Bakgrund och problem Det finns två drivande faktorer som formar grunden för hur multinationella företag agerar vad avser human resource management. Den ena är det tryck som finns att upprätthålla en intern konsistens och det andra är en yttre påverkan från den lokala miljön där företaget verkar. Dagens utveckling har lett till ett behov hos företag att vara flexibla på alla nivåer. Om vi ser till företagens humankapital så finns ett ökat behov inom området att sprida den kunskap som finns till alla nivåer och vidare till de dotterbolag som agerar på den globala marknaden. Detta faktum har medfört ett ökat behov att kunna omplacera personal till olika underavdelningar och även till de dotterbolag som verkar på denna marknad vilket i sin tur medfört ett ökat krav på flexibilitet och anpassningsförmåga hos den enskilda anställde. Denna interna spridning av företagets kunskap, kultur och praxis står ofta i kontrast till den som existerar på den lokala marknaden där företagets olika internationella subdivisioner verkar. Då utvecklingen i de industrialiserade länderna de facto går mot en mer och mer avancerad ekonomi med fokus på humankapitalet som en tydlig del i företagets konkurrensstrategi så ökar vikten av forskning om human resource management. En betydelsefull del i denna strategi är att knyta nyckelpersonal till det egna företaget. Detta genom att skapa en sådan miljö som svarar på personalens förväntningar och vidare uppmuntrar dem till effektivitet. Vägen till att skapa dessa förutsättningar är att upprätta ett tydligt och fungerande human resource management system. Vidare understödjer det sistnämnda också det interna kunskapsspridandet inom organisationen. Då detta är upprättat så kan det anses att företagen arbetar för att behålla detta system om det anses framgångsrikt. Dock finns det vissa påverkansfaktorer som influerar human resource management systemet i större eller mindre grad. Detta kan vara ett problem för företag som verkar på den globala marknaden eftersom de av ovanstående nämnda anledningar vill bibehålla den inre företagsstrukturen även hos de dotterbolag som är etablerade på de utländska marknaderna. Problemet blir då vilka av krafterna som är starkast påverkande; de motverkande faktorerna, även kallat kontextuella faktorer, som verkar på den lokala marknaden där dotterbolaget är etablerat eller företagets interna policy vad avser human resource management. Syfte Studiens primära syfte är att undersöka de krafter som formar human resource management praxis i svenska multinationella företags dotterbolag i den östasiatiska regionen. Detta med ett fokus på sex kärnvärden inom human resource management. Vidare studeras kontextuella faktorer och om eller hur de påverkar graden av anpassning. Fortsättningsvis är det sekundära syftet att granska om de teorier och den forskning som finns på området fortfarande har giltig validitet där en tendens till lokal anpassning påvisats. Avgränsning Studien kommer att avgränsas till att omfatta den del i forskningen om human resource management som behandlar anpassning till den lokala kulturen, så kallad institutionell teori samt teori kring kontextuella påverkansfaktorer. Vidare avgränsas undersökningen till att endast omfatta svenska företags dotterbolag i den östasiatiska regionen. De länder som anses vara intressanta för studien i detta område är då Kina, Japan och Sydkorea. Metod Upprättande av hypoteser samt prövning av dessa via en statistisk surveyundersökning där respondenternas svar samlas i en databas för fortsatt analys. Kontakt sker elektroniskt där en bifogad länk erhålles, via denna kommer respondenten direkt i kontakt med informationsinsamlingsbasen. Data Primärdata hämtas från statistiska undersökningar där fokusen ligger på anpassningsgraden hos de studerade dotterbolagen. Sekundärdata har inhämtats från litteratur, artiklar, tidigare uppsatser, forskning på området etc. Analys och slutsats Denna undersökning har påvisat att det inte går att finna ett särskilt mönster hur HRM praxis anpassas och i vilken ordning detta sker hos kärnvärdena. Här frångår dessa resultat tidigare forskning. Vidare påvisar studien att de kontextuella faktorerna endast i vissa fall har en gemensam tendens vad avser inverkan på utformningen av HRM praxis. De krafter som inverkar i likhet med tidigare forskning är etableringsmetod, livslängd, lokalt resursberoende, påverkan från facklig verksamhet samt lokala institutioner. Summan blir då att denna studie i sin helhet endast till viss del stöder etablerad forskning.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera det växande behovet av International Human Resource Management (IHRM) i syfte att skapa förståelse för företagets interna resurser och hur dessa kan bidra till företagets utveckling. För att uppnå uppsatsens syfte har vi utformat följande huvudproblem; I vilken utsträckning kan ett företags strävan efter internationell framgång förstås genom dess ledare? För att besvara det formulerade huvudproblemet har vi valt att använda en kvalitativ ansats och tillämpat fallstudie som forskningsstrategi. Den teoretiska referensramen innefattar en beskrivning av olika etableringsstrategier och medföljande ledarpositioner samt behandlar det resursbaserade synsättet vilket är relevant för vårt ämnesval och vår frågeställning. Vidare består av teorikapitlet av en deskription av IHRM och tillsättningsstrategier. Det empiriska kapitlet behandlar den information som tillhandahållits genom fallföretaget och dess informanter rörande ledarpositioner och efterfrågade kompetenser hos en internationell ledare. Kapitlet är strukturerat utefter de informanter vi utsett; företagets VD, marknadschef samt försäljningschefer. I analyskapitlet diskuteras och analyseras den teoretiska referensramen tillsammans med det empiriska utfallet. Kapitlet belyser de olika ledarpositioner som medför de valda etableringsstrategier samt vilka kompetenser som prioriteras vid tillsättning av den internationella ledaren. Från vår analys framgår det att de främsta kompetenser en kvalificerad försäljningschef bör besitta är förmågan till social kompetens och ett tekniskt kunnande, goda förhandlingskunskaper samt en stark drivkraft. Vidare i kapitlet analyseras de faktorer som kan bidra till företagets internationella framgång. Uppsatsens slutsats visar att NORDENs ledande position inom tubfyllningsbranschen har uppkommit tillföljd av försäljningschefernas ovärderliga erfarenhetsbaserade kunskaper samt förmågan att anpassa företagets globala strategi till lokala kunders önskemål. Avslutningsvis presenteras förslag till fortsatt forskning inom IHRM samt rekommendationer till fallföretaget.

