<p> This thesis describes, analyses and compares changes in the practice of human resource management (HRM), the roles of human resource departments (HRD) and management models in companies in Belgium, France (partially) and Chile by highlighting the similarities and differences. This is therefore an international comparative study. <p> The study is carried out using a contextualist analytical approach. <p> It answers the question: <b>what are the changes in HRM practice, the roles of HRD and the management models in social organisations in different contexts?</b> <p> It uses theoretical models (“typical ideals”) to analyse reality, while drawing from writers such as Mintzberg, Pichault and Nizet, Crozier, Crouch, Ulrich, Pettigrew. With regard to management, the study resorts to classical, instrumental and political models. As regards human resource management (HRM), it is based on objective, conventionalist and individualised models. In the human resource department (HRD), the models are those of administrative officer, operational expert and strategic partner. <p> The changes do not only result from a decision-making process dictated mechanically by contextual factors but more particularly from complex interaction and the balance of power among the actors concerned who use the contextual elements to advance their own interests. <p> Amongst the most relevant developments which bear <b>similar</b> characteristics, one can cite: <p> 1.- <b>a significant increase in the use of management methods specific to the instrumental or “Californian” model, </b> <p> 2.- <b>more extensive use of individual competencies in HRM practices</b>, and <p> 3.- <b>a significant reduction in the size of the HRD and, notably, in the profile of administrative officer of the HRD. </b> <p> As regards the <b>differences</b> found in the various contexts, one can highlight the fact that: <p> 1.- <b>In the Belgian and French models, the dominant managerial model remains political management.</b> On the other hand, <b>in the Chilean model, the Californian management model has become clearly dominant. </b> <p> 2.- <b>In Belgium and France, the dominant HRM practices are those of the conventionalist model. On the other hand, in Chile, the dominant HRM practices are those of the individualised model. </b> <p> 3.- The evolution of the roles of HRD, <b>in the Belgian model, has been practically non-existent or appeared later since the dominant role has remained that of the administrative officer (AO). On the other hand, in the Chilean model, the dominant role has become that of operational expert (OE). </b> The role of strategic partner (SP) which was so recommended and desired by managers has been long in developing. <p> The professional relations model and the political system constitute one of the most important factors which explains the differences noted. In Belgium, the neo-corporate and social-democrat model of professional relations at the national level (with a strong trade unionist movement) functions as a socio-economic regulatory mechanism reflecting the forces and the agreements between social partners. In Chile, there exists neither social dialogue nor equivalent institutionalisation at the national level; what prevails here is the confrontational Latin model (with a weak trade unionist movement). <p> Similarly, in Belgium social legislation is more comprehensive, regulating the market more and protecting people’s interests. Furthermore, it offers greater social security coverage via, in addition, vast public expenditure by the State. In Chile on the other hand, social legislation is more incomplete and more flexible, favouring rather discretionary decisions by managers and allowing the interplay of market forces to regulate the labour market. The right to strike, the allocation of unemployment benefits, the procedures for hiring and firing, etc. testify to these differences. <p> The characteristics of the “hybrid” Belgo-Latin culture based on the traditional negotiation model increasingly influence, for example, the development of a political management model and conventionalist HRM practices, team work or coaching, etc. On the other hand, the characteristics of Chilean Latin culture, where authoritarianism and paternalism are still very present, stimulate a more classical management model and objective HRM practices. <p> The differences between the developments are evident. The social aspects (social security, education, workers’ rights, etc.) are better guaranteed in the Belgian model and the productivist logic stronger and damaging in the Chilean model. As long as the actors involved remain as they are, with their ideological, political and cultural particularities and their specific strengths, these models will remain different. <p> <p> Cette thèse décrit, analyse et compare les changements des pratiques de la gestion des ressources humaines (GRH), les rôles des directions des ressources humaines (DRH) et les modèles de management, dans des entreprises situées en Belgique, en France (partiellement) et au Chili, en relevant les similitudes et les différences. Il s’agit donc d’une recherche internationale comparative. <p> La recherche s’inscrit dans une approche d’analyse contextualiste. <p> Elle répond à la question : <b>quels sont les changements des pratiques de GRH, des rôles des DRH et des modèles de management dans des organisations sociales situées dans des contextes différents ? </b> Elle utilise des modèles théoriques (des “ideaux types”) pour analyser la réalité, en s’inspirant des auteurs tels que Mintzberg, Pichault et Nizet, Crozier, Crouch, Ulrich, Pettigrew. Au niveau du management, l’étude a recourt aux modèles: classique, instrumental et politique. Au niveau de la gestion des ressources humaines (GRH), elle se base sur les modèles: objectivant, conventionnaliste et individualisant. Tandis qu’au niveau de la direction des ressources humaines (DRH), les modèles sont ceux d’agent administratif, d’expert opérationnel et de partenaire stratégique. <p> On constate que les changements ne résultent pas seulement d’un processus décisionnel dicté mécaniquement par les éléments du contexte mais surtout d’un jeu complexe d’interactions, d’un jeu de pouvoir des acteurs concernés, qui mobilisent les éléments du contexte pour faire prévaloir leurs intérêts. <p> Parmi les évolutions <b>similaires</b> les plus relevantes, on peut citer: <p> 1.- <b>l’accroissement important de l’usage des méthodes de management propres au modèle instrumental ou « californien » ; </b> <p> 2.- <b>l’utilisation plus extensive des pratiques de GRH individualisantes</b> et, <p> 3.- <b>la diminution importante de la taille de la DRH et, notamment, du profil d’agent administratif de la DRH. </b> <p> Quant aux <b>différences</b> retrouvées dans ces contextes différents, on peut relever : <p> 1.- <b>Dans les cas belge et français le modèle managérial dominant reste le management politique. </b> Par contre, <b>dans le cas chilien, le modèle de management « californien » est devenu clairement dominant. </b> <p> 2.- <b>Les pratiques dominantes de GRH, en Belgique et en France, restent celles du modèle conventionnaliste. Par contre, au Chili, les pratiques dominantes de GRH sont celles du modèle individualisant. </b> <p> 3.- L’évolution des rôles de la DRH, <b>dans le cas belge, a été pratiquement nulle ou plus tardive puisque le rôle dominant est resté d’agent administratif (AA). </b> Par contre, <b>dans le cas chilien, le rôle dominant est devenu celui d’expert opérationnel (EO). </b> Le rôle du partenaire stratégique (PS), tant prôné et souhaité par les managers, tarde lourdement à se développer. <p> Le modèle de relations professionnelles et le système politique, constituent un des facteurs parmi les plus importants qui expliquent les différences constatées. En Belgique, le modèle de relations professionnelles néo-corporatiste et social-démocrate au niveau national (avec un syndicalisme fort) fonctionne comme un mécanisme de régulation socio-économique reflétant les forces et les accords entre les partenaires sociaux. Tandis qu’au Chili, il n’existe ni de concertation sociale ni d’institutionnalisation équivalente au niveau national ; il prévaut ici le modèle confrontationnel et latin (avec un syndicalisme faible). <p> De même, tandis qu’en Belgique il existe une législation sociale plus complète régulant davantage le marché et protégeant les intérêts des personnes, en offrant une sécurité sociale plus large avec, en plus, une forte participation de l’Etat dans les dépenses publiques, au Chili la une législation sociale est plus incomplète et plus souple, favorisant davantage les décisions discrétionnaires des managers amenant principalement une régulation par le libre jeu du marché du travail. Le droit de grève, l’assignation de chômage, les procédures de licenciements ou d’embauche, etc., témoignent de ces différences. <p> Les traits de la culture latine « hybride » belge, traditionnellement négociatrice, influencent davantage, par exemple, le développement d’un modèle de management politique et des pratiques de GRH conventionnalistes, un travail en équipe ou le coaching, etc. Par contre, les traits de la culture latine chilienne, où l’autoritarisme et le paternalisme sont encore forts présents, stimulent un modèle de management plutôt classique et des pratiques de GRH objectivantes. <p> La différence des évolutions est évidente. Les aspects sociaux (sécurité sociale, éducation, droits des travailleurs, etc.) sont mieux garantis dans le cas belge et la logique productiviste est plus forte et nuisible dans le cas chilien. Tant que les acteurs indiqués demeurent, avec leurs particularités idéologiques, politiques, culturelles et leurs forces spécifiques, ces modèles resteront différents.

