the state of corruption in another cultural setting – Swaziland.
Entering the market for financial services in transitional economies
Authors: Worthington Steve 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the opportunities and challenges for “foreign” financial institutions who wish to enter the Chinese market. It uses the credit card product to illustrate the complexities of this market.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on a literature review of how other transitional economies have dealt with the introduction of competitive financial services into their markets, the paper uses secondary research sources to consider some of the Chinese cultural nuances about savings and consumption that foreign entrants will need to be aware of. The credit card provides a mechanism, both to better explain these nuances and to demonstrate the entry strategies used to date by foreign credit card issuers.FindingsThere is much work yet to be done by the Chinese authorities to establish an infrastructure for payment cards and to encourage consumers to hold and use such cards. Foreign entrants, whilst constrained by the regulations restricting entry into the Chinese financial services markets, need also to be aware of some of the cultural impediments to the use of payment cards, particularly credit cards.Research limitations/implicationsFurther empirical research now needs to be conducted to explore the attitudes of Chinese consumers towards using credit cards and the willingness of Chinese merchants to accept such cards for payment. Foreign entrants, both actual and prospective need to be aware of the unique culture of China and how concepts such as Guanxi will impact upon the success of their entry strategies into this market.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the very limited literature on financial services in China and has value in that it encourages bank marketers to understand the cultural environment of the market that they are trying to penetrate.
Consumers’ attitudes towards online and mobile banking in China
Authors: Laforet Sylvie , Li Xiaoyan 
Published: September 2005

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate the market status for online/mobile banking in China. With the recent and forecasted high growth of Chinese electronic banking, it has the potential to develop into a world‐scale internet economy and requires examination.Design/methodology/approachThe demographic, attitudinal and behavioural characteristics of online and mobile bank users were examined. Respondents from six major Chinese cities participated in the consumer survey.FindingsThe results showed Chinese online and mobile bank users were predominantly males, not necessarily young and highly educated, in contrast with the electronic bank users in the West. The issue of security was found to be the most important factor that motivated Chinese consumer adoption of online banking. Main barriers to online banking were the perception of risks, computer and technological skills and Chinese traditional cash‐carry banking culture. The barriers to mobile banking adoption were lack of awareness and understanding of the benefits provided by mobile banking.Originality/valueThis study offers an insight into online/mobile banking in China, which has not previously been investigated. Distinct differences and common trends between Chinese and other countries were observed with clear indication of marketing strategy to be deployed by the service providers.
Firm acquisitions and earnings management: evidence from Greece
Authors: Koumanakos Evangelos , Siriopoulos Costas , Georgopoulos Antonios 
Published: September 2005

PurposeTo investigate whether acquiring firms listed in the Athens Stock Exchange, that completed mergers and acquisitions during the period 2001‐2003, tend to manipulate accounting earnings upward prior to the initiation and completion of the transaction.Design/methodology/approachThe focus is on discretionary accruals as a measure of managers' earnings manipulation. To estimate discretionary and non‐discretionary components of total accruals the time series Jones model is adopted.FindingsResults provide weak evidence of biased accruals reported by managers in the year preceding the announcement and the completion of the deal. The results seem to agree with those of Erickson and Wang who found no evidence of pre‐merger earnings management by a sample of acquiring firms that were involved in cash mergers.Research limitations/implicationsThe model applied, even if it is considered effective in discriminating abnormal from normal accruals, has been shown to have certain deficiencies, while simultaneously the time series data and number of firms used here could be considered as small. Within the aforementioned limitations further research could examine the effect of mergers and acquisitions in the stock price of the acquiring of target firms and the possibility of earnings management by target firms, since target managers may have different incentives to manipulate earnings.Practical implicationsFindings are of particular interest to Greek regulators for policy‐making purposes as well as to investors in the Greek capital market.Originality/valueTo the best of one's knowledge this is the first study to examine earnings management by acquiring firms in the European capital market context.