Seung Won Yoon

Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams

Abstract This study describes the community building process of virtual learning teams as they form, establish roles and group norms, and address conflict. Students enrolled in an HRD masters program taught entirely online were studied to determine (1) how virtual learning teams develop their group process, and (2) what process and strategies they use as they work through the stages of group development. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry were used to capture the dynamic interaction within groups and the underlying factors that guided group process and decision-making. The results show that virtual learning groups can collaborate effectively from a distance to accomplish group tasks. The development of virtual learning teams is closely connected to the timeline for their class projects. Virtual teams are also similar in terms of their task process and the use of communication technologies. In contrast to face-to-face teams, the leadership role of virtual teams is shared among team members. Recommendations are discussed in order to facilitate peak integration of virtual learning teams into Internet-based training courses.

Systemizing Virtual Learning and Technologies by Managing Organizational Competency and Talents

The article presents promising components and practices of virtual learning and technologies and discusses how systemization can be made through managing organizational competency and talents. The main goal is to suggest how technologies should be incorporated within an organization to improve the effectiveness of employees’ learning, performance, and development. For technology implementation and adoption, we also introduce models for examining organizational maturity levels and integrating technologies.We argue that virtual learning and technologies are fundamentally pressing HRD roles to change from experts of learning and development to work solution partners leading and supporting the creation of a smart organization.The article presents promising components and practices of virtual learning and technologies and discusses how systemization can be made through managing organizational competency and talents. The main goal is to suggest how technologies should be incorporated within an organization to improve the effectiveness of employees’ learning, performance, and development. For technology implementation and adoption, we also introduce models for examining organizational maturity levels and integrating technologies.We argue that virtual learning and technologies are fundamentally pressing HRD roles to change from experts of learning and development to work solution partners leading and supporting the creation of a smart organization.

A missing link: psychological ownership as a mediator between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour

Interest in psychological ownership (PO) has increased due to its influence on employees’ attitudes and behaviours. This study focuses on PO as a mediator between transformational leadership (TL) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in the Korean public sector, which does not have employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). With a total of 214 cases from the Korean public sector, structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was conducted, and chi-square difference-based model comparison was performed to examine the mediating effect. Results indicated statistically significant relationships between TL and employees’ PO and between employees’ PO and their OCB. A statistically significant full mediating role of PO between TL and OCB in the Korean public sector context was found.

Transformational leadership and knowledge sharing: Mediating roles of employee’s empowerment, commitment, and citizenship behaviors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the fundamental process through which transformational leaders play a significant role in employees’ knowledge sharing by investigating mediating roles of individual affects, particularly psychological empowerment, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling, including confirmatory factor and path analysis, is conducted to test proposed hypothesis. Findings – The results of this study indicate significant direct effects of transformational leadership on psychological empowerment, organizational commitment and OCB. Moreover, transformational leadership also shows an indirect effect on employees’ OCB, which, in turn, is identified as the primary factor that influences knowledge sharing. However, organizational commitment does not provide a significant influence on knowledge sharing. These findings highlight the importance of mediating roles, particularly OCB, ...

The effects of empowering leadership on psychological well-being and job engagement: The mediating role of psychological capital

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of empowering leadership on employees’ psychological well-being (PWB) and job engagement. This study also examines the mediating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on survey data (n=285) from employees in eight large-sized firms in South Korea. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the convergent validity of the construct measures. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the fit of the hypothesized model to the data. Findings The authors found that empowering leadership influenced job engagement both directly and indirectly through PsyCap. Employees’ PsyCap fully mediated the relationship between empowering leadership and employees’ PWB, while partially mediating the relationship between empowering leadership and job engagement. Originality/value This is the first empirical study to examine the effects of empowering leadership behaviors of leaders on both PWB and PsyCap, which are positive psychological resources of employees. The study has also provided empirical evidence for the importance of PsyCap, which plays a positive role in the ability of employees to manage their overall feelings in achievement situations and in employees’ engagement in the workplace.

