Nos anos de 2008 e 2010, o turnover nacional ultrapassou os 50%, o que representa mais da metade do total dos contratos de trabalho por ano sendo rompidos. Além disso, mais de 40% dos vínculos de trabalho, entre os anos de 2000 e 2009 não duraram mais de seis meses (DIEESE, 2011). O alto turnover está provocando inquietações a respeito do que as empresas podem fazer para atrair e reter os profissionais, especialmente no tocante da importância dos mesmos como fonte de vantagem competitiva. Dessa maneira o objetivo geral foi identificar a existência de relação entre as práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos com turnover, sendo dirigido para empresas da região do norte do Paraná por conveniência. Na literatura foram encontrados trabalhos que puderam classificar os estudos em turnover em três linhas: focada no indivíduo, na Gestão de Recursos Humanos e na visão integrativa. Este estudo optou por aplicar a pesquisa relacionada a linha da Gestão de Recursos Humanos. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa aplicada, descritiva com hipóteses e quantitativa. O instrumento utilizado de McConnell (2001) permitiu quantificar em rankings a eficiência das práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos. Os principais resultados apontaram para a existência de correlação negativa significativa do turnover com as práticas de Recrutamento e Seleção, Benefícios e Treinamento e Desenvolvimento. Ao passo que Remuneração, Avaliação de Desempenho, Integração e Satisfação não apresentaram correlações significativas. Sugere-se que os próximos trabalhos estratifiquem as empresas pelo direcionamento estratégico e que o instrumento possa ser adaptado para pequenas empresas. / In 2008 and 2010, the national turnover exceeded 50%, which represents more than half of total employment contracts being broken every year. Furthermore, over 40% of working ties between the years of 2000 and 2009 did not last more than six months (DIEESE, 2011). The high turnover is causing worries about what companies can do to attract and retain professionals, especially in terms of their importance as a source of competitive advantage. Thus the overall goal was to identify the existence of a relationship between the practices of Human Resources Management with turnover being aimed at companies in the region of northern Paraná for convenience. In literature studies were found that could classify studies on turnover in three lines: focused on the individual, Human Resource Management and integrative view. This study chose to apply the line of research related to Human Resource Management. It was an applied research, descriptive and quantitative assumptions. The instrument used to McConnell (2001) allowed to quantify the efficiency rankings in the practice of Human Resource Management. The main results showed the existence of significant negative correlation with turnover practices Recruiting and Selection, Benefits and Training and Development. While Compensation, Performance Evaluation, Integration and satisfaction showed no significant correlations. It is suggested that future studies stratify firms for strategic direction and that the instrument can be adapted to small businesses.

This study directly responds to a call for theoretical and methodological expansion of our understanding of expatriate workers as a relational dynamic, embedded in a multi-layered and multifaceted country specific context (Al Ariss, Koall, Ozbilgin and Suutari, 2012) by exploring the experiences of western women self-initiated expatriates working in the United Arab Emirates. Extant research in the international management literature in female expatriation identified that western expatriate women working in Japan were primarily perceived as foreign women (a gaijin) by their Japanese colleagues (Adler, 1987). This construction was shown to allow these women to occupy a different, more advantageous social location within Japanese organisations with more degrees of freedom and less gender-based discrimination in comparison to Japanese women; conceptually referred to as constituting a ‘Third Gender’ (Adler, 1987). This positive social construction contributed to the efficacy of female expatriation strategies. Drawing upon the intersectionality literature, specifically from feminist and ethnic theorising, the thesis develops a gender with ethnicity (Broadbridge and Simpson, 2011:473) informed intersectional theoretical lens to explore the research question “How do western women self-initiated expatriates understand their experiences in the United Arab Emirates?” The theoretical potential of an intersectional studies lens to female expatriation is developed through the conceptual construction of ‘self-initiated expatriate women’ on the interconnecting boundaries between expatriation and migration studies. Purposeful sampling was used to collect accounts from ten expatriate women through semi structured interviews conducted in 2007-09. Drawing upon discourse and thematic coding enabled interpretations of the interplay between how expatriate women’s subjectivities are constructed through relational interaction and discourses at the micro, meso and macro level to explore their experiences in the UAE. This thesis offers an intersectional lens to expatriation studies as a dynamic theoretical lens through which rich multilevel relational contextual studies of women self-initiated expatriates are theorised and connect to new understandings of international mobility in international management and female expatriation studies. Through a fusion of the intersectional lens and expatriation literatures, in-depth interpretations are offered which identify new insights into, and surface some of the discourses contributing to the paradoxical relationship between privilege and marginalisation and problematising the specificities of ‘whiteness’. It offers three discourses risk, respect and complex ethnicity to include a country in the Middle East. Finally, this research process offers insights into the temporal, contextual and relationally contingent nature of intersectionality when exploring experiences of women in management studies.

