Andreas Wallo

Leadership as a balancing act between performance- and development-orientation : a study of managers’ and co-workers’ understanding of leadership in an industrial organisation

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to revisit data from a previous study of leadership in an industrial company that was in the process of implementing a process-oriented, team-based form of ...

The interactive researcher as a virtual participant: A Habermasian interpretation

This article explores the role of the interactive researcher by drawing on Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action to develop the concept of virtual participant. An ideal interactive research project is used to explore the issues faced by interactive researchers in three phases – initial, implementation and conclusion. In each phase, an interactive research project is used to demonstrate the issues that are discussed. First, this article argues that the concept of communicative rationality can be helpful in understanding how mutually trusting relationships between practitioners and researchers can be established at the beginning of a project. Second, it argues that the idea of taking a virtual stand on validity claims can be used during a project to engage a performative attitude and achieve mutual understanding with actors in the practice system. Third, this article argues that the concept of the virtual participant can explain how the interactive researcher can engage in performative action without becoming captive to the practice system. The concept of the virtual participant helps to enhance understanding of the complexity of the role of the interactive researcher.

Working and Learning in Times of Uncertainty

Research on adult, professional and vocational education in a global world is timely (Farrell & Fenwick, 2007). Globalisation and economic crises are the trends that most dramatically transform ...

Setting the stage for innovation: towards a conceptual model of the HR-innovation link

The article shows that human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD) activities play a potentially important role in facilitating innovation in organisations. Based on previous research, a conceptual model is presented that displays how an organisations human resource (HR) function can facilitate innovation by securing and developing the HR supply chain to ensure the healthy and continuous flow of personnel and competence into, within, and out of the organisation (i.e., by securing the appropriate competences for the job and the organisation, by developing and retaining existing competences, and by transferring competences from employees who are leaving to those who remain in the organisation). This article argues that HR practitioners can set the stage for innovations by actively and strategically implementing HR activities that support the creation of an expansive learning environment in which both adaptive and developmental learning can occur.

Accelerating and Braking in Times of Economic Crisis: Organisational Learning in a Top Management Team.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present the results of a study of an industrial companys top management team (TMT) that fought to survive an economic crisis. Specifically, the article seeks to focus on describing the TMTs composition, group processes, and work during a period of high external pressure; analysing the TMTs work in terms of an organisational learning process; and discussing factors that may have enabled the TMT to make appropriate strategic decisions during the crisis.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical foundation of this article is a longitudinal case study of a Swedish industrial company during the economic recession of the late 2000s. Data were collected through observations of meetings involving the TMT from 2009 to 2011 and through semi‐structured interviews with TMT managers.Findings – Two empirical themes – “accelerating” and “braking” – illustrate actions taken by the TMT during the crisis. Accelerating involves activities aimed at accelerating the company out ...

HR outsourcing in small and medium-sized enterprises: Exploring the role of human resource intermediaries

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly outsourcing human resource (HR) activities to outside labour market intermediaries. In this paper, the focus is on a specific type of labour market intermediary, the HR intermediary (HRI). The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss SME outsourcing of HR services to membership-based HRIs, and potential problems and benefits that may arise in this process.,The empirical foundation comprises case studies of three Swedish HRIs and 12 of their SME clients. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a document study.,The findings show that social aspects such as trust, shared values, communication and commitment are crucial characteristics of the cooperation between HRIs and SMEs. These social aspects are a result of the owner/membership structure, and a distinguishing feature of the studied HRIs in comparison to other types of labour market intermediaries.,The results of the study underline the need for increased research related to the intermediary concept and its meanings in different contexts. There is also a need for more empirical research on HRIs, e.g. comparisons between different types of HRIs, and studies of the emergence of virtual intermediaries. Future studies should focus on the role of LMIs and HRIs in regional development processes.,Companies that interact with HRIs should reflect on the different pros and cons that this cooperation may result in, both in the short term and in the longer term.,The study provides an enhanced understanding regarding the relations between SMEs and HRIs, based on the two broad types of SMEs (with low/high internal HR skills) and two types of HRIs (with short/long-term orientation).

Distinctive Characteristics of Small Businesses as Sites for Informal Learning

Few studies have examined workplace factors that influence informal learning in small businesses and in general the studies are not framed by the characteristics of small businesses. To address this weakness in existing literature, we conducted a review of literatures which examine (a) workplace factors that influence informal learning, (b) small-business characteristics, and (c) factors influencing informal learning in small businesses. The several workplace factors that influence learning were categorized as job and relational and organizational characteristics. Each category was examined in relation to characteristics of small businesses. We outline what is known about each category and what we need to learn about them as they relate to informal learning in small businesses. For each category, propositions are generated that should be examined in future research. We also produce a heuristic conceptual framework that can be used to focus and bound future research that tests a different set of propositions.

Employee Resourcing In Elderly Care

Caring for elderly people is a struggle for most public sector organisations around the world. Especially troublesome is the task of attracting, recruiting, and retaining competent employees to work in the elderly care sector (Johansson & Moss, 2004; National Commission on Nursing Workforce for Long-Term Care, 2005).