Small construction professional services (CPS) firms are recognised as being vitally important to the UK construction industry as much of the professional capacity of the sector resides within these small practices. They rely on the capabilities of small groups of professional employees in delivering their services and so need to ensure their commitment to achieving organisational objectives. Clearly, human resource management (HRM) strategies have a major role to play in managing employee commitment, and yet such strategies have received little attention within the construction management literature. This study investigates the nature of construction professionals commitment within small CPS firms and to develop HRM interventions that foster organisational commitment in small CPS firms. The study adopts qualitative approach to enable gathering of rich data that come directly from the participants involved in the phenomenon. Exploratory interviews with managers of small CPS firms conducted in the early phase of the research helped to identify some of the key strategies and operational challenges related to the management of commitment. Following this, the main data was collected through conducting two in-depth case studies, which included one small quantity surveying practice in the East Midlands, UK, and one small multi-disciplinary practice in the West Midlands, UK. The case studies involve in-depth interviews involving the employer and employees, participation observation and document analysis at the main office of both organisations. Together, these data helped to unravel the nature of the employment relationship within such firms and also to gain a better understanding of how professional employees express their commitment. The findings reveal that professional employees commitment is influenced by a complex range of factors, but that five main HRM levers have a particular influence within such firms. These relate to job design, performance and career management, training and development, reward management and employee involvement. It is clear that a range of factors impinge on the abilities of employers to enact effective HRM strategies. In particular the recent economic crisis and personal problems have both been cited as the main challenges by the employer and employees of both organisations. It highlights the significant importance of managing organisational commitment much more effectively, regardless of the economic climate. Based on the research results a framework for managing professional commitment was developed and validated within a range of small CPS firms. The framework presents a holistic way of accounting for all the issues that influence the development and maintenance of organisational commitment within small CPS firms. Such knowledge is essential to the management of small CPS firms for achieving meaningful improvement in their approach to foster organisational commitment. The key recommendations for the management of small CPS firms is to make sure that every aspect of the job meets the professional employees expectations as well as project requirements and organisational objectives. This includes improving communication by utilising both formal and informal medium of communication, rewarding employees with both monetary and non-monetary rewards and developing employees by providing both on-the-job training and off-the job training. All these HRM practices need to be effectively linked and managed appropriately to collectively foster commitment. In conclusion, the complex nature of organisational commitment raised the importance for the management of small CPS firms to have a structured approach in managing their employees commitment.

This investigation was conducted in response to the need for effective diversity awareness programs to help employers create intergenerational-friendly work environments. An experimental pre- and post-test control group randomized block design was employed to answer two research questions about the effects of a simulation game on knowledge and attitudes about age-related changes in learning and work behaviors of older workers. Participants were assessed immediately prior to and following the treatment, followed by a third assessment 60 days later. Necessary measures were taken to control for threats to the study's internal validity. An applicant pool comprised of human resource management and development practitioners and senior undergraduate students enrolled in human resource management courses yielded a sample of 65 participants. Chapter one introduces the study. Chapter two provides a review and summary of relevant literature on ageism in the workplace, training older workers, and simulation games. Chapter three describes the procedures and methods used to answer the research questions. Chapter four presents the results of all analytic procedures related to the investigation. Chapter five provides the conclusions and recommendations based on the findings of this investigation. In this investigation, the treatment group did not score significantly higher on their knowledge of age-related changes in learning and work behaviors of older workers than the control group following treatment. The attitudinal change experienced by the treatment group did not differ significantly from the attitudinal change experienced by the control group. Recommendations for further research include the following: (a) the disordinal interactive effect of the control group's performance on the knowledge measure during the 60-day interval between post assessments warrants further investigation, (b) the statistically significant change in attitude that occurred within each group during the 60-day interval following treatment warrants further investigation, and (c) more reliable instruments need to be developed for measuring the effects of heightened awareness following diversity interventions.

