Michael Morley

Human capital accumulation: the role of human resource development

Introduces the special issue “Human resource development: sectoral and invention‐level evidence of human capital accumulation”. Reviews the concepts and definitions of intellectual and human capital. Considers human capital from individual (employability, performance and career development) and organization (investment, ownership, skills and knowledge management) perspectives. Looks at each of the papers in the special issue, relating them to its theme. Highlights the implications for human resource development, both at individual and organizational levels.

Person‐organization fit

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to introduce the special issue that brings together six papers exploring aspects of person‐organization fit.Design/methodology/approach – This overarching paper contextualizes the theme and introduces the selected papers.Findings – The findings in this paper vary according to the core theme of each of the six contributions.Originality/value – Combined the papers explore new avenues of enquiry in the person‐organization (P‐O) fit domain and showcase international theoretical and empirical work on the P‐O fit construct.

Contemporary HRD research: a triarchy of theoretical perspectives and their prescriptions for HRD

Addresses some of the key debates within the HRD literature and considers the extent to which HRD can be described as a field of study. The paper addresses the issues raised in the contributions that make up this special issue and identifies a broad range of methodologies and use of research methods. It argues that all of the contributions fit into at least one theoretical perspective: capabilities, psychological contacts and the learning organization/organizational learning. The paper concludes with a consideration of the prescriptions which the perspectives advocate for HRD in organizations.

Human resource development and workplace learning: emerging theoretical perspectives and organisational practices

Workplace learning and HRD are considered legitimate topics for study and investigation alongside organisational strategies and practices. Considers key themes in the workplace earning literature in addition to its relationship with HRD. Identifies a paradigm shift from formalised, intermittent and discontinuous learning to increasingly informal, experiential, asynchronous and real‐time situated learning. Highlights three contemporary themes in both the workplace learning and HRD literatures, namely: knowledge, expertise, competence and capability; organisational learning; and employability and career issues.

360 degree feedback: its role in employee development

Focuses on 360 degree feedback which is defined as a contrived method of providing a flow of feedback to employees from all directions. Addresses the purposes of feedback within the organization, with special emphasis on its use for employee development and careeµr development; the benefits of such feedback to the organization and the individuals involved; the mechanisms used to obtain feedback; and, finally, the pitfalls of 360 degree feedback.

Part‐time work in Europe

Seeks to contribute to the flexibility debate by addressing the following research questions: What are the European trends pertaining to the use of part‐time workers? How has the situation changed over the past three years? To what extent do organizational characteristics, such as size, unionization and sector, impact on the nature and extent of part‐time employment? Despite recent attempts by the European Union to bring to the fore the issue of working time, it has a rather long pedigree in labour management literature. The main arguments dictating the direction of change in working time arrangements are associated with discretion/choice debates, labour force changes, equality issues, technology and organiza‐tional efficiency and the unemployment/work‐sharing argument. Focuses specifically on one workforce variable, namely part‐time work. Believes that the classification of the labour market into the core (typical) and periphery (atypical), in the context of labour flexibility, is far too simplistic. Refers to how it has been argued in the literature that the components of the peripheral workforce possess different characteristics and cannot be lumped together.

Line managers and human resource development

Focuses on the line manager as a key stakeholder in the human resource development process. Considers the general trend towards devolvement of human resource activities to line specialists. Examines issues involved in devolving training and development to the line, with specific emphasis on the potential difficulties. Recent empirical evidence is represented. Concludes that the shape of things to come, at least for the foreseeable future, will be a sharing of responsibilities between the specialist and the line.

North American MNCs and their HR policies in liberal and coordinated market economies

We explore the landscape of HRM in North American MNCs which have been for long characterized as having an express preference for institutionalizing aspects of the home business system when operating aboard. Drawing upon institutional theory, both the USA and Canada are identified as liberal market economies. Building on this, we examine the HR preferences of subsidiaries originating in North America and operating in diverse liberal and coordinated market economies in order to test the extent to which the host context influences the pattern of HR policies and practices pursued, referring predominantly to the literature on USA firms. The results indicate that the pattern of HR practices pursued by North American owned MNCs varies widely depending on whether these North American owned MNCs are operating in liberal or coordinated market economies, lending support to the importance of context as a determinant of the likelihood of, and limits to, the transfer of HRM practices and preferences.

The high‐performance organization:

Using a quasi‐experimental design, reports the findings of a study on the impact of high‐performance work teams on job characteristics, employee satisfaction, organization culture and quality. A naturally occurring control (n = 50) and experimental group (n = 50) were identified in one research site and questionnaires were distributed to both groups prior to and eight months into the high‐performance intervention. The results reveal a significant improvement in work variety, autonomy, satisfaction with feedback on performance, satisfaction with work allocation and suggestion/idea input. With respect to organization culture and beliefs, it was found that seven of the ten dimensions measured improved significantly. Finally, some quality gains were witnessed with only minimal extra resources.

The socialization of high‐potential graduates into the organization

Examines the expectations of those graduates recruited by organizations for their “high‐flyer” programmes. Looks at the socialization process that such graduates are exposed to once recruited and evaluates the adjustment and change processes that graduates experience.