Stephen Gibb

Line manager involvement in learning and development: Small beer or big deal?

Increasing line manager involvement in learning and development (LD one that the trend is of minimal significance, the other that it is of much greater significance. Increasing line manager involvement in L&D at work is both part of the means of attaining, and one of the ends of, broader changes in work, organisation and HRM. The conclusion here is that there are legitimate concerns about shifting to increasing line manager involvement in L&D at work, where that prejudices the provision and use of specialist L&D at work resources. However, these concerns are outweighed by the greater concern to re‐align work, organisation and management for an era where knowledge management is predominant. The issue of line manager involvement in L&D at work will continue to be an important part of the corporate and critical review agendas.

Managerial processes: business process that sustain performance

Purpose – It is argued that whilst operational and support processes deliver performance presently, it is the managerial processes that sustain performance over time. The purpose of this research paper is to better understand what these managerial processes are and how they influence organisational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical background is reviewed covering literature on the subject of business process management, resourced‐based view (RBV), dynamic capabilities and managerial processes. A research framework leads to qualitative case study‐based research design. Data are collected from 37 organisations across Europe, classified according to their performance.Findings – Findings suggest that the five managerial processes and their constituent managerial activities, identified through the empirical research, influence performance of organisations as an interconnected managerial system rather than as individual processes and activities. Also, the execution and maturity of this m...

Arts‐based training in management development: the use of improvisational theatre

This paper describes and critically evaluates the use of Arts‐Based Training (ABT) by exploring a case involving the use of improvisational theatre techniques as an element of management development. Claims that these techniques can be an effective means of achieving management development, as they succeed in involving managers in exploring problems and developing solutions to them at a deep rather than superficial level, while also motivating managers to “sort out” problems following development experiences, are investigated using a case study. The validity of improvisational theatre techniques, as an example of ABT in practice, needs to be balanced with a more critical appreciation of the limitations of such approaches.

The state of human resource management: evidence from employees’ views of HRM systems and staff

Дается оценка состояния HRM. Ранее для оценки HRM применялись методы, проверявшие либо соответствие лучшей практике, либо непредвиденные расходы. Исследование точек зрения работников было предложено в качестве альтернативного метода. Именно этот метод использовался авторами данной статьи. Основу анализа составили данные опросов 2632 работников из 73 компаний. Согласно этим данным, к сильным сторонам HRM работники относили подготовку кадров и развитие, премии и уровни личной мотивации. Работники также высоко оценивали успехи персонала HR в ряде служб. Слабыми сторона HRM, по оценкам работников, являются комплектация персонала, найм и удержание работников, коммуникация, а также нравственный климат в организации в целом. Эти данные подтверждают смешанную, но в целом позитивную картину состояния дел с HRM на обследуемых предприятиях.

Inside Corporate Mentoring Schemes: A New Agenda of Concerns

Reports a survey of 30 UK mentoring scheme organizers by questionnaire, concerning how long schemes had been established, mentor roles, reasons for schemes being introduced, how mentors are selected, how mentors and prot\?\g\?\s are matched, and about various aspects of other formal features of the schemes, including confidentiality, mentor development, rewards for mentors, mentor training, fixed periods for mentoring, the use of learning contracts, seniority of managers, mentor/prot\?\g\?\ ratios, the evaluation of mentors and schemes, organizational benefits, strengths and weaknesses of schemes and mentoring policies. Proposes a new agenda for those involved in such schemes and for further research.

Imagination, Creativity, and HRD: an Aesthetic Perspective

Human resource development is conceptualized here in terms of levels of action: representations, experience, relations, and communities. Functionality is taken as a hallmark of good human resource development in these. Yet reflecting on what works, and on innovations in human resource development, factors other than those associated with functionality seem to matter: imagination and creativity. To understand and explore these, an aesthetic perspective on human resource development is proposed. How the aesthetic exists and lives in human resource development is described here as a quadrant, with imagination and creativity existing in the form of imported metaphors, design thinking, development epistemology, and the aesthetics of organization. The implications of this combining of an under-standing of the functional and the aesthetic for theorizing and practicing human resource development are outlined.

Inside Corporate Mentoring Schemes: The Development of a Conceptual Framework

Identifies the need to develop a conceptual framework to explain the diversity of organized mentoring in formal schemes as an important practical and theoretical concern. Interviews with participants in formal mentoring schemes were undertaken to obtain accounts of their experiences within formal entoring schemes. From an analysis of these interviews a conceptual framework for explaining the diversity of organized mentoring in formal schemes was developed. This framework involves three levels: the identification of a mentoring continuum, the adoption of an explicit human resource development (HRD) perspective to define relevant mentoring issues, and a classification of potential analytical approaches to mentoring. This conceptual framework enables diversity in organized mentoring to be defined and considered from both a practical and a theoretical perspective. In conclusion, identifies issues about the further development and evaluation of organized mentoring in formal schemes, given the picture this conc...

Evaluating HRM effectiveness: the stereotype connection

The perspective and concern considered here is the internal‐subjective evaluation of HRM effectiveness. This involved investigating managers’ and employees’ perceptions about standards of HRM and of the work of human resources (HR) staff in their own organizations. Survey research indicates that there is a pattern of more positive perceptions of HR staff than of overall standards in HRM. This disassociation presents a challenge to the validity of internal subjective evaluations. One explanation is that features of stereotyping are influencing subjective evaluations of HR staff. The concept of stereotyping is applied and consideration is given to “cognitive efficiency”, inter‐group dynamics and broad social power theories. The author concludes that HR staff have benefited from the stereotype connection in the past but in an era where more explicit objective standards are increasingly expected, they may not continue to benefit from such positive effects. Nonetheless, an enhanced awareness of the positive behaviours that can arise from dealing with stereotyping can be useful in achieving high standards of HRM.

Human Resource Development

This course text is part of the learning content for this Edinburgh Business School course. In addition to this printed course text, you should also have access to the course website in this subject, which will provide you with more learning content, the Profiler software and past examination questions and answers. The content of this course text is updated from time to time, and all changes are reflected in the version of the text that appears on the accompanying website at http://coursewebsites.ebsglobal.net/. Most updates are minor, and examination questions will avoid any new or significantly altered material for two years following publication of the relevant material on the website. You can check the version of the course text via the version release number to be found on the front page of the text, and compare this to the version number of the latest PDF version of the text on the website. If you are studying this course as part of a tutored programme, you should contact your Centre for further information on any changes. Full terms and conditions that apply to students on any of the Edinburgh Business School courses are available on the website www.ebsglobal.net, and should have been notified to you either by Edinburgh Business School or by the centre or regional partner through whom you purchased your course. If this is not the case, please contact Edinburgh Business School at the address below: Stephen Gibb is a visiting fellow at Edinburgh Business School. He has degrees in Human Communication and Human Resource Management from Sheffield Hallam University, and obtained his PhD at Strathclyde Business School. He has lectured in HRM and Learning and Development since moving from the UK civil service some 15 years ago. He is the author of a popular UK textbook on Learning and Development and has published many articles in the field, with special interests in the development of coaching and mentoring systems. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which …

Connecting HRD and Creativity: From Fragmentary Insights to Strategic Significance

The previous articles indicate that there are connections between creativity and human resource development (HRD) but that these connections are fragmented. The growing strategic concern with creativity and the workforce and the workplace presents a challenge to all those concerned with HRD. This article focuses on the underlying themes among the six articles and presents concerns with meanings, strategies, and challenges.