A. Uday Bhaskar

Knowledge management process in two learning organisations

– This paper aims to study how knowledge management (KM) practices are carried out in learning organisations. It seeks to find out; how learning organisations carry out KM practices and whether there are any specific KM attributes that differentiate high learning organisations from low learning organisations., – The research is carried out in two information technology (IT) organisations. Qualitative data obtained from these two organisations are analysed using the grounded theory approach., – Four themes of KM process emerged after the data were subjected to grounded theory analysis. These are: knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge up‐gradation, and knowledge retention. The two sample organisations were compared on these dimensions. Two concepts emerged from this comparison, namely, knowledge enablers and knowledge inhibitors., – The paper attempts to find out the pattern of KM systems in two learning organisations (high learning and low learning). The findings shed some light on different themes of KM existent in low and high learning organisations and how they differ in their KM attributes.

Doing business in India: cross-cultural issues in managing human resources

Purpose – Given the increasing global significance of Indian markets, multi-national corporations (MNCs) are keen to do business here; however, cross-cultural issues can be barriers in managing human resources (HR) in international businesses. The purpose of this paper is to understand how MNCs can successfully do business in India, with special reference to cross-cultural issues and management of HR. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews were conducted with executives working in MNCs and Indian MNCs based in India and abroad. Respondents were senior professionals, working in diverse sectors and had global work experience for about five years. Majority of the interviews were conducted in Delhi and some were conducted in Singapore. Interviews responses were qualitatively analysed. Findings – Findings reveal that MNCs wanting to do business in India need to have a long-term business focus, a well-defined expatriate policy and deep pockets to experience growth and payoffs on investments. In order...

HR as business partner during mergers and acquisitions

Purpose – This paper seeks to highlight the important role human resource (HR) plays in organizations during mergers and acquisitions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks at the role of HR in various organizations that have undergone mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and captures the criticality of HR getting involved early during the process.Findings – The paper provides case studies illustrating that if HR is involved from the early stages of the M&A deal, the chances of success are higher than if HR gets involved only after the merger has taken place.Practical implications – The paper includes a number of case studies of successful and failed M&As and draws out the lessons for HR.Social implications – The paper draws out the factors that help to ensure that mergers and acquisitions are good for the companies and employees involved, as well as for society as a whole.Originality/value – The paper looks at the process of mergers and acquisitions from a mainly Indian context.

Strategic HR Integration and Proactive Communication during M&A: A Study of Indian Bank Mergers

Research in the past has documented the use of strategic human resources (HR) integration and proactive communication as best practices in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to deliver the expected synergy out of a combination (merger or acquisition). The failure of majority of M&A deals has been attributed to improper handling of HR issues and lack of a thorough understanding of the merger/acquisition context by the acquiring management. This study was initiated to understand how proactive communication and strategic integration of HR issues improves the chances of deal success. Based on data collected through field interviews with managers of two bank mergers in India, it was concluded that strategic employee communication, appropriate changes in the performance management system and a compensation structure with cutting edge strategic HR practices paved the way for successful integration and merger success in one of the cases studied.

Ethical Issues in Change Management: An Empirical Study

This research was conducted to study the ethical issues involved in managing change-related issues and assess whether people in organizations perceive them to be ethical. Besides assessing peoples perceptions of ethicality, it also explored the reasons people give for judging a situation as ethical or unethical. Research was conducted using scenarios involving ethical dilemmas related to lay offs, skills obsolescence, misinfor mation and preference for younger over older employees. Results show that the respondents were divided over three situations, namely, lay offs, misinformation and preference for younger employees. The issue of skills obsolescence was considered unethical by most. The reasons given for judging a situation were different, implying that the ethical and unethical were not treated as two ends of a continuum.

A Study of Predictors of Entrepreneurial Intentions: Development of Comprehensive Measures

The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive set of measures to predict entrepreneurial intentions drawn from measures used in existing studies. Since intentions can be valuable for explaining the act of creating the venture, it is vital to develop a set of comprehensive measures that can better predict the intentions and the entrepreneurial behaviour. An extensive search of literature for a complete set of measures that are capable of explaining entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour did not yield any result. The present study was, therefore, attempted to address this gap in the extant literature. The final scale developed in this study is, in essence, the drawing together of various items from disparate sources and it should provide a more comprehensive research tool. Data was collected from four leading Indian business school students through an online survey. One hundred and one responses completed responses were obtained through the online survey which was open for one week. The data was subjected to statistical analysis to check the psychometric properties of the instruments. The scales were tested for validity and reliability. A total of 13 factors (measures) emerged from the study totalling 54 items. Out of these, seven factors were for motivators (28 items), five factors were for barriers (20 items) and one factor was for intention (6 items). These measures can be used by researchers to determine entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour of students, women, working managers and other sections of the society.