Nealia S. Bruning

Western high-performance HR practices in China: a comparison among public-owned, private and foreign-invested enterprises

The current study is a comparison of the status of high-performance human resource (HR) practices and organizational goal priorities (economic and humanistic) in Chinese domestic-owned (public-owned and private-owned) and foreign-invested enterprises. This study also investigates the relationship between organization goal priorities and the adoption of high-performance HR practices. The study sample included 167 different organizations in China. The results indicate that, as predicted, humanistic goals were emphasized most in foreign-owned enterprises, least in Chinese public-owned enterprises and the emphasis in privately owned enterprises fell in between the other two types of enterprises. However, the three types of organizations did not differ from each other on most of the high-performance HR practices, except in their levels of recruitment autonomy. We also found that the link between organizational goals and HR practices was the strongest for private-owned enterprises, followed by foreign-invested enterprises, and then public-owned enterprises. The implications of these results are discussed.

Membership in quality circles and participation in decision making

This study is an examination of the relationship between membership in quality circles and desired and perceived actual levels of employee participation on work-related and economic/strategic issues. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted on questionnaire responses from 224 nonsupervisory employees from three manufacturing plants. The results indicated that reliable differences in levels of desired and perceived actual participation were found due to quality circle (QC) membership and company. When differences between companies on employee demographic profiles, need for dominance, task characteristics formalization, and management attitudes about participation were controlled for; only one univariate difference due to company remained. Similar MANOVA analyses for outcome variables (absenteeism, turnover, work satisfaction, and organizational commitment) indicated a multivariate difference due to company and to the interaction between company and QC membership. Univariate analyses indicated the differences were apparent with turnover, work satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The covariate analyses eliminated some but not all of the significant differences.

Human resource management and organizational performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria

The link between human resource management (HRM) and firm performance of organizations has received significant research attention, generally focused on large firms from developed countries to the omission of studies focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and those from developing countries. This study partially addresses this gap in the literature. We investigated the relationship between HRM practices and the financial (FIN) and non-financial performance (NONFIN) of SMEs in Nigeria. A survey design with 236 respondents was used to test the hypotheses. Multiple regression results showed that human capital development and occupational health and safety had a direct relationship with NONFIN, and employee performance management and NONFIN on FIN performance. HRM practices as a group accounted for 16% of the variance in NONFIN and 12% of the variance in FIN. Regression analyses controlled for size and age of the firm. This study partially supports a model of positive relationships between certain HRM practices and firm performance.

Examining the relationship between individual perceptions of control and contemporary career orientations

Purpose – Contemporary careers research suggests that individuals are more likely to be proactive about their careers when they possess an internal, rather than an external locus of control (LOC). The purpose of this paper is to adopt the view that individuals can be both external and proactive depending on whether or not they possess an incremental implicit theory. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered surveys were completed by 127 employed individuals in Nigeria. These surveys were used to gather information on individuals’ external LOC, protean and boundaryless career orientations and implicit theory beliefs. Findings – Results indicated partial support for positive relationships between external LOC and contemporary career orientations and that an incremental implicit theory can have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between an external LOC belief in chance and the values-driven protean career orientation. Research limitations/implications – The study was based on a cross-sect...