A new research model of Perceived Organizational Support (POS) was proposed and tested. This model proposed that moral reasoning would moderate the relationships between six justice constructs and POS. The six justice constructs were distributive justice for self, coworkers, and employees in general as well as procedural justice for self, coworkers, and employees in general. The model was tested using two studies. Study 1 consisted of 284 students at a large southeastern university, while Study 2 was comprised of 215 employees from multiple organizations. The hypothesized relationships of the model were tested using hierarchical moderated regression analysis. Overall, while the results were consistent with most prior research, there was no support for the moderating role of moral reasoning that was proposed. The findings and implications of both Study 1 and 2 are discussed. Directions for future research are also suggested.

To stay competitive within the market, organizations need to accurately understand the skills and competencies of their human resources to better utilize them and more effectively respond to internal and external demands for expertise. This is particularly important for most services organizations which provide a variety of products and services to multiple and changing clients. The ability to accurately locate experts is also important to knowledge workers. From this perspective, finding individuals with appropriate knowledge and skills is important for accomplishing knowledge intensive tasks and solving complex problems. This thesis focuses on the problem of representing and reasoning about skills and competencies over time for more effective human resources management and expert finding. Proper modeling of skills and competencies provides, among other things, a common language for assessments, a foundation for consistent interviewing, a linkage between performance management and learning, and a means for aligning business strategy and skills for driving organizational performance. It also improves knowledge management by making explicit what the organization knows and can perform. In this thesis, we present a framework for profiling human resources over time. In particular, we use first-order logic to represent and reason about expertise, skills and competencies and capture information about sources of skill and competency information. The framework provides: - a formal ontology for skill and competency management which specifies how individuals should be represented and evaluated against a skill, - a technique for inferring and validating skills and competencies over time using different sources of information, - a systematic way of evaluating human resources in order to provide a more efficient, structured, and consistent assessment process, and - techniques for identifying unreliable sources of information and revising trust in these sources. This work enhances the ability of organizations to better utilize their human assets and improves the task of expert finding required for accomplishing knowledge intensive tasks and solving complex problems.

