Maria Cseh

The development of the field of HRD: a Delphi study.

Purpose – The study explored the views of leading human resource development (HRD) academics regarding five main issues: the disciplinary bases of HRD, the historical milestones in HRD, the constituent components of HRD, the leading contributions in terms of journal articles and books to the development of HRD and the future of HRD.Design/methodology/approach – A Delphi methodology was adopted. The views of editorial board members of the four main HRD journals (Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Developing Human Resources, Human Resource Development Review) and of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Human Resource Development were sought.Findings – Adult learning, systems theory and psychology were identified as the disciplinary bases of HRD. Works by Knowles, Nadler and McLagan were viewed as the leading contributions to the field. Adjusting to changes in work patterns and how work is organized was identified as a key trend influencing the fie...

The cross-cultural adjustment process of expatriate families in a multinational organization: a family system theory perspective

This case study examined the relationship between the family flexibility of expatriates in a multinational corporation and their cross-cultural adjustment, as well as the stressors experienced by the expatriate, spouse, and children during the international transition. Family flexibility was negatively correlated with cross-cultural adjustment as perceived by the participating expatriates. All five cross-cultural adjustment dimensions (cultural, psychological, organizational, personal and relational) had a statistically significant relationship with family flexibility. Expatriate families identified cultural, relational, and psychological stressors as having the greatest impact on their cross-cultural adjustment. The components of family flexibility (roles, rules, assertiveness and leadership) played a key role in the cross-cultural adjustment of the expatriate, spouse and children. These findings provide insights to organizations and their human resource development professionals as well as to expatriates and their families on how family flexibility impacts cross-cultural adjustment – insights that could lead to the development of appropriate support and development mechanisms.

'Managers' personal values as predictors of importance attached to training and development : a cross-country exploratory study

Few empirical studies have examined the effect of personal values on the importance attached by individuals to training and development in organizations. We argue that personal values play an important role in decision-making processes (i.e. commitment to training and development) and that such values are the product of socialization processes operating at an organizational and societal level. Questionnaire data were collected from 340 Irish and Canadian line managers to test the hypothesis that personal values affect the importance attached by respondents to training and development. Capability values were found to be a significant positive predictor of the perceived importance of training and development. The findings emphasize the need for simultaneously examining both personal values and organizational factors as predictors of training and development activity.

Work meaning among mid-level professional employees: A study of the importance of work centrality and extrinsic and intrinsic work goals in eight countries

We conducted a survey-based study on the meaning of work of some 1500 mid-level professional employees in private and public organizations in eight countries. Using the country clustering described in the GLOBE series of studies and the theoretical framework of the Meaning of Work study, five hypotheses were tested. The study found support for the universal valuation of work and family as major life domains and the relative importance of leisure, religion, and community involvement. Work centrality was related in differentiated ways to performance orientation, assertiveness, and humane orientation indices. Extrinsic and intrinsic work goals differed and were related to country clustering. The report concludes with implications for the theory and practice of human resource development and offers suggestions for further research.

Facilitating Learning in Multicultural Teams

The problem and the solution. Leading, working, and facilitating learning in multicultural teams represents one of the main challenges faced by today’s organizations. The advantages associated with multicultural teams (e.g., the symbiosis of different wealth of knowledge, ideas, and approaches to life and work) prove to be the major challenges in working in and leading these teams (e.g., differences in beliefs, attitudes, behavior patterns, paradigms, and thus different approaches to learning). Recognizing the importance of team learning and its facilitation in meeting the aforementioned challenges, this chapter presents the effect of cultural values on multicultural team learning as described in the literature. Theoretical implications as well as implications for human resource development practitioners are presented.

The Meaning of Organizational Learning: A Meta-Paradigm Perspective

This conceptual article focuses on organizational learning (OL), which is broadly defined as a learning process within organizations that involves the interaction of individual and collective (group, organizational, and inter-organizational) levels of analysis and leads to achieving organizations’ goals. This article explores a largely uncharted route of looking at OL through the lenses of several research paradigms and developing a meta-paradigm framework of this construct. The meta-paradigm framework accounts for the complexity of OL, as well as connections between its levels of analysis that have not been explained in the literature. The meta-paradigm framework of OL includes the definition of organization, the definition of OL, its ontology and epistemology, as well as its implications for human resource development (HRD) research and practice.