Executive pay research has traditionally focused on salary, severance payments and longterm incentives. A systematic rigorous empirical examination of short-term annual bonuses is lacking. To address this omission, this research empirically examines the relationship between short-term bonuses and firm performance (TSR and EPS), in the UK. It also considers the association between form of bonus payment (i.e. cash/shares), and type of performance target (i.e. hard/soft and simple/complex) with bonus and performance. Furthermore, firm size and particular corporate governance factors are included (i.e. NED ratio on remuneration committee, CEO presence on nominations committee, CEO/Chair duality, tenure, and power) to examine their relationship with bonus value. From a sample of 299 firms listed in the FTSE-350 (1,542 executives including 300 CEOs), this study uses two competing theories (i.e. agency and power theory) to provide a fuller explanation of the subtleties of the pay-performance relation. The main findings support the agency view, since bonus is positively and significantly associated with financial performance. As with previous studies on executive bonus pay this association remains weak. By implication, power theory is not supported. However, other findings indicate: (1) although firm size may change, the proportion of bonus pay relative to salary does not vary. This suggests that large and small firms pay out proportionally similar bonuses; (2) cash bonuses are not positively related with the total value of bonus pay, suggesting that they are not any more open to abuse than other methods of compensation, as agency theory would predict; (3) cash bonuses encourage short-term achievement, as predicted by power theory; (4) consistent with agency theory, share-based bonuses are positively related to bonus pay and performance (weak association), suggesting that share-based bonuses (rather than cash bonuses) may be more effective at aligning pay with performance; (5) in line with agency theory, transparency (i.e. hard (external/published) and simple bonus conditions) is positively associated with performance, providing support for the alignment between principals' and agents' interests; (6) detailed bonus scheme characteristics are generally insensitive to performance and are becoming increasingly softer (i.e. more internal/unspecified targets) and complex (i.e. multiple targets). On the power view, these may create opportunities for executives to mask weak performance and extract greater rents; (7) governance factors are insignificant, suggesting that efforts to improve this area may be wasted, since they mainly leave pay-performance sensitivities unaffected. However, based on power theory, weak governance may foster the rise of powerful executives and widen the pay-performance gap. Therefore, it is suggested that close monitoring of executive pay must continue and shareholders should remain vigilant.

In my diploma thesis I deal with intercultural competencies, which are a relatively new phenomenon. It started to evolve on the grounds of the influence of globalization and internacionalization. I have made an overview of the changing life of organizations, especially in the area of Human Resource Management, which grows into international extent. I have considered the reasons leading to the growth of the (significant) needs of interculturally educated employees. Recent development of social, political and economical reality indicate the fact, that this need will be more and more urgent in the future. Because of the reducing importance of borders between nations and among economics the contact among members of different cultures in personal and work life is still more frequent and intensive. In the order to be efficient in cooperation with individuals from different cultural environment it is necessary to understand each other, capture the way of partner's thinking and behavior, forbearance and knowledge of cultural specifics. Training focused on development of intercultural competencies is thus an inevitable requirement of employee's preparation to long-term residence abroad and its completion is the precondition of smooth course of adaptation in a foreign country. Therefore, I pay attention to the...

Bakgrund: I dagens samhälle präglas organisationer av ekonomiska förändringar, detta genom globalisering, förändrade kundförhållanden och en ökad konkurrens. Organisationer behöver hela tiden förbättra sin konkurrenskraft genom att effektivisera sin verksamhet. Idag ses medarbetarna som organisationers viktigaste tillgång eftersom att de förser organisationer med viktiga källor för att bli konkurrenskraftiga. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) är ett arbetssätt som handlar om att utforma HR-strategier som gör att medarbetarnas kunskap och kompetens bidrar till att nå organisationens övergripande mål. Syfte: Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur organisationen använder ett strategiskt HR-arbete (SHRM) och om det är ett framgångsrikt arbetssätt. Vår studie har bidragit till en ökad förståelse om begreppet SHRM och hur det kan användas samt hur SHRM kan påverka organisationen. Metod: Insamlingen av vårt empiriska material bygger på en kvalitativ metod där vi genomfört djupgående intervjuer med HR-chefer som arbetar i en organisation som är verksam inom fordonsindustrin. Slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att organisationen använder SHRM som arbetssätt. Vi kan dock inte dra några konkreta slutsatser om hur SHRM påverkar or-ganisationen men det finns tydliga indikationer på att SHRM har en positiv inverkan och bidrar till en ökad produktivitet och effektivitet. Vi har även kommit fram till att det är viktigt att organisationen utövar ett ledarskap som främjar SHRM. / Background: In today's society organizations are characterized by economic changes, this by globalization, changing customer circumstances and increased competition. Organizations need to constantly improve their competitiveness by streamlining its operations. Today, employees are seen as the organizations most important asset, this because they provide organizations with important sources to become competitive. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is an approach that is about to build HR-strategies that make employees knowledge and skills to contribute the organizations to achieve the overall goals. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine how the organization is using a strategic HR-work (SHRM) and if it is a successful strategy. Our study has contributed to a better understanding of the concept of SHRM and how it can be used and how SHRM can affect the organization. Method: The collection of our empirical material is based on a qualitative approach where we conducted in-depth interviews with HR-managers working in an organization that is active in the automotive industry. Conclusion: We have concluded that our survey shows that the organization uses the SHRM as working strategy. However, we can not draw any concrete conclusions in which way SHRM affect the organization, but there are clear indications that SHRM has a positive effect, contributing to increased productivity and efficiency. A further conclusion of our study is that it´s very important that the organization have a leadership that promotes SHRM.

