Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa en ökad förståelse för de konsekvenser som interna respektive externa ansatser till bemanningsflexibilitet och därtill hörande HRM-metoder får för verksamheten avseende flexibilitet, kostnad, kvalitet och leverans. Syftet är vidare att pröva teorin om bemanningsflexibilitet, HRM-metoder och dess effekter på verksamheten mot studiens empiriska material. Metod: Uppsatsens undersökning har genomförts med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt och grundar sig på en litteraturstudie samt egna primärkällor. Primärkällorna består av intervjuer med tre företag i e-handelsbranschen, en verksamhet där flexibilitet är av stor vikt. Slutsatser: Extern respektive intern flexibilitet fanns vara kopplade till skilda sätt att hantera personalresursen, vilket ledde till olika konsekvenser. Enligt resultatet av undersökningen påvisas extern flexibilitet vara förknippat med hårdare HRM-metoder och vissa negativa konsekvenser av detta, som t ex lägre motivation och lojalitet samt hög personalomsättning. Trots detta var den externa flexibiliteten i fokus hos samtliga företag i studien. Undersökningen tyder dock inte på att detta inverkade negativt på objektiva prestationsmått som produktivitet och kundnöjdhet. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create a greater understanding of the impact that internal and external approaches to staffing flexibility and associated HRM practices have on organizational performance measures like cost, quality, delivery and flexibility. A further aim is to test the theory of staffing flexibility, HRM practices and its effects on operations on the study's empirical material. Method: The study was conducted with a qualitative approach and is based on a literature review together with primary sources. The primary sources consist of interviews with three companies in the e-commerce industry. Conclusions: External and internal flexibility was linked to different ways of manageing staff resources, leading to different consequences. According to the results of the survey external flexibility is associated with tougher HRM practices and certain negative consequences of this, such as lower motivation and loyalty and high employee turnover. Despite this the focus on external flexibility was prominent in all companies in the study. The study does not indicate tough that this had a negative impact on objective performance measures such as productivity and customer satisfaction.

The purpose of this research is to design and make a planetary three-roll experimental machine, which can roll aluminum, as well as make sure the utility of this facility. The forepart of this research makes reference to senior classmates¡¦ conclusions, thesis, and engineers¡¦ recommendations. The rest focuses on the rolling experiment of clay, plastic clay, lead, and aluminum. It is proven to the utility of this roll machine. Furthermore, the further prospect provides the way of measured roll strain and direction. They can be useful references for a planetary three-roll machine in the future.

Information Technology (IT) systems have greatly impacted organizations and HumanResource Management (HRM) is no exception. In this context, IT is often introduced withthe rationale that it could offer benefits such as cost reduction, time savings and strategictransformation. Many organizations have invested in e-HRM systems in hope oftransforming the Human Resource department (HR) into a strategic ally. Extant research,however, shows that many organizations fail to achieve intended effects from their ITinvestments and as result beliefs around the strategic value of e-HRM vary. This thesisaims to critically examine the link between e-HRM investments and strategic value. To thisend, we ask the following research question: “why does E-HRM systems fail to effectuate astrategic transformation of the HR department given their perceived capabilities to thecontrary? “. To answer this question we conducted a systematic literature review of e-HRMresearch published between 2009-2014. The review focused on perceptions about e-HRMsystems within organizations and sought to unearth how perceptions shape the route of ITimplementation towards a strategy outcome. Our findings indicate that the majority of thestudies are not guided by a leading theoretical paradigm. Furthermore strategic barrierssuch as implementation problems and limited use of the system that does not reflect itspotential are identified and discussed. By examining some common factors that have beenidentified to shape the translation of e-HRM systems from initial perception to actualizeduse we lay the foundation for more nuanced theorizing of HRM use within contemporaryorganizations.