To stay competitive within the market, organizations need to accurately understand the skills and competencies of their human resources to better utilize them and more effectively respond to internal and external demands for expertise. This is particularly important for most services organizations which provide a variety of products and services to multiple and changing clients. The ability to accurately locate experts is also important to knowledge workers. From this perspective, finding individuals with appropriate knowledge and skills is important for accomplishing knowledge intensive tasks and solving complex problems. This thesis focuses on the problem of representing and reasoning about skills and competencies over time for more effective human resources management and expert finding. Proper modeling of skills and competencies provides, among other things, a common language for assessments, a foundation for consistent interviewing, a linkage between performance management and learning, and a means for aligning business strategy and skills for driving organizational performance. It also improves knowledge management by making explicit what the organization knows and can perform. In this thesis, we present a framework for profiling human resources over time. In particular, we use first-order logic to represent and reason about expertise, skills and competencies and capture information about sources of skill and competency information. The framework provides: - a formal ontology for skill and competency management which specifies how individuals should be represented and evaluated against a skill, - a technique for inferring and validating skills and competencies over time using different sources of information, - a systematic way of evaluating human resources in order to provide a more efficient, structured, and consistent assessment process, and - techniques for identifying unreliable sources of information and revising trust in these sources. This work enhances the ability of organizations to better utilize their human assets and improves the task of expert finding required for accomplishing knowledge intensive tasks and solving complex problems.

Regardless of whether organizations are in the private sector or in the public sector, there is a general agreement that human resources are critical to keeping organizations effective as well as maintaining a high level of organizational performance. While more serious effort has been made to empirically examine how human resources influence organizational performance (e.g., studies about turnover consequences, studies about the relationship between human resource management practices and organizational performance) in the private sector, it is rare to find similar empirical studies in the public sector partly because it is hard to define public organizational performance. In my dissertation, I basically investigate how human resources are critical to organizational performance in the public sector with a question, "Do human resources really matter in the public sector, too?" Focusing on the crime control performance of municipal police departments, I examine the relationships among turnover, police performance, and human resource management (HRM) characteristics by surveying police departments of the U.S. cities whose population range is between 100,000 to 500,000 (Out of 205 surveyed cities, 65 cities participated). Firstly, I explore how human resource management practices (individually and systematically) influence crime control performance of the police. Based on universalistic HRM perspective (i.e., best HRM practices) and control theory perspective, I hypothesize that commitment HRM system (and individual practices) will have positive effect on crime control performance of the police. Secondly, I investigate more specific questions such as if turnover has significant effect on crime control performance and if HRM system has moderating effect on turnover consequence. Results about turnover effect confirm human capital theory that predicts the negative effect of turnover when employees with specific knowledge quit. However, no significant relationships are found between commitment HRM system (and individual practices) and organizational performance. The results might help municipal police departments deal with sworn officers' turnover as well as set up proper HRM practices.