Building competitive advantage in a global environment: leadership and the mindset

Globalization has created an intense competitive environment. As a result, achieving competitive advantage has become the core argument in international management. Some scholars have argued that the development of global leaders is critical (Osland, Bird, & Mendenhall, 2006; Yukl, 2009), while others believe that the global mindset is the key to strategic advantage (Black, Morison, & Gregerson, 1999; Jeannet, 2000; Javidan, 2008). In this paper, we present a review of both literatures (i.e., global leadership and global mindset) to highlight that todays dynamic marketplace requires a shift in thinking. We conclude by drawing attention to existing gaps in these literatures, and shed light on an emerging integrative model of global leadership and mindset.

The challenges of training with interpreters and translators: The case study of a Hungarian organization

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to present a case study of an HRD team from the UK that delivers training to a large public service Hungarian organization with the aid of interpreters and translators.Design/methodology/approach – The article takes the form of a case study.Findings – The article acts to illustrate good and ineffective practices, and practical difficulties inherent in the acts of translation and interpretation within an HRD context.Originality/value – The article helps set the base for best practice in similar situations, and will therefore be useful to practitioners undertaking work through interpreters and translators. Implications for HRD research are also presented.

Changing Cities, Changing Culture The Challenges and Opportunities for HRD in Urban Sustainability

The Problem With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. As cities plan for a sustainable future, human resource development (HRD) professionals have the potential to facilitate collaboration across multiple organizations and at various scales (neighborhood, ward, city, metropolitan area) and to foster culture change that embraces ecological protection, economic development, and social equity. Although the role of HRD in crises management as a result of major environmental disasters is discussed in the literature, the field of HRD is in its infancy in examining its role and approaches in greening the society and addressing urban environmental challenges proactively. The Solution This conceptual article examines sustainability and urban sustainability and their linkage with HRD, discusses the emergent roles of HRD in crisis management, presents opportunities and challenges for Green HRD as a proactive process, and concludes with a call for the moral imperative for HRD in urban sustainability in implementing long-term change processes with a social justice and equity agenda. The Stakeholders This article informs local government agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, community groups, and their HRD leaders involved in urban sustainability planning and implementation on approaches to building new adaptive capacity and fostering culture change through collaborative learning and leadership interventions.

A woman leader's experience in Korea

Dr Sue Abbey is the director of human resources for OnStar by General Motors (GM). She has 20 years of experience in the human resource management (HRM)/ human resource development (HRD) field and consulted with leaders and teams at various levels of GM in the areas of large-scale change implementation, individual and organizational assessment, leadership development, team effectiveness, selection and staffing, compensation, performance management and talent management strategy. Dr Abbey has worked for several divisions of GM: Service and Parts Operation, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, Powertrain, and GM Daewoo Auto and Technology in Korea. She has also taught graduate and undergraduate courses in HRD for Oakland University in Rochester, MI. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and management from Albion College in Albion, MI and a Master’s and PhD degree in the area of individual and organizational learning from Michigan State University. Dr Maria Cseh is an associate professor of human and organizational learning at The George Washington University and a member of the board of directors of the Academy of Human Resource Development and of the advisory boards of four international journals. Her cross-cultural and international research studies on workplace learning, organizational development and change, and leadership were published in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and presented at international conferences. She holds a BSc and MSc degree in electronics engineering, an MA degree in business administration with a focus on international business, and a PhD degree in adult education with a specialization on global HRD. Dr Abbey returned recently from a three-year appointment in Korea as the managing director of change management at GM Daewoo. This interview was conducted in Seoul, Korea, in the last year of her assignment, after she was named the top businesswoman leader in the automotive industry in Korea. The purpose of the interview was to learn about Dr Abbey’s experience as a woman expatriate in a high leadership role in Korea, and her advice to other practitioners preparing for expatriate assignments in Korean and to scholars who are conducting research on issue related to expatriates and global work.