The thesis contains a description of the recruitment and selection for the European Union institutions. This HR activity is provided by the European Personnel Selection Office, which initiated "EPSO Development Programme" following an audit of personnel actions and complaints of applicants in 2010. The EPSO Development Programme's aim was to improve the recruitment and selection process including the shortening its duration and testing part. The goal of the thesis is to compare the recruitment and selection process before the EPSO Development Programme and after it. Then to evaluate how successful it was.

The thesis analyses the current situation in the company Interconnect s.r.o and proposes a short-term and long-term suggestions in area of management, marketing, human resource management and financial management that should contribute to increase in the prosperity of this company. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part.

[pt] O objetivo geral proposto para este trabalho é analisar a existência de possíveis relações entre o nível de maturidade organizacional em gestão de pessoas e o nível de maturidade das práticas de treinamento, desenvolvimento e educação corporativa adotadas pelas organizações pesquisadas. Foram pesquisadas organizações nacionais e estrangeiras estabelecidas no país que fazem parte de vários segmentos econômicos, totalizando 108 respondentes válidos na amostra. Foi utilizado um survey eletrônico, realizado nos meses de janeiro e fevereiro de 2012, para a coleta de dados. Para a classificação dos níveis de maturidade dos processos de gestão de pessoas nas empresas, foi utilizado o modelo People capability maturity model (P-CMM), de Curtis, Hefley e Miller (2001). Para classificar os programas de treinamento, desenvolvimento e educação corporativa foi usado um conjunto de variáveis e indicadores de medição, obtido do referencial teórico formulado. Os dados coletados passaram por um tratamento estatístico sendo utilizadas técnicas estatísticas descritivas e análise multivariada. A metodologia adotada utilizará análise fatorial e para a medição e análise das relações entre os construtos será usada inferência estatística pelo método de teste de hipótese. Como resultado, o trabalho confirmou a hipótese proposta. / [en] The proposed overall objective for this work is to analyze the existence of possible relationships between the level of organizational maturity in people management and the level of maturity of practices in training, development and corporate education adopted by the organizations surveyed. Companies were both national and multinational ones and from different sectors of the economy, counting 108 valid answers in the analyzed sample. As the data collection instrument an electronic survey was realized from January to February 2012. To classify process maturity level on human resources of those companies, People capability maturity model (P-CMM) from Curtis, Hefley e Miller (2001) was utilized. To classify training and developing programs and corporate education it was utilized a group of variables end measurement indicators, extracted from theoretical reference. Data collected was processed using a statistical treatment being utilized techniques such as descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis. The adopted methodology will utilize factorial analysis and to make measurements and to analyze relationships between constructs will be utilized statistical inference by the hypothesis test method. As results, this research confirmed proposed hypothesis.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att med hjälp av lämpliga teorier och intervjuer med företag erbjuda en förståelse kring hur företag använder Corporate Social Responsibility i deras rekryteringsprocess samt hur innehållet används för att påverka företagets image som arbetsgivare