Work engagement is a desirable attribute of employees that organisations must attempt to foster and enhance. Engaged employees are focused and fully immersed in their tasks, resilient to high levels of job demands, and experience a sense of pride and meaningfulness within their work. Therefore, it is important that organisations understand the mechanisms that enhance work engagement, particularly whether and how its HRM systems contribute to levels of engagement. The present study examined the contributions of HRM systems to engagement. Furthermore, although organisations implement HRM systems with the purpose of increasing the performance of their workforce, empirical evidence supporting the relationship between HRM systems and organisational performance is scarce, therefore this is also a focus of this study. Additionally, organisational culture will be investigated as the social context that enhances engagement and performance beyond the effects of existing HRM systems. Hence, this study explored the role of HRM systems and organisational culture on employee engagement and perceived organisational performance. Ninety-seven Thai employees from various organisations completed an internet- based survey. Results from multiple regressions suggest that engagement can be maintained or enhanced to the extent that employees are offered responsibility in the organisation and participate less in job training, and that the organisational culture is one that focuses on flexibility, individualism, entrepreneurship, and innovativeness. Moreover, the findings show a positive association between organisational performance and opportunities for advancement, job security, and competitive and goal oriented organisational culture. The limitations and implications of this study were addressed, along with recommendations for future research.

Inledning: Kvarhållandet av anställda har idag blivit en allt viktigare fråga då fler företag kommit att inse att deras anställda kan vara en framgångsfaktor, om de hanteras på rätt sätt. En global ekonomisk återhämtning efter flera år av lågkonjunktur och dålig tillväxt har resulterat i en ökning av att fler anställda frivilligt väljer att lämna en organisation, och då även ökat arbetsgivares medvetenhet kring denna tendens. Det kapital, tid och andra resurser ett företag lägger på att rekrytera, välja ut samt involvera rätt person i organisationen blir endast en givande investering om denna väljer att stanna kvar en längre tid. Vad arbetar man då med som organisation och ledning i det dagliga arbetet för att lyckas hålla kvar de anställda inom företaget? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att ge ett bidrag till området retention genom att studera och få en förståelse för vad man i det dagliga arbetet arbetar med för att främja retention. Metod: Vi har i denna studie valt att använda oss av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och en abduktiv forskningsansats. Då vi ämnade skapa oss en förståelse för vad man i det dagliga arbetet arbetar med för att främja retention, valde vi att utgå ifrån en hermeneutisk kunskapssyn. Vi har gjort en fallstudie och samlat in vårt empiriska underlag genom användning av semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats: Den slutsats vi i denna studie kommit fram till är man i det dagliga arbetet arbetar med ett flertal faktorer vilka kan ha en främjande inverkan på retention. De nyckelfaktorer vi i detta arbete påträffade var; frihet, ledarskap och relationer på en arbetsplats, variation i arbetet, utveckling, rekrytering, förbindelsen mellan organisation och anställd, organisationskultur samt hängivenhet till en organisation. / Background: To keep employees have today become an increasingly important issue because more companies have come to realize that their employees can be a success factor, if used in the right way. A global economic recovery after several years of recession and poor growth has led to the increase of more employees choosing to leave an organization, and also the increase of employers’ awareness of this tendency. The amount of money, time and other resources an organization spend to recruit, select and involve the right person into an organization only becomes a rewarding investment if this person choose to stay for a longer time. But what do an organization and managers work with in practice to succeed in keeping employees? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to make a contribution to the research field of retention by studying and getting an understanding of what you can work with in practice to succeed with retention. Method: We have chosen, in this thesis, to use a qualitative method and an abductive approach. With the aim to get an understanding of what you can work with in practice to succeed with retention, we chose to use a hermeneutic approach to knowledge. We have done a case study and collected our empirical basis through the usage of semi-structured interviews. Conclusions: The conclusion that we have arrived to in this thesis is that you in practice can work with several components, which can have a positive effect on retention. The key components we in this thesis encountered was: freedom, leadership and relationships at the workplace, variation in the work, development, recruitment, the attachment between the organization and the employee, organizational culture and dedication towards an organization.