Organizations face challenges in terms of costs and resistance when dealing with change. Global organizations face additional challenges with change when dealing with differences in national culture. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate organizational change in an international and multicultural environment. The aim was to discover how global companies can effectively drive change by analyzing perspectives, experiences, attitudes and values of change of employees of different nationalities and positions in a global company. Research questions such as: “What factors enable or prevent the implementation of organizational changes?”, “Which are the success factors for leading change in a global organization?”, “What are the challenges when it comes to leading change in a global organization?” and “Is there a difference in perspectives, attitudes, motivation and values towards change?” Were answered in this investigation. Semi-structured informant and respondent interviews as well as quantitative surveys were conducted. Analysis shows that factors affecting organizational change processes were dimensions of change, structure, time, support, change competencies, clarity and justifications for the change. Results showed that concern for human factors and global/ local awareness were success factors when leading change. Challenges identified included the delivery of a complete communication across the organization, adapting change approach to all cultures and an eagerness to create organizational changes. At last, results showed that respondents differed in perspectives, experiences and motivation for change. Statistical analysis proved that these differences were attributed to nationality but also to age and position. Finally, a discussion of results highlights the importance for organizations to understand and solve the dilemma of doing both, managing and leading change.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Diversity management in South Africa, post 1994, has increasingly become a focal area when considering strategic human resource issues in the corporate environment. To date "traditional" diversity topics have largely centered around the differences in employees' race, culture, gender, language and disability status, and scores of academic and management text has been produced in this regard since the birth of democracy in this country, sixteen years ago. Whilst change on the political front has been vanguard, resultant societal change has largely been ignored by corporate South Africa. The era of equal opportunity has led to changes in income levels, consumer buying power and demographics and has paved the way for a new breed of human capital in the workplace. One particular breed, having been raised in the New South Africa, has shared experiences and backgrounds which are completely different to that of their parents and their grandparents. Their common location in history has dramatically shaped their belief systems and their expectations of life in general, with work life being a major facet thereof. These generational differences has resulted in tensions in the workplace where it has become evident that employees of varying ages are finding it difficult to 'speak the same language'. The concept of generational diversity has its roots in Generational theory, the underlying hypothesis on which this study rests. This hypothesis, as postulated by American researchers, Strauss and Howe (1993), states that every generation has a common set of beliefs and behaviours, a common location in history and a common perceived membership. These in turn shape the generational group's core values and view on life and work. Authors such as Zemke, Raines & Filipczak (2000), Kupperschmidt (2000), and Lancaster & Stillman (2003) point out that understanding the differences that exist between employees of varying ages can potentially enhance organizational culture, increase productivity and minimize conflict. However, very little academic research on this topic has been undertaken in the South African context, and it is against this backdrop that this exploratory study endeavoured to test the hypothesis in a local context. The study surveyed a national group of employees of varying ages, who work for a large financial services organization, headquartered in the Western Cape. The major aim was to develop a hierarchy of work values, suggesting a relative ranking and ordering of important workplace attributes, per generational cohort to either support or disprove the hypothesis.