Situated Learning and Activity Theory-based Approach to Designing Integrated Knowledge and Learning Management Systems

Current Knowledge Management KM design approaches recognize the importance of integrating codification, personalization, and collaboration strategies. Incorporating various database systems, search functions, managerial support, performance appraisal, personalized widgets, and case summaries into seamless functions are exemplary efforts. However, KM is rarely integrated with organizational learning and development systems. In this article, the authors use concepts from the situated learning literature, Vygotskian cultural-historical theory of cognition, and a holistic learning and performance architecture to signify the integration of KM and organizational learning systems.

The mediating effect of organizational commitment and employee empowerment: how transformational leadership impacts employee knowledge sharing intention

This study examined the underlying process through which transformational leaders provide an influence on employees’ knowledge sharing intention by concentrating on mediating roles of psychological empowerment and employees’ commitment to organizations. The direct and indirect impacts of transformational leadership on knowledge sharing were explored. In order to test the proposed hypotheses, structural equation modelling analysis was conducted with a sample of 426 full-time employees in South Korea. The results of this study showed a significant direct effect of transformational leadership on psychological empowerment and organizational commitment, which in turn had a significant influence on employees’ knowledge sharing intention. Transformational leadership had only an indirect effect on knowledge sharing intention among employees. These results bring out the importance of mediating roles of employee’s attitudes, especially organizational commitment, for promoting knowledge sharing intention among employees.

Systematic and practical measurement of organizational knowledge creation

Purpose – This study developed a systematic measurement scale for the organizational knowledge creation practices. The authors used five knowledge creation phases – sharing tacit knowledge, creating concepts, justifying concepts, building prototypes, and cross‐leveling knowledge – from Nonaka et al.s knowledge conversion theory as the theoretical foundation.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 914 survey responses collected from 14 for‐profit Korean business organizations representing the countrys leading businesses were used to examine the factor structure of those five phases, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).Findings – Results confirmed that the current version of knowledge creation practice measurement, which has five sub‐dimensions along with ten items, is valid and applicable specifically in the Korean for‐profit business context in terms of the psychometric properties of the measurement and measurement factor structure.Research limitations/implica...

Conceptual Organization and Identity of HRD: Analyses of Evolving Definitions, Influence, and Connections

The rapid expansion and diversification of human resource development (HRD) research and practices is a welcoming sign for HRD scholars, who are interested in improving a social system through developing human resources. At the same time, however, it raises questions about the core identity and boundary of the field and desirable future directions. This study aims to trace the significant thematic periods, called the wave in the evolution of HRD, from its early development days to the present. In doing so, we present how “the body of HRD knowledge is evolving through the intellectual evolutionary process” based on analyses of widely cited definitions, influential work, and connections among co-appearing research topics. As the finding, we identified three distinctive waves of evolutionary phases of HRD research: (a) developing definition of disciplinarity, (b) competition and selection between major paradigms, and (c) divergence and expansion of topics. Major characteristics of each period and the influence between periods were also described.

Landscape of human resource development research in Korea: results from author co-citation network analysis

The present study examined major trends and issues of Human Resource Development (HRD) research in Korean context applying the author co-citation analysis (ACA) to three primary HRD-related journals in South Korea. Following the analyses of author co-citation frequency, correlation matrix, dendrogram, and the multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) map, the results were found as follows: (1) co-citation network identified seven topical clusters (i.e., human competency improvement for young men and e-learning designers, system approach for training effectiveness, competency for executives and HRD-ers, HRD evaluations, HRD solutions, mentoring in career development, leadership, and the role of professionals), (2) competency appeared as a keyword in multiple clusters, (3) unlike HRD in North America or Europe, learning (informal, organizational, self-directed, and lifelong learning) with a variety of HRD solutions comprised the dominant research stream, and (4) research activities for critical issues, such as diversity, development of workforce minority, and international HRD were largely missing.