The role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in stimulating economy, promoting employment and enhancing social stability is increasingly recognised, especially in developing countries. Given SMEs' considerable contribution, it is necessary to facilitate their healthy growth. Human resource management (HRM) is highlighted for SMEs as 'people' are the key factors in determining the future of these organisations. Given that the existing HRM literature is largely centred upon western contexts and large-sized enterprises, the main aim of this research is to develop an understanding of how HRM practices function in privately-owned SMEs in the mainland of China by exploring the current situation regarding the adoption of HRM practices, the influential factors in shaping HRM practices, and how HRM practices impact on employee outcomes. A conceptual framework is constructed by drawing on concepts found within existent HRM frameworks and theories. The resulting research framework sheds light on the connections among three types of influential factors, five groups of HRM practices by function, and two HR outcomes at the individual level in the chosen context. This research adopts a mixed methodology approach to answering the set of research questions emerging from the literature review. The data were collected by 227 valid self-completed questionnaires (Cronbach's alpha=0.923) and 48 semi-structured interviews in 24 privately-owned SMEs located in Jiangsu and Shaanxi provinces in China. The research findings reveal a number of similarities and differences in HRM practices in the SME sector in China. More importantly, they suggest that SMEs have tended to adopt increasingly formal HRM practices over time though informalities remain in some aspects, providing a positive indication that SMEs are moving forward in formalising the practices. The findings also reveal that different HRM practices exist in different locations in China, suggesting distinct HRM patterns might exist across or even within provinces in China. The findings further reveal that institutional factors force SMEs to improve the practices in order to better cope with the emerging problems and conflicts embedded in the labour market and the changes in legislation. Given the market orientation of SMEs and the younger generations' characteristics, the impacts of cultural values of respect for hierarchy and seniority appear to have become increasingly weakened in the sector. The examination of relationship between HRM practices and HR outcomes demonstrates that all five groups of HRM practices are predictors for affective commitment, normative commitment and turnover intention, among which training and development and reward management practices have the strongest predictive power. It is noted that continuance commitment is not found applicable to the Chinese sample, indicating the partial transferability of the western three-component model of organisational commitment into the Chinese context. Therefore, theoretically, the findings extend the knowledge in the field of HRM in SMEs by developing the framework of determinants-HRM practices-outcomes and revealing the causality of HRM practices-employee outcomes in the SME sector in China. Practically, the findings are likely to be helpful to SME owners and practitioners in formulating effective HRM policies and practices to achieve desirable outcomes. The findings in relation to the impacts of institutional factors offer a potential contribution to national policy development for the purpose of assisting the growth of SMEs.

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Human Resources Management (HRM) is a crucial part of every organization as it dealswith a vital resource: human capital. In the past 10 years, HRM has been going througha transformation adopting technological tools to improve its performance. Paauwe,Farndale and Williams (2005) said that “the HRM function is subject to radical anddramatic change because of the implications of web- based organizing”(p. 3). The combinationof information technology (IT) tools in HRM processes has been named “electronicHuman Resources Management” (e-HRM). E-HRM strives to implement all theoperational activities that HRM is concerned with, with the help of technological toolsin a fast and accurate way. The purpose of this thesis is to identify and explain the outcomesthat multinational corporations experience by using relational e-HRM.In this thesis, we chose to have a qualitative approach, gathering empirical resultsthrough in-depth, semi- structured interviews. A frame of reference that complementedour purpose was created based on previous e-HRM research. After gathering our findings,we analyzed the information using the theoretical framework. In the analysis wecompared our theory to the findings, in order to answer our research questions and fulfillour purpose.To conclude, we identified that the interviewed companies make use of e-recruitment, etrainingand e-performance appraisal in their HR processes. The most significant outcomeswere the increase of speed in processes, standardization, elimination of distanceconstraints and possibilities for data archiving. It is important to mention that in order toachieve better results, companies must combine e-HRM with face-to-face interaction.Lastly, it was discovered that apart from bringing positive outcomes, it is difficult to sayif e-HRM is effective because there are no concrete ways of measuring it.

As a response to the growing public awareness on the importance of organisational contributions to sustainable development, there is an increased incentive for corporations to report on their sustainability activities. In parallel with this has been the development of 'Sustainable HRM' which embraces a growing body of practitioner and academic literature connecting the notions of corporate sustainability to HRM. The aim of this article is to analyse corporate sustainability reporting amongst the world's largest companies and to assess the HRM aspects of sustainability within these reports in comparison to environmental aspects of sustainable management and whether organisational attributes - principally country-of-origin - influences the reporting of such practices. A focus in this article is the extent to which the reporting of various aspects of sustainability may reflect dominant models of corporate governance in the country in which a company is headquartered. The findings suggest, first and against expectations, that the overall disclosure on HRM-related performance is not lower than that on environmental performance. Second, companies report more on their internal workforce compared to their external workforce. Finally, international differences, in particular those between companies headquartered in liberal market economies and coordinated market economies, are not as apparent as expected. (authors' abstract)