M. Tech. (Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences): Vaal University of Technology / Employers invest significant time and resources in employee selection. However, the effectiveness of the selection is not routinely measured. One measure of such effectiveness is employee turnover. Often selection processes do not identify the best applicant for the organisation. Employee selection techniques often lead to employee turnover because the focus is on filling vacancies rather than finding the best candidate. The human resources selection process is important to short-term and long-term success of an organisation because employees are generally regarded as the most valued assets. Selecting the candidates that fit best has an important impact on an organisation’s success. A well-designed and implemented selection process is one that optimises the selection process. Bad selection costs organisations significant money because of the need to reinvest in the selection process and new employee training. Selection is also important in order for an organisation to keep its competitive edge. However, affirmative action, equal employment opportunity and diversity are not to be considered separate actions or initiatives in the selection process as they are part of governmental requirements. As such, the increasing attention on human resource management in small and medium enterprises is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Organisations have realised that the continuance of business will depend on the quality and management of the human resources they possess. Research has shown that positioning the right person in the right position is one of the crucial issues in organisations. If this does not happen, the organisation will not only suffer financial losses, but it may also lose its competitive edge. The dearth of research into selection as a human resource practice in SMEs with particular emphasis on their employee turnover is probably due to the fact that HR practitioners, the managers and or owners of the SMEs, often ignore personnel or human resource issues, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, participation-enhancing work designs, formal dispute resolution and employee counseling. The majority of the empirical studies on human resources management practices (HRMP) in small businesses are still in an explorative stage and mainly descriptive. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the selection processes as a human resource management function on employee turnover in small and medium enterprises in Sunnyside, Pretoria. The research methodology used to conduct the study was a combination of a literature review and an empirical study. A non-probability sampling technique involving judgment and convenience sampling procedures was used. The research instrument was a five-point Likert interval scale, which had forty four items and was pretested with 10 persons who were not related to the research sample. The instrument was revised and a pilot survey of 30 questionnaires was administered to respondents one month prior to the main survey. Sections B, C and D were subjected to reliability analysis and the results indicated that the scale has a high reliability value with Cronbach’s alpha of (0.824), (0.520) and (0.910) for sections B, C and D respectively. The reliability analysis suggested that the scale of items C4, C11 and C12 should be reversed. On doing so the alpha value increased to 0.824. For the main survey, 300 questionnaires were administered of which 210 representing 84% response rate were usable for the data analysis. Furthermore, a descriptive analysis of section A was undertaken. Tables depicting frequencies and percentages were used to describe the demographic information of respondents. Inferential statistics, such as factor analysis and bivariate correlations were undertaken on items in sections B, C and D of the research instrument. The empirical investigation indicated that the effect of selection processes on employee turnover was composed of three underlying factors, namely: factors influencing selection procedures; techniques influencing selection procedures; and aspects effecting employee turnover in SMEs. The selection factors were found to be positively correlated to one another but had a negative correlation with the turnover factor. Significant statistical associations were found to be present between the factors and the size of the organisations, marital status, level of educational qualifications, ethnic classification, the extent of influence of the EEA on selection processes, the belief of what the selection process consists of and the frequency of selection process exercises conducted by the SMEs involved.

The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge and practitioner understanding of human resource dynamics of the U.S. fast food franchise (FFF) industry, one plagued by extraordinary voluntary turnover (VTO), estimated at 75% of total turnover, and its effects on unit productivity. Following the research of Sun, Aryee, and Law (2007), this study looks for the potential of improving the VTO problem through the practice of high-performance human resource management (HPHRM) and the potential benefits of service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (SOCB) that it offers. This study used primary research, namely the domestic operating units of a nationally franchised sub sandwich chain, with a sample size of 112 units representing 14.8% of the total units and the evaluation of 336 hourly employees. Results showed a strong correlation between HPHRM and VTO, but surprisingly there was no significant relationship between HPHRM and productivity. Despite a modest correlation between HPHRM and SOCB, that relationship did not demonstrate any significant mediating effect on the HPHRM/VTO relationship. The results may indicate a differentiation between the effectiveness of HPHRM and SOCB depending on the performance level of hourly employees, noting that low-performing employees do not respond to HPHRM or demonstrate SOCB as well as others. Numerous opportunities for further research are suggested, especially in light of the size and impact of the domestic FFF industry.

The thesis focuses on employee recruitment in japanese environment. Among others, the discussed topics include interview process, experiences of recruitment agences with japanese companies on the Czech market and recommendations of specific steps for the analysed company. The hypothesis of the thesis is that japanese compnanies are unsuccessful regarding employee recruitment in the Czech Republic, suffer from insufficient interest of potencial candidates . All these factors combined with general underestimating of HR policies lead to high employee fluctuation in japanese branch offices.

This thesis explores specific aspects of human resource management in an international environment. The purpose of the thesis is to analyse some of HR activities in an multinational organization and to provide recommendations to challenging areas in company Concur.

This Diploma thesis deals with the analysis of instruments of stimulation and motivation of employees in the transport company ČSAD Vsetín Inc. The theoretical part describes the principles and processes of personal management in the form of human resource management, further it features basic concepts of motivation, main motivation theories, factors affecting satisfaction of employees and instruments of their stimulation to desired work output. The practical part presents the company ČSAD Vsetín Inc. and analyses individual instruments of stimulation of employees which simultaneously compares with the accepted theory, clarifies advantages of chosen procedures, eventually suggests other solutions.

The dissertation thesis aims at exploring the possibilities of diversity management in relation to managing people with diverse personality characteristics, at suggesting principles of such managing and at creating corresponding model so that employers could use the available human capital more efficiently and improved quality of working life of their employees as well. Based on number of primary sources, the thesis presents a detailed view of the topic, justifies its purpose and use in practice and brings the topic into broad context of human resource management. The principles of managing personality diversity are suggested, subsequently confronted with the practice in the Czech Republic and transformed into a model: Using an extensive questionnaire survey and both quantitative and qualitative analysis of gathered data, the conclusions confirm importance of the topic for human resource management in the Czech Republic, and point out the current unsatisfactory state that organizations themselves are often trying to improve. Thus, this thesis contributes significantly to better understanding of principles and established practice of managing people with different personality characteristics and offers possibilities how to introduce the topic into practice successfully.