Mergers and acquisitions have received much attention through the years due to the waves of modernity it has implicated. Three crucial aspects that can shape a merger or an acquisition are culture, leadership and human resource management. These aspects are studied and analyzed in a Swedish company that has been involved in an acquisition process with a French company.  The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the role of culture, leadership and human resource management in an acquisition process between a French/Swedish company. An abductive research approach is adopted for the research since a mixture between inductive and deductive research approach is used. The method chosen was semi-structured interviews, which was fulfilled with the management team in the chosen company as well as with a consultant.  The findings of the study are that the three aspects have an impact on the acquisition process where culture is the most central. The culture had a significant impact on the acquisition process and affected the leadership and the human resource management within the company as well. In the company studied, the human resource management was lacking and found that communication is crucial during an acquisition process.  The limitations are that only one company is studied and the aspects are limited to culture, leadership and human resource management. The original value of the study can give a clearer picture on how the three aspects affect each other and the total acquisition process. Suggestions for further research include analyzing additional processes and cultures, not only the ones chosen in this dissertation.

For many years the traditional point of view about principals was that they were the so-called teachers in a leadership role. They took the lead with the teaching of the curriculum and they had to be responsible for controlling the whole educational process. With the changes over the past few years, not only over the entire globe, but also specifically here in South Africa, the role of the principal has also changed. In terms of the new Schools Act and changing education legislation, the principal has many more responsibilities being a representative of the department at the school and a member of the school’s governing body. Human resource management is one of the most important aspects of school management. The purpose of this research is to determine which educational juridical determinants play a role in human resource management at schools. To succeed in the purpose of this research it is firstly determined which statutory common-law and judicial determinants are applicable and secondly the determinants’ implications for human resource management in education are emphasized. Subsequently a literature study was done about the work environment of the principal in the management of human resources at a school. The specific areas of human resource management at a school and the related role of the principal formed an essential pall of the research. After a questionnaire had been sent to a sample of principals and their responses had been statistically analysed, it was possible to deduce findings and compile recommendations. The general impression that came to the fore from the responses was that school principals experience a critical lack of competence as managers of human resources. This is possibly caused by a shortage of proper empowerment in the basic elements of human resource management as well as in the aspects of policy as determined by the Department of Education. The conclusion can justly be made that it will not only presently, but also in the future be absolutely necessary to pay formal attention to this important aspect. The training of teachers must without doubt include elements of human resource management as well as related educational legislation. When the preceding requirements are met and when the Department of Education continuously present empowerment workshops on this crucial subject, it will definitely lead to more effective and purposive management of schools. Furthermore it will also probably lessen the pressure on principals that will lead to a more stable management environment. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

This study investigates employees' perceptions of diversity and its impact on the workplace, as perceived by employees themselves. The focus will specifically be on external diversity factors such as culture, race and gender and to what extent these factors can possibly be linked to differences in perceptions of the influence of diversity in the workplace. We know that equality and diversity programmes should be aligned with an organisation's core strategic objectives. Not only is this alignment critical to achieving equality and diversity goals, but it also enables organisations to benefit from the business opportunities that diversity offers. To better understand the role and importance of diversity and gain insight into social systems, quantitative measures of diversity were examined by means of questionnaires. A major consideration for managers is the wide scope of behaviours, attitudes, and values of the diverse staff across socio–cultural boundaries, which are bound to affect organisational processes. Thus, it is crucial for managers to distinguish how staff of different socio–cultural backgrounds could be interacting within the organisation, and identify how perceptual effects may be manifested in multicultural group relationships. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study investigates employees' perceptions of diversity and its impact on the workplace, as perceived by employees themselves. The focus will specifically be on external diversity factors such as culture, race and gender and to what extent these factors can possibly be linked to differences in perceptions of the influence of diversity in the workplace. We know that equality and diversity programmes should be aligned with an organisation's core strategic objectives. Not only is this alignment critical to achieving equality and diversity goals, but it also enables organisations to benefit from the business opportunities that diversity offers. To better understand the role and importance of diversity and gain insight into social systems, quantitative measures of diversity were examined by means of questionnaires. A major consideration for managers is the wide scope of behaviours, attitudes, and values of the diverse staff across socio–cultural boundaries, which are bound to affect organisational processes. Thus, it is crucial for managers to distinguish how staff of different socio–cultural backgrounds could be interacting within the organisation, and identify how perceptual effects may be manifested in multicultural